These are photos of Laura Prepon getting papped shopping for fresh vegetables in Venice Beach. As The Daily Mail points out, she’s promoting a 21 day diet “detox” plan called The Stash Plan. The book isn’t out until March, but she seems to be gearing up to promote it in the new year. It’s co-authored by “integrative nutritionist” Elizabeth Troy and is described as “combining the latest in food science with ancient dietary wisdom.”
There’s a lot of pseudo scientific nonsense in the description on Amazon, particularly this sentence “Troy ‘unstuck’ Prepon’s malfunctioning organs and metabolism through targeted eating and stretching that finally allowed her to lose those stubborn pounds and thrive.” You lose weight by eating less calories than you burn, it’s pretty simple, it’s not a matter of “stuck” metabolism or “malfunctioning organs” or eating foods in combination with each other or eliminating specific foods. You can eat more veggies and protein to get more nutrition, but these type of plans that make people rehaul their entire diet aren’t as sustainable as simply eating less and making incremental changes like adding more fruit and vegetables.
As far as a detox goes, it doesn’t sound like a typical juicing or extremely low calorie plan and at least includes actual food. “In The Stash Plan, you’ll learn what to cook and how to create a combinable ‘stash’ of meals—proteins, carbs, and vegetables—and nutritional bone broths to eat throughout the week.” They also tout the fact that the meals can be affordably made. On the up side they’re not selling shakes and/or meal delivery services.
The Daily Mail reports that Prepon eats a gluten free diet, and I couldn’t verify that this Stash diet is gluten free, but I did find an interview with her from earlier this year in which she explained that many people are sensitive to gluten and that she eats organic food because she views “GMOs as toxic to the system.” She added that “With all of the GMO food sprayed with chemicals in the typical American diet and the other environmental toxins everyone has to deal with, our gut flora, intestines and bodies in general are becoming compromised.” There’s little science to back up the notion that GMOs are bad for us, but many people believe it. I do agree that pesticides and a typical American diet can be unhealthy in general. She also said that she follows “Eastern medicine, because I feel that Western medicine treats problems and Eastern medicine prevents problems from happening.”
Prepon is a Scientologist, and I wonder how she reconciles her belief in Eastern medicine with her Scientology belief system, which claims that vitamin cocktails, saunas and expensive auditing can cure what ails you. Maybe this is her way of establishing her independence from the cult, but we’ll see. I would love to see another high level defector like Leah Remini.
This is who I think of when I hear “Stash” and Laura Prepon, but I didn’t make it through the third season of OITNB I have to admit.
The Daily Mail reports that these boots are Chanel. Why can’t they be Doc Martins or something I can afford?
photo credit: WENN.com and Laura Prepon/Instagram
Man, she has such a stepford, LA face now. Like all that plastic surgery has just sucked the light right out of her eyes. Sad.
She does look like a completely different person now, doesn’t she? Not at all like Donna from That 70s Show. I know it’s been a long time, but just how much her face has changed shocks me.
Why is her hair so dark? Why did she do that to her eyebrows? Why? why??
I think the Scientology has sucked the life out of her eyes…like Katie Holmes. After reading in-depth about this ‘religion’, it’s easy to see why they can look so exhausted, and just beaten down. It’s a frighteningly abusive system that plays on people’s insecurities, fears, weaknesses and has them commit crazy hours to ‘auditing’ when they should be sleeping or doing healthy things.
I think part of the face trauma is that she’s clearly lost a lot of weight in a short time. Damn, Donna, you were hot just the way you were!
What a load.
She looks like she’s lost a ton of weight. Sad because she always had a really healthy-looking physique.
🙋🏼🙋🏼🙋🏼🙋🏼 Kitten! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Gnatty 😀
The more I read, the more I was thinking the same thing. Snake oil salesperson.
She’s trying so hard to have a svelte build, you can see her clavicle popping out in the dress pics. I like her Donna regular body better. And yes to all the comments re her face. WTW?!
A steaming pile.
almost the same identical thing I was about to say … except mine was more: what a crock of shitness 😉
In Oregon, our last election had a choice for the public to vote on labeling GMO foods. I voted yes, I think there should be a label letting you know what your eating. It didn’t pass, barely. I think our foods are different from our parents generation or grandparents generation. I also believe you have the right as a consumer to know what you’re buying and should also have a choice.
