Alyssa Milano was on Entertainment Tonight earlier this week showing off her new pixie cut and her post-baby weight loss. Alyssa is promoting the Atkins diet plan, which she’s been representing since last fall. Atkins is a high protein diet that’s been around since the 1970s. Many people swear by low carb diets like Atkins and the less restrictive paleo diet, and Alyssa said that it both help her shed her baby weight (her second child, daughter Elizabella, was born in September, 2014) and feel satisfied while she was dieting. She also revealed that she now weighs 126 pounds. She’s 5’2″ tall so that’s a very healthy weight for her and she looks great.
The 43-year-old actress went from 172 pounds to 126 pounds after giving birth to her daughter Elizabella 16 months ago, thanks, in part, to the Atkins low-carbohydrate diet.
“I feel so much better than I did before it’s crazy,” Milano told ET. “You know that feeling when you’re dieting where your stomachs growling and you’re angry and moody? There’s none of that, because you’re getting fats and proteins. It’s great!”
With two young children at home (Milo, 4, and Elizabella, 1), dropping the weight makes it easier for her to keep up with her growing family with husband Dave Bugliari. She opened up about what motherhood has been like for her.
“Every aspect is amazing,” she gushed. “I looked at Milo’s feet the other day. He’s got these two toes that cross each other, and I was looking at my husband’s feet. Those are where those toes came from!”
One aspect that has been particularly rewarding for Milano is being able to breastfeed.
“It’s been a joyous time to be able to feed them,” she said.
The actress has come under fire for posting pictures of herself breastfeeding, but she considers the practice to be a beautiful thing.
“It is just an amazing process that my body is giving her nourishment,” she said. “Women — we are the most perfect machine ever made.”
As much as she enjoys using her body to feed her children, Milano cleared up the misconception that breastfeeding helped her lose weight.
“I don’t know who started that myth, but breastfeeding to me makes it harder,” she said.
Alyssa told ET she would be open to a “Who’s The Boss” reunion and that Tony Danza “would have to be grandfather to my kids.” I would tune in for that!
I also had a harder time losing weight when I was breastfeeding because I was so hungry. I’ve tried Atkins and similar diets like Dukan (which is supposedly followed by the Cambridges) and while I lost weight at first I just couldn’t stick to them. As I’ve said many times (I’m trying to get converts), I calorie count with MyFitnessPal because I like my bread, chocolate and booze. I don’t want to give up whole food groups like vodka. I think Atkins works because it fills you up with less calories, and I’ve seen friends lose impressive amounts of weight on it. It’s a decent diet to endorse, as far as these type of paid diets go, in that there are some packaged foods but it can be followed for free.
Alyssa was also on The Wendy Williams show, where Williams gave her shade for posting breastfeeding pics to social media. Williams said “I don’t need to see that.” Then don’t look, bitch.
Oh and Alyssa told The Huffington Post [via Vanity Fair] that she almost go the part in Bettlejuice that went to Winona Ryder. It’s kind of weird when celebrities admit they were up for roles and didn’t make the cut, it’s like they’re still so focused on the past and everything they lost out on.
Here’s a segment from Alyssa’s ET interview.
photo credit: WENN.com
She really turned out to be a lovely person. I always enjoy her.
Wow, someone who has the moxy to actually reveal their weight instead of hiding behind the ambiguous vanity sizing system. Way to go on the weightloss, Alyssa. Even at a heavier weight, you are gorgeous!
^^^100% !!
I really do wish they would all just reveal their real weights and be done with it.
And it seems like it’s really her weight too. She looks great and it seems like this is a really achievable size for her shape and lifestyle. Good luck to her in maintaining it.
I saw her on the Wendy Williams show and Alyssa shut that woman DOWN regarding nursing in public. Way to go!
I so dislike Wendy Williams. I’ve watched her show and she acts like the biggest ditz.
“Then don’t look, bitch.” Bwah ha ha ha. This x1000.
I’ve never watched but my jaw dropped as I was reading the article. What woman would say that?! Go Alyssa!
i support women breastfeeding in public, as there are shawls and clothing items to make you & people comfortable. breastfeeding is beautiful.
but in alyssa’s case is that she posts breastfeeding pictures with her boobs out on social media. now no one needs to see that on their feed, be it instagram or fb. can you imagine scrolling through your feed and bam. by that time it’s too late as i’ve seen it. i would like a courtesy of warning, so i can ‘do not look’.
