Crazy Celebrity Diets

From an A-list sitcom stars that eats like a newborn to herself with baby food to a superstar singer who stays drunk all day, here are some crazy celebrity diets.

Trainer to the stars Tracy Anderson created the crazy weight-loss plan known as the Baby Food Diet, which she calls a "cleanse." Several of her clients tried it, but it was when Jennifer Aniston jumped on the bandwagon that Gerber got excited.  She lost 7 pounds in one week, something Anderson said was possible because the diet gave her body a "boost."

These days, Yolanda Foster is the Master Cleanse's biggest fan. But before the Housewives fan jumped on the lemon juice bandwagon, Beyonce sucked it down.  She needed a plan that was fast  — like 20 pounds in two weeks fast — for her dream role in Dreamgirls. "Normally they'd just change your makeup or your clothes but I wanted to go the extra mile," Beyonce told China Daily. "Back in the sixties, models like Twiggy were popular and I knew Deena would have been thin then, so even though I love eating, it was necessary to lose weight really fast because we shot Deena at 36 and then Deena at 16 two weeks later."

Don't you hate it when a super-sexy celeb is asked how they do it and the first thing they say is that they don't exercise? Well, Megan Fox admitted to being just too "lazy" to attempt breaking a sweat. Instead, she downs shots of apple cider vinegar. This quick-fix diet trick, she says, "cleans out your system entirely. It will get rid of, for women who retain water weight from your menstrual cycle and all that, it gets rid of it really fast,"

It was actually the Cookie Diet (see below) that prompted Lüc Carl, Lady Gaga's ex-boyfriend, to write The Drunk Diet. It's a plan that fits in perfectly with the pop star's lifestyle and she's happy to admit it. "I am on the drunk diet," Gaga said. "I live my life as I want to, creatively. I like to drink whiskey and stuff while I am working. But the deal is I've got to work out every day, and I work out hung over if I am hung over. And it's about the cross training and keeping yourself inspired. I have to say, I do a ton of yoga."

Anne Hathaway wanted to lose 25 pounds to play the role of Fantine in Les Miserables. Instead of hitting the gym, she starved herself, under doctor's supervision, of course.  She ate just two squares of oatmeal paste a day and then wondered why no one on set could stand her sunny disposition.

Liz Hurley has been linked to some odd diets in her day. In 2002, in an effort to lose weight after giving birth, she retreated to Elton John's house and ate nothing but oatcakes.  Years later, she shared that she thought adults shouldn't eat breakfast. If you happen to be at her house for dinner, you'll indulge in another of her diet fads: watercress soup. "I drink at least six cups a day when I am eager to lose a few pounds," she said. "It's fat-less, low-calorie, full of vitamins and iron, and delicious enough to serve at a dinner party."

You thought Liz Hurley eating oatcakes to lose baby weight was bonkers? January Jones turned to her insides in an effort to get back on set quicker. She turned to a diet of tea, vitamins, and placenta pills to get her body back to pre-baby weight in a record six weeks after giving birth. 

Leave it to Madonna to come up with an attention-grabbing diet that has been right in front of our faces, literally, all along. When following the Air Diet, she goes through all the motions of eating: having someone plate the food, put it in front of her, stab it with a fork, and hold it up to her (you don't think she does that stuff herself, do you??). That's where it stops.  There is no actual eating involved, unless it's a "soup" of water and salt. We always called that a gargle.

Gwyneth Paltrow famously turned to a macrobiotic diet in 1999, partly because of her dad's illness (he died in 2002 from complications from oral cancer), but also because Leonardo DiCaprio planted the seed of "how dirty meat is" in her head years ago.  She doesn't give her kids gluten, she avoids dairy, and pesticides are a no-no. But, see, there's nothing wrong with a weekend treat. For her, it's cigarettes and booze.  It's all about the ying and the yang, people. 

We aren't sure there are many people who'd turn to Jersey Shore star Snooki (née Nicole Elizabeth Polizzi) for healthy living advice. If there was one diet that made total sense for her, though, it's the cookie diet. In 2010 she made headlines for turning to this odd snack-based regimen in an effort to lose all the weight she gained from binge drinking. "I eat six cookies a day and then I have like chicken for dinner, or fish," she said of the diet. "Something healthy." 

At the height of Billy Bob Thornton's career, rumors swirled about his crazy lifestyle. Aside from the gossip about his taste for blood, the story that he only ate orange food was one of the oddest.  A vegan with allergies to dairy, wheat and shellfish, Thornton's skin reportedly turned orange because of all the carrots he consumed.  He says it all started when his papaya breakfast fascination set the press in a tailspin. "I eat papaya every morning — it's orange. It's not all I have all day, but it is orange." Glad he cleared that up.

There have been some monumental moments on TV. The "Who shot JR?" cliffhanger...Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction,"... Oprah Winfrey wheeling out a wagon full of fat in her size-10 Calvins to show off how much weight she lost.  In 1988, Oprah wanted to tell the world that she'd lost 67 pounds in less than five months. (The episode was called "Diet Dreams Come True" and ranks as The Oprah Show's highest ratings episode ever.) How'd she do it? Running six-and-a-half miles per day and surviving on a liquid diet. She was up 10 pounds two weeks later.