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"  For his role in The Machinist, Christian Bale lost nearly 65 pounds, maintaining his frail frame by eating only 275 calories a day over the course of four months (the suggested daily caloric intake for men is between 1,500 and 2,000). The 121-pound actor then bulked up to 190 in just five months so that he&amp;#039;d be in appropriate superhero form for filming Batman Begins (Bale eventually gained an additional 30 pounds as the Dark Knight). &amp;quot;It was like a massive shock to my body because of what I was trying to get it to do,&amp;quot; said Bale in an interview with the BBC. &amp;quot;My metabolism had to get back up to speed, because my heart had gotten used to a whole different way of living.&amp;quot; On the flipside, actress Ren\u00E9e Zellweger gained excessive pounds for the popular Bridget Jones&amp;#039;s Diary, going from a size 4 to a size 14. The physical and mental strain of eating 4,000 calories a day then dropping the weight postproduction was enough to make the actress question signing on for the Bridget Jones sequel.  The bottom line? Don&amp;#039;t try this at home. &amp;quot;When celebrities lose loads of weight, they often have a team of professionals\u2014doctors, nutritionists, and trainers,&amp;quot; says Christine Avanti, nutritionist and author of Skinny Chicks Don&amp;#039;t Eat Salads, who worked with Jeremy Piven to healthily drop 20 pounds for his character in Smokin&amp;#039; Aces. &amp;quot;But no matter who you are, this extreme dieting can be very harmful. People who go on and off low-carb diets get puffy and bloated easily because their body will not break down carbohydrates as efficiently as someone who eats carbohydrates more often.&amp;quot;  Besides, says Cheryl Forberg, RD, nutritionist for The Biggest Loser, &amp;quot;When people follow crazy diets like fasting, they&amp;#039;re usually just shifting water around, losing water weight.&amp;quot; Another negative side effect of rapid weight loss is that muscle mass is lost too: &amp;quot;Not only do we need muscle for flexibility and strength, it burns 10 times as many calories as our fat tissue and is metabolically more active,&amp;quot; Forberg says. Without precious fat-burning muscle, dieters who suddenly stop dieting will find they put pounds back on at a much faster rate\u2014and could wind up being even more obese than they were to begin with. A lowered metabolism also plays a part in accelerated postdiet weight gain.  &amp;quot;When you severely limit your calorie intake, after a certain point your body adapts and forces your metabolism to slow down, and you stop losing weight,&amp;quot; says Vincent J. Portera, DC, and nutritionist for JF Gymnastique at the Julien Farel Salon. In effect, even though your weight is increasing, your metabolism will still be low. &amp;quot;You don&amp;#039;t want your body to be a Yugo car burning calories slowly\u2014you want it to be a Ferrari, burning them quickly. If you eat in a more balanced way and exercise, you can restore your metabolism in a few weeks, but if you continue to go off and on a diet, it could take up to a year for your metabolism to get back to normal; when you yo-yo, it&amp;#039;s harder to recover your metabolism the way it was before you started.&amp;quot;  In addition to depleted muscle, Joy Bauer, nutrition expert for the Today show and author of Joy&amp;#039;s Life Diet, says that hard-core dieting is associated with low bone density, which can place yo-yo dieters at higher risk for fractures. &amp;quot;If you have a long history of dieting, it&amp;#039;s all the more important that you incorporate resistance training into your routine to prevent further bone loss and take in adequate calcium and vitamin D from food and/or supplements,&amp;quot; she advises.  Yo-yo dieting affects your body\u2014and it can wreak havoc on your psyche. Portera says he often sees crash dieters go though extreme mood swings: &amp;quot;They are much more likely to have reactive blood sugar,&amp;quot; he explains. &amp;quot;Their blood sugar drops, so they eat something and it spikes up. Then a half hour later, they&amp;#039;re moody and eating something again.&amp;quot;  Martin Binks, PhD, director of behavorial health at Duke Diet and Fitness Center, adds: &amp;quot;People who lose weight rapidly and gain it back again tend to feel helplessness and failure. It leads to all-or-nothing thinking\u2014the idea of blowing it and never being successful\u2014which in turn leads to all-or-nothing behavior. This line of thinking can cause people to stop exercising and start eating very unhealthily.&amp;quot;  The good news is that it&amp;#039;s never too late to repair dieting damage. &amp;quot;Even if you have a history of weight cycling, you can still get down to a healthier weight and maintain it,&amp;quot; says exercise physiologist Bob Greene, Oprah Winfrey&amp;#039;s trainer and author of the Best Life Diet Revised and Updated. &amp;quot;Ninety percent of successful weight-loss maintainers in the National Weight Loss Registry went through numerous weight-loss and weight-gain cycles before it finally stuck.&amp;quot; To truly sustain weight loss, it&amp;#039;s important to come up with a realistic plan for the long haul. &amp;quot;Some people find it easier to make one healthy change at a time instead of jumping into a new lifestyle cold turkey,&amp;quot; says Bauer. &amp;quot;Start with a commitment to eliminate soda from your diet. After a month, take on a second health goal\u2014like switching from two-percent milk to skim\u2014while still keeping your pledge to eliminate soda. The next month, add on a third change. This process of adopting a healthier lifestyle reduces the risk of relapse.&amp;quot;  If you do gain a few pounds, though, don&amp;#039;t be too hard on yourself; instead of gorging your guilt in junk food, take positive action. &amp;quot;Go back to basics right away. Write down what you&amp;#039;re eating and cut down on eating out,&amp;quot; suggests Binks. &amp;quot;If you travel and have to dine in restaurants, don&amp;#039;t go on a restrictive diet. Think about portion control instead, eating less of everything you&amp;#039;re given, and make a choice not to eat fried foods.&amp;quot; Grazing on healthy snacks throughout the day rather than having a few giant meals will help fire up your metabolism and give you energy. Still, eating smaller portions is easier said than done; finding healthier ways to enjoy your favorite foods is also necessary. If you crave sugar, &amp;quot;drizzle dark chocolate over fresh grapefruit slices to satisfy a sweet tooth while benefiting from vitamin C and other nutrients,&amp;quot; says celebrity trainer Valerie Walters, who has worked with Jennifer Garner and Jessica Biel. &amp;quot;Consuming fruits and vegetables with high water content like grapefruit helps you feel fuller. You might also try nutrient-dense foods such as red peppers, apples, and those that are high in fiber, like grains and lentils.&amp;quot;  Good fats\u2014avocado, almonds, flax seeds\u2014are satisfying and make you feel less deprived, too. &amp;quot;Put some almonds in your yogurt or cereal, or avocado in your salad or sandwich instead of mayonnaise\u2014it tastes great, and it&amp;#039;s filling,&amp;quot; says Forberg.  To complement healthy eating, Greene says you must also &amp;quot;commit to becoming healthier and fitter. Instead of trying to change overnight, make gradual, manageable habit changes. It&amp;#039;s better to work out for 35 minutes three times a week than to try and work out for an hour every day and give up because you don&amp;#039;t have the time or energy for it.&amp;quot;  Even the slightest bit of exercise will benefit you mentally as well, says Binks: &amp;quot;Physical activity is important to successful maintenance\u2014it helps joints, bones, heart, and mood.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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