On a recent episode of Oprah, actress, mother and now traveling gourmet, Gwyneth Paltrow chatted with Lady O about her postpartum depression, her newly transformed body, her family and her latest project with celebrity chef Mario Batali.
As one of Hollywood’s most beautiful and talented actresses, Paltrow seems like she has it all. And she does in many regards: A beautiful face, a gorgeous body, a lovely demeanor, an amazing career and a wonderful family. But after the birth of her second child Moses, two years ago, Paltrow had a stroke of postpartum depression that lasted for about 6 months. It wasn’t until she started to get out of it did she realize what kind of a hazy fog she had actually been in.
Now, she is sharing her beauty, body and health tips and secrets for women everywhere. Her recipe that helped lift her out of her depression included a combination of steady exercise, healthy eating and her hormones finally regulating back to their pre-pregnancy levels.
Healthy Eating
As a long devotee of Ashtanga yoga and a vegetarian, Paltrow takes her health, both physical and spiritual very seriously. But as many mothers can attest, with the complex and intricate combination of hormones, extra baby weight and sleeplessness nights, your once disciplined health routine gets lost in the juggle of family and work.
After years of following a strict macrobiotic diet, Paltrow has since loosened up on her eating rules. Although she still doesn’t eat anything with four legs, she admits to eat anything and everything from poached salmon to creamy French cheeses. But she firmly admits that in order to have the freedom to enjoy dessert after dinner, she must work for it.
She doesn’t count calories or carboyhdrate grams. Instead she exercises. Everyday. And for her, these well-crafted exercise routines are what works for her body so that she can travel around Spain with one of the world’s most celebrated chefs and feast on scrumptious paella.
Rigorous Exercise
Admitting to an Achilles Heel for fried dough, Paltrow, said that she couldn’t seem to drop those last 20 pounds of pregnancy weight after the birth of her son, Moses. Until she paired up with trainer Tracy Anderson, a five-foot powerhouse who whisked her own body back into shape after giving birth. Paltrow then introduced Anderson to her pal, Madonna and now both Paltrow and Madonna credit Anderson for whipping their bodies into red-carpet shape (not that Madonna needed that much help in that department).
According to Gywneth, Anderson’s routines kick your butt! She relies on cardio dance training and resistance training to give the body a lean and defined look. Anderson wants her female clients to have the body of a dancer…strong and long.
On any typical day, Gwyneth works out with Tracy at her home gym, but when she’s traveling, she says she won’t leave home without Tracy’s exercise DVDs. They are one of Paltrow’s staple travel companions.
Tracy’s routines for both Madonna and Gwyneth include working out in a room that is heated to 80 degrees. The heat creates sweat which ups the body’s metabolism in an effort to cool itself down. This extra exertion from the body equates to more calories burned. In this heated room, Paltrow spends two hours doing hundreds of squats, lifts and other exercises that give her heart rate and muscles a real burn. Tracy’s own signature band system of exercises targets specific muscles at a variety of angles. And she only has her gals doing resistance training with a 3 pound weights or less. Tracy does not believe that any woman should use more weight than this since she feels it puts the muscle at risk for bulking up.
To watch Gwyneth and Tracy in action, have a look at this video.
