I was at the gym….perusing their stock of trashy tabloid magazines to entertain myself on the elliptical when my eyes passed over this cover….

Interested in how Jennifer Aniston, a woman whose discipline I have often admired, had lost such a significant amount, I picked up the mag and started to delve into the article.  To sum up, Aniston had been eating baby food — her celebrity trainer, Tracy Anderson had recommended the “baby food cleanse”, which involves eating 14 portions of pureed baby food a day, followed by a regular dinner.  The science behind the diet is that baby food is quickly digested, and quick digestion means faster weight loss.

Um…what!  Not only is this almost laughably ridiculous (grown women eating baby food), it’s unbelievably UNHEALTHY.  Basically you are depriving your body of getting proper fuel on a highly calorically restricted diet.  According to most experts, you should only aim to lose 1 or 2 pounds per week.  Otherwise, the weight loss in unsustainable in the long run.  Once Aniston goes off of this cleanse, I would not be surprised if she put on all her previous weight…plus some.  Basically, her metabolism is now in starvation mode — her body is screaming for food and she keeps feeding it pureed carrots.  Once she goes off this diet, her body will go crazy and absorb all the nutrients it can get.  Not only do extreme diets like the baby food cleanse slow your metabolism, once the diet is over, most subjects will actually gain weight.  The only proven method to lose weight and keep it off is by eating healthy, well-balanced meals, and working out.  There is no magic bullet.  I’ll take the real food…save the mashed bananas for the babies.