Gwyneth Paltrow: Dumbest Diet Advice Ever?

Was there suppose to be a story about diet, health, exercise, or nutrition in here? Where is Perez Hilton when you need him?

Thanks for the morning chuckle.

Stumbled and tagged, "dumb Tracy Anderson quotes".

Very funny. The thing about a trainer saying we shouldn't lift more than 3lbs is quite unbelievable. She presumably carries around her kids who weigh quite a lot more than that, and she has exploded -- or whatever it is Tracy thinks will happen.

Three pounds? A bag of pet food weighs a heck of a lot more than that, and the cats have to eat. Okay, I know what she means, but lifting three pound weights wouldn't do anything for me!

It's ashame that Gwenyth is not more articulate in explaining what's she's doing.

I guess that makes the point about a little bit of knowledge being dangerous.

She is clearly out to embarrass herself.. oh dear.
"SWEET LINCOLN'S MULLET!" LOL!!

Mike, you are too funny! Hey, like you, I'm sick to death of celebs being experts on weight loss. Actually, I'm sick of celebs period. Sorry I know I'm in the minority here but I'm so tired of the status we give people who really haven't done anything extraordinary. Ok, ok.... so I know I'm just being a grouch and after all didn't we have the Golden Globes last night and isn't that at least better than hearing all the economic doom 'n gloom!

AHhahah... ohh I needed a good laugh today. Seriously... she starves her self then says she's a fitness expert?

LAME. We should raid her blog, it's people like her that are giving useless fitness advice to the general public and confusing them to the max.

Personally... UN-CONFUSING my clients is one of the hardest challenges.

- FJ

While you did go off a bit on Gwyneth, she puts herself out there as a putative authority, so she's earned it, as far as I'm concerned. Good on ya, mate! :-) Thanks, especially, for bringing up the "No woman should lift more than 3 pounds" comment. I'll admit that has been ricocheting around my brain cavity ever since I heard Anderson say it, begging for more context. She was clearly not talking about lifting in the functional sense but in the repetitive, workout sense: She's of the school that says, "many reps, light weights". And whatever we might think of Gwynnie's common sense, Madonna's a smart cookie and a very fit, veteran exerciser, and she uses Anderson. So I'm hoping someone can explain what Anderson might have meant. Really...

http://perezhilton.com/2009-01-06-gwyneths-new-years-diet-revealed-in-her-own-words

What a bunch of hooey. As far as being perturbed, though, I would have to be annoyed at Oprah, also, for going on tv (and many more are listening to her) and pushing her liquid diets, strange cleanses, eating disorder desires, etc. I don't really expect much better of most celebrities, as their whole career depends on how they look, which almost by definition would make them neurotic, but someone like Oprah should know (or learn) better.

In my body sculpt class, there are tiny tiny women who do their reps on bigger weights than that (I'm still at 4 and 6 pounds), and you would never know, to look at them.

I've heard a lot of criticism about this newsletter that she put out for GOOP. I am actually impressed by her honesty. While its not healthy to be fasting continuously, fasting is a great form of cleansing. Also, I'd like to point out that the diet blog didn't publish the rest of the newsletter (shame on you!). She reccomends a great diet for fasting with very healthy meals throughout the day.

"Sweet Lincoln's Mullet"????

I just snorted my coffee right out of my nose while reading that....thanks a bunch.

And do you know what's even funnier?

Gwyneth thinks that she she should share her "knowledge" with the rest of the world via her blog - goop.

And I can guarantee that her blog will be receiving way more hits than yours or mine does today.

Oh, to be a celebrity. Guaranteed credibility in any area that you choose to blather on about...did you know that Brad Pitt is now designing buildings???

Ugh, I cannot STAND Gwyneth Paltrow for various reasons. She always does pop into my head when I think of "stupid celebrity that tries anything/everything to lose a couple of vanity pounds"...right up there with Victoria Beckham. I wouldn't put it past her to try the Master Cleanse diet (hallucinogenic as it may be) or to be one of Tracy Anderson's clients. I can't stand Tracy Anderson, either. I've seen her "workouts" in several women's fitness magazines and I always have to chuckle because they involve 25-30 reps using 2-3 lb weights. My theory is that the women that do Tracy's regime are only able to see their muscles better is because she advocates eating 1900 calories a day or fewer and she pushes 60-90 minutes of cardio per day. Of course you're going to see more muscle if you do that...you're losing the fat that's over them. I guess for me personally, I do strength training to increase my muscle strength, so I like to lift weights that are as heavy as I can manage while still maintaining my form.

Hilarious comments. Some might say you're bitter and too lazy to exercise or fast, maybe you weigh a lot more than you should (measured against Gwyneth's standards, that is). I think you're funny and you make a great contribution to the blog-world. Keep it up.

great post. especially the part about barely being able to see her ribs. shut it, Gwyneth.

