When it comes to diet and fitness, Leighton Meester is living her best life, finding that sweet spot between obsessive dedication and relaxed follow-through — and the results show in her beautiful photos in Shape’s April 2019 issue.
“I usually eat a ratio of 60:40 or 70:30 of healthy foods versus whatever I want. If I have a really nice, fulfilling breakfast and lunch, then for dinner, all bets are off,” the actress told the magazine of her daily eating regimen.
Starting the morning off right with a time-saving smoothie recipe hack sets her up for flexibility. “For breakfast, I keep all the stuff for my morning smoothie in the freezer in resealable bags, so it’s pretty much all measured off,” she said. Inside those bags: “A lot of kale and spinach and collard greens. I might blend it with spirulina and chlorella powder and a bunch of flaxseeds and chia seeds and mangoes and bananas.”
The Single Parent star’s afternoons are even easier, thanks to some outside help. “At work, I have salads with chicken or turkey or fish prepared by a personal chef,” she noted. After that, it’s time for a little bit of diet fun. “For dinner I’ll maybe eat tacos or whatever I crave — and fudge mint cookies. I love them so much that we always joke, ‘Have you had your cookie today?’ Like it’s my vitamins.”
For exercise, the Gossip Girl alum does a mix of gym work with a personal trainer and surfing, a skill her husband of five years, Adam Brody, taught her. “Last year, I got really into it,” says the mom of 3-year-old daughter Arlo. Now, “for the last six months, surfing has pretty much been my main form of exercise.” The activity fits perfectly with her carefree fitness philosophy: “I have found that when I don’t have a physical result in mind when I’m exercising — it’s not just about getting sore or getting abs or burning fat — I feel much more confident. I’m working on a skill, and that is so fulfilling to me.”
Scroll through to see the pay-off of Meester’s balanced diet and fitness regimen, and read more of her inspirational quotes.