Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love, Se7en with Brad Pitt, The Talented Mr. Ripley with Matt Damon) appeared on the Jonathan Ross show last Friday, and revealed some of her secrets to staying in shape and keeping fit. Gwyneth Paltrow exercises for 90 minutes every day and here main fitness workouts revolve around both yoga and Pilates. She also spoke of how important yoga is for strengthening the pelvic floor after giving birth.
The quote in the image is extremely revealing – and something that every fit person understands and most overweight people live in denial of – fitness takes time and effort!
“The reason that I can be 38 and have two kids and wear a bikini is because I work my beeeep ass off. It’s not an accident. It’s not luck, it’s not fairy dust, it’s not good genes. It’s killing myself for an hour and a half five days a week, but what I get out of it is relative to what I put into it. That’s what I try to do in all areas of my life.” – Gwyneth Paltrow,
Gwyneth Paltrow’s yoga routine starts at 4:30am each morning. She says “I’m really not a morning person at all, it’s just sheer determination. I’m very strict with myself. When I practice six days a week and eat clean food, I feel much better.”
45 Minutes Cardio and 45 Minutes Strength Training
Every day Gwyneth does 45 minutes of cardio and she tries to do another 45 minutes of strength training too. She describes the strength training as being “muscular structure work, which is toning, realigning and lengthening” – basically getting stronger and more flexible.
In April 2013 when talking about Iron Man 3 she told Graham Norton (BBC1 TV) that her daily workout now consists mostly of 1 hour dance aerobics a day. The emphasis now is staying fit and keeping the fat off. She is now 40 years old (in 2013) and has 2 children. Regular exercise is becoming more important, especially that her movies roles sometimes require her to reveal her body!
She has also written a new book of healthy recipes called It’s All Good. The recipes have all been created by Gwyneth and Inspired by the Elimination Diet which her doctor suggested that she tried. The Elimination Diet, for Gwyneth, mostly means no coffee, no alcohol, no deep water fish. It is about eliminating the foods which your body turns to fat or are more likely to result in health problems (food allergies and food intolerances).
Macrobiotic Diet
She also adhered to a strict macrobiotic diet for four years. The diet involves eating local, seasonal, organic food; no sugar, no meat, no processed or refined foods, i.e. a way that is closer to nature, how humans would have eaten a few hundred years ago in fact.
Followers of the macrobiotic approach believe that food and food quality powerfully affect health, well-being, and happiness. The macrobiotic approach suggests choosing food that is less processed and more natural, and employing more traditional methods of cooking for family, friends, and oneself. – Source: Wikipedia
Macrobiotics is considered an approach to life rather than a diet. General Guidelines for the diet are:
- Whole cereal grains, especially brown rice: 50-60%
- Vegetables: 25-30%
- Beans and legumes: 5-10 %
- Miso soup: 5%
The remainder is composed of fish and seafood, seeds and nuts, seeds and nuts butter, seasonings, sweeteners, fruits, and beverages. Other naturally raised animal products may be included if needed during dietary transition or according to individual needs.
Ape Woman Diet
This has similarities with the “Ape man diet“. She admitted that she stopped this diet during pregnancy, as she started to feel sick at the site of brown rice, and crave grilled emmental sandwiches, ice cream, yoghurt and cookies – all strictly not allowed on a macrobiotic diet! But since giving birth she has resumed part of her macrobiotic diet, although she now eats ice cream. She avoids meat, but eats fish, and fried foods.
Giving up sugar and wheat is the akin to adopting a “natural diet”, and the early phases of the Atkin’s regime involve avoiding sugar and wheat. It has been suggested that the obesity epidemic is caused by a large extent to over-consumption of sugar and carbohydrates.
Gwyneth Paltrow has Osteopenia
In June 2010 it was announced that Gwyneth Paltrow has developed osteopenia which can lead to osteoporosis, although it does not always develop further. She is also suffering from naturally low vitamin D levels. Both of these conditions could be the result of her diet, specifically a lack of dairy and calcium with regards to the development of osteopenia.
Weird Health Food
Gwyneth Paltrow also enjoys drinking red wine and Guinness stout ale, so her diet is certainly no longer strict. In the past she has described her methods as – “I eat weird health food, exercise and I meditate. I do yoga every day and I no longer eat sugar or wheat. Some people think it’s weird and extreme, but you have to do something weird and extreme to balance the fact that you’re living an extreme life.”
Even though she has given up parts of the macrobiotic diet, her sensible eating and yoga certainly help to keep her looking young and sexy – essential for both Hollywood actresses and the rest of us alike.
First published May 6, 2008