Demi Moore, an Oscar nominee, has captivated audiences for decades with her talent and timeless beauty. At 62, she continues to inspire, not only through her acting but also through her evolving approach to health, wellness, and self-acceptance. Moore's journey provides valuable lessons about overcoming unrealistic beauty standards, finding balance, and embracing one's natural self.
Early Pressures and Extreme Measures
In the early stages of her career, Demi Moore, like her character Elisabeth Sparkle in "The Substance," experienced the intense pressures of Hollywood's beauty standards. She confessed to CBS Sunday Morning that she "put so much pressure on myself" to lose weight, even after giving birth to her second daughter, Scout. This pressure led her to adopt extreme measures, such as biking up to 60 miles a day while filming "Indecent Proposal" in 1993. "I was feeding her through the night, getting up in the dark with a trainer, with a headlamp, biking all the way to Paramount, wherever, even on location where we were shooting; then shooting a full day, which is usually a 12-hour day; and then starting all over again," she said. "Even just the idea of, like, what I did to my body, it's, like, so crazy, so ridiculous."
Moore described this period as an "obsession" that began with her role as a naval lawyer in the 1992 film "A Few Good Men." In her memoir, "Inside Out," she wrote, "Getting in shape for that movie launched the obsession with working out that would consume me over the next five years. I never dared let up." This obsession led to a toxic relationship with fitness, where she felt she "couldn't stop exercising."
For the 1996 film "Striptease," Moore's character worked as a stripper, adding even more pressure to maintain a specific physique. She revealed, "When I was making Striptease, for breakfast I would measure out a half cup of oatmeal and prepare it with water, then for the rest of the day I would have only protein and some vegetables - and that was it." She acknowledged the unhealthy nature of her approach, stating, "If all this obsessing about my body sounds crazy to you, you're not wrong: eating disorders are crazy, they are a sickness. But that doesn't make them less real."
Breaking the Cycle: Giving Up Hard Exercise
After filming "G.I. Jane" in 1997, where she "bulked up enormously" for her role as a military officer, Moore decided to break her pattern of disordered exercise. "My usual reaction would have been to start starving myself again, to begin an exercise regime designed to reduce the bulk, but I did neither. I had reached my limit," she wrote in her memoir.
Read also: Demi Moore's Wellness Journey
Moore had an epiphany and realized she needed to embrace her natural size. "I added into my daily prayer a new mantra: to have the courage to be seen without padding or protection. I couldn’t go on fighting my body and my weight; I had to make peace," she explained. As a result, she "started by giving up hard exercise" and "never went back into the gym in the house." In September, Demi said she "really experienced the gift of surrender."
Current Workout Routine: Balance and Mindfulness
While Moore no longer engages in "hard exercise," she remains active and prioritizes overall wellness. She has been spotted attending Pilates classes with her daughters and has shared snippets of her workout routine on social media. In 2019, she posted a video on Instagram doing exercises with the help of The Mirror (now known as Lululemon Studio). "Five min at level one that’s doable after not working out for over four years right? I am stalling!" she wrote.
In 2010, Moore revealed that she practiced Bikram yoga, a type of hot yoga that involves two breathing exercises and a series of 26 asanas (poses). According to Healthline, Bikram yoga can improve flexibility, build bone density, reduce stress, ease depression, nourish the skin, and provide a cardiovascular boost. Her then-trainer, Gregory Joujon-Roche, confirmed that she combined Bikram yoga with strength training.
Emotional Sobriety and Self-Acceptance
In recent years, Demi Moore has emphasized the importance of emotional sobriety and self-acceptance. She told The New York Times that she feels "emotionally sober," which impacts "the quality of how I interact with people, my ability to show up for others." She explained, "That's all within my emotional sobriety… I can go into a room, a gathering, and if I'm uncomfortable, I don't need to try to take the edge off it. I can actually just go: 'Oh, wow. Isn't that interesting? I'm a little uncomfortable right now.'"
Moore now focuses on appreciating what is in front of her rather than chasing some ideal of perfection. "That deep reminder of appreciating who you are, as you are, where you are, just resonated more as [filming The Substance] went along," she says. "And not just the external. Really, all of those internal things of who we are that we often can overlook. And the journey of what it’s taken to get where you are."
Read also: The Truth About Demi Lovato's Weight Loss Tea
Demi Moore's Diet: Raw Veganism and Gut Health
Demi Moore's diet centers around maintaining her health and energy while focusing on nutrient-dense foods. She has been known to follow a raw vegan diet, which emphasizes whole, plant-based foods that are eaten uncooked. This way of eating is naturally low in processed foods and high in antioxidants.
A raw vegan diet typically includes:
- Fruits: Fresh, juicy fruits form the basis of many meals.
- Raw Veggies and Greens: Fresh, raw vegetables and leafy greens make up a big part of the diet.
- Germinated Nuts and Seeds: These provide healthy fats and protein.
- Superfoods: Foods like mung beans, alfalfa, and radish sprouts add an extra nutritional boost.
- Smoothies and Juices: These are a convenient way to consume a variety of nutrients.
- Raw Soups and Salads: These dishes are loaded with veggies, herbs, and seeds.
Healthline notes that the raw vegan diet excludes all foods of animal origin, and dictates that "foods should be eaten completely raw or heated at temperatures below 104 - 118°F (40 - 48°C)." While a raw vegan diet can have some benefits, such as eliminating processed and high-fat foods, it's important to be aware of potential risks. A 2023 study concluded that "a raw vegan diet with more than 90% raw food cannot be recommended for a long time due to micronutrient deficiencies as well as related complications."
Moore also prioritizes gut health. She takes watermelon mint digestive tablets created by Wonderbelly.
Sobriety and Other Lifestyle Choices
In addition to her diet and exercise routine, Demi Moore has made other lifestyle choices to support her overall well-being. She has been sober for many years, with a brief "detour" as she mentioned to The New York Times, emphasizing the importance of abstaining from alcohol. In her 2019 memoir, she revealed that she had been sober for 20 years, but briefly broke it with a beer. Demi explained her sobriety to Harper's Bazaar in 2019, saying, "Part of being sober is [that] I don't want to miss a moment of life."
Read also: How Demi Moore Changed Her Diet
Moore also enjoys coffee in moderation. According to the Cleveland Clinic, coffee can improve memory, mood, reaction times, and mental function.
Leech Facials
In 2008, Demi revealed how she uses leech facials to stay looking young. In an interview with US talk show host David Letterman, Demi said: 'I feel like I've always been someone looking for the cutting edge of things that optimise your health and healing.'I was in Austria doing a cleanse and part of the treatment was leech therapy. These aren't just swamp leeches though - we are talking about highly trained medical leeches.'These are not some low-level scavengers - we're talking high-level blood suckers.'Leech therapy has a long history - ancient Egyptian doctors once considered them a cure-all.Today, they are sometimes used in plastic and reconstructive surgery to assist in the reattachment of severed body parts.'They have a little enzyme that when they are biting down in you it gets released in your blood and generally you bleed for quite a bit - and your health is optimised.'It detoxifies your blood - I'm feeling very detoxified right now.'I did it in some woman's house lying on her bed. We did a little sampler first, which is in the belly button.