Intense Celeb Workouts: Ideal or Over-the-Top?

Oct. 30, 2008 — -- Sure, Britney Spears is getting her body back.

But at what cost?

It may be five days before one of the most important elections in this country's history, but in Hollywood, decision 2008 is not Barack Obama vs. John McCain. Rather, it's one hour of exercise vs. three or more.

It's a fact of fame that celebrities, with few exceptions, have to be svelte and sleek both on the red carpet and in whatever endeavors they pursue to warrant A-list status.

Spears, on the verge of releasing her sixth album and embarking on a tour for the first time since she fell off the map following her divorce from Kevin Federline, has morphed from marshmallow (by Hollywood standards) to hot mom in little more than a couple of months, reportedly because of an intense regimen that includes workouts three times a day, five days a week, with 1,000 crunches per day thrown in for good measure.

She's not downing Mickey D's anymore, either. In August, Spears told OK! magazine she eats only 1,200 calories a day.

"I have no sugar. I don't eat fruit or even fruit juice because of the sugar. I eat chicken and salmon and rice. I eat avocados. I'll have egg whites for breakfast and sometimes turkey burgers for lunch," she said. "It may sound like it's not much, but it's actually a lot of food if you eat the right things."

Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna would probably agree. On "Oprah" earlier this year, Paltrow revealed that she works "freaking hard" at the gym because she can't control what she puts in her mouth.

"I just can't do it. I just cannot diet," the 35-year-old Oscar-winner said. "I think maybe it's the idea that you can't have something. ... It's worth it to me to do that extra exercise so I can eat what I want and not think about it."

Her friend and food-partner-in-crime Mario Batali told Us Weekly magazine in May that Paltrow, a mother of two, probably works out three hours a day. On "Oprah," she showed off the intense routine trainer Tracy Anderson developed for her, featuring armbands befitting a medieval torture chamber.