In her new Netflix documentary, Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé [1], Beyoncé shared the details of the diet that got her in shape for her 2018 Coachella show and it's . . . extreme, to say the least. "In order for me to meet my goals, I'm limiting myself to no bread, no carbs, no sugar, no dairy, no meat, no fish, no alcohol," Beyoncé said in the film. "I'm hungry." She was determined to lose her pregnancy weight fast, which was no easy feat — the performance was just 10 months after she gave birth to her twins, Sir and Rumi.
Beyoncé acknowledged that her preparation for Coachella, including the diet, probably wasn't sustainable. "I definitely pushed myself further than I knew I could and I've learned a very valuable lesson. I will never, never push myself that far again," she said. The diet wasn't meant to be a long-term lifestyle change; just a strategy to shed weight fast before a big performance. Still, hearing about Beyoncé's diet and seeing her success from it [2] might make it seem like a tempting shift to make. We wanted the lowdown from an expert — should "regular people" be making this kind of change? Registered dietitian Kristin Kirkpatrick of the Cleveland Clinic's Wellness Institute had some answers.
"My first thought is that this approach is not sustainable," Kristin told POPSUGAR. "The regular person may struggle with sticking with it." She added that people on the diet might require supplements, especially omega-3 fatty acids [3], to fill in nutritional gaps.
The diet definitely cuts out a lot of foods, making it tough on the average person — but Kristin's take on it wasn't all bad. Beyoncé cut out sugar [5] and alcohol [6], which Kristin agreed was a good idea; "these don't provide any nutrients," she said.
Kristin also cautioned that your environment and lifestyle plays a large role in whether you can make this kind of extreme diet work for you. "If you live with someone who doesn't follow this kind of diet and has junk food and meat in the house, it will be harder, if not impossible, to stay with it long term," Kristin told POPSUGAR.
"There could be pieces and parts of this diet that may work for some people," Kristin said. Structural changes could make it more sustainable, such as scheduling cheat days [7] or working up to it by cutting out one thing at a time instead of all at once. Remember, though, that unsustainable extreme diets can cause strong cravings, and going on and then off can lead to a weight gain and relapse. "Sometimes, taking an approach that just focuses on whole foods and eating only when hungry may be the best way to lose weight, and keep it off," Kristin said.