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Jennifer Lopez’s Weight Loss: How the “Hustlers” Star Stays In Shape
Jennifer Lopez’s weight loss and overall fitness are inspiring, as she’s a mom of two! Learn how she stays in shape with an organic diet and hardcore exercise.
Of all celebrities, J.Lo is among the top few whose fitness routines are the most extreme and unreal! Not only has she no vices, but she also steers clear of caffeine and sugar, and yet, doesn’t miss a single day of exercise — and her exercise routine is quite rigorous! This is the reason why Jennifer Lopez’s weight loss following her two pregnancies just flew by, as she has consistently maintained perfectly toned abs and overall physique.
This article discusses her health journey, including diet and exercise, in detail. So, stay tuned and keep reading!
Who Is Jennifer Lopez?
Jennifer Lopez is among the most influential celebrities of Latin origin and among the most successful entertainers in Hollywood. As an accomplished pop singer, actress, dancer, and businesswoman, Lopez has consistently stayed relevant for the last 3-4 decades of her career in American show business.
She made her acting debut with a small screen presence in the 1991 television show In Living Color. However, her career breakthrough was in the year 1997 with two blockbuster hits — Selena and Anaconda. Her debut album On the 6 in 1999 marked her entry into the music industry, which was followed by her second album J.Lo which also became her ever-popular nickname in mainstream media.
In the '00s, Lopez made it big with several films such as The Wedding Planner, Maid In Manhattan, Shall We Dance?, and Monster In Law. Her two new album releases in 2002 contributed to this, attracting a massive fanbase. Her songs On the Floor, I Ain’t Your Mama, and Dance Again became huge global hits and shaped her career incredibly.
After a brief career downturn, Lopez picked it up by being a judge on American Idol and World of Dance, while also featuring in the police drama series Shades of Blue. Then, with films such as What to Expect When You’re Expecting, The Boy Next Door, Hustlers, Marry Me, The Mother, and the recent releases This Is Me... Now: A Love Story and Atlas, she revitalized her career.
Other than her storehouse of talent Lopez and impeccable good looks, J.Lo’s impressive fitness levels too, make her an aspirational figure for her fans. Despite being a mother of two, Lopez not only stays in shape but also maintains a strong muscle build and perfectly toned abs! This ignited curiosity among her fans about her weight loss secrets.
How Did Jennifer Lopez Lose Weight?
This year, during the premiere of her film Atlas, fans observed that Lopez looked thinner than ever. She had donned a two-piece outfit — a strapless top and a mermaid skirt. This was a result of the rigorous training that J.Lo has been going through for her upcoming film Kiss of the Spider Woman, which required her to tone up a lot.
Now, we’re proud of J.Lo for putting in all that effort to get more in shape. Even so, we do not advise you to prioritize “ becoming skinnier” as a health goal. Instead, embrace your beautiful body as it is, while also incorporating healthy habits.
Coming back to J.Lo, after her two pregnancies, J.Lo did feel slightly insecure about getting her body back, but she did — both times. And, this post-pregnancy weight loss was only possible through immense hard work, dietary restrictions, discipline, and commitment.
During these times, Lopez was rumored to follow a Dukan diet, which comprises high-protein and low-carb foods. This comprised lean meats, egg whites, seafood, lemon juice and pickles, a small amount of oat bran, and loads of vegetables.
In addition, she engaged in varied forms of exercise, including strength training, dancing, and cardio, under Tracy Anderson, who was her trainer for a very long time. Let’s learn about J.Lo’s meal plan and exercise regimen that helped her shed extra pounds.
What We Know About Jennifer Lopez’s Diet Plan
(Image Source: Getty Images)
What sets Jennifer Lopez’s diet apart is that she exclusively consumes organic, grass-fed, nutrient-dense, and fresh foods. Her meals are well-planned depending on her exercise regimen and work schedule for the particular day. Also, like most health enthusiasts, Lopez makes it a point to keep herself hydrated throughout the day and consumes at least seven glasses of water. The following are some other insights that we have about her diet.
1. Clean, Unrefined Carbohydrates: Lopez always opts for high-quality carbohydrates that are husky and dense with fiber, protein, and micronutrients. Hence, she prefers sources like oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, and sweet potatoes over white bread, sugar-loaded breakfast cereals, and pastries.
2. Vegetables, Including Leafy Greens: Every mindful health enthusiast entails a large quantity of veggies in their diet, and J.Lo is no exception! She incorporates a generous amount of kale, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, and Brussels sprouts in her daily diet. However, she avoids vegetables like carrots and corn as they are higher in natural sugars.