Totally, my grandma, who’s 94, always talks about how she grew up on bacon and apple pie and loads of what we consider unhealthy foods but I think they were way different in her day. All of the fruits and veggies she ate when she was young was straight off the farm and the soil wasn’t filled with contaminants like it is now. Even organic produce today have some contaminants because of the chemicals in ground water. You can’t get away from it. I always wonder what the food must have tasted like back then before it became so processed and tainted.
Hi! I’m Oregon too! I voted to have them
labeled as well, I can’t believe it didn’t go through.
“Unstuck malfunctioning organs” sounds like code for “she was really really constipated”.
That was my thought too.
I’m digging her boots
Wow, she’s channeling Priscilla Presley in some of these pix.
She’s a Scientologist so that automatically discredits anything she has to say.
This.
Sounds completely sensible to me. Just sounds like good clean eating plan.
Not something most can keep going. It’s a diet and not something sustainable. There’s where it breaks apart.
Well, typically these things are meant to change up your palate and cravings, to put you on a better path. But willpower will always be the magic ingredient to keep it going. I have to eat similar to this for health reasons, and whenever I start to feel myself slipping into bad habits again, I’ll do something short, like a 3-day juice fast, or a super specific veg and nuts-based recipe meal plan for a few days, to reset my cravings. It’s always down to me though to keep it going. Sustainability is up to the person. It always will be.
No diet in the world will work the same on everyone. I read an article a while ago that described a study on people’s blood sugar levels and how different foods will have different effects on people. Chocolate won’t help your blood sugar levels, obviously, but there were for example people whose levels shot up after eating certain veggies. Which is not generally what happens but it’s one example of how losing weight is so much more complex than just calories in vs. out. Everyone will lose weight if you decrease your calories enough but sustaining weight loss is a nightmare because your brain will forever try to f*ck you over, so to speak. For me it’s fresh food and quite a bit of trial and error.
At least there’s actual food, that’s the only positive thing about it. As for the rest, there are no such things as detox (unless you added mercury and uranium to your morning tea), and unless an actual MD told you that your organs are failling you, they can’t be stuck or malfunctionning (well, except for the occasional gal bladder stone) and if that happens, it’s not a new diet that you’ll need… Your liver, kidneys, pancreas and gut microbiota are doing just fine by themselves and none of these organs will know that you ate your kale blended with your carrots and lemon or in separated courses in your meal, combinaisons are just silly! Also there are are no Western and Eastern medicine just like there are no Western and Eastern chemistry or physics; there are evidence-based medicine and believes, sometimes, traditions have some truth to it and medicine will incorporate it, sometimes, it’s utter BS and it is rejected, it’d be great if people understood that. And aside from being a delicious way to use every part of the animal, there is nothing miraculous about bone broths! That’s just how you make broth when you don’t buy it in a pack!! It’s your soup base, that’s it! I just can’t with this fad…
And really: learn to cook, and teach your kids to cook! That’s the key to cheap and healthy eating, making most of your meals from scratch using local and seasonal produces as much as you can (winter usually lasts for 6 months here, I know it’s not always possible to go local-only) to make it sustainable. You don’t even need to go organic, an organic peach grown 1000 miles away is far less eco-friendly than an apple grown in the orchard in the town next to yours.
But then again, would you trust someone who thinks being a level 8 will stop you from getting the common cold for health advises?
Well said.
I love your comment.
I don’t knock these things. I have to eat somewhat specifically for health reasons, but I’m also one of those people who does better when it’s all laid out for me and I’m told what to eat and make. So these types of meal plans are great for me. I also pretty much learned how to cook by following these types of things. I’ve also learned how to make my own nut milks and cheeses from these, and lots of other things. So I never knock good clean eating meal plans.
I do really reject the usage of the word detox though. I don’t mind it when it’s used to imply that you’re detoxing yourself of bad habits or bad cravings, resetting your palate, but when it’s used to imply it’s flushing your system physically, that’s just bad science. Your liver is doing it.
Applauds this entire comment.
Everything you said from beginning to end is TRUTH.
