The weight loss of 2008’s highest earning rapper 50 cent, captured the attention of fans and extreme dieters alike; all wanting answers to the same questions.  Why did he do this?  How did he do it? And, is it healthy?

[50 cent uploaded this picture to his twitter account in May 2010.   Find out why and how he lost so much weight.........]

Why Get Super Slim?

Even though 50 cent is worth approximately $440 million dollars, he yearns to leave a legacy that goes beyond the paper.  What started with a tweet, quickly turn into a hot debate.  The rapper turned actor lost over 50 pounds in 2 months for his role in “Things Fall Apart”, where he plays a cancer stricken football player.  Alarmed by such a drastic change, fans became worried and health authorities were quick to bad mouth his tactics, without knowing his motivation. 

50 cent, who’s real name is Curtis Jackson, took the role to pay homage to a friend who suffered a similar fate to that of his on screen character.  Inspired by actors like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, 50 figured he could do it too.  It is not uncommon for celebrities to diet for a particular role, in fact it is often times praised in the community as a sign of dedication and passion for the art of acting, and often times comes with serious accolades.  Lately however, health authorities are taking issue with the way celebrity weight loss is glorified and caution fans not try these techniques at home.

50 Cent’s Weight Loss:  Not the First Time

Luckily for 50, this was not the first time he has dropped so much weight.  Known for dazzling his fans with a chiseled physique, 50 was forced to implement a liquid diet after being shot in the mouth in 2000. Not a reason most dieters would go straight liquid, but at least he had some experience before carrying out his recent diet and training regime.  While most people would agree that 50 cent’s recent weight loss is extreme, many are looking for suggestions that might help them experience at least some weight loss.  Understanding his program might provide some insightful solutions for people struggling to lose weight, so how did he do it?

[After a major weight shed, 50 cent is looking to regain his old form and has bulked up considerably since filming "Things Fall Apart"]

The 50 Cent Method

1. Liquid diet – 50 consumed nothing but liquids for a two month period.  Most likely these solutions contained some type of protein supplement.  Obviously liquid such as water is good for you, but most nutritionists will tell you that nothing is truly as satiating as chewing and eating real food.  Even protein supplement (shakes) should only be consumed for that reason, as a supplement.  Consuming liquid only is not a long term solution, but may help stimulate weight loss and break through body composition plateaus when used strategically for short periods of time. 
2. Lots of Sleep – 50 claims that he slept more during this 2 month phase than any other time in his life.  We all know sleep is a vital component of a healthy life and a contributor to weight loss.  Lack of sleep has been shown to increase the likely hood of weight gain, for a variety of reasons.   
3. 3 hour workouts – Being an extremely muscular man to begin with, 50 cent is used to working out, however these were not normal for him  His routine consisted of running, running, and you guessed it, more running.  Intervals and steady state cardio training for up to 3 hours at a time.  Most likely he would do intervals at the beginning for up to 30 minutes, and then he would continue at a jogging pace for up to and over 2 hours.  Pretty extreme.

Is restricting your calorie consumption safe?

Before we label 50’s weight loss as completely unhealthy we need to consider a few things.  50 cent stated at times throughout his weight loss experience that he maintained serious muscle definition and almost backed out of the role, because he didn’t feel his body was believable enough.  After a month of the liquid diet, he also claimed that he was about as ripped as he had ever been, with a really low body fat percentage.  50 only felt negative effects, on his energy levels, and mood in the last 2 weeks before filming began.

While crash dieting and extreme fitness routines are by no means healthy or sustainable, there might be some merit in shocking our bodies for short durations.  I don’t have the desire to try an all liquid diet, but the reservations I have about it are similar to the ones I had about intermittent fasting, before I tried it.  What I learned from my experience is that our bodies are incredible vessels, capable of adapting under extreme circumstances. 

The media outcry over extreme celebrity diets is well intentioned.  Overweight people that suffer from low self esteem issues have a hard time living up to the ”ideal” body image portrayed in the media, and in some cases we should do what we can to protect these people.  It is easy to bash extreme diets like 50 cents, but when anybody gives overweight people a hard time about their diet choices they are chastised for being insensitive, and heartless.  Some of the readers on this blog have mentioned their lack of sympathy for overweight people, and they are in no way heartless.  The reason they have a lack of sympathy is that they know that being in good shape is attainable for 99% of the population. 

I get a kick out of people that tell me that fasting is crazy, I am just starving myself, and it is completely unhealthy.  They are the same people that are eating fast food all the time.  If I were to turn around and tell them they are fat because they eat poorly, I would be the bad guy. 

Are we as a society more openly harsh on skinny people, people with eating disorders, and people that have lost weight, then we are on people who are obese and don’t take care of their bodies the way they should?

Quick update on 50 Cent – Here he is in a new youtube video sensation, looking like his old self again!  Glad to see it!

Keenan Cahill is pretty popular right now.  His videos are getting serious views and are funny enough for 50 cent to get in on the action.

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