Health – Learning from celebrity weight loss

In the world of weight loss, nothing piques interest quite like a Hollywood celebrity weight loss transformation.  

I’ve been intrigued with recent media attention surrounding the substantial weight loss of English singer Adele and Australian actress Rebel Wilson. 

A recent article about Adele’s weight loss regime and supposed food plan gained huge attention. Food bloggers recreated her favourite salad and posted it online, attracting millions of views. An article about Rebel Wilson’s diet plan caused a surge of Google searches online for the weight loss programme she is reported to have followed.

I remember when I was an overweight teenager. I would look at the pictures in magazines of a gorgeous celebrity with images showing her food for the day: fruit salad for breakfast, salad for lunch and lean protein with vegetables for dinner. I would think to myself ‘why can’t I eat like that?’

Fast forward a few years and I’ve learnt from my own weight loss journey that weight loss has very little to do a food plan. While we may have success by following a strict plan for a certain period of time, it’s not a new food plan that leads to successful and sustainable weight loss – it’s stepping back and looking at your life plan.

Adele didn’t lose 50kg by eating salad. She stepped out of the spotlight and took a break from touring and performing at the height of her career. She gave herself the gift of time and the ability to prioritise her health and make changes.   

Rebel Wilson decided that 2020 would be her ‘year of health’. She created a powerful goal, declared it to the world and gave herself a good chunk of time to achieve it. 

I moved overseas, changed my lifestyle and lost 30kg in one year. I knew nothing about nutrition, so it certainly didn’t come from following a food plan. I simply decided to make health my priority, started making better food choices and made a daily commitment to moving more.

The dieting industry may want us to believe otherwise, but the truth is that weight loss is not just about food. It’s about changing our priorities to put health at the top of the list – creating a powerful goal and giving yourself the time to achieve it.  

It’s not an ‘easy fix’ that can be downloaded on a simple, one-page PDF document to try at home, and we won’t achieve success by looking at what someone else eats and following their plan. 

But the great thing is that it is available to all of us if we are willing to make it a priority and take action.