How to Get a Lean Celebrity Body

So you've been admiring Valerie Bertinelli's bikini bod and reading about Kathy Ireland's weight loss, and now you're thinking you'd like to get a lean celebrity body? You're going to have to work at it.

Let's get one thing straight: celebrities have all the time, money, and personal trainers in the world. They're also able to afford in-home chefs, nutritionists, and stylists for every occasion--not to mention entourages telling them how fabulous they are.

You may not have the money or time for a true celebrity lifestyle, but there are some things you can learn from celebrity diet, fitness, and beauty routines. Having a celebrity fitness icon can give you the motivation to stick to a disciplined routine of eating and exercise. You should also know that even celebrities have bad days, and use some secret tricks for looking leaner than they really are.

This tutorial will give you tips on three main areas: diet, exercise, and tricks for slimming your appearance.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• specific, attainable goals
• fitness routine
• diet plan
• discipline
• self-tanner
• correct undergarments
• flattering clothing
• entourage of friends

1. No matter what your goals, make sure you stay realistic. If you want to look like a celebrity, you'd better choose a goal that is both specific and attainable. If you are a five-foot-two, curvaceous woman with pale skin, you are never going to look like that skinny, six-foot-tall Brazilian model. Period. To tell yourself otherwise is both unhealthy and damaging to your self-esteem. By all means pick an icon to help you with your goals; just don't torture yourself with unrealistic expectations.

2. 

   If you're after a celebrity body, you will most certainly need a disciplined regimen of diet and exercise. The most popular trend in celebrity diets is high-protein, lower-carb eating. This is not difficult unless you are a vegetarian; you'll simply need to incorporate lean meat (especially fish), complex carbs, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies into your diet.

3. It's not just what you eat, it's how much. Most celebrities follow strict, low-calorie diets--or rather, pay someone else to count those calories for them. Though counting calories is tedious, it is the most effective means of weight loss. If you can't afford in-home food delivery, you'll need to watch your portions yourself. Be sure to calculate your calorie needs individually; one diet does not fit all.

4. 
   Drink water rather than soda or alcohol.

   "Detox" is a word often associated with celebrities. While it's never a good idea to stop eating entirely (as is the case with some extreme detox plans), detoxification can help you stay slim. Avoiding alcohol, sugar, or caffeine altogether can have tremendous health benefits, stave off bloating, and keep you looking leaner.

5. 

   When it comes to exercise, you need both strength training and cardio--but probably less cardio than you think. Doing hours and hours of the same cardio routine can actually make your body refuse to change its shape. Building muscle, on the other hand, means that you burn more calories even when resting. Strength training is also the key to a more toned appearance.

6. 

   Strength training simply means building up your muscles using resistance. You can use exercise bands, free weights, or machines for this. Pilates, which uses your own body weight to build core strength, is another popular celebrity option, as is power yoga. Read up on which routines your favorite celebrities use, and use this to find a routine that works for you.

7. When it comes to cardio, make sure you get the most efficient calorie burn from your time. Interval training (where you switch between different exertion levels) is the best way to do this. Plyometric exercise, which raises your heart rate by making explosive movements with the largest muscles, is also popular with celebrity trainers.

8. With both diet and exercise, you're going to have to be disciplined. Since you don't have an entourage of dietitians, nutritionists, and trainers, enlist some friends in your improvement plan. Make it a group goal to get lean.

9. So now you're working on having the best body you can. Give it some time; you'll need to work up to heavier weights and longer spurts of intense cardio. In the meantime, try some celebrity tricks for looking lean.

10. 

    In the first place, buy the right undergarments. The right bra can make you look ten pounds lighter, but the wrong one can have the opposite effect. Shaping undergarments are an attested celebrity trick for the red carpet, and even Catherine Zeta-Jones is rumored to use Sassybax camisoles! Double-sided tape is another trick celebrity stylists use to keep clothing sitting where it should, especially around the neckline.

11. 
    Buy only clothes that flatter your figure.

    Next step: re-evaluate your wardrobe. Believe it or not, not all celebrities have "perfect" bodies, no matter how fit they are. Part of looking the part is dressing the part, and celebrities have plenty of people to tell them what looks best on their body type.
    
    Most likely, you'll have to be your own stylist. Make sure you know what your body type is, and choose fashions that flatter it. Start looking for fashions that work on you, and only buy clothes if they make you feel like a million bucks.

12. 
    Airbrush your way to defined abs.

    Most celebrities sport some variety of fake tan. Why? Because an all-over golden glow not only makes you look beach-bound, it makes you look thin. A fake tan also conceals skin blemishes and imperfections. If you can afford it, get a custom spray tan that will enhance your muscle definition; if you can't, try a daily moisturizer with tanner built in.

13. The most important element for looking like a celebrity? Confidence. Always keep your posture straight, your shoulders back, and your head high.

14. And how about that entourage? Since you don't have a ready-made herd of agents and yes-men, make your friends your entourage. You can all agree about how fabulous you look, and hearing it said out loud will certainly make you feel great. Agree to dress up and go out regularly to celebrate your fabulousness.

Tips & Warnings

• Eating healthy doesn't mean eating boring food. Check out the resources at the end of the article for places to find healthy recipes.
• Any fitness routine gets boring after some time. Make to change up the exercise you do, and read online websites to find new ways of working out.
• If you're a woman, don't be afraid that weight training will make you bulk up like football player. It's virtually impossible.
• Yoga can be a great exercise option, but Madonna isn't getting that body from yoga alone. Make sure to combine yoga with other forms of exercise, or at least do variants that burn calories as well as stretch and strengthen.
• Demand that people treat you with respect--but don't demand that they worship you. Then you'll have gone from celebrity twin to scary diva.

Resources

• Bare Necessities, one of the best shapewear sites
• EatingWell: A source for healthy recipes
• Fitness Magazine (fitness advice and workouts)
• Lucy Danziger's Fitness Blog

[anticelebrity]

on 10/18/2009 Brilliant advice there! The best article I've read on the subject.
More at http://www.anticelebrity.net

[heatherinks]

on 4/9/2009 I have a "celebrity body" and I have been flown out to Hollywood to be on tv for it. If you learn to eat right, and do 30 minutes of exercise a few times a week, drink water, and handle stress appropriately, Jesus is the way for me, then it is possible and it is not that hard. http://www.geocities.com/heather_inks

[zahzel]

on 4/6/2009 Right on. I workout at least 2 hours a day....:-)Good advice.