The only issue I’ve ever taken with Atkins is that, allegedly, it didn’t do very good things for the founder. He had a documented history of heart disease, hypertension and related conditions, according to most reports. There’s a ton of speculation that’s why his wife refused to allow an autopsy. That’s why it was never for me. I try to follow the rule that if the person most strongly promoting something isn’t benefitting from it, it’s not going to benefit you. Now it seems like it’s gotten a little revival from the whole Paleo thing, but I’m truthfully a little surprised that it’s still around and getting celebrities.
I forgot about that issue and Atkins death. Thanks for the reminder. (just read up on it here this 2004 article: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/11/nyregion/just-what-killed-the-diet-doctor-and-what-keeps-the-issue-alive.html?_r=0 )
I have been reading this book The Fat flush plan by Ann Louise Gittleman and she talks about why Atkins Diet does not sustain and is not healthy and that some carbs (mainly from vegetables at first and then adding in some amount of whole grains later) are a good thing. She is very meticulous is her explanations. It is not that Atkins diet doesnt typically help people lose weight, it is just longer term issues, health-wise, I believe.
Does the Atkins diet encourage the avoidance of fruits and vegetables? Interesting that his wife did not allow an autopsy. I thought it was General knowledge that red meat/processed meat = high cholesterol, clogged arteries, and confirmed GI/stomach cancer risk factor.
Annie: The diet allows for veggies. However, it is really meat heavy. That’s because Atkins’ whole theory was that humans run best on proteins and fats – things not found in abundance in many veggies. It’s technically a low-card, not a no-carb diet. However, yes, it does strongly focus on things like meat, eggs and dairy.
I don’t believe the premise of the Atkins diet is people “run better” on fat and protein. The diet breaks down to basic biochemistry. To put it very simply, if you don’t eat sugar you don’t release insulin. Lack of insulin encourages fat loss rather than fat storage. Furthermore, in the absence of sugar the body needs to produce ketones to fuel the brain, and the body uses fat as the building block for ketones. The net result (in theory, at least) is more fat loss than you’d see in diets that are more carb-heavy.
Atkins encourages eating no fruits and only select veggies in the beginning, but in later phases instructs people to slowly add healthy carbs back to their diet for sustainability. So all the people crying “this diet is unhealthy” clearly don’t know anything about the actual diet plan.
Jay: except if you go to website, that’s exactly what it says. It is not a low-sugar diet (plenty of those exist). It’s low-carb. And yes, the premise is that protein and fats are better sources of fuel than carbs. If the goal was simply to eliminate the sugars that increase insulin resistance, then the diet would advocate a return to whole grains, which are actually beneficial for insulin maintenance. And even in the later stages, it is advised to try to keep carbs to a minimum. They’re not added back in because they are believed to be good. They allow them back in because Atkins got that most people will not give up carbs for good and that maintenance requires allowing them back in, or else people would quit the diet. But yes, the whole premise was that fat and protein are the preferable energy sources for humans. Atkins’ own foundation paper for the diet argued for the “metabolic advantage” of primarily protein based diets as opposed to carb-based ones (which he included in the first book he published). It’s all out there if you bother to look for it.
Carbs are the bad guy. If you cut them out, the weight just falls off. I can’t live a life without them, unfortunately. So everything in moderation I guess.
Sabrine: No, they are not. Carbs are not evil or bad or destructive.
Here’s the truth: Any diet that cuts out a large chunk of foods will result in weight loss. That’s why a lot of vegans experience a loss when they switch. Or when people give up carbs. There was a study done that showed that giving up carbs does result in weight loss, but that’s because the subjects, having lost one of their major food groups, simply ate less food overall. And if you eat less, you lose weight. End of story. The content of the meals has nothing to do with it.
@Sam. I’m so tired of this. Yes, the content of what you eat most certainly does matter. That’s why we don’t eat 1500 calories of fortified gumdrops in a day in lieu of real food. That’s why diabetics are careful with what – and not just how much.
The content of what you eat matters towards your health, certainly, but not necessarily towards weightloss. I remember hearing about a researcher eating a diet of junk food, moderating only how many calories he consumed from it. He did end up losing weight. Whether his health was better is another story.
Betsy: you are confused two distinct issues. Weight loss is not a matter of content, it is a matter of calories. You can absolutely lose weight by eating junk – as long as your energy expenditures are higher than your intake. Full stop, that’s physics. There were multiple people who showed you can lose weight by consuming nothing but fast food, provided you burned more calories than you take in. That’s it.
Health is an entirely separate matter, but you are conflating the two.