Especially about “detoxes”. I effing hate that term; you have a liver, an overpriced glass of nasty juice will not outperform your own liver.
she’s into scientology??
no thanks to anything she is touting.
So… Eating normally? How revolutionary.
I miss her beautiful red hair.
Me too! This too dark washes her out, esp with no makeup. I have similar complexion to her, flat black is too harsh. She needs to at least add a touch of red to the dark color, or better yet, go back to red! Loved her hair color as hot Donna. And it would make her work on her face look more natural. As it is, the harsh color just emphasizes the work.
I think she’s a natural blonde, actually.
She is a natural blonde.
Every year a new diet fad comes out. I agree that you need to find what works for you and stick with it. I’m wondering if anywhere in this book it talks about getting up and moving (you don’t have to do organized exercise) along with watching what you eat and how you prepare it.
I couldn’t get through the 3rd season of OITNB either. The dark hair is way too harsh for her.
New year new diets. I heard some clients talking about this. I shut it down as best I could.
All these diets have qualities we should all have in our eating routines. We just have to find out what works for our specific bodies.
This diet does not work long term by the looks of it. Your body will flush its system and you will lose water and waste weight in those 21 days. And then if you don’t stick to simple eatings of balanced food groups you will gain it all back. Meanwhile your body got thrown for a loop and doesn’t realize this cleanse diet was just a diet.
Eat veggies, drink water, eat fruit, but be aware of moderations. And when you crave something feed the craving, but also know the difference between boredom and need. And work out a few minutes a day. Like some planks, jogging, pull ups.
Other factors, Eat from a plate, not from the fridge. Have dark place settings like LP’s kitchen. Dark colors make the food look less appealing. And don’t shovel food in. Eat slowly with liquids. Chew. Your. Food. Well.
I swear New Years diets drive me up the ceiling.
ok, I have a question about drinking while eating. have heard/read that it’s better to drink 30min before eating or 2hrs after but to not do it while eating because it dilutes the digestive juices o something…never done that so don’t know the difference. just curious
I’ve long ago understood that any kind of diet/fad/what have you is not one size fits all. but mostly it comes down to regularly eating lots of fruits and veg, staying hydrated, exercising, de-stressing and that’s it.
Noodle
I meant it as to help fill you up, hydrate, and feel fuller faster. Hydration is best. It helps everything.
Moochiemom
Alcohol cals are terrible! Cutting those out is always a huge boost! Weight falls off
Smaller plates = smaller portions. I’ve lost 24lbs doing this in 6 weeks. Oh and no alcohol. (It was probably the no alcohol).
Yeah, not drinking alcohol makes a big difference. I gave it up a couple years ago and have steadily lost weight without adjusting my eating or exercise. Occasionally I miss it, though, like when I’m the only one at a party not whooping it up and I feel like a stuff stick in the mud. But mostly I don’t miss it it all.
@celebitchy
This might be a good dupe for those Chanel boots as in $5,000 cheaper! I have the ones in Nutmeg/flax and they’re pretty comfy. I got them before Thanksgiving for my 30th and the way they’re constructed is that they are already broken in.
http://www.sorel.com/search?q=major%20carly
…those are really cute…the color you got is the best combo IMO.
I love these boots…
Another year another utterly baseless fad diet. Like Grandma said, eat your veggies, eat your fruit, they are what’s called “pre-biotic” in that they create an environment that promotes the proliferation of healthy probiotics in your digestive system. Ensure your meat and fish sources are hormone/antibiotic-free. Include whole grains, and you don’t have to go gluten-free unless you suffer from from celiac disease or gluten intolerance. I watched an interesting program on The Nature of Things the other night about how people eating a typical North American diet full of simple carbs, antibiotic/hormone-laced meats, ready-made stuff full of preservatives, little fresh fruit/veg, have very low amounts of necessary microbes in their gut that help keep fat off. Also the increasing use of anti-bacterial soaps and hand sanitizers are preventing kids from absorbing those microbes necessary for healthy digestion. Clean-freak parents who are constantly admonishing their kids to stay out of the dirt and wash constantly are actually not doing them any favours. The healthiest kids with the optimum amount of flora and fauna in their gut have been found to be the ones allowed to have pets, play in the dirt, those brought up on farms, etc.
