Which Academy Award winning actress do you think made the following statement?
“I ate an In-N-Out burger and then I went to the red carpet (Oscars). What’s so surprising about that? I do it, like, once a week or once every two weeks. It’s my little treat for myself. I love the Double-Double with fries.”
“I am obsessed with In-N-Out. Every time I go to LA, I make sure to indulge. I’ve even written the company a letter begging them to open up a restaurant in NYC. PLEASE OH PLEASE!!!”
It does not sound like someone that has their weight under control and looks amazing, does it? Especially when you consider that she also loves pizza and pasta. Let’s find out how Penelope Cruz is able to lose weight and what kind of exercises does she do! www.HowCelebritiesLoseWeight.com has put together all the diet and weight loss techniques for you to follow! We want you to lose weight and look like a celebrity! This is how celebrities lose weight after all!
Penelope Cruz’s Diet
Penelope Cruz doesn’t have body weight problems but she decided to start a healthier life style so she quit smoking, started exercising, meditating, and paying more attention to sleep quality. She is not on a fast diet or the latest weight loss program. She eats healthy for the most part and that keeps her weight down! It is a lifestyle change for her. We keep finding out that the majority of celebrities that have their weight under control, do not keep trying different diets until they lose some weight and then once the gain some weight back they go on a different diet program. The majority of celebrities eat healthy, the take vitamins to support their health and they exercise. That is a lifestyle change, it is not the newest diet of the month!
A rehabilitated “junk food junkie”, Penelope was eating whatever was easiest (she loves pasta and pizza and cheeseburgers). Her diet now is a lot healthier than that. She does reward herself every so often with some of her old favorites. She also loves mangoes and brown rice, no pork. Penelope is keeping the carbs minimal, but still including a reasonable amount in her meal plans. No word if she is taking supplements for her health. Weight loss for Penelope Cruz is all about healthier eating and portion control!
Personal trainer and nutritionist Jackie Keller worked with Penelope Cruz in the past. She advocates ‘reconciliation’ with food through a tasty, balanced diet. Jackie Keller’s clients: Angelina Jolie, Uma Thurman, Reese Witherspoon, Charlize Theron, Penélope Cruz and Jessica Simpson.
Jaclie Keller’s top 3 nutrition tips
1. Think of food as a friend rather than the enemy. A healthy relationship with food is indispensable if you want to stay slim.
2. Eat a balanced diet: at least 5 portions of fruit and 5 portions of vegetables a day, 1 source of protein and 1 source of whole starch at every meal.
3. Go easy on the butter, fatty meat and white bread.
Her tips for rapid weight loss: Skip treats like the odd glass of wine and chocolate bar, cut out simple sugars, increase your intake of low calorie fruit and vegetables (cucumber and melon are good), eat fish 5 times a week, and get more exercise.
Finally, Penelope’s weight loss weapon is Sleeping. That’s right, sleeping. Sleeping cannot lead to weight loss but depriving oneself of it can certainly lead to weight problems. For instance, nutritionists often link lack of sleep to obesity. It is a known fact that most Americans don’t get enough sleep (6 hours) which lead to stress and bad eating habits. Penelope claims that sleeping 12 hours a day helps her to remain naturally thin.
Penelope Cruz Exercise Secrets
There is no single secret to Penelope Cruz’s hot body. She does not try for rapid weight loss programs, she does not look for easy ways to lose weight. Of course she exercises hard with her trainer, Gunnar Peterson. Peterson uses this move to tone Penelope Cruz’s glutes and obliques. Here’s how you can get a lower body like Penelope’s:
Penelope Cruz’s Butt and Abs Workout
The exercise: Twisting lunge
* Stand with feet parallel, arms at sides. Take a large step backward with left foot.
* Turn so your upper body faces all the way to the left, and pivot both feet so your left foot faces forward and your right foot faces out (heel of left foot is perpendicular to right).
* Lower hands toward floor over left leg, being careful to keep left knee in line with left ankle.
* Pivot back to center and repeat on opposite leg. Do 12 to 15 reps; switch sides.
Penelope’s Trick to Getting Fit Without the Gym
Penelope Cruz gets her fitness outside. “Workouts aren’t just about burning calories, they’re about getting in shape for the things you love,” says trainer Gunnar Peterson. Go for a walk with friends, take a dance class, swim laps, or play a game of football. Who says getting fit can’t be fun? If you do not make weight loss fun (or at least palatable) you will not be able to make it part of your every day routine. So if you enjoy exercise machines, treadmill machines or different exercise equipment, by all means use them. But if you enjoy doing a fast walk in your neighborhood, or hiking, or swimming or using the bike for losing weight, then do that!