I agree with Sam. I have friends who think because they had a salad for lunch that they’re going to lose weight, failing to see that their salad is full of nuts, dried fruit, croutons, and other highly caloric foods. And yeah, if their goal is to lose weight then they would actually be better off eating a 300 calorie pack of gumdrops for lunch. Sure, the former is better for your health, but that doesn’t automatically make it conducive to weight loss.
As Sam said, those are two different issues. Anyone who doesn’t realize that weight loss is most effectively achieved through monitoring caloric intake is greatly misguided.
I tried atkins for a week. Most miserable week of my life. I lost 5 lbs, gained it back and more not that long after. Didn’t seem like it would have been sustainable for me, anyway. Kudos to those who can stick to it, though.
I’ve never had kids. So I’m curious. If you care about losing weight postpartum, do you count the weight before you give birth or after?
It sounds like she was 157 when at the end of her pregnancy. Is the article counting the baby+placenta as part of the Atkins loss of 46 lbs? No matter the answer, she lost a lot and seems very comfortable at this weight. I’m just curious.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Alyssa, and she looks great! If she’s smiling, I’m happy. I wonder if she’ll get a second post because of the debate on Wendy Williams
The goal is usually to get back to what you weighed BEFORE you got pregnant–so, what you weigh ‘normally’. So, when talking about how much weighed we gained/lost we usually use the # we weighed before we got pregnant, then the # we weighed the day we delivered. Between the baby, placenta, amniotic fluid, etc. you can lose approximately half the weight you gained throughout your pregnancy by the time you leave the hospital. So, the other half has to come off gradually.
I was in the military when I had my kids, so I HAD to get back to my non-pregnancy weight (and be physically fit) within 6 months. Lemme tell ya, it was alot harder to do after my kid #3 at 33 than it was after kid #1 at 28…I gained about 45lbs during each pregnancy, and with baby #1 I was back to normal in 6 weeks. With #3 it took almost the whole 6mos. BFing can help lose SOME of the weight (it burns calories) but can also hinder weightloss because your body keeps a ‘reserve’ of 10lbs or so to make sure you’re producing healthy milk. I used MyFitnessPal to track my food intake and exercise, and it worked for me!
Thanks for the information!
I’m really really impressed that you not only back to your original weight but physically fit in 6 months! And 3 times! Wow.
Iz Elizabella an actual name or just Elizabeth and Isabella thrown together? And how is it pronounced?
Made up. During the clip I saw on GMA this morning, she pronounced it like Isabella, but with a long E like Elizabeth.
“I don’t want to give up whole food groups like vodka”
I’m totally with you CB – I love my glass of red wine.
I, too, am an Atkins drop out.
Gradual habit changes worked for me! I examined what I was eating, when, how much, and why (stress, boredom, etc), and wrote down how I wanted to eat (more vegetables, less snacking, smaller portions). Over a year I worked on changing how I approached food. I lost 50 pounds ten years ago, and have been the same weight since because I’ve kept all of my habits.
Nothing works for everyone, I think you just have to try different things until you find something that suits you.
🙋🏼 another Atkins dropout here. I did Atkins for two weeks and I did lose weight, but one day I cracked and ate an entire box of Dixie Snack Crackers, which are little crackers shaped like chickens for God knows what reason. I. Could. Not. Stop. I don’t think low carb is for me.
I wouldn’t last a day on that diet.
You’d have to pry my popcorn from my cold, dead hands.
I think my whole household would wage war against me if I took away pasta. Seriously, I might not even live to drop weight from it.
Am I missing something here? Im all for breast feeding in public, but what motivates you to post that on social media? I recently unfollowed someone on Facebook for posting toilet selfies. In sharing these semi private moments, do you really enhance your relationships or status?
I see your point for sure (toilet selfies – blech), but I think the whole point is to normalize breastfeeding – feeding your baby shouldn’t fall under “private” or “semi-private” moments…it is a normal, healthy thing…if it doesn’t bother you to see someone posting a picture of their kid eating a cupcake, why should it be bothersome to see a picture of a baby nursing? It is simply a mother feeding her child, nothing more nothing less.
When I was nursing my two, it most certainly was something that I was not comfortable doing in public. I wish that people would recognize that at least some of us nursing mothers do feel that it is semi private. I do not care if other women do, but I was not.
I kinda think the actual act of nursing is private. Just because it has to do with your body–I think people should groom in private too.
However, your baby doesn’t care if the act is private or not. So women have a need to nurse in public–and a right to do so without shame. We tolerate everyone else’s semi-private behavior in public, and there isn’t even a need for it. I think shaming nursing mothers is misogyny.