That’s funny you said about staying out of the dirt. When my brother was five he became very ill (was in the hospital with iv’s in his back). The doctor told my mom if she would let him play outside and get dirty then he wouldn’t be so sick. Don’t know if they ever determined what was wrong with them but my mom said that when they removed his tonsils he was no longer sick. I have always said that wiping everything down with all these antibiotics was not good. The only time I use any type of antibacterial cleaner is when the flu is in the house and usually only when I can’t open the windows to get fresh air in. I have 10 grandchildren, watch them all and I don’t want it to spread. The only thing I really do is isolate the sick child in a back bedroom. He/she has to use the bathroom in the master bedroom and no one else uses it.
Quarantine of 10 grandchildren! Wow!
There is so much good advice here, and I can’t give any because I lost 67 pounds due to stress and bought myself trips to a doc who specializes in eating disorders. So I can tell you how NOT to lose weight.
But my favorite diet tip/program I hear advertised is the one that claims you could be carrying up to 25 POUNDS of waste in your intestines and colon! And if you buy this very expensive detox plan and accompanying vitamins you’ll flush (no pun intended) that nasty waste out and get rid of lots of weight, belly bloat, etc. I told my brother, a nationally-respected MD about it, and he burst out laughing and asked me if I’d been watching Jerry Springer.
So eat sensibly, exercise and for post-menopausal ladies light weights are good for strong bones. Everything in moderation. Don’t starve! You’ll lose muscle mass, your heart is a muscle, and you’ll damage it. I found out the hard way.
Oh Amelia, I’m so sorry, that sounds terrible. I’m so glad you are better now.
I’ve been doing 800 calories a day – wait for it – not including fruits and vegetables and the weight is falling off and I feel great. Unlimited plant foods and then 800 cals of everything else. I’m always full. It’s Bob Harper’s (Biggest Loser) plan, but disclaimer, I didn’t buy his book, I did what I do for every diet, which is to just get the jist of it from the Amazon reviews, LOL.
I agree with don’t starve. Cut down on the processed crap and watch your caloric intake in a SENSIBLE way. If I’m hungry I’m gonna go have as much fruit salad as I want because no one ever got fat eating fruit salad. I’m only “counting” when it’s something like bread or my mother’s fatty European cooking, LOL. This and yoga is the best “diet” I’ve ever been on. I’m someone who used to count the calories of my BROCCOLI and do an hour on the stairmaster and considered being nauseous a sign that it was “working.” No more.
Hi, I know it’s not my place to say, but less than 1200 calories a day is starvation. They feed people who are in a coma more than that! It does result in heart damage, as Amelia found out, over the long term.
I don’t know if this comment will go through, but perhaps this would be a good article for you: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/05/04/why-diets-dont-actually-work-according-to-a-researcher-who-has-studied-them-for-decades/
All the best to you!
@MP – I think you misunderstand. Katija is clearly stating that she limits her processed foods, meats, and other non-plant foods to 800 calories. She’s unlimited on plant foods, so 800+ unlimited fruit salad + broccoli + squash +++. I don’t think there’s any risk of consuming under 1200 calories per day if you follow this and are “always full” as Katija states.
How to detox: 1) have a liver. There, done.
I know right!!!?!?!
This reminds me of the Cheech and Chong episode of South Park from like, decades ago, where Kyle is deathly ill and they go to a wacky Eastern medicine lady instead of a doctor. *Kyle throws up* “That’s good! Those are his toxins!” “That’s his chicken noodle soup.”
This!
Actually, if you are scared of toxins, you might as well not breathe. Because of coal, diesel, gasoline, or whatever electricity/transportation/heating/cooling you require, all of us will breathe in way more chemicals that we ever eat. Seriously. It’s crazy to try to avoid “chemicals” in food, even organic or local food (neither of which will prohibit the use of pesticides necessarily).
Two ways to avoid this: 1) become a 7th level vegan a la simpsons! (nothing that casts a shadow, right?) or 2) move to a commune where you grow and harvest your own organic food and rainwater (which will probably be partly acid rain anyway).
Where exactly does she call it a detox? Sounds like a regular healthy eating plan to me, except for the Eastern medicine stuff.