Mariah Carey, 39, reveals the diet and exercise regime that helped her lose two stones and slim down to a size 6.
You’ve lost an incredible two stone recently. How did you manage it?
 My secret is bleak diets, which is basically soups and fish prepared really blandly. And I’m not eating ice cream or fattening stuff. I didn’t feel like I had gained weight, but then I tried on a pair of shorts that I’d had for many years…Now they fit again. They’re actually kind of big!
As well as following a diet, you’ve been working out as well haven’t you?
I have a wonderful trainer whose name is Patricia, she lives in St Barts. People say: ‘Only you would fly someone from St Barts to New York to work out!’ We do water aerobics mostly. Even if we’re not working out, she monitors my diet and stuff like that. It makes things easier for me. It’s about discipline. I have a lot of discipline. When it’s time to get it together, I know that I have to.
So, are you happy with your body now?
I still feel like I have a way to go, but I don’t feel like I have to be a size zero. Right now, I feel really great. I feel better than I’ve ever felt. We should all embrace who we are physically. It’s not about necessarily even a size. It’s about feeling good and being comfortable in your own skin. I’m not supposed to be a stick-figure girl. It’s just not me. I’ve got a butt, and I want to keep it because I like it. Yeah, it grows and it shrinks. There’s only a certain amount of weight that I want to lose.
Do you find yourself jumping on the scales more often now though?
Muscle weighs more than fat, so why torture yourself with a scale? For me, it’s not about a number on a scale. If your clothes fit you better, then you know that you have lost some weight. Now I’m down to my 10th Grade size [age 16] and it feels good and yet it doesn’t feell good because I can’t eat what I want.
So what sort of food would you want to eat?
I love pizza. When I go home to New York from a long trip I always get a slice. And macaroni and cheese. It broke my heart [when I had to give it up]. It’s the thing that I have difficulty letting go of because it’s comfort food.
Source: Star Magazine | Text and Scans: Mariah Connection UK
Last week’s issue of Us Weekly (yes, I subscribe) reported that Mariah Carey dropped 20 pounds by following a diet prescribed by her trainer/nutritionist. One key, the magazine said: a ban on eating carbohydrates and protein in the same meal, on the theory that because these nutrients are absorbed differently in the gut, eating them separately is more efficient and promotes greater weight loss than eating a more balanced meal.
I thought that Mariah probably lost the pounds because her diet (which actually looked pretty good—lots of fruit, veggies, lean protein, and good fats) provided only about 1,000 to 1,500 calories a day, not because the carbs and protein were allowed to schuss through the digestive tract without the benefit of each other’s company. But I called nutritionists to find out if there was anything to the idea of separating nutrients by meal (which is actually an old one; William Howard Hay popularized the concept in the U.S. in the early 20th century).
“Absolutely not—there is no scientific evidence to show this,” says Suzanne Havala Hobbs, a registered dietitian and director of the doctoral program in health leadership at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in Chapel Hill, N.C. I found one published study looking at this approach, appearing in the International Journal of Obesity in 2000. Researchers in Switzerland randomly assigned 54 obese adults to one of two diets, both of which had the same amount of calories and a similar carb-protein-fat ratio but which varied in how those nutrients were distributed throughout the day. One group ate balanced meals, while the other ate fat and carbs at different times. The result: no statistically significant difference in body fat lost or lean body mass between the groups. (Both groups lost weight, as you’d expect, since they were confined to a hospital and fed only 1,100 calories a day.)
Nutritionists I talked to said that humans have evolved over the years to accommodate and thrive on a variety of foods. “We don’t give our bodies enough credit for adapting to varying dietary conditions, which we’ve had to do in order to survive as a species,” says Havala Hobbs. In fact, whether you’re trying to lose weight or not, it’s probably better for you to make sure your meals and snacks have some combination of carbs, protein, and a smaller amount of fat, says Bonnie Taub-Dix, national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and director of BTD Nutrition Consultants in Woodmere, N.Y. “Yes, hello, I know the nutrients are absorbed at different rates,” she says. “If you have peanut butter and crackers, the crackers are digested quickly to give you a boost of energy, and then because the peanut butter has protein and fat [which are absorbed more slowly], you won’t have that crash but will have a more sustained energy during the day,” she says. And if you’re satisfied, you’re less likely to snack on junk later in the day or overeat at the next meal.
