Bethenny Frankel's Alarming Post-Baby Crash Diet

If it only seems like a few weeks ago when New York Housewife Bethenny Frankel was monstrously pregnant — it was. But you wouldn’t know it now. She’s lost a frightening 29 pounds in three weeks. Is her health in danger?

Frankel, 39, documented her pregnancy and fretted about her weight gain, to the point that she virtually stopped eating in the final weeks of her pregnancy.

She gave birth to daughter Bryn Casey Hoppy via C-section on May 8, four weeks premature.

The baby only weighed a frightening, 4 pounds, 11 ounces at birth and was held in neonatal intensive care for four days before she was out of danger.

Frankel said she gained 35 pounds during her pregnancy, but critics say she didn’t eat enough or relax enough. The combination could have possibly led to Bryn’s premature birth and low birth weight.

Now Frankel appears to be on a crash diet that could be putting her own health in jeopardy and sending a negative message to expectant mothers.

“This sets a very unattainable standard for the majority of new mothers,” one expectant mom told The New York Post’s Page Six.

Peg Moline, editor-in-chief of Fit Pregnancy, adds: “I’m concerned if she’s taking care of herself, getting enough rest and enough food, and not obsessing about losing the weight so quickly.”

Experts say it takes nine months to a year for most women to regain their pre-pregnancy form, especially after a C-section.

“I worry about the message that sends to the rest of us out here, who aren’t invested in that ‘skinny girl’ persona and don’t have trainers,” says Moline.

Frankel acknowledges that she’s suffered from eating disorders since childhood and is obsessed about body image.

“I used to be 20 pounds heavier,” Bethenny recently told Parade. “I would have been 50 pounds heavier, but I was white-knuckling it my whole life. I was completely obsessed with food.”

For her part, Frankel defends her weight loss. She told Page Six she had lost the 29 pounds in three weeks by following a doctor-advised diet and exercise program.

“Do I think it’s an unrealistic message to be sending? If I gained 80 lbs. and expect to come back, that’s unrealistic,” Bethenny told Access Hollywood on June 3. “But the truth is I’m healthy before, during and after [my pregnancy].”

“My message to women is to be comfortable where you are, to not binge at any point in your life, to eat a balanced diet with indulgences and to go at your own pace.”

Good advice. She should follow it.

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