Ok, all that sounds great, but isn’t there some short of quick weight loss secret or some sort of quick diet that all these trainers and nutritionists can suggest? There has to be something that will help me lose weight now, right? There’s a shape-up trick every trainer uses for rapid weight loss results: interval training. Interval training is a fitness term for alternating high-intensity bursts with less intensive effort. “They can change your body in ways that would take much longer to accomplish with regular, steady cardio,” says celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson, whose clients include Jennifer Lopez and Penelope Cruz. “You’ll see a difference in weeks.” In fact, recent research found that women who cycled for just 20 minutes three times a week but included intervals lost six pounds of fat after 15 weeks, while those who did a consistent pace for 40 minutes lost, get this, none. Better results in half the time? We’re on board.
Fat-Blasting Basics to burn fat and lose weight
What intervals are, exactly: Short bursts of more intense or faster exercise—whether you walk, swim, bike or jog—alternated with easier, slower recovery periods.
Why they’re effective: “You get the big calorie burn from the intense intervals, and the recovery lets you catch your breath so you can go all out again while still keeping your heart rate up,” says Pete McCall, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise. The result: Experts estimate that you’ll burn about 20 to 25 percent more calories with interval training. Wow! That sounds like great weight loss advice!
What to know if you’re just getting started: As with any new exercise routine, start slow. “If you’re gasping for air before the hard intervals are over, make them shorter and build up,” McCall says. Just be sure that each recovery period isn’t so easy that your heart rate returns to normal.
How long your workouts should be: “Studies suggest that interval routines are best kept to 30 to 40 minutes,” says Kristi Molinaro, who created the 30/60/90 interval classes she teaches at Equinox, which are among the most raved about in New York City. Yes, a serious case of less is more!
Ready to start losing weight?
Use this 30-minute interval workout with any type of cardio you like. Do it two or three times a week.
For the first 10 minutes, alternate between 30 seconds of intense exercise and 60 seconds of moderate. The intense spurts should be a 7 or 8 on a difficulty scale of 1 to 10—with 1 being practically effortless and 10 being run-for-your-life tough. For the recovery minute, aim for an effort of 4 or 5.
For the next 10 minutes, alternate between 60 seconds of intense exercise and 60 seconds of moderate exercise.
For the final 10 minutes, alternate between 90 seconds of intense exercise and 60 seconds at a moderate pace. Whew! Be sure to warm up and cool down before and after, and get ready to see results.
Some additional things to keep in mind to make it easier to lose those last 10-20 pounds!
Weight Loss Tip 1
Stay slim like Penelope by tapping into your past. Penelope danced for years growing up and has maintained her long and lean ballerina form by continuing to participate in dance classes whenever possible. Try returning to your favorite sport or activity as a child or try out a hobby that you have never done before. Just exercise with things that will be fun to you!
Weight Loss Tip 2
Try a combination of cardiovascular exercise and strength training every day. Penelope exercises with her personal trainer 5 days a week, but prefers a variety of cardio (such as walking or jogging) and lightweight training at each workout. Incorporate interval training in your workout for healthy weight loss!
Weight Loss Tip 3
Focus on more than one muscle group at a time. Penelope’s trainer leads her through integrated workouts that work multiple muscles (like a bicep curl with a squat), in addition to concentrated core work for lean abdominals. This can make workouts faster but equally as effective.
Weight Loss Tip 4
Place the focus on your health instead of on losing weight. Years ago, Penelope decided to change her life for the better by doing yoga and Pilate’s workouts, quitting smoking and changing her eating habits. Positive lifestyle changes can be far more motivating for weight loss than striving for a smaller clothing size alone.
Weight Loss Tip 5
Try minimizing the calories and portion sizes of favorite foods. Penelope chooses to have her meals delivered by NutriFit or similar dieting programs whenever on location, because it takes the calorie and size control out of her hands.
Weight Loss Tip 6
Watch your calories while enjoying your diet. Although Penelope makes healthy choices whenever possible, she continues to enjoy moderate amounts of her favorite foods like red wine, steak, double double cheesburgers and dessert. If you stop depriving yourself, it can be easier to enjoy a well-rounded eating plan without ever going to extremes.