Now, carrots and corn are loaded with antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals, and are an important part of one’s diet (1), (2). Hence, we don’t recommend removing them completely from one’s diet.
3. Protein: J.Lo’s diet heavily emphasizes on high-quality protein intake. To be more specific, she likes consuming her egg whites for breakfast, white meat (lean cuts of turkey and chicken) for lunch, and grass-fed beef for dinner. She also likes eating fish but steers clear of salmon, as she’s not a fan of its taste and texture. Instead, she prefers white fish such as halibut and cod, sometimes even sea bass.
At restaurants, she likes indulging in pork or chicken. From time to time, the On the Floor singer also likes to have a protein shake to fuel herself post-workouts.
3. Handful of Nuts: For an added punch of protein and some much-needed omega fatty acids, Lopez likes to chomp on a handful of nuts as a snack. These keep her full for long and prevent junk food cravings
4. No Smoking Or Drinking. Lopez has been a teetotaler for a very long time. Despite her hectic schedule, she indulges in no vices like alcohol, cigarettes, vapes, etc. She keeps caffeine off the table and sticks to decaf coffee every morning.
However, in 2023, Lopez started enjoying herself a bit by indulging in a cocktail, albeit, very occasionally. The pop star mentioned how she only drinks to socialize and let loose once in a while but isn’t remotely dependent on alcohol.
J.Lo’s former trainer Tracy Anderson has mentioned several times how she never encouraged Lopez to follow any extreme diet. J.Lo maintains a balanced diet most of the time to remain energized through her hectic schedule.
Here Are Some Foods Jennifer Lopez Likes to Treat Herself to
While the actress and singer maintains a healthy diet most of the time, she also likes to indulge in her favorite foods once in a while without overthinking their calories. She may occasionally have potato chips fried chicken, cookies, or a piece of cake.
Now that we know much about Jennifer Lopez’s weight loss diet, let’s learn more about her health and fitness regime by diving deep into her preferred workouts.
What We Know About Jennifer Lopez’s Exercise Regimen
( Image Source: Getty Images)
It may be no surprise to her fans that dance is a big part of J.Lo’s workout routine. However, to maintain her perfectly sculpted body, there’s a lot more than dance that she includes in her exercise.
The Ain’t Your Mama singer’s workouts are often a balanced mix of different types of exercises such as hot yoga, strength and endurance training, functional exercises, cardio, and dance. They typically focus on abs, butt, biceps, and back — her holy “quad squad”!
However, what’s impressive yet shocking about her routine is that J.Lo rarely includes any rest days! She gets down to the hard work every day, which is commendable. Lopez exercises for her mental health and likes to lose all her stressors On the Floor, which for her could be the dance floor or the gym floor.
Here are some detailed insights about J.Lo’s exercise routine.
Functional Exercises: Unlike a gym caricature, J.Lo doesn’t fixate too much on refining a body part but instead likes to build real strength through functional exercises and full-body workouts. These include the good old push-ups, medicine ball sit-ups, weighted incline sit-ups, platypus walks, hanging ab raises, rope crunches, etc. These exercises are quite robust and help J.Lo gets tougher with each session. Besides, her fitness regime comprises a lot of planks and holds to boost core strength.
Strength And Conditioning Exercise: Of course, for an entertainer and public figure as big as J.Lo, sculpting exercises cannot be completely off the table. Hence, she does include weighted toning exercises such as lateral raises, lunges combined with shoulder presses, lunge twists, kettlebell swings, lateral pull-downs, bicep curls, bench presses, rows, etc. in her routine every day.
Dance Rehearsals: J.Lo’s dance practices are a prominent part of her overall fitness routine. She engages in Latin dance sessions and also likes pole dancing for its contribution to her fitness levels. Study shows that while pole dancing has plenty of physiological benefits, it comes with a high risk of acute injuries and should be practiced carefully (3).
Cardiovascular Exercises: Other than dance, J.Lo likes to get her cardio in through 400-meter runs, which gets her heart rate going!
Jennifer Lopez’s weight loss may have been a very quick-passing journey for the pop star as her fitness routine is quite extraordinary and not something that most people can adhere to! She is a hard worker and her discipline and dedication to fitness are incomparable. What’s more shocking is that in her career of three decades, the actress was never seen to be out-of-shape and has always stayed active and energetic.
Sources:
1. An Analysis of Health Benefits of Carrot
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359863991_An_Analysis_of_Health_Benefits_of_Carrot
2. Corn phytochemicals and their health benefits - ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213453018301009
3. The risk of injuries and physiological benefits of pole dancing
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