It’s pretty simple to lose weight – in theory. If you eat less calories than you take in and exercise you’ll shed the pounds. In practice it’s hard to trick ourselves into following any kind of diet or fitness regimen if we’re not used to it, and that’s where the products, diets, and fitness gimmicks come in. When I want to lose weight I have to have a concrete way to do it and a kind of formula to follow in order to remind me how to eat and work out. For me it’s something I do alone with a plan, but other people lose weight using groups, fitness buddies and support systems. To succeed in lasting weight loss, you have to find what’s right for you given your personality and what will motivate you to stick with it.

Many people scoff at celebrities losing weight because they have so much help. There’s someone planning their workouts and getting paid big bucks to make sure they exercise, and they might have a chef cooking their meals for them. They have the time too, because there’s someone to watch their kids, someone to clean their house, and another person to pick up their groceries and dry cleaning. We’re still interested to learn how they did it, even if the level of support they have is unattainable to most of us.

Britney Spears said she lost weight through diet and exercise. She eats around 1,200 calories a day and works out hard. Britney graces the cover of OK! Magazine, and they quote an expert who says you can lose around 12 pounds in 30 days with her plan:

“I’m the healthiest I’ve been all my life,” Britney, 26, tells OK!. “My diet has a lot to do with my getting into shape. I have no sugar. I don’t eat fruit or even fruit juice because of the sugar. I eat chicken and salmon and rice. I eat avocados. I’ll have egg whites for breakfast and sometimes turkey burgers for lunch. I try to do just 1,200 calories a day. It may sound like it’s not much, but it’s actually a lot of food if you eat the right things.”

Of course, Brit also hits the gym on a regular basis, doing “lots of cardio and weights” five days a week.

The singer’s comittment to being healthy is applauded by trainers like Miami-based trainer and owner of SOMA Fitness & Performance, Adam Cronin. Cronin, who has not worked with the pop star, says Britney’s routine of following a 1,200-calorie-a-day, high-protein meal plan is ideal for someone who wants to drop pounds in a safe, healthy way.

“If you follow a vigorous workout program — plus this eating program — it is possible to lose up to 12 pounds in 30 days, in a very healthy, non fad-like way,” Adam tells OK!.

[From OK! Magazine]

Jessica Alba quickly lost 25 pounds of baby weight with a low-carb diet and by busting her butt with exercise six times of week, much of it at home with her trainer in order to stay close to her two and half month-old.

Just two months after giving birth to daughter Honor Marie, Jessica Alba is 25 lbs. lighter – and her trainer is telling PEOPLE just how she did it.

“Jessica went from a size 8 to a size 4 pretty quickly,” says Alba’s longtime trainer Ramona Braganza. The actress – who flaunted her post-baby body at the ALMA Awards on Aug. 17 – has been opting for a low-fat, low-carb diet as part of Braganza’s 321 Baby Bulge Be Gone plan.

She has been sweating, too: With an elliptical machine and treadmill at home, Alba, 27, has resumed her routine of core exercises, cardio and circuit training.

“The baby always comes first, but Jessica definitely set goals for herself,” says Braganza, who now trains Alba six days a week.

And having a workout buddy helped. “She loves working out with a girlfriend,” says Braganza, whose client, actress Jamie King, frequently trains with Alba.

[From People.com]

Good for Britney and Jessica for losing weight and doing it sensibly. They’re not starving like Madonna’s trainer recommends or only subsisting on weird maple syrup and cayenne pepper drinks like Beyonce said helped her lose a dangerous 20 pounds in two weeks. They’re still making the rest of us moms look bad – the ones who work 8 hours a day, have childcare that’s not always reliable, have to cook dinner, do the laundry, clean the house and squeeze in time for a workout. Who am I kidding, though, I only have one kid and I work from home. My life is practically stress free compared to a lot of you with several children to care for – whether you stay at home or not. If you manage to stay fit and balance all that at once you deserve a medal. Hell you deserve a medal for just getting through the day.