Mel B's new weight loss goal a bit Scary - The Daily Telegraph
JENNY Craig's new celebrity ambassador, X Factor judge Mel B, says she can be back in shape just four months after giving birth.
But experts reckon that timeframe is, frankly, a bit scary.
The woman who rocketed to fame as Scary Spice gave birth to her third child, daughter Madison, five weeks ago.
And yesterday she said she wanted to shed 15kg in the next three months.
Announcing the ambassadorial role with the weight-loss powerhouse, it was put to Mel B that she was in a hurry to lose the baby weight.
The fiery Brit replied: "No. Not in a hurry, I just want to do it properly. I want to do it in a healthy, managed, controlled way."
Mel B's goal is to reduce her weight from 75kg to 60kg - well beyond Jenny Craig's stated loss target of 1 per cent of body weight per week, which for Scary would equate to less than 10kg in 13 weeks.
Nutritionists say a new mother should take up to a year to return to a healthy weight.
Aloysa Hourigan, senior nutritionist at Nutrition Australia, said the first few months after childbirth was not the time to limit calorie intake.
"It's OK to eat healthy and look after yourself but it's not a good time to restrict calories," Ms Hourigan said.
University of Newcastle nutrition and dietetics professor Clare Collins said a mother should be establishing breastfeeding patterns and ensuring healthy eating habits in the first three months after childbirth, instead of trying to lose the weight quickly.
"It's the perfect time to focus on healthy eating," Professor Collins said.
"It's not the time for extreme dieting. A woman's body is designed to take six to 12 months to return to a healthy weight."
Madison, Mel B's first child with husband Stephen Belafonte, has been a regular visitor to the X Factor set since her mother returned to work a week after her birth. "I gave up breastfeeding when the baby was three weeks," Mel B said yesterday. "My milk dried up."
Professor Collins said weight loss programs could be modified for new mothers to make sure they get the right nutrients.
But mums could get back to their pre-pregnancy weight by eating healthily instead of starving themselves or going on "unrealistically strict" programs, she added.
Jenny Craig recruited Mel B a fortnight ago. She has been on the program for a week and wasn't terribly thrilled at having to reveal her current weight.
When asked what she weighed in her Spice Girls days she fired up again: "I'm not saying ... I was skin-ney!"
She also refused to discuss what she was being paid to act as an ambassador for Jenny Craig.
11 Oct, 2011--
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