Lights, camera, starvation: the skinny on new extreme Hollywood diets

When it comes to staying skinny, there are no lengths some Hollywood starlets won't go to. By Fleur Fitzpatrick

The pressure's on. The movie's in the can - now it's time to take to the red carpet with every eye upon you. But how to shape up fast for a big event? Cutting out the chocolate and doing a few extra sit-ups should cut it, right?

 

Wrong! Tinseltown's A-listers are increasingly taking desperate measures to slim down before a career-enhancing premiere or awards ceremony.

 

While many opt to follow a healthy, balanced eating and exercise routine all year round, knowing they'll be the centre of attention can make even the tiniest star scrutinise her imaginary love handles.

 

Some have to shed pounds fast for a movie role and turn to extreme diets to help them drop weight, like Beyoncé who lost 20 pounds on the Master Cleanse diet for her role in 'Dreamgirls'.

 

"I wanted to make a physical transformation because I was playing this role and I wanted to be not Beyoncé," says the star, who admits she had fun putting the weight back on.

 

"It was a big sacrifice. I did do a two-week fast but (I took) all the vitamins and nutrients your body needs. I normally wouldn't have done that for Beyoncé, as a performer, but Deena, as the character, I needed to drop it really fast."

 

Others like Jared Leto, who ballooned to play Mark Chapman in 'Chapter 27', and Christian Bale, who was a shadow of his former self in 'The Machinist', have also sought the help of nutritionists to lose weight safely.

 

But when it comes to a quick fix, there's a new crop of fad diets taking over Tinseltown.

 

We've had the Baby Food Diet (tins of puréed yuck only), the Purple Diet (only purple foods allowed) and the 48-hour Hollywood Miracle Diet (a packaged product combining fruit juices with vitamins).

 

Here's the latest on the new desperate diets sweeping Hollywood. Read the details of the Russian Air Force diet, the egg diet, the three-day diet, the grapefruit diet, Dr Siegal's cookie diet, and the Hallelujah Diet...

 

The stars talk about their desperate diets

Natasha Henstridge: "I've done some things that probably weren't the smartest things in the world; I've even been to Chinese herbalists who've given me herbs and acupuncture. All of a sudden when you decide to go clean, things are changing in your body because you done a bit of damage. My body has definitely gone through a change since coming off all the crazy yo-yo stuff."

 

 

Courteney Cox: "I can take care of other people but I'm not good at taking care of myself. There was a period when I was on 'Friends' and I was really, really thin. I thought I looked great. In retrospect, I didn't."

 

 

 

 

 

Gwen Stefani: "It sucks that that's what is supposed to look good and that's what everyone strives to be. I try not to be but I'm super-neurotic about diet. I'm neurotic about trying not to be neurotic!"

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Aniston: "I started getting to a place where I was sick a lot and my energy was low and I wasn't happy. Then I started taking vitamins and exercising like a fiend, and maybe went too far on that. You get in that Zone Diet thing and you get kind of addicted to that."

 

 

 

Janet Jackson: "It was easy gaining weight. But I had a lot to lose and I didn't have very much time to do it in, so I had to have that discipline and you have to, in order to get through it. The diet was very strict: it was all about the discipline."

 

 

 

 

Marisa Tomei: "I pray a lot like, ‘Keep me skinny please'. I'm concerned with how my body looks and I just find it really hard to watch myself."

 

 

 

 

 

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