Whether they’ve just given birth, hate doing crunches or don’t have a lot of time to spend in the gym, these celebrities have found ways to get enviable bodies. Their trainers spill the secrets…

Ashlee Simpson
Mike Alexander, who has worked with new-mom Ashlee Simpson and her sister Jessica, says the way to rid of the fat that hides your muscles is to work your abs isometrically with strength training exercises such as the plank or wall sit. A strict diet of lean proteins and vegetables will also help.

Jennifer Lopez
Gunnar Peterson helped Jennifer Lopez through her first triathlon and says sleep is often overlooked. When you don’t get enough sleep (even as little as 2 hours less than regularly) you might as well add calories and subtract cardio time, especially when you feel like you’ve hit a plateau in your training.

Jessica Alba
Ramona Braganza’s 321 Baby Bulge Be Gone workouts helped Jessica Alba (and Halle Berry) retain her pre-Honor figure.

“You repeat a 10-minute cardio segment and a 10-minute strength segment 3 times, which adds up to an hour-long workout,” says Braganza. “In addition to traditional sit-ups and crunches, try moves like planking, squat thrusts and oblique exercises on a ball to strengthen transverse muscles.”

Tori Spelling
Tori Spelling’s trainer, Ashley Borden, says exercises that force you use every major body part will work the smaller muscles while keeping your heart rate up at the same time.

Kate Hudson
Constantly being on the road can seriously cut into your gym time, but a Triad ball can help you take your workout with you wherever you go.

“When deflated, they don’t take up too much room in your suitcase and they’re easy to blow up,” says Nicole Stuart, Kate Hudson’s trainer. “Use them to do modified crunches and oblique exercises wherever you are.”

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It’s been a few months since Jessica Alba revealed her sexy post-baby body and back in March she still wasn’t really telling us how she lost the weight.  All we learned from Elle Magazine was that she wore a tight-fitting girdle.  But now we discovered from People Magazine how she lost the weight.  Her trainer, Ramona Braganza said that Jessica followed the 321 Baby Bulge Be Gone program which is a mix of strength training, cardio intervals and ab work.  Braganza said,

“We focus on burning a certain number of calories. Jess would average 500. And once the weight starts coming off, it’s much more fun!”

Alba did the program four days a week, but just like everyone else she had her good days and bad when it came to putting some muscle behind her workouts.  According to Braganza,

“Just like everyone, some days she enjoys it, other days it’s a chore.”

Alba gave birth to daughter Honor Marie 11 months ago.

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How in the world did Jessica Alba get that fabulous body just three months after the delivery of her daughter, Honor Marie? The Hollywood celebrities always amaze us when it comes to how quickly their chameleon-like attributes kick in after giving birth. Jessica has now joined the ranks with stars such as Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow whom lose their postpartum baby weight in the blink of an eye.

However, in the March 2009 issue of Elle Magazine, Jessica does admit it was a painful fight to lose the weight in time for her Campari liquor campaign photo shoot. Jessica admits that her post-pregnancy workouts were so horrible that she literally cried. In addition, she took the advice of a friend and wore a girdle to speed weight loss. She told Elle Magazine,

“I wore a girdle. Eight weeks after my girlfriend had her baby, you could see her six-pack. She told me to put an elastic band around my waist—any kind of band or girdle works. She was like, ‘I slept in it.’ I didn’t recover as fast as she did. I don’t have a six pack—that’s just not my body at all.”

Fortunately, the photo shoot is over, and she has decided to slow down a bit and spend quality time with her new daughter instead of trying to keep up with the other Hollywood gals at the gym.

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It’s time to review the good, the bad and the ugly in celeb diets of 2008. First a brief recap of 2007. The picks for 2007 were for the most part right on. As predicted, Kirstie Alley did in fact fall off the wagon with Jenny Craig. No surprise, Ricki Lake continues to shine with her remarkable weight loss success as she adopted some key weight loss behaviors. Capping a remarkable turnaround for 2008, Britney went from the worst celebrity diet list of 2007 to the best celebrity diet list this year proving that you are what you eat.

This brings me to theme for the year in celebrity diets of 2008, specifically that “diets don’t work.” The key to sustainable weight loss is not so much a particular diet but the adoption of the proper lifestyle behaviors. It’s the reason why Oprah can’t achieve sustainable weight loss despite trying multiple diets and having all the resources in the world (personal chef, trainer, Dr Oz etc).

You’ll also noticed that this year’s winners all have one thing in common as they develop their new lifestyle dietary behaviors. They achieved their remarkable slim downs by increasing their intake of veggies and fruits. No crazy fasts, diet pills, supplements or miracle cures. Here’s to 2009 and hopefully you’ll find some inspiration from this year’s crop of winners. Enjoy and be healthy, Dr Marc

Best Celebrity Diets for 2008:
5. Jennifer Love Hewitt: Those unflattering bikini photos seem so long ago as this Ghost Whisperer star has been letting her body speak loud and clear; daily fruits and veggies do a body good.

4. Jessica Alba: Jessica exercised her superhero abilities on a regimen of whole foods, cardio and interval training to power her fantastic 25 pound post-pregnancy slim down.

3. Debra Messing: Eating gracefully, Debra lost 42 pounds of her post-baby weight by sticking to a diet high in unprocessed veggies, fruits and lean protein.

2. Kelly Osbourne: By fixing her refined carb cravings with her new addiction to veggies and fruits, Kelly Osbourne is reborn with a healthy new figure.

1. Britney Spears: Since ditching her “Toxic” junk food diet for veggies and lean protein, Britney is sporting a new outlook and an A-list slim down that has everyone wanting “A Piece of Me.”

