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.”

After a year of reviewing celebs and their diets, I felt it was high time to give my take on the best and the worst in celebrity diets for 2007. This year’s crop of celebrity diets proves the adage “you are what you eat.” Diets full of fruits and veggies have helped trim down Hollywood’s biggest “losers.” This “best” list of celebs also shows that you don’t have to knock yourself out at the gym to get fabulous. This year it’s all about healthy lifestyle activities with Ricki Lake, Andrea Baptiste and Lenny Clarke getting active by walking, hiking and biking.

Brittany Spears, Beyonce and Ashanti top the worst list by resorting to quick fix weight loss schemes. Diet pills and fasting “detox” diets only give dieters false hope, resulting in rebounding weight and yo-yo dieting. Under the body-conscious spotlight of the media, this list proves that eating well and creating a healthy lifestyle are the best revenge.

The Best Celebrity Diet List for 2007:
4. Jessica Simpson: Jessica got back her daisy dukes, shedding 25 lbs on a 5 Factor diet of lean protein, good carbs, healthy fats and fiber along with circuit and weight training.

3. Andrea Baptiste: She lost 56 lbs on The Biggest Loser and has since dropped another 8 pounds, proving not all weight loss reality TV contestants gain weight back. She continues to “lose” by daily walking and running along with a low fat and low refined-carbohydrate diet.

2. Lenny Clarke: The Rescue Me star has rescued himself, losing 144 lbs with the help of Weight Watchers and a diet of salads, fresh fruit and fish along with swimming and biking.

1. Ricki Lake: A former serial and yo-yo dieter, Ricki downsized from 250 lbs in 1991 to her present svelte 123 lbs by using a food delivery service to limit calories, daily hiking and frequent weigh-ins.

And the Worst Celebrity Diets for 2007:
4. Kirstie Alley: It’s time for Kirstie to call Jenny collect. Processed sugars fuel cravings which may make her diet difficult to stick with.

3. Dr. Phil McGraw: Is the tough-love author of The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution obese? Recent reports of his weight gain show even self-help gurus have trouble following their own advice.

2. Beyonce and Ashanti: Divas shouldn’t let divas do the Master Cleanse (aka the Lemonade Diet). Fasting “detox” diets wreak havoc on the metabolism and when stopped, more calories are stored as fat, so you not only re-gain weight but become proportionally fatter.

1. Britney Spears: Junk food and a quick-fix lifestyle of diet pills and energy drinks caught up with her at the recent Video Music Awards and had everyone thinking “Give Me Less.”

Ricki Lake’s remarkable weight loss is making headlines again in this week’s issue of Ok Magazine, to help publicize the premiere of her Lifetime movie, Matters of Life and Dating. If you recall Ricki was profiled on the US magazine front cover a couple months ago. At her heaviest she weighed 260 pounds in 1991, and had been on a slew of diets including South Beach, the Zone, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins and the Master Cleanse. She got serious this time around on February 2 of this year in preparation for the premiere of her documentary, The Business of Being Born, at the Tribecca Film Festival.

Ricki’s Diet
With the help of a meal delivery service, freshdining.com, she had slimmed down to 123 pounds and continues to keep the weight off. She keeps to a 1200 calorie per day diet. Here’s a sample…

Breakfast – French Toast and turkey sausage

Lunch – Mainly salads with a little steak

Dinner – Fish with brown rice and veggies

She reveals her weakness is bread, but now “I’ll have one piece of bread instead of the whole basket.”

Ricki’s Workout
She’s a big fan of hiking and walking. Previously she revealed that she didn’t use a trainer, but it appears she has recently begun working out with a trainer with “the goal of being tight and firm, not to lose weight.” She works out with her trainer 1 hour 3 times a week mainly focusing on weight training alternating upper body and lower body workouts.

Celeb Diet Doctor Weigh in…
Go Ricki! Her weight loss is truly inspiring and a model for all those looking to lose weight. Despite a history of yo-yo dieting she has managed to keep it off by sticking to a meal plan the emphasizes lean protein, fruits and veggies. She also knows the importance of portion control by not binging on bread. She hikes 4 1/2 miles a day, which shows that you don’t have to knock yourself off to lose weight. Now it looks like she has added some weight training, which will also help to build up some metabolically active muscle which should also help to keep the weight off.

Ryan Phillipe is a man with a diet plan. After splitting with Reese Witherspoon, the actor has been losing some lbs with a food delivery service according to Us Weekly mag. Just 3 weeks on his new diet, it sounds like it’s part of his plan to get in shape for upcoming roles in Last Battle Dreamer and the 2008 drama, Franklyn.

It’s billed as a low-carb, and low sodium plan. Ryan’s menu includes smoked turkey wraps, pomegranate pancakes and pot roast. The pomegranate pancakes don’t sound low carb to me, but it’s possible they are partially made with soy flour which has a high protein content. I couldn’t find an ingredient list on the site but you can check it out at freshdining.com Unfortunately it’s only available in southern California. Btw, Ricki Lake also used this service to shed some unwanted weight.

I am a fan of food delivery meal plans, provided they are healthy, contain lots of fruits and veggies, and don’t contain refined sugars, trans fats etc. A meal plan is simple and helps you avoid temptation.

Janet Jackson’s weight loss struggles are infamous. She revealed at the Hollywood premier of Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? that she will be writing a book detailing her struggles with weight and yo-yo dieting. She says,

“I’m really coming from the soul with it, and what I was going through at different times in my life and what possibly brought it about for myself”

Last year before her 60 lb weight loss, she told Extra, “I could not believe how big I was, how heavy I really was. I would see myself in the mirror, but I wouldn’t look too often. I didn’t want to get used to that image.” In her diet book, Janet will reveal how she lost the weight “nutrition wise” but qualifies that “its different for everyone.”

Janet’s diet plan is a 3 meal, 2 snack, 1300-1600 calorie-day diet plan. She initially used a food delivery service, but now has a personal chef prepare her meals. Btw, Ricki Lake also attributes her diet success to a food delivery service. Janet’s diet also contains protein with every meal and snack to help curb hunger.

Celebrity Diet Doctor Weigh in…
When it comes to weight loss, you can set goals or you can set up behaviors that make weight loss “inevitable.” Both Ricki Lake and Janet Jackson set themselves up for success by using a food delivery service. When you implement the right behaviors you make achieving your goals second nature. This applies not only to the limited confines of weight loss, but to the larger arena of life.

Ricki Lake, best known for her role on Hairspray and as a talk show host (Ricki Lake show), is on the cover of this month’s US magazine and looks great! Now weighing in at a svelte 123 lbs, she lost over half her body weight from her heaviest of 250 lbs in 1991. How did she do it?

She reveals she has tried many diets in the past, including the Zone, Atkins and the Master Cleanse, but never considered gastric bypass surgery. On one “extreme diet” she states she wasn’t eating and always exercising causing her to faint.

Her weight loss plan

• She uses a food delivery program (freshdining.com) that allows her to stick to a 1200 calorie-a-day diet
• She hikes 4 1/2 miles uphill in 1 1/2 hours and runs down. She does not use a fitness trainer.
• She weighs herself everyday

Best part of losing weight
Loves that she can cross her legs. Even her Jimmy Choos are are too big for her feet.

Ricki Lake has a successful long term weight loss strategy
Whether she is aware of this or not, she is following the most successful weight loss strategies of individuals who averaged over 70 lbs of weight loss and have kept it off for an average of 6 years. Way to go Ricki and much continued success!