Why Lauren Goodger’s boot camp weight loss is a bad idea

Lauren Goodger’s figure is under scrutiny yet again after the yo-yo dieting TOWIE star admitted a pre-holiday boot camp had her in tears. Following the three and a half day programme, the reality TV star wants to 'inspire' other girls but we’re not sure advocating a diet of half an apple and a boiled egg is particularly inspirational!

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“I want to show girls that if you’re unhappy with your image, you can change it,” Goodger said in an interview with New! magazine. “I want people to aspire to that rather than going down the surgical route and getting fake boobs and all that crap. I’m not a fan of that.”

It's an admirable aim, but according to experts, Goodger’s really not being the good role model she’s aspires to be.

“I’m already laughing at it, it’s ridiculous,” says Mark Bradley, Director and Senior Psychotherapist at Mark Bradley Associates as Y! Lifestyle describes the programme.

Lauren reportedly underwent five exercises sessions a day and had a calorie intake of around 120 calories in half an apple and a boiled egg.

“If you don’t eat, the body turns on itself and starts to burn fat,” Bradley explains, agreeing that the 6lb weight loss Goodger claimed is totally possible under these conditions.  “Exercise has a similar effect so yes she would lose quite a chunk of weight doing that.

“But the problem is that then the body thinks it’s staving so as soon as she eats it again it goes straight back on. And then she’s off on holiday so she’ll lose any momentum she built up.”
What’s more concerning is that Goodger’s comments seem to suggest women have one option – lose weight, and two ways to do it – surgery or an extreme boot camp.

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“She’s being rather ‘holier than thou’ if you ask me,” says Bradley. “She’s got the money or fame to afford to go on this camp and see these qualified people but she’s talking to people that haven’t. They think they need to go and do that to themselves, risking injuries, overstressing their bodies and running themselves into the ground trying to operate on an apple and an orange during the day.

“And when it doesn’t work they think they’re failures, when actually it’s because this doesn’t work.”
So what does Bradley recommend? “To begin with,  do something that elevates your heart rate for 30 minutes a day.  You can work up from there but the worst thing you can do to start is go in at full pelt when you’re not used to it.”

And far from being a ‘kickstart’ to a healthier lifestyle, Goodger’s revealed that she’ll be back on the Cambridge Weight Plan now she’s back from hols. Sigh.