We’ve been talking a lot about the Victoria’s Secret Angels and the things they do to maintain their looks. But they’re not the only women I love to follow and get inspired by!
If you’ve followed me for a while now, you know that I LOVE Instagram. It’s the best ways to share workouts and let you guys get a sneak peek into some of the things that work for me and other girls.
But you might not know that I also love to find inspiration there. And one of my all time favourite models on Instagram is Alexis Ren. Fitness and health are a way of life for her, but she approaches things a bit differently than some of the other models I wrote about before.
Let’s take a look!
ALEXIS REN DIET
Alexis loves food and she firmly believes that eating right is the key to feeling great. She approaches her diet as a way to preserve her health and buys only high-quality ingredients.
But it wasn’t always like that. Her mom sadly passed away in 2014 and that was a huge emotional blow for Alexis. She developed eating issues and gained weight. That caused some troubles with her modelling career so she decided to go on a very restrictive diet and exercise more intensely.
And as you can imagine, her busy schedule, intense workouts and a bad diet had a very negative effect on her health. So she finally decided to seek help. She worked very hard to get better and she managed to turn her life around.
She’s in a much better place now which makes me very happy and she regularly shares her diet and workout tips :)
So let’s see what Alexis eats on a daily basis!
BREAKFAST
Breakfast is Alexis’s favourite meal of the day. And she loves almost all breakfast foods as long as they are healthy. Let’s see some of her breakfast recipes :)
MIXED BERRY SMOOTHIE BOWL
Most mornings, she makes a mixed berry smoothie bowl and dresses it up with low-carb, vegan protein powder. She tops the blended fruit with fresh berries, cacao nibs, granola, and hemp hearts. But those toppings change to fit whatever she has on hand.
Here’s a video of her making one of her usual smoothie bowls.
HEALTHY CACAO PANKCAKES
She’s also mastered a tapioca flour-based cacao pancake. Her batter has added protein powder and gets sweetened with stevia. She also includes flax seeds for fiber and tops the pancake with organic almond butter, bananas, and a drizzle of honey.
You can find the recipe here.
LUNCH
For lunch, she likes to keep things fresh and healthy. And she tries to make time to cook her own food instead of heading to a healthy restaurant or ordering in.
This is because she tries to watch her sodium intake just as closely as the calories she eats. Remember, sodium can cause you to hold water and feel bloated if you eat too much of it throughout the day.
So what Alexis usually prepares for lunch?
HEALTHY KALE SALAD BY ALEXIS
A typical lunch for her is made up of a filling and nutritious salad. She starts with fresh organic kale, trims the stem, and breaks the leaves into bite-sized pieces. After that she adds half a bell pepper cut into strips, one sliced carrot, a handful of halved cherry tomatoes, salt-free chickpeas, and half an avocado.
She then tops the salad with flax seeds and dresses the salad with her own homemade dressing. To make the dressing, she uses coconut amino, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, Spike’s® original seasoning, and nutritional yeast. She uses her hands to toss the salad and spread the dressing evenly.
Once the salad is dressed, she tops it with whatever protein she has on hand, usually tempeh or tofu. Once the protein is added, she sprinkles a bit of hemp hearts.
Seriously, guys…try this recipe! It’s delicious!
A WORD ON FOOD QUALITY
She’s been called out for using expensive ingredients. But she does it for a reason: she thinks of food as medicine. And when you eat right, you’ll stay healthier.
Yeah, fast food is cheaper but it’s also really bad for you. So, why not use higher quality ingredients even if they cost a bit more?
RELATED POST: CLEAN EATING GUIDELINES
SHE EMBRACES THE CHEAT DAY
You guys know I’m not a fan of cheat days. They just don’t work for me. But they do for Alexis.
She uses them as a way to reward herself for eating
I prefer sticking to the 80:20 rule, eating healthy 80
ALEXIS’S WORKOUT ROUTINE
Now that we’ve taken a look at Alexis’s diet, let’s dive into her workout routine. Like most models, she works out A TON. It’s how she stays slim and toned. But she’s always been active. She started ballet when she was a kid and kept it up for 11 years!
YOGA
Nowadays she does a lot of yoga. She tries to do her yoga routine in the morning as a way to ground herself for the rest of the day. And she makes sure to do it even when she doesn’t feel like it.
CARDIO
Alexis likes to keep things interesting with her cardio routine. This means not just sticking to the treadmill day after day. Instead, she changes things up. One day, she’ll go jogging. Another, she’ll take a long hike. And sometimes, she kicks things up a notch with boxercise routines and other martial arts inspired cardio routines.
It’s all about making the workout fun and challenging different muscle groups while keeping her heart rate up.
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RESISTANCE TRAINING
Alexis does a good amount of resistance training and she tends to stick with bodyweight exercises. These are the perfect way to build lean muscle and avoid bulking up.
HER AB ROUTINE
Alexis doesn’t spend a ton of time on abs. Instead, she focuses on intense short workouts. She does standard crunches, knee touch crunches, heel touches for her obliques, and bicycle crunches for a full ab workout. Then she moves to reach through crunches with her legs sticking straight up in the air. From there, she does a series of leg lifts to help build core strength.
Each exercise lasts for no more than thirty seconds but you’ll feel them burning!
Check out her full workout here.
BUTT AND LEG ROUTINE
She does a lot of squats and side lunges to target her butt and thighs. Her workout is short but intense with each movement lasting for about 30-60 seconds.
Here’s one of her butt workouts that you can do anywhere:
- Squat 60 sec
- Side lunge with squat each leg 30 sec
- Curtsy lunge each leg 30 sec
- Pulse lunge each leg 30 sec
- Squat pulse 40 sec
- Rainbow kick each leg 30 sec
- Fire hydrant each leg 30 sec
- Donkey kick pulse each leg 60 sec
- Bridge hold 60 sec
GYM WORKOUTS
She trains at the Dogpound anytime she’s in NYC and loves to get a good full-body workout with some of the Victoria Secret Angels.
Check out this full body workout she did with Barbara Pavlin :)
SHE’S COME A LONG WAY
I’m always happy to see young girls do their best to be healthy and happy! And Alexis is a good example :)
She tries to eat healthy, works out regularly even though she’s very busy and she’s honest about her own struggles with weight and body image.
I think we can learn from Alexis that hard work, determination, and willingness to seek help can make all the difference.
And if you’re struggling with an eating disorder, exercise addiction, or any other mental health issue, don’t suffer in silence. Ask for help. There are people who will listen.
Love Rachael xx
Featured Image credit: Silvia Elizabeth Pangaro / Shutterstock.com
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What body type is Alexis?
Alexis is an ectomorph body type! :)
Love,
Diana xx