How celebs stay thin

Bridget McLaughlin

The holidays are here and that means filling up on seasonal foods until the point of eating-exhaustion and vomiting.

Just like the rest of us, celebrities have to deal with those horrible holiday love handles after the food coma subsides. But they aren’t always the diets you might suspect.

Here are a few celebrity-endorsed diets to chew on while you’re chewing.

Amanda Seyfried, “Dear John” star, openly credits a raw food diet for her figure. The diet consists of eating only unprocessed and uncooked foods.

The proponents of this diet believe that when food is cooked, enzymes that aid in digestion are destroyed and the positive nutritional effects of the food can be lessened.

The diet includes lots of fruits, veggies and nuts, but it also can include sushi or homemade cheeses and yogurts. For this diet, if you can hand make it from raw parts, you can eat it. “As long as you are receiving all the nutrients you need and are getting foods from all of the foods groups which is many times difficult to do,” said Natalie Caine-Bish, licensed dietitian and Kent State nutrition professor. “Weight loss is taking in less calories than you need in a day. With raw diets, one may also have to be concerned with food safety issues too.”

Some students weren’t so enthusiastic about the raw diet. Devon Herbst, sophomore art history major, said she would never go raw. “No way,” Herbst said. “I’ve always thought it was a little extreme.” After losing 60 pounds in six months on Weight Watchers, Jenny McCarthy signed on as their celebrity spokeswoman in 2006.

Weight Watchers is essentially a calorie-counting plan based on a proprietary points system.

Like any standard calorie-counting plan, you can basically eat anything as long as you stay within your allotted daily points.

While Weight Watcher points are calculated from calories, fat and fiber (the higher the calories and fat the more points, the higher the fiber the less points), the biggest factor in determining a points value for a food is its calories. “It can be (effective) if the client uses the principles set forth by Weight Watchers, which is moderate caloric restriction combined with exercise,” said Caine-Bish. Carissa Martin, sophomore psychology major, had a different take on the Weight Watchers plan. “I think it’s a fad diet. They push their brand. It’s just a ploy to buy their food really,” she said. People may say actress Reese Witherspoon has a baby face, but who knew she ate baby food?

The “Sweet Home Alabama” sweetheart is a huge supporter of the baby food diet.

It consists of substituting one or two meals a day with a jar of baby food. The other one to two meals a day can be regular “adult meals.”

“People are always trying to lose weight in unique ways. A healthy diet with moderate calorie restriction is all someone needs,” Caine-Bish said. “They don’t need to spend the time or money on organic baby food to do it. This is just a gimmick.” Perhaps consider these options after your ninth trip to the gravy boat for those four pounds of mashed potatoes. It just goes to show that there is a price for celebrity, and it can come in the form of baby food.

You can contact Bridget McLaughlin at [email protected].