Fitness
Zoe Saldana On How She Got Body
How this Hollywood action hero balances the demands of motherhood against the physicality of her job.
Body
Shooting action scenes not long after giving birth was tough for me. Losing the weight and boosting my strength, flexibility and energy back up was tricky. Having twins and being a mum did give those things a hit, and the climb back up physically was slow, painful, and very frustrating for me. That said, it was worth it – so worth it. I started off very slow, with lots of walking, and just eating right to clean up that diet. Ultimately it pays off to work hard and be steady.
You need to be determined and push through that frustration, you can do it, all of the other mum’s out there. It felt so empowering and satisfying working my way back.
Mind
To start with it was building up my stamina by going on walks and hiking. Then there was Pilates workouts to help my core, that needed a lot of work. Then there was your standard dumbbells to build up my strength and posture. I always do a lot of squats and lunges, lots of kicks, leg lifts, plyometric combinations – they came in handy. Cardio-wise it was was a lot of interval training on the running machine, sweating it out and burning those calories.
Soul
I love Pilates. It keeps the muscles very elongated and it doesn’t pull too much tension. I’ve been active my whole life and I like to know how much endurance and strength I have – getting back up to speed was a battle.
My workout is always very circuit driven and I love to dance. I do full body workouts and everything is quite high rep. I’m also very much into power yoga and a lot of floor work, those are key for me. I like to move, my workouts aren’t very static for the most part. That works for me.
Food
I really do enjoy eating healthy. It makes me feel at my best and I love lean proteins, chicken and eggs, and I like protein with quinoa and veggies.
I’m of Latino descent, so I love my rice and beans. I’m mostly gluten-free. Aside from breakfast, almost every meal is a lean protein mixed with complex carbs and vegetables in a balance. I love avocados, tomatoes, bananas, berries, eggs, leafy veggies and popcorn as a low calorie evening snack. I’m not always super-strict; I very much believe in balance, so 20% of the time I’m not regimented. But living well makes those moments guilt free! Being healthy is a balance of exercise and nutrition.
