She might have the body of every man (and woman’s) dreams but it doesn’t come easily to Beyoncé. As she says herself: “I am not a person who is naturally very thin. I am a person who has to work to keep my body in shape.” Having lost over 25kg (57 lbs) of baby weight in just three months this week’s edition of #EWGetsFit, we reveal how to get in shape like the bootlycious star.
Having tried everything from The Maple Syrup Diet to the 22 Day Vegan Diet, Beyoncé seems to have found a diet and fitness plan that works for her as well as a healthy attitude to body image: “Not everyone is supposed to be the same. Be healthy and take care of yourself, but be happy with the beautiful things that make you, you.”
At 169cm (approx. 5ft7ins) tall and weighing 59kg (approx. 9 stone) Beyoncé is a healthy weight and she looks fabulous. Here’s how she achieved it:
BEYONCÉ’S DIET
Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s friend, the exercise physiologist, Marco Borges devised the 22-day vegan cleanse. As the name suggests, the diet cuts out all meat and dairy products as well as wheat. Sounds difficult? Take a look at Bey and Jay-Z at the 2014 Grammy Awards for inspiration. As well as a healthy route to weight-loss, a vegan diet is also said to reduce the chance of developing diabetes heart disease, and strokes.
The couple at the 2014 Grammys looking amazing after their vegan cleanse
When she’s not being vegan Beyoncé opts for a high protein, low carb diet, aiming for three meals and two snacks a day. Scrambled egg whites for breakfast, lean turkey with capers for lunch and yellowtail sashimi for dinner saw her through the post-baby weight-loss period. She also snacks on oatcakes, cucumber with vinegar and slices of apple.
FOODS BANNED FROM BEYONCÉ’S DIET:
It seems as though Beyoncé opts for the, a little of what you fancy does you good school of thought and allows herself pizza, fries and wine as an occasional treat. She even Instagrammed a picture of chocolate cake whilst she was on her Mrs Carter World Tour although we’re not too sure she would have fitted into her sequinned cat suit if she had actually eaten any.
EXAMPLE OF MEALS, ACCORDING TO ACCORDING TO THE 22-DAY VEGAN CLEANSE LOOKED LIEK THIS ON DAY ONE:
Breakfast
- Vanilla chia pudding with 1 cup fresh berries
Lunch
- Crunchy red cabbage and green apple sesame slaw with 1 cup steamed, cubed sweet potato (or 1 small sweet potato, baked)
Afternoon snack
- 1/4 cup hemp hummus with fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, romaine leaves, bell pepper, etc.)
Dinner
- Black bean and quinoa salad with quick cumin dressing
Dessert
- Dark chocolate
BEYONCÉ’S DIET ADVICE:
Beyoncé’s diet advice is simple: follow a low-calorie diet, stay away from red meat, eat lots of fish and replace pasta and rice with quinoa. But down-to-earth Beyonce also says: “I always treat myself to one meal on Sundays when I can have whatever I want.”
BEYONCÉ’S WORKOUT
For the killer body you have to put the time in which means that Beyoncé works out three to five times a week as well as doing up to nine hours a day of dance practise – in heels! However, Beyoncé’s leaner, less muscular look in 2014 suggests a move away from a weights-based regime in order to retain that femininity.
Since having her baby, Blue Ivy Carter, Beyoncé has adopted Marco Borges Power Moves philosophy. This timesaving circuit training workout relies on exercises that involve movement of the four major joints: shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. She also incorporates interval training and yoga into her weekly routine. Beyoncé starts all her workouts with a five-minute warm up and aims for 12-15 reps of each exercise and three circuits. Each circuit contains a combination of squats, lunges, dips, push ups, crunches and treadmill.
Celebrity trainer, Nicole Winhoffer, also suggests she has had hand in Beyoncé’s leaner look by introducing her to the idea of working muscles in a 360-degree motion to maintain those curves. For a pert posterior Winhoffer recommends getting on all fours, stretching one leg straight behind the knee of the other and pulsing the sole of your foot towards the ceiling 50 times.
BEYONCÉ ON HEALTH & FITNESS:
“I’ll put on a song that I really like and do [biceps curls with] five-pound weights [for] the whole song and just try to burn out,”
“[When] I had to lose 60lbs they had me on that treadmill. I ate lettuce!”
“The truth is it’s a lot of sacrifice. It’s more about your mental strength than physical strength. You have to push yourself. It doesn’t matter what trainer you have. And it doesn’t matter what program you’re on. You have to be healthy and make the right choices,”
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Images: Getty