This is an approximation of Tracy's system, as used by Madonna. Try it and see how you do with the 3 lb. weights.

100 V-arm raises with 3-lb dumbbells
100 shoulder pulses with 3-lb dumbbells, each arm
100 bicep curls with 3-lb dumbbells, each arm
100 triceps kickbacks with 3-lb dumbbells, each arm
30 first position plie squats
30 second position plie squats
5 sets of diamond squats, holding for 10 seconds and alternated with 10 pelvic tilts
40 sideways squats with inner thigh squeeze
40 sideways squats with pelvic tilts
30 standing arabesque pulses, each leg
30 seated pretzel lifts, each leg
30 leg lifts from plank position, each leg
100 V-up sit-ups
100 yoga crunches
100 regular crunches

It's her body, she can do what she wants. And if people are dumb enough to feel pressurised into following suit, more fool them.

Oh how I miss the days of training the LA eating disorder peeps! I use to run behind Kalista Flockhart and her trainer and see which one of us could tackle her and make her eat a sand sandwich! LA was certainly not easy on our ego's...so many women feel that they need to be size 0 because of our fascination with Hollywood. But, I know first hand that the pressure to be thin out there is like no other...hence why I live in Florida! The only good thing I got from LA was a few great friends, great memories, and the birth of my energy bar, 3BAR!

3lbs, huh? The weight of her brain?

Do you think I'd be able to get signed off from work on the basis that I shouldn't lift more than 3lbs? Most of my job is lifting, and the part that isn't involves pulling around 30 stones or so in a metal cage that in itself can weigh quite a few stones!

Hi Tina!

I've supplied a link to the workout techniques. If Diet-Blog approves the link, they will post it.

I'm having trouble deciding which part of your blog is actually "dumb diet advice". Aside from celebs being fair game for people who choose to bash them in an attempt to make themselves feel better, I have to wonder which medical school teaches that fresh, organic fruits and vegetables would land any reasonably healthy person in the hospital. Fasting, herbal use, and temporary mono-diets have been a part of human and animal behavior as far back as we can tell. Not only are these bahaviors not fads but neither is the Master Cleanse. This cleanse was introduced formally in the 40's and has been used safely by many since then. I have used this cleanse (not for weightloss) and was very pleased with it. I agree that healthy body images are needed and people should not rely on celebs or bloggers for diet and health advice. We should have a good MD who can listen and honor our choices, an educated advisor if we choose to incorporate natural remedies, and the intelligence to educate ourselves in order to take responsibility for our own health.

Excellent article. Very funny. Cate and Private Ryan were totally shafted.

Ah, celebrity. It makes complete idiots think that they're geniuses.

To be fair, I don't think Ms. Paltrow is a complete idiot, but she is suffering from the Madonna-esque misconception that marrying a Brit makes you smarter than other Americans.

Ok, that was unfair too.

What I really want to say is that it's not necessarily her fault, it's the media that gives her the forum to spout nonsense, and they have the lack of ethics to print dietary and medical advice of someone who is NOT an expert as if they have any sort of credibility.

Anyone with any sense will take such advice with a grain of salt. However, I suspect that many people who read celebrity interviews do not have good sense.

I'm not sure I really agree with your angst here. I got GP's latest newsletter in my email and enjoyed it all the lot. Perhaps I am just smarter than the rest of the women (I suspect not), but while reading her own plan motivated me and encouraged me to try new things and learn more, I was not convinced that I would wake up tomorrow (or any day) 4" taller and 60lbs lighter. Nothing about her skews my body image.

As for Tracey, I'm not sure if she is of the shame genetic cloth that you gave Gwyneth, but she does look awfully fit. She's paid to do it, and she does it well. Frankly, I don't care about her genetics. I love that her plan reminds of dancing and makes dance a great workout. Were I not 5'5" and 170lbs!!! (having been so since I was 12) I would have wished to be a dancer like her.

To wit: after GP's last newsletter I kicked my diet / exercise butt into gear. Lost 4 lbs in two weeks. I like her much for that.

Unless Ms Paltrow has a degree in Medicine, I wouldn't subsribe to her advice on diet or health.
The last person on earth who should tell us about healthy eating habits someone who vaccilates from one diet fad to another and who would go on a "Master Cleanse Diet" which caused her to hallucinate.
Maybe she WAS hallucinating when she wrote on GOOP. Seems more and more that her advice is just that...a toss worthy goop.

These extreme celebrity diet "solutions" are ridiculous. The damage that starving your body and "cleansing", as they call it can do to your body can be worse than you ever hear about. Even the Best diet pills can have regrettable side affects. The best solution is to eat naturally and exercise! People are getting lazier and lazier...

I abhor people who profess themselves to be writers and use the absolute wrong words in their work. A "regime" is a government in power. I believe you meant to write "regimen", meaning an action undertaken to achieve a desired result.

Is Seleb fasting diet?