Paula's Dieting Tactics

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Apr 18th, 1999

Paula Abdul forces herself to keep trim by calling in . . . THE FOOD POLICE

18 April 1999

FIRECRACKER singer and dancer Paula Abdul, famous for her daring necklines and skin-tight dresses, has a secret weapon for keeping her figure sexy and trim. She employs a highly priced "food cop" to patrol her kitchen.

Top Hollywood nutritionist Yolanda Berman keeps a strict eye on what 36-year-old Abdul keeps in her pantry, cupboards and fridge.

Once when she was on patrol in the star's mansion she came across an arresting sight - boxes of fattening macaroni and cheese hidden in a
cupboard.

Yolanda confiscated the food and gave the ringleted, 1,5m star a verbal caution.

Abdul, also a top choreographer, is reaping the reward for calling in the food fuzz. She says: "I like to look feminine and a little bit sexy."

She has made a successful aerobics video, Paula Abdul's Get Up and Dance, and has just released a new, high-energy workout tape, Paula Abdul's
"Cardio Dance."

Food patroller Berman knows Abdul once thought nothing of sitting down to wolf down a whole cake, a bag of biscuits and a tub of ice cream. Then she would retreat to the bathroom and purge herself of the food.

She had to overcome the eating disorder bulimia, whose sufferers binge and purge, by checking into a clinic in 1994.

Now the entertainer stays between 47kg and 49kg by eating mostly fruit, vegetables and a small amount of protein. However, if she is planning a strenuous dance routine she allows herself a few carbohydrates - just for the energy.

Abdul was once also an exercise junkie, trying to burn off the extra kilojoules she had taken in by over-indulging in food.

"I used to be a fanatic," she says. "I used to exercise four or five times a day.

"Now it's different. I don't exercise too much for the wrong reasons. Three times a week I'll do some cardiovascular or aerobic activity.

"I also weight train and I plan to keep yoga as part of my weekly routine."

Although Abdul's fans love her sexy outfits, when she is home alone she prefers simpler clothes. Her favourites are a pair of designer jeans and a leather shirt.

But even in workout gear the diminutive star refuses to wear flat-soled shoes.

And now that she's eating the right things and keeping a trim figure naturally, she looks her best in anything.

Filed under: Health