Mariah’s Morsel Diet

New magazine reported that when Mariah Carey was pictured looking stunning in a bikini recently, everyone wanted to know her secret. The 5ft 9in singer revealed how she dropped three dress sizes – from a 12 to a 6 – and got back to the same figure she had when she was a 16-year-old girl in high school.

The 38 year old has told how she was fed up with being a yo-yo dieter, so called on a French health and fitness guru, Patricia Gay – who she had worked with before – for more help.

Since then, Mariah has shed 1 ½ stone through diet and exercise, and still able to eat her favourite food – macaroni cheese.

The Diet

Before Mariah decided to change her ways, she was a fan of macaroni smothered in cheese, which may be delicious but is also carbo-licious! The American also adored fried food and pizza. However, when Patricia came along, Mariah’s old diet underwent a radical overhaul, although she hasn’t had to cut out the naughty things completely.

Thankfully, Mariah found a healthy and slimming way to still eat her favourite food – by only having a very small portion of it.

“I really don’t want to give up mac and cheese and little bits of good fried food that we all love. So, if you just take a little tiny morsel of it, you get to taste it”, she says.

The plan is something the R’n’B sensation came up with two years ago before she went on tour. “I kind of invented it [the morsel diet]”, she said back then.

“Basically, you can have a tiny bit of everything you want. When I’m really, really hungry I’ll be like, ‘I need a morsel!’ So they’ll just give me whatever is there [on the plate], but it has to be less than a forkful”.

Mariah has also cut out snacks and takes care about the way her food is cooked to further cut down on her calorie intake.

“The main issue that Patricia has is the way people prepare the food,” says Mariah.

“We’re really not supposed to have things cooked in a lot of butter, or things cooked in a lot of oil”.

Butter is actually banned from Mariah’s diet, and oil is used sparingly.

Her calorie intake has been reduced to 1,000-1,500 a day – the average woman is recommended to eat 2,000 calories per day – and she doesn’t eat carbohydrates and protein together, as this improves digestion and encourages weight loss.

Mariah also drinks three litres of water a day, but will drink champagne on special occasions!

The Workout

I have been on a quest to get in really good shape”, says the singer.

So Patricia devised a workout plan for Mariah that involves lots of water aerobics and swimming to burn fat and mat work to sculpt her body.

“What’s great about working out in the pool is the water acts as resistance, so you’re exercising twice as hard without feeling it!” the singer says.

And on the mat work, which she likens to Pilates, Mariah explains, “You don’t need to join the gym – just get yourself a little towel and sit in front of the TV”.

A typical workout involves:

A water warm-up of 20 minutes, which includes an aqua jog, breaststroke and dolphin kicks

Thirty minutes of full body exercises in the water using a float and kick boxing in the shallow end.

And finally, 30-45 minutes of yoga and Pilates-based moves and crunches to tone and strengthen muscle.

To keep her body soft and feminine, Mariah says she doesn’t use weights “ever”.

She works out for around an hour and a half at a time, between three and seven times a week. Mariah says, “Whenever I had a vacation, I would incorporate Patricia and say, ‘Let’s have her there so I can eat’, and then we’d just work out more”.

And her plan has made her confidence soar. “It makes you lose the weight that you want to lose”, Mariah says.

“One of the biggest rewards from dealing with this diet is feeling pretty, feeling sexy, you know, feeling good. It’s about feeling comfortable in your own skin”.

The Meal Plan

Breakfast: non fat plain yoghurt with one cut of sliced pineapple, one small banana and lots of water.

Mid-morning snack: six kalamata olives.

Lunch: grilled courgette with squash and spinach plus grilled chicken with lemon, salt, parsley and pepper.

Afternoon snack: one backed sweet potato with salt and pepper.

Dinner: wholegrain rice with 1tbsp of low-sodium soy sauce and mixed vegetables cooked in 1tsp of olive oil.

Credit: New Magazine