Please don’t compare using the toilet to feeding a baby. I get what you’re saying and it’s clear that you don’t mean it in a negative way, but it’s a comparison too often used to depict breastfeeding as “gross” or to equate breastmilk to other bodily fluids (yes, it’s a fluid that comes from your body – but it’s not waste, it’s FOOD!)
i agree, i feel like people who keep posting selfies of themselves doing every single thing are just begging for attention.
I never tried Atkins, but I did try the UN diet years ago and lost quite a bit of weight. Sadly I put it all back and then some. Counting calories is the only thing that really worked/works for me.
There with you, counting calories works best for me!
The Atkins diet is a godsend. I was never able to lose weight until I tried it. OMG – it provides you with an incredible feeling of well being and energy. Like A Drug. I always lose 10 lbs in the first two weeks and then about 1 lb a week as I modify and add healthy carbs. Best. Diet. Evah!
So strange to think about Phoebe from charmed playing Lydia in Beetlejuice.
Wino forever!
I saw the clip of her on Wendy Williams. Alyssa was great, standing behind her point and not backing down from Whiny Wendy. BF is natural, if you don’t want to see it, don’t look at it. I think BF moms should not be made uncomfortable doing what comes naturally.
Adkins does work but the weight all comes back (and then some) if you go back to eating carbs.
Yeah, but tell that to the low-carb people! Diets and avoidance of food groups or carbs have become like religious dogma in this country (US) I swear.
One of the few celebs that looks good in a pixie. Maybe it’s the bangs that are working for her. She is also very pretty.
She can breastfeed wherever she wants. Not everyone is going to like or approve, but shrug – that’s life.
Atkins is always so divisive. It’s actually a bit more complicated than “never eating carbs”, but you have to do the research and make up your own mind. It worked for her.
I really dislike the pixie. I think it ages her.
She’s so beautiful but I don’t particulary like that haircut on her (though she looked stunning when she did cut her hair even shorter many years ago).
By the way WHY is the Dukan diet is still around?? Wtf, total scam.
It worked so well for me. I didn’t crave sugar at all after I went phase 3 and maintained the weight for months. Then I had a pasta binge, and the carb craving started again. Everybody’s different. I can’t do calorie counting because it takes too much time if you tend to prepare things from scratch, improvise, and make substitutions.
Her hair is dreadful, and that’s coming from someone who adores a good Pixie.
My fitnesspal is the bomb. Can’t recommend it enough. I’ll bang that drum with you!
YES! CB is on top of it with MFP AND vodka–two of my favorite things 🙂
I have seen way too many people who swear that low-carb worked great…until it didn’t. The first 6 months something happens, and they felt great -glowing skin, awesome sex drive, flat stomach, blood tests all on point. Then they started having crappy sleep, no energy, brain foggy, skin issues, weird cholesterol, digestive issues.. and they can’t figure out why. That’s the story I wish someone would discuss – when diets go wrong. I have seen way too many of those people in my job.
I actually really hope that this isn’t the case for her! It’s actually really hard to tell someone that just because cutting carbs helped them lose weight doesn’t mean it’s healthiest in the long term.
The only thing that really works is eating everything with moderation. If i decide that i have gained more then i need i cut the quantity of what i take. Also moving. People leave out the fact that our body burns fat when we move and we don’t take as much as we burn. My only problems are swets. Right now i have a chocolate bar in my bag. I am resisting so hard. I am in my bed working with myself not to get up
I agree. Eat whatever you like in moderation and work out- I do at least 30 minutes 5 days a week. Life is too short to deprive yourself of carbs, cocktails and candy!
Just an FYI, that’s because your brain literally needs carbs to function. Carbs fuel the body. Obviously we don’t want to overload on them, but that’s why your friends feel crappy.
I failed so many times dieting that I was convinced I just didn’t have the willpower and was deficient as a person. Then I tried the ketogenic diet, and discovered apparently carbs actually made me hungry.
Keto is a modern variant on Atkins. The goal is to have 70% of my calories from fat, 25 from protein, and 5 from carbs. I do weigh and log everything I eat and have a strict calorie limit, but it’s much easier because I don’t feel starving all the time. It takes a bit to find a balance with water, salt and vitamin intake (you consume a lot of salt with your carbs, so you need to supplement when you cut carbs). It feels counterintuitive at first, but there is mounting evidence that fat is actually good for you. Plus, I feel great and have lost ~55 lbs in 10 months. I don’t plan to go back to eating a carb-heavy diet ever again