ABC News reports, quoting British tabloids, that—although it could not be proved—the bride Kate Middleton appeared to have dropped from a size six to a size two in less than six months since the Royal engagement was announced. Two sizes for a woman who already looked wonderful on and off camera? Why? And is this weight loss healthy?
According to one New York expert, it might be just fine. “If it took her 5 months to lose 20 pounds, she lost a pound every 7.5 days. Safe weight loss recommendations for most folks is no more than one pound per week, so even if she lost 20 pounds, she was within the guidelines for a healthy rate of weight loss,” says Carla Wolper, obesity researcher and assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center.
But wait a minute. The rate is not all that matters. Was it healthy for Kate Middleton to lose so much weight in the first place? “She is lean to begin with,” says Leslie Bonci, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, “so some of the loss has been lean mass.” Not just body fat. Kate had no fat to spare!
It’s possible the stress of her wedding planning phase simply stopped her from eating. That happens to some brides, who aren’t expecting real and virtual guests to number in the billions. Others gain so much stress-weight, the dress doesn’t fit.
But reports say Kate Middleton was on the Dukan Diet, similar to the Atkins Diet, where carbohydrates are severely curtailed and protein is the main food. Why would she choose to lose weight she didn’t need to lose? It could be that brideorexia feeling, which comes over women striving to be perfect.
If that’s true, Kate Middleton had better put a stop to it right now before it destroys her future life. Everyone remembers Princess Diana and her struggles with bulimia. No one wants to see the new Duchess—the familiar Kate Middleton—head down that road.
