You don’t need dimples to have Cindy Crawford’s look. You can settle instead for a Cindy Crawford bod. I’ll share Cindy Crawford’s diet and fitness routine and compare it to my active lifestyle. If I can claim a fit bod at nearly fifty, so can all you AU femmes (and fellows).
But let’s face it, who compares to Cindy? I don’t. I didn’t when I turned 18 either. But, hey, why not a slice of Domino’s to drown my sorrows? Or better yet, why not live at least as healthy as Cindy? So, let’s check how my health stacks up to Cindy’s—and how you can get Cindy fit, too.
Fitness
Cindy does “equal parts cardio and strength training.” I do more cardio than her but less strength training. As for you, consider doing both cardio and weights—at gyms. Going to gyms is like going out for dinner. Gyms, unlike home studios, come built for exercise: less distractions; more workout options. How many ellipticals can a home host anyway?
As for cardio, Cindy clocks 20 minutes at least three times a week. I clock one to two hours of cardio at least four times a week. If you do 30 to 50 minutes of cardio three times a week, you’ll see life-changing benefits; you’ll feel as vibrant as flowers, bunnies, and chicks in the spring.
But to mimic Cindy’s workouts, you also need weights. Cindy follows her cardio with 30 minutes to an hour of “old school lunges, weights, squats, and bicep curls.” I follow my cardio with 30 minutes of heavy weights (Arnold Schwarzenegger style) three days a week. As for you, learn to lift weights—or to use body weight (think pushups, sit-ups, squats, and lunges). No need for Arnold’s dumbbells if you just want to tone.
I don’t know how Cindy finishes her workouts, but I finish mine with five-minutes abs and eight-minutes stretches. And I cap my sessions with hot steam baths and ice-cold showers. Steam baths give even pasty-face femmes a natural blush.
Diet
Cindy doesn’t stuff herself with junk food. I stuffed my cake hole with crud for much of my life. I went from fast-food fads to nibbling next to nothing. Now I eat clean and green.
Similarly, Cindy says no to processed (packaged) foods. She opts for whole foods instead. Cindy says, “I usually have a protein shake for breakfast … For lunch I’ll have salad, sometimes with chicken, sometimes without. For dinner we’ll go for sushi, or if we eat at home I’ll try to make a meal like turkey meatballs with pasta, a salad, and a vegetable.”
Wow! No wonder Cindy looks so skinny.
Yesterday, for breakfast I wolfed down bran, kefir milk, flaxseed, apple, banana, berries, and half an avocado. For lunch I stuffed myself with flaxseed, kefir milk, lentils, banana, and an apple. For dinner, I devoured sockeye salmon, kefir milk, yams, cauliflower, carrots, beets, sauerkraut, flaxseed, and another apple. I typically eat nuts and seeds instead of triple helpings of apples and flaxseed. But, hey, whose grocery budgets doesn’t get whacked tax time?
As for your diet, do dine light like Cindy, but load up on veggies, nuts, and seeds. Also, do chow on fish like Cindy and me. But ditch Cindy’s protein shakes. Consider eating natural sources of protein instead. But if you crave shakes, then juice organic whole veggies sprinkle with protein powder. This shake will give you vitamins, minerals—and muscles.
My advice to both Cindy and you? Savor probiotics. You can get probiotics from sources such as sour cabbage, kefir milk, miso soup, and kombucha. Good gut bugs gear up great health. And 80% of our immune system comes from our gut. So, beef up your belly with good bugs.
But what’s for dessert? Dark chocolate! Both Cindy and I chow on dark delights. Dark chocolate (70% or higher) comes loaded with antioxidants, fiber, iron, copper, and manganese. And AU students take note—dark chocolate boosts brain power. During all-nighters, forget cups of Joe; reach for dark bars.
Final Thoughts: Discipline
Discipline marks the key to health. It’s not avocado one week and ketchup chips the next. Good health means workouts and nutrition—‘til the day we die. So, before or after work or during lunch, get fit three to five days a week. After all, it only takes 66 days to form a habit.
I started out barely able to walk a block. If that’s you, then do like I did, and walk that block—every day. After a month, get a gym membership. Keep upping the ante with heavier weights and more cardio. After two years, you could get as fit as Cindy Crawford. (If you have a bigger frame—in other words, you rank as an endomorph—then you could get as fit as Kate Upton).
In June, I celebrate two years of fitness and healthy eating. Not only did I lose forty pounds within the first six months, but I also went from looking 93 to 39. I say, “Forget the senior’s discounts; get ripped for Cindy’s jeans.” And I bet she has extra pairs—fit for the Cindy in you.