And the Worst Celebrity Diets for 2008:
5. Carnie Wilson: Carnie proves that even gastric bypass is not a fix for sabotaging behaviors. Despite her much publicized surgery and weight loss, this Celebrity Fit Club participant regained 58 pounds. (Her yo-yo dieting continues; she most recently lost 50 pounds before her current pregnancy.)

4. Monica Seles: This former tennis star may have lost 33 pounds on a high protein diet but she also increased her risk of chronic disease. Advantage: heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis.

3. Hilary Swank: 47 ways to sub-optimal health. Reportedly downing 47 “million dollar” supplements a day, this Million Dollar Baby star is unwittingly subjecting her body to accelerated aging.

2. Kim Kardashian: Kim has kept her shapely “junk in the trunk” figure with exercise and a gig on Dancing with The Stars. However, her junk food diet will inevitably cause… too much junk.

1. Oprah Winfrey: The queen of media and yo-yo dieter is the poster child for “diets don’t work.” Proper weight loss behaviors and habits should be one of Oprah’s “favorite things.”

Jessica Alba has lost 25 lbs of the 40 pregnancy lbs she gained, just six weeks after giving birth to daughter Honor, on June 7.  Jessica revealed she “lost the tummy just breast feeding.” With the help of her trainer Ramona Braganza Jessica has a diet and exercise plan to shed the rest…

Jessica Alba’s Diet
She’s following Braganza’s 3-2-1 meal plan 3 meals, 2 snacks and 1 liter of water a day. Jessica is aiming for 1,800  to 2,000 calories a day allowing for an extra 500 calories for breast feeding.

Breakfast
Hard-boiled eggs or scrambled egg whites with toast.

Lunch
Salads with chicken or lean fish.

Dinner
Lean meats and veggies

Snacks
fruits, veggies and low fat cheeses.

Drinks
Jessica drinks 2-3 liters a day according to her trainer. Apparently Jessica also lover Vitamin Water XXX because of the antioxidants from acaiberries, blueberries and pomegranates.

Jessica Alba Workouts
Jessica workouts with Braganza 6 times a week for hour long sessions. Each session combines 3 – 10 minute sessions of cardio, 2 – 10 minutes sets of circuit training and 1 – 10 minute set of core work.

My Analysis…
Her diet of fruits and veggies are the best way to power her slim down. Jessica looks fab and is well on her way to getting her pre-pregnancy figure…

I want to clarify the water issue as it relates to weight loss. You should drink water to hydrate your body. Drinking more water will not help with weight loss. In fact there are no studies that show drinking more water results in greater weight loss.

So how much should you drink? Here’s the deal.. drink enough water so your urine is light yellow in color, not clear and not overly dark. Picking some arbritrary number of glasses you need to drink is misguided. It depends on many factors including exercise, weight, height, diet, enviroment etc.  For instance the more processed foods you consumed the more water you need to drink. Conversely, the more whole fruits and veggies you consumed (which contain high concentrations of water) the less water you need to drink.

Skip the Vitamin Water XXX… at 50 calories per 8 oz, along with the processed fructose it’s not healthy and will cause weight gain. Go with water which has zero calories, is healthier and free!

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A diet strategy used by Hollywood celebs, including Janet Jackson and Jessica Alba, is to include a serving of protein with every meal, about 30% of total calories consumed. Studies show that higher protein diets (30% protein) not only help with initial weight loss but also help keep the weight off.

Why does protein help with weight loss?

1. Preserve muscle mass as you lose weight. When you lose weight on any diet, you lose both fat and muscle. Higher protein diets (30% protein), however, do a better job at preserving muscle mass and your metabolism. Remember one pound of muscle burns approximately 30-50 calories per day so you want to keep your metabolism up by preserving as much muscle as possible.
2. Promote loss of body fat. Higher-protein lower-carb diets promote loss of body fat, due to the lower insulin response of a lower carbohydrate diet. Remember more insulin promotes packing on fat.
3. Metabolic advantage of protein. There is a caloric cost of digesting food called the thermogenic effect and the caloric cost is highest for protein. It takes about 30% of a protein’s caloric value to digest it, while it only takes about 2% of a fat’s caloric value. Our bodies are a lot less efficient at digesting protein, compared with carbs and fats, so less overall calories are available to the body.
4. Protein helps curb appetite. Protein makes you feel “full” and curbs your hunger more effectively than carbs or fat.

Remember balance is the key. Your body also needs carbs and fats for optimal health. While these stars incorporate protein with every meal, their diets are also rich in unprocessed carbs and healthy fats to keep their bodies in top form.

In this recent shoot for GQ, Jessica Alba appears to be in top form as she gears up for the filming of Sin City 2 this summer. Her diet secret is “portion control” says her trainer in the latest issue of In Touch weekly, and “she knows how to keep her eating habits under control.” “She likes to have dinner out, but will only eat half of the food on the plate.”

In addition to a balanced diet, Jessica also watches her carbs, leaving bread and desserts off the menu. But she doesn’t deprive herself when she gets a particular craving “You need to indulge and have that chocolate cake whenever you feel the need.”

Jessica Alba’s Diet Plan
It’s a South Beach style diet, with lean meats, whole grains, low-fat cheeses, fruits and veggies.

• Breakfast
  1 cup oatmeal with berries with 3-4 scrambled egg whites when working on the film set.

• Lunch
  Salad with 170 gms (6 ounces) of chicken breast or fish (salmon, tuna)

• Dinner
  Sashimi or or 170 gms (6 ounces) of petit filet of beef or other lean protein with unlimited veggies and 3 small red potatoes

• Snacks
  handful of almonds or hot air popped popcorn

Jessica Alba’s Work Out
Jessica’s is big on exercise with lots of cardio on the elliptical, stationary bike or treadmill for 30 minutes four times a week. She adds resistant-training including weights and yoga to tone up for her action roles in films.