Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis is constantly asked what her diet and workout secrets are, and her answer is simple: Portion control and yoga.
De Laurentiis, whose bikini body has gotten leaner and fitter with age, said eating small meals and never overeating is her No. 1 diet secret, as Celebrity Health Fitness has reported.
“I eat small meals all day. I don’t eat a lot of food at any point in time,” Giada told Delish. “I basically snack all day long.”
De Laurentiis said her breakfasts, snacks, lunches and dinners will surprise fans. She almost always starts her day with a bowl of brown rice with olive oil and salt.
“I like a starch or a grain in the morning. That’s just how I like to start my day,” said Giada.
“When I’m traveling, I’ll do oatmeal instead, because it’s much easier to find in hotels. It fills me up for several hours. And that olive oil really does help the complexion.”
Her favorite snacks are rosemary Triscuits topped with ricotta, mascarpone cheese and chocolate chips.
Giada also loves to snack on Milano cookies or Nilla wafers dipped in lemonade. “You’ve got to try it,” she said. “Yum.”
Dinner is usually a grilled chicken salad, and dinner is whatever she’s craving that day. “At dinner, the world is my oyster,” she said.
Laurentiis also exercises every day, doing cardio and yoga workouts.
Yoga promotes relaxation and natural weight loss by reducing stress and suppressing appetite, said Jennifer Aniston’s yoga teacher, Mandy Ingber, author of Yogalosophy.
“Morning workouts, every day, are the best thing for me,” said Giada, who has a daughter, Jade, with ex-husband Todd Thompson.
“I do yoga, which I got into while I was pregnant, or a half hour on the elliptical and 20 minutes on the treadmill. Getting up and getting my blood going gives me energy for the whole day.”
Giada De Laurentiis revealed her diet secrets and her favorite recipes in her book, Giada’s Feel-Good Food: My Healthy Recipes and Secrets.