There’s some evidence that eating some nutrients together in a single meal can actually aid their absorption, especially of minerals, says Martha Stipanuk, a nutritional sciences professor at Cornell University. Iron from nonanimal sources like spinach or beans, for example, is better absorbed when it’s accompanied by a source of vitamin C in the same meal. And vitamin A is better absorbed if it’s digested with fat. But since there have been no large, “real world” studies showing that a diet where these nutrients are eaten together leads to better absorption than a diet where they’re eaten separately, don’t sweat when you eat which nutrients unless you have a deficiency.
“I don’t know of any nutritionist who worries about this on a daily basis with [his or her] own diet,” she says. That also goes for plant-based “incomplete” proteins like beans, nuts, and grains; it was once believed that you had to eat beans and grains together in order to get the full array of amino acids, but now the American Dietetic Association says it’s only necessary to make sure your overall diet includes a variety of these proteins each day.
More important is to make sure you’re getting a range of different foods, heavy on whole foods and light on the processed ones, says Stipanuk. (Here’s a list of foods containing different nutrients.) And, says Taub-Dixon, if you’re trying to lose weight, don’t forget to watch your portion sizes. “There’s no gimmick or miracle cure,” she says. Not even for celebrities.
Source: U.S. News & World Report
Looking toned, trim and glowing with health, Mariah Carey was recently snapped frolicking on a beach in the Caribbean.
There was no sign of the plumpish curves that were apparent last year, when the singer stepped out in a tight-fitting black dress.
And it is all down to Mariah - who turns 38 next month - changing her lifestyle in a bid to keep pace with younger stars.
Her decision to shape up came after she ballooned from a UK size 8 to a size 14 six months ago. For Mariah, it was a crisis point.
A source close to the star tells us: “She kept having to raid old closets for bigger clothes or buy new stuff.
Finally, she just said to herself: `You’re stronger than this - you can be any size you want.’”
Mariah is not alone in hitting a low as she nears 40. New research by Warwick University found that women are programmed to get depressed as they hit their 40s, confirming the theory of a “mid-life crisis”.
The good news is - as Mariah proves - it’s never too late to regain your sexy shape by making diet and lifestyle changes.
Mariah lost two stone and regained her fab figure by following a low-fat diet of fish, soups, veg and fruit - lots of blueberries, plums and grapes, which contain anti-ageing antioxidants.
She told a friend: “I discovered that I actually like munching on carrots, celery and even broccoli.”
“I still eat a lot of bland fish and soups but I’ve almost cut out the snacking on chips and cookies.”
“That stuff was really adding to the weight-gain and giving my skin an unattractive, waxy look.
But I don’t miss the junk food at all now.”
Thrilled with the results of her new regime, she told a friend: “I’m muscular and have a butt and thighs, so I’ll never be as skinny as Paris Hilton.”
“But I think I look good and I feel good, too. I hope I’m turning a few heads for a while to come.”
HOW TO FOLLOW MARIAH’S DIET
Pick one of the breakfasts, lunches and dinners below with two snacks a day.
Ditch ready meals for fresh foods to reduce your daily intake of salt, sugar and saturated fat.
Eat regularly to keep energy levels stable.
Steam or poach rather than fry.
Swap hard cheeses for soft ones such as goats’ cheese.
Try to eat fish, three to four times a week - make two of them oily fish.
Eat only skinless chicken and limit your intake of red meat.
Breakfasts
Porridge made with skimmed milk and a handful of mixed berries.
Muesli with mixed nuts and seeds, and a low-fat yoghurt.
Banana and blueberry smoothie made with skimmed milk. Lunches
Homemade soups made from brightly-coloured vegetables but no cream. Try using pumpkin, tomato, broccoli, celery, watercress and red pepper. Serve with a wholegrain roll - no butter.
