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How Did Maureen McCormick Lose Weight?
Maureen McCormick grew up on television as the popular, oldest sister Marcia on the hit show The Brady Bunch. From 1969 to 1974, we watched Marcia go through the typical teenage scenarios and cheered her on. As a fresh-faced, blonde-haired beauty, she stole the hearts of television audiences everywhere.
But after the show ended, McCormick had some deeper struggles that weren’t typical.
For a period of time, she became addicted to cocaine, thanks to a boyfriend who introduced it to her when she was twenty. She has been very candid about her addiction and her recovery from it.
She’s also talked about her body image issues and her battle with bulimia. She has since recovered from that as well, but she believes both her battle with drugs and her eating issues have played a role in her gaining more than 50 pounds during her adult life and her struggles to lose it and keep it off.
So, how has she done it? And what is she doing to maintain a healthy weight now in her fifties?
1. She joined Celebrity Fit Club
Perhaps the biggest boost to McCormick’s weight loss was in 2007 when she was asked if she wanted to join Celebrity Fit Club.
Celebrity Fit Club is a reality television show that ran for four seasons in the early 2000s. In each season, eight celebrities would be chosen to compete with one another to see who could lose the most weight. Every week, contestants would have to weigh in to see how close they’ve come to their target weights. They are each advised and monitored by a nutritionist, a physician, and physical trainers.
Maureen McCormick ended up winning the season. She was on the show and lost 38 pounds, going from 154 pounds down to an impressive 116 pounds.
At 5’3” tall, this is a healthy weight for a woman her age and size.
She has shared that being on Celebrity Fit Club made a huge impact in her life and she came out of it a different person, and not just size-wise. She has never regretted doing it and said she appreciated that being on a reality show like CFC forced her to really take her weight gain seriously, take accountability, and work hard to achieve her goal.
2. She Began Using the Dietary Supplement SlimShots
Unfortunately for McCormick, her weight loss after winning Celebrity Fit Club didn’t last.
She admitted later that though she had been able to continue to keep off some of the weight, she eventually gained back about a third of it. She attributed a lot of it to the fact she wasn’t exercising like she had been on the show and therefore her body wasn’t able to keep up with how many calories she was consuming.
McCormick was approached by the company IdeaVillage to help them promote a new product that was being introduced in the United States that they believed would revolutionize the dietary supplement market. McCormick became the spokesperson for this new liquid supplement called SlimShots.
SlimShots claim to suppress a person’s appetite by up to thirty percent a day if taken when suggested. McCormick has been quoted in the past, saying that she believed this claim to be true, and that it was working for her.
It is worth noting that IdeaVillage and McCormick were both later sued in a class-action suit, stating they had made false claims about SlimShots and its effectiveness at appetite suppression. And, though it’s unclear if those claims were substantiated, it’s fair to say that the supplement did help McCormick get her weight loss back on track, at least for some time.
3. She Eventually Came Up with a Regular Eating and Workout Plan
McCormick has, like many celebrity stars, been in the public eye for many years and everything from her weight to her love life has been scrutinized.
But McCormick decided to take matters into her own hands when she wrote her memoir, Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice.
Though the first part of this book deals mainly with her life as a teen star on The Brady Bunch, the last half focuses on her weight loss journey and finding her healthy self again.
After being on a celebrity weight-loss show, then trying dietary supplements like SlimShot, Maureen McCormick says that she eventually settled into the idea of losing weight the old-fashion way – through a healthier diet and finding a workout plan that works with her body.
While working with a fitness trainer, the following eating and training plan was put together for McCormick:
Eat Often
McCormick’s trainer suggests eating frequent meals, 2 to 3 hours apart. Meals that consist of around 200 calories a piece have proven to be the easiest to digest but are also the best way to stave off hunger pains.
It is also recommended to stop eating at least three hours before bedtime, which also aids your body in processing the foods you’ve consumed during the day.
Get Good Sleep
Speaking of bedtime – few of us realize it, but how much sleep we get will greatly affect our weight loss journey. McCormick’s trainer knows this, and points out that when a body is tired, it will crave more calories. And, when we are tired, we tend to reach for foods that aren’t as healthy for us.
Start Your Day Right
Starting your day with foods that are rich in nutrients and dense in fiber will kick start your eating for the day, reminds McCormick’s trainer. She suggests bran muffins or other foods that are rich in fiber, as they fill us up and keep us moving throughout the day.
Hydrate!
More and more studies show that most of us don’t get enough water through the day and it’s affecting our waistlines. The trainer suggests starting to drink water first thing in the morning and keeping it up until at least 4 pm. (Too much water right before bed will mess with your sleep, so be careful how much you drink late at night.)
Think About Your Sugar Tooth and Boxed Foods
McCormick’s plan involves cutting back on processed refined sugars and considering a sugar cleanse for the first few weeks of a new diet plan. (For more of her cleanse tips, go here for more.) She believes that making good choices when it comes to sugary sweets is easier after a cleanse.
She also suggests trying to eliminate foods from your diet that come in boxes, as most of them are full of processed sugars and lack good nutrients.
Where You Eat is Important
Eating with intention is a popular mantra in the world of weight loss. McCormick’s trainer reminds us that when we watch television, look at our computers or stare at our phones, it’s easier to not think about the food we are putting into our body and how to notice when our body is signaling its full. Sit with your food and enjoy it.
Don’t Cut All Carbs
In a time when we’ve been taught to believe that carbs are bad, McCormick’s trainer thinks otherwise. She says that it’s the refined carbohydrates that are bad for our waistline and instead should be replaced by nutritious wheats that give us the necessary fiber and fuel our body’s needs without all the added junk that comes in foods like white pasta and rice, white bread, and processed cookies and crackers.
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