If you jump on a 'diet' that is recommended by someone in Hollywood, you may be risking some negative consequences. One thing about Medifast is it's not a craze, but a meal plan that is balanced and will help you get to a healthy weight. When it comes to fad diets and fitness crazes, all it takes is one celebrity to give it the thumbs up and people are quick to jump on board. You don't have that worry with Medifast, because it's just boring enough that you won't hear a celebrity mention it, but it's still exciting enough based on the results so many have gotten.

When it comes to fad diets, just look at what Beyonce Knowles did for the maple syrup diet. When the bootylicious star needed to shed some pounds for her role in the movie Dreamgirls, she eschewed meals for the potent mix of maple and palm tree sap, mixed with water, lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Otherwise known as the master cleanse, the plan promises weight loss of a stone in 10 days. Beyonce followed the plan for 14 days and lost a staggering 22 pounds.

The revelation sparked a worldwide trend; only while we were rioting in health shop aisles, she decided to publically denounce it. I would not recommend it if someone wasn't doing a movie, because there are other ways to lose weight," she said.

Actress Liz Hurley follows a similar diet plan, only she omits the maple syrup. It's called the Starvation Diet. The Austin Powers star once candidly admitted to eating almost nothing to stay trim.

"I maintain my figure by eating very little breakfast, not too much lunch," she said, "then only tiny little snacks in the day. But really boring snacks like a banana or six raisins. "The only meal I have is dinner. I'm on a good old-fashioned low calorie diet -- I'm going to bed hungry."

Rachel Zoe, the stylist blamed for spearheading the size zero look in Hollywood, made a similar revelation when asked about her typical lunch.

BORE

"Truth? I don't," she answered bluntly. "I'm not a lady who lunches; it's a lull in the day. When I'm on downtime, like on vacation, I take care of myself. But when it's me working on my own, it's 7pm and I've had coffee and a grapefruit."  It's certainly more interesting than Gwyneth Paltrow's diet, though, which could bore the best of us to tears.

The Academy award-winning actress avoids dairy, sugar, white flour and alcohol. She also follows a macrobiotic diet and practices yoga everyday. (If everyone did this there wouldn't be an obesity epidemic!)

Still, at least she's being honest. There's nothing worst than an emaciated starlet telling an interviewer that she's "addicted to junk food" as she swallows three whole French fries for added effect. Celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson, who has trained Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez and Penelope Cruz, once revealed how disingenuous celebrities about their diet and fitness regimes.

"I had one actress training with me four times a week in addition to daily exercise bike classes. When the press asked how she'd 'transformed' her body, she said: 'Oh, I do yoga and hike with my dog'. It makes me laugh." 

The truth is, almost all celebrities diet and work out excessively. Furthermore, almost all celebrities follow fad diets and fitness crazes. Almost all celebrities will use the help of whatever dietary aid they can get their hands on. It's just they'd prefer we didn't know; they'd like us to think that they're blessed with a naturally slender physique, a figure that comes sans starving, purging or pumping.

Unfortunately it sets an unreachable touchstone, particularly for their more impressionable fans. It's a bit like that friend who shakes her head vigorously (while simultaneously pulling out her newly loosened waist band) when you tell her that she's lost weight.

Diets in celebrity land are a smoke and mirrors production. Sudden weight loss is pawned off as "just a rilly, rilly high metabolism"; "stress" is a euphemism for "starving" while "work exhaustion" is what's otherwise known as borderline anorexia. (More here...)

Bottom line: Follow what common sense would tell you to eat (and do!) - that is, plenty of fruits and vegetables, regular exercise, and add some supplements to support good health. There is no 'secret' about losing weight and getting fit. The celebrities have no 'secret' either...other than some don't want you to know they're bulemic, or have had lipo, or do dangerous drugs to suppress their appetite. You don't need any crazy formula for losing weight. You need to find what motivates you, and stick to a healthy plan. One that will not only make you look good, but feel good, healthy.

HWI

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your diet plans and weight loss, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.