Dinners
Poached salmon with ovenroasted red pepper and courgette.
Fresh tuna steak with tomato salsa sauce and green salad with red grapes and pomegranate seeds.
Two-egg omelette using Omega-3 enriched eggs, with goats’ cheese and red onion.
Snacks
An apple
Two plums
10 red grapes
Celery and carrot sticks with hummus
Glass of purple grape juice
Handful of almonds
4 ANTIAGEING FOODS
Eat these foods at least three times a week
Fish
Why? It’s a great source of leptin, a protein which acts like a hormone and controls your appetite so you don’t over-eat. Plus, according to Dr Perricone, creator of the “fish facelift” diet, oily fish such as salmon contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which leave skin less wrinkled.
Purple fruit
Why? Grapes, plums and dark berries are packed with powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins that can help fight the free radical damage that breaks down collagen in the skin, causing wrinkles and lines to form.
Almonds
Why? They’re high in essential fatty acids, calcium and magnesium, which help banish water retention. Plus they’re packed with vitamin E, which can help to balance your mood-affecting hormones.
Broccoli
Why? It’s high in chromium, a mineral that helps the pancreas stabilise insulin release, so you won’t get fluctuating blood sugars levels that lead to food cravings and bingeing.
Source: Daily Mirror | Scan & Text: Mariah Connection UK
Mariah revealed the following diet tip to USA TV show Extra at the launch of her new perfume “M” in New York City:
“My trainer says if you’re about to do a photo shoot or something important, then you shouldn’t eat salads,” she confided. “You retain water and it bloats you. You should eat grilled vegetables instead.”
Source: Mariah Connection
Newly svelte singer Mariah Carey (down 15 pounds) is eating only what she calls purple food: red grapes, beetroot, plums and dark red apples. She reckons they help stop the breakdown of collagen which causes wrinkles.
Along with her nutritionist, Carey has reportedly created a diet plan that includes eating purple foods three times a week. That’s right. And before you start scratching your head and wondering how on earth eating purple foods can help you lose weight, you should know, that weight loss is not the goal of this particular diet. Instead, Carey is munching on the likes of grapes and plums in the hopes that they will help to prevent signs of aging. But don’t roll your eyes just yet. According to research, this purple food diet may just be the smartest one Mariah Carey has ever tried.
In fact, according to Dr. James Joseph, Chief of the Neuroscience Laboratory at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center for Aging, purple and blue hued foods actually do contain anti-aging properties, though he prefers the use of a different term. “We call it healthy aging,” he explained. This same line of thinking extends far beyond blue and purple foods and includes any fruit or vegetable that is bright in color. So what is behind this anti-wrinkle cure?
Source: Blackdoctor.org
R&B singing sensation Mariah Carey is launching her new world tour, “The Adventures of Mimi”, and flaunting her new, slimmer shape - and she credits her `Morsel Diet’, according to a published report.
The once chubby singer went on the diet, and to speed things along, she underwent an exercise regime with her fitness trainer and performed water aerobics.
Mariah explains, “I kind of invented it. Basically you can have a tiny bit of everything you want.”
“When I’m really, really hungry I’ll be like `I need a morsel!’”
“So they’ll give just me whatever is there (on the plate), but it has to be less than a forkful.”
Source: Post Chronicle
Mariah Carey is living on plain fish and soup in a bid to shed the excess pounds.
The beautiful diva has taken all calorific treats off the menu until she reaches her target weight.
She told America’s People magazine she’s been on a “really bleak diet, which is basically soups and fish prepared really blandly”.
However, it’s unlikely Mariah will ever get too thin - because she’s terrified of losing her sexy curves.
The stunning star has said although she likes working out she can’t exercise too much in case she loses her ample butt.
She said: “I’ve been working out like mad - you can even punch me in the stomach and feel how tight that is.”
“But I’ve gotta slow it down because the other day someone told me I was losing my ass - and I don’t want to lose that.”
Source: VibeStyle Showbiz | Mariah Connection UK
Sunday, April 27, 2008
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