By Nick Hall

I’m not normally a fan of celebrity magazines or the health/weight loss related articles contained in them but this I just had to read.

It seems every week we see a different Hollywood celeb who has undergone a dramatic weight loss transformation seemingly overnight. Whilst some of us grind away on the treadmill, cut carbs and forgo our favourite foods, these celebs seem to be able to put their metabolism into warp speed and dump excess weight at will.

I’m actually surprised that any magazine would publish this kind of content considering its target audience. Lets look at each method individually:

Gastric balloon.  If you’re looking to drop 15-20 kgs in a few months maybe a saline balloon inserted into your stomach could be the answer.  The balloon helps to give you the feeling of fullness while you follow a prescribed diet (I’m guessing a low calorie water based diet).  Side effects? You bet.  Risks include the balloon bursting, lodging in vital organs and causing serious infection.

Cotton Ball Diet.  Want to trick yourself into thinking you have eaten, try eating cotton balls.  It’s alleged catwalk models are dipping cotton balls intro orange juice then eating them.  Cotton balls are low calories, high in fibre and help give you the feeling of satiety.  The cotton balls then apparently dissolve harmlessly.  Harmless enough to only cause digestive tract damage and malnutrition.

Last but not least, the Tongue Patch.  If starving yourself wasn’t bad enough, this takes self torture to a whole new level.  For only $2,000 you can have an implant sewn into your tongue which makes it so painful to eat you end up just not eating altogether.  Once the implant is sewn in you then live off protein shakes and can lose 12kgs in a month.

While these extreme measures at weight loss may be effective in the short term, it remains to be seen how effective they are in the long term and whether you would class them as the best weight loss program.

I’d be interested to know the how the energy levels of the patients cope with such low calorie intake.  The best weight loss eating plan should give you a tremendous energy boost each day.  following a low calorie diet can result in unbearable cravings given the body will crave sweet and fatty foods when blood sugar levels fall low.

The human body is built for survival.  In times of famine or starvation the body will slow the metabolism, store body fat and eventually use muscle as energy. If the body is starved long enough, when normal foods are reintroduced into the diet, significant fat storage can occur resulting in a rebound effect.

The methods mentioned above all use extreme measures to achieve the same result which is restricting food intake to force weight loss.  An extreme measure is required because the human body isn’t designed to be forced into rapid weight loss.  When the body is forced into rapid weight loss it usually can’t be sustained for long periods of time.

Sustainable weight loss can only occur when the right hormonal environment is created. By adopting the best weight loss  plan the body stops storing fat and begins burning fat instead.  This method doesn’t require force, extreme exercise or cutting calories to dangerously low levels.  This can be achieved through proper nutrition intake and the right type and amount of exercise.