The Secret Way Models Slim Down Before Photo Shoots
Why does Zac Efron looks so shredded in Men’s Fitness? (Photo: Men’s Fitness)
Ever wonder how models and celebrities look so great in magazines?
Well, they have round-the-clock trainers and nutritionists to keep their bodies in peak physical condition at all times — as well as the help of Photoshop, of course. But how do such busy people manage to look so ultra fit — with the incredible muscle definition of a professional athlete — at all the right moments? For example, on this month’s cover of Men’s Fitness, Zac Efron sports bulging biceps and looks particularly vascular. He looks hot, by definition, but can somebody please get this guy a Gatorade? His chiseled arms and bulging pecs look seriously dehydrated.
Two months ago, Efron was spotted completing an obstacle course on the set of Baywatch. Even with his muscles in full gear, his veins weren’t bulging, and his arms look much fuller.
So here’s the secret: We suspect it’s the work of water. Or rather, the lack thereof.
Zac Efron looks — dare we say — puffier in March on the set of Baywatch. (Photo: Splash News)
Bodybuilders are known to use diuretics, or water pills, to trim down and get cut before shows. These pills have been around for about 60 years and were invented to treat health issues that result in swelling, painful bloating, fluid buildup, and high blood pressure, but they’re now being abused.
There are countless online forums filled with curious bodybuilders hoping to get shredded fast, and models have caught on. “Everyone does it,” an anonymous male model told Yahoo Beauty. “Female models too.” He says that he and other models take two over-the-counter water pills a day for two days before shoots, agency measurements, and digitals, rather than the typically recommended dosage of one a day for five days. Since everything in the modeling world happens on short notice, abuse is inherent.
In otherwise healthy people, side effects of water pills are uncommon, but for those who take them without instruction by a doctor, they can be severe. “You feel dizzy and nauseous,” says the model. “If you take too much, you literally think you’re dying.” He recalls a time that he took three over-the-counter water pills, and his heartbeat slowed down to a worrying rate, at which point he drank “gallons of water.”
By taking these dehydrating pills and eliminating water intake, models lose “around five pounds” in just two days. But the results don’t last, and as soon as the pills leave the body, the weight comes back. Water pills are never prescribed to people looking to lose fat and keep it off. But as a quick fix for models, bodybuilders, and probably some celebrities, over-the-counter water pills can be an unhealthy but effective way to get temporarily toned.
“The real goal of weight loss isn’t just to make the scale go down by two to three pounds but to lose body fat,” says Linda Anegawa, M.D., founder and medical director of OSR Weight Management, in Hawaii. “Water pills don’t affect excess body fat.”
Ironically, the pills can cause weight gain if used over a long period of time. According to Anegawa, overuse can result in your kidneys compensating for the diuretic and thus holding onto more water weight than you did before you started taking them — a disorder called diuretic-induced edema.
Diuretics can be useful for women experiencing uncomfortable bloating due to PMS, but Anegawa recommends getting water pills from your physician, not the over-the-counter kind, which aren’t FDA approved.
And don’t get used to the fleeting shredded look they may give you.
