From PEOPLE Magazine
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Like MacLaine, Americans looking for a way to get or stay thin don't have to search far. These days, it seems, there are more diet books available than there are calories in a jelly doughnut. From Atkins to the Zone—to Somers's own Somersizing food-combining strategy described in her book Eat Great, Lose Weight—diet programs are popping up like oven-ready biscuits. And those who have found an effective way to downsize often are eager to spread the word. "I've lost weight [on] the Sugar Busters! diet," Elizabeth Taylor blurted out during an April Good Morning America interview. Matt LeBlanc credits a Friends friend for his eating habits. "Jennifer Aniston turned me on to the Zone," he told PEOPLE recently. Demi Moore, meanwhile, introduced Rosie O'Donnell to the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet, which the talk show host started last year. Said the 32-lbs.-lighter O'Donnell in April: "It's the first time I've kept weight off for that long a time."
With all the different plans around, there are plenty of conflicting theories. Weight Watchers, for example, advocates balanced meals based on a point system. Others, like Dr. Andrew Weil's Eating Well for Optimum Health and Dr. Dean Ornish's Eat More, Weigh Less, put the emphasis on low-fat eating.
The most trendy at the moment are the Zone—which advocates a careful balance of carbohydrates, fat and proteins—and plans like Dr. Robert Atkins's New Diet Revolution, Sugar Busters! and Carbohydrate Addict's, which push a diet low in carbs but higher in protein. "You can tell people who are on the Atkins diet," says Weil. "They go right to the bacon. These are the same people who were on a low-fat diet and haven't been able to eat bacon for years, so they pile it on."
The latter plans are particularly popular in weight-obsessed Hollywood. "The majority of my clients right now want Zone-oriented kinds of meals," reports Mindy Lymperis, whose Gourmet Grub to Go delivers home-cooked meals to such stars as Kirstie Alley and Ali MacGraw. And in the past couple of years, says Kay Martin, whose Kay's Gourmet Catering in L.A. serves commercial shoots, "if you have a group of 50, you only need 25 bagels 'cause they don't eat them. Not anymore." Just ask 7th Heaven star Catherine Hicks, who recently lost 15 lbs. on a modified Zone diet. "I won't touch a piece of bread," says Hicks. "I've noticed I've become much thinner." "No bread," agrees composer and fellow Zone aficionado John Tesh. "I haven't had bread in two months. My energy is up and I've put on muscle."
But can dieting go too far? There were reports—denied by his publicist—that Friends star Matthew Perry's recent hospitalization was brought on by a high-protein diet. And critics question the lack of clinical testing behind many of these weight-loss regimens. According to the Atkins diet, the body will start burning fat if the carbohydrate intake is minimal; Barry Sears's The Zone refers to the favorable hormonal balance achieved by eating the right proportions of nutrients (30 percent protein, 30 percent fat, 40 percent carbohydrates). But despite the authors' scientific claims, "little research has been done on the various diets that are on the bestseller lists," says Bonnie Liebman, head of nutrition for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Which is not to say the results can't sometimes be impressive: Actress Connie Stevens lost 20 lbs. in less than three weeks on the Zone, and NYPD Blue's Dennis Franz shed 35 lbs. last year on a modified Atkins plan. "Of course you can lose weight on diets that aren't good for you," counters Dr. Dean Ornish, whose low-fat, almost-vegetarian regimen has been followed by Laura Dern and Jane Seymour. "It's a great way to sell books to tell people what they want to hear, that steaks and ice cream are health foods. I'd love to tell people that they are, but they're not." In fact, experts caution that long-term use of high-protein diets—which are often high in fat—can lead to kidney damage and heart disease. (Bad breath, body odor and constipation are other possible side effects.)
Atkins fairly bristles when his diet is criticized as unhealthy. "There is no evidence of that whatsoever," he says. "I can find 20 studies that show an improvement in cholesterol levels with the Atkins diet and none that shows worsening."
Still, it isn't always easy" sticking to such diets or keeping the weight off. Last October, Oprah Winfrey tried out the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet, which limits carb-rich foods such as bread and fruit to one "reward" meal a day. After a month she commented that she had lost 4 lbs.—and her patience. "Eventually you want some bread," she said on her show. "I was going to slap somebody for an apple."
So in April, Winfrey, who had previously tried Optifast, Weight Watchers, the Scarsdale Diet and Atkins, welcomed to her show food guru Dr. Weil. His moderate program of 50 to 60 percent carbohydrates (the less refined the better), 30 percent fat and 10 to 20 percent protein incorporates the traditional Mediterranean diet, which "happens to be my favorite way of eating," said Winfrey.
And it's a healthy way of eating, believes country singer Naomi Judd, who became an avid Weil devotee after being diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1990. "I eat a lot of fish," says the singer, whose illness is in remission. "He has taught me to incorporate soy into my diet. I eat very little red meat, maybe once every couple of months."
A health scare was also the wake-up call for onetime Designing Woman Delta Burke. Though she had dieted for years—"trying to be a size 6" through every conceivable program, she says—nothing worked until doctors told her in 1997 that she was diabetic. That led to a self-designed eating plan. "I have to have more protein because of the diabetes," she told PEOPLE last fall, "and I've just about eliminated white bread, rice and refined foods. I'm learning to pick and choose between my carbs." Now down to 150 lbs., 65 less than her peak weight of 215 lbs., she says happily, "I did it the right way, and it's stayed off."
Others have found their right way in programs such as Weight Watchers and Slim•Fast. "It's not about throwing out entire food groups," says former model Lauren Hutton, author of the new Slim•Fast Body-Mind-Life Makeover. "A can of Slim•Fast is healthier than the food that most people eat, which is fat-laden junk food." Indeed, a new study published in {ITALIC "Nutrition"} magazine showed that a group of 134 obese Slim•Fast users kept an average of 10 lbs. off for more than five years.
A lifetime dieter, Weight Watchers spokeswoman Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has gone from 210 lbs. and a size 14 to her current size-10 frame. Because Weight Watchers allows any food as long as you stay within your point total for the day, Ferguson says it's not uncommon for people to approach her at restaurants and grill her about what's on her plate. "I say, 'I'm allowed to eat that, thank you very much!' " she says. "There's no such thing as a no-no food." Actress Fran Drescher, who joined Weight Watchers in 1993 and still adheres to its guidelines, agrees. "It's a lifestyle," she says. "It teaches you to be moderate."
Even so, in a world obsessed with both weight and trends, some foods will likely always go in and out of style. When word went around Hollywood a while back that drinking water at anything other than room temperature interfered with digestion, "you couldn't get cold water on a TV sound-stage," caterer Mindy Lymperis recalls with a laugh. "They go through their fads."
Julie K.L. Dam
Michelle Caruso, Mark Dagostino, Julie Jordan, Ulrica Wihlborg and Paula Yoo in Los Angeles, Debbie Seaman in New York City, Kelly Williams in Chicago, Bev Keel in Nashville, Rochelle Jones and Jane Sims Podesta in Washington, D.C., and Patricia B. Smith in Houston
- Contributors:
- Michelle Caruso,
- Mark Dagostino,
- Julie Jordan,
- Ulrica Wihlborg,
- Paula Yoo,
- Debbie Seaman,
- Kelly Williams,
- Bev Keel,
- Rochelle Jones,
- Jane Sims Podesta,
- Patricia B. Smith.
