Is it "Wow!" or "Whoa!"?

No sooner do celebrity women have a baby, they appear to be showing off super-slim, super-toned bodies.

All to the envy of anyone struggling to shed excess pounds, not just non-famous new mums.

While impressive on some levels, there is some worry that the fascination of dropping post-pregnancy pounds is unhealthy.

Take Victoria Beckham. The former Spice Girl gave birth to her fourth child, and first girl, Harper Seven, in July this year.

Reportedly, in an effort to shed the 10.7kg she gained during pregnancy and return to her usual, slender if occasionally worryingly thin frame, she has supposedly adopted the Five Hands Diet.

If that sounds like a lethal kungfu move, the reality sounds just as painful to endure.

The diet is a strict regime where only five small high-protein meals are eaten daily. And whichever low-fat protein is chosen - for Mrs Beckham, these include smoked salmon, yellowfin tuna sushi and scrambled eggs, the portion should be no bigger than the size of your palm - hence the term "five hands".

The protein can be accompanied by certain types of vegetables.

Raw broccoli, cabbage and celery are encouraged. Prunes, bananas, raw figs, wheat products (such as pasta and bread) are to be strictly limited, if not totally avoided.

Any snacking is restricted to only nuts or wolfberries.

According to proponents of the Five hands Diet, it is designed to control the body's production of insulin. This hormone is central to metabolism and regulates the burning of fat as energy. (A high insulin level can lead to weight gain.)

So by controlling the amount of insulin produced, the body's metabolism is also increased - thus, fat is burned rather than stored.

While husband David has been seen on the beaches of Malibu entertaining his three sons in the surf, nothing has been seen of Victoria lately.

Though weight loss works best with a combination of diet and exercise, she has been warned off anything vigorous.

Instead, she had been doing gentle post-natal exercises and 10 minutes of pilates daily, which will then build up to regular exercise with her personal trainer, and fitness guru to the stars, Tracy Anderson.

We will see if the extreme dieting has been successful on Thursday when the New York Fashion Week starts.

There Victoria will be exhibiting the spring collection of her eponymous fashion label.

The former pop star has had trouble with dieting before and has admitted to being diet-obsessed.

Even husband David expressed concern to Barbara Walters on US TV in 2003 about Victoria's drastic weight loss after the birth of their first child, Brooklyn.

Victoria herself admitted: "I was very obsessed. I could have told you the calorie and fat content in anything."

Extreme dieting for celebrities may seem like an obligation. Scrutiny is high.

But some experts like Emeritus Professor of Counselling Julia Buckroyd at UK's University of Hertfordshire believes that such extremes can be a sign of deeper-lying disorders.

"Not anorexia," she told Daily Mail, "but certainly obsessional, even dysfunctional behaviour."

Victoria gave herself two months to get back in shape for a fashion show, so the question you may be asking yourself is, 'Is it worth it?'

Ms Karen Wright, lead dietitian at The Food Clinic in Singapore, cautioned: "It is not recommended that mothers who are breastfeeding go on a 'diet' as reduced calorie intake will affect breast milk production."

She told The New Paper on Sunday: "Breastfeeding is not only good for baby, but good for Mum too! Breastfeeding, in most cases, will help to lose the extra fat stores laid down during pregnancy."

Ms Wright also warns of "fad dieting" for those looking for a quick-weight loss fix, especially for teenagers.

"Following a balanced diet and regular exercise is the most successful way to lose weight and more importantly, keep the weight off. It's hard, but it works!"

This article was first published in The New Paper.