Jennifer Garner, a celebrated actress and working mother, has garnered attention not only for her on-screen performances but also for her dedication to health, fitness, and embracing a natural approach to beauty. Discover how Jennifer Garner stays fit, embraces her natural beauty, and prioritizes self-care. She exemplifies a balanced lifestyle, prioritizing both physical and mental well-being while juggling a demanding career and family life. Garner wants to embrace her natural looks, and wants to encourage her kids to do the same. “We can almost all wear less than we think because, to me, I don’t want my kids or people to only see the actor version of me that is perfectly made up by brilliant artists and think that’s how I look,” Garner previously told Shop TODAY. “I want to look normal and I want to normalize looking normal. I always have felt really strongly about that.
A Glimpse into Jennifer Garner's Diet
Garner broke down her typical diet in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar. Jennifer Garner's diet is characterized by balance and mindful choices. For breakfast, Garner typically has a smoothie, eggs or whole fat yogurt, nuts and berries, as she told Women's Health. She emphasizes whole, unprocessed foods and avoids extreme dieting. She says that she likes making salads for lunch. “A typical lunch is a big arugula salad, some dark greens. The salad consists of arugula, hearty veggies like green beans and broccoli, and these days, she’s not topping it off with a protein. Instead, she’ll toss in half a sweet potato, which she usually preps by cutting them in half, roasting them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and storing them in her fridge for meals throughout the week. “That’s a hack for ya, you’re welcome,” she says. Lastly, she’ll top the salad off with cheese and chopped nuts, putting “anything” in there.
For dinner, she likes to “make mom food” for her family. For instance, when she cooks, she usually tries to include a starch and a big salad, so a typical dinner for them is often a roast chicken, mashed potatoes, twice baked potatoes, rice, or pizza crackers, a.k.a. baked pizza dough. Recently, Jen shared the recipe for famous pizza crackers, one of her “family’s favorite things,” on Instagram during her #PretendCookingShow. In the video, she shows how she makes the snack, and even pulls some ingredients from her garden. “This is a weekly staple in my house. Yes, when you get down to it it’s “pizza” without the toppings- but it is delicious, simple to make, and keeps well for a couple of days. Happy snacking! 🍕🌿😋,” she wrote before listing the recipe and directions. Fresh veggies from the garden are also thrown into the mix. While “nobody cares if they’re cooked or not,” she does love to roast veggies, like broccoli, and put them out so their family can “nosh ‘em on down,” she explains.
She’s a big snack girl. In an interview with TODAY, Garner revealed that she loves snacking on nuts. “It’s supposed to be a healthy snack,” Garner says. “And I have gone through spells of traveling a lot and I’m always panicked that I’ll get on a plane and I won’t have something healthy to eat and I’ll find myself knee-deep in my neighbor’s rigatoni after I finish my own. Garner also told Women's Health that popcorn is another one of her favorite snacks after dinner. On National Popcorn Day, Jen posted a video demonstrating how she makes “the world's best popcorn” at home (clearly, this woman is a #chef). She quickly walks viewers through her method and shows the final result. “It’s a gift,” she says. “From the archives for #NationalPopcornDay: my success rate in the kitchen is about 50%- except with popcorn. Today is my day. 💯🍿🤷🏻♀️🤗,” she wrote in the caption. Of course, Jennifer will also throw a few fun snacks into her routine when she wants to at some point every day. “Blue corn chips are my weakness-and Bitchin’ Sauce and chocolate,” she explains.
Garner may not be a fan of extreme diets, but she's not opposed to experimenting with safe diets once in a while. For instance, she told Wired she had been following the Be Well by Kelly diet in 2018. "I was getting ready for a movie where I had to look a certain way. I actually have really liked the diet, so I've stuck on it," she said. The actor declared that she's typically "good 80% of the time" with her diet, but has some foods she can't resist. "I’ve found out that I cannot pass up pizza without having some. I just can’t! My kids have a lot of pizza. I can’t go to a kids birthday party without having a slice," she said.
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Jennifer Garner's Fitness Regime
Garner works with trainer, Beth Nicely, to help keep herself in shape. Jennifer’s workout regimen was nothing short of extraordinary. It included boxing three times a week, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and Peloton rides. Nicely talked about working with the actress with Shape. “[Garner] likes to work really hard, she’s very, very strong,” Nicely previously told Shape. “I consider her a professional athlete in what she’s capable of physically. We both love to dance, we both love to work hard, I think it’s a good combination.” That explains why the pair have worked together for several years. On a typical day, Nicely said they’ll start with a solid warm-up, “and then we’ll get the blood flowing and the heart rate up a bit with some cardio dances.” After that, they do two to four dances, Nicely said, and it’s on to the plyometric box series, a type of workout that’s characterized by “quick, powerful movement involving a system of reactive exercises,” like Garner’s side jumps and hops, per the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
Despite Garner’s busy schedule, she makes time to workout. “She’s so consistent with her workouts and sometimes it doesn’t equal an hour,” Nicely explained to E! Online. “She’s a mom of three, she runs businesses, she’s an actress and she has a very busy schedule. So whatever amount of time I’ve got with her, we go hard.” She told Drew Barrymore while on The Drew Barrymore Show.We have the specifics on The Last Thing He Told Me star’s routine to benefit her body and mind.Jennifer Garner truly has the best advice-from her favorite eye cream to her go-to travel bag, she never steers us wrong. So when she revealed her morning ritual on The Drew Barrymore Show (on Garner’s 51st birthday, no less), we knew it was going to be good. must? Garner revealed that she actually breaks a sweat every morning. It’s the daily practice that helps her, as Barrymore put it, go out into the world and be her best self.All you have to do is watch Jennifer Garner do box jumps on Instagram to know that the 51-year-old works out regularly-and hard. “What I do in the morning is I work out,” Garner said, to which Barrymore disconcertingly replied: “Every day?! Oh God.” The E.T. star collapsed defeatedly in her chair. “No, Drew, really,” The Last Thing He Told Me star continued. “You’ve gotta do hard cardio to get that-to get yourself-I’m sorry, you do.”Garner continued her defense of the morning sweat sesh as Barrymore remained flat. “We need it in our bodies, but we need it in our brains. Your brain needs it!” she exclaimed.And Garner isn’t totally wrong about that. Researchers have found that the mind-body connection can benefit from focused, intentional exercise, and plenty of studies have shown working out benefits mental health. In fact, a March study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found it to be more effective than medication in treating anxiety and depression.For someone like Barrymore, who seemed less enthused by the idea of waking up and hitting the gym, Garner had a crucial piece of advice. “You find something that actually makes you feel joyful while you’re doing it or it won’t work, because this is not gonna get ‘er done,” Garner joked, gesturing toward her deflated friend.Barrymore ultimately decided to rise to the challenge. “OK, that’s good,” she said. “All right, then I’m gonna do it in the morning. In honor of you, I’m gonna start. And I’ve gotta be consistent with it.”As they say, consistency is key, and Garner has certainly mastered it with the help of her trainer, Beth Nicely, who’s a certified trainer, broadway performer, dancer, and exercise specialist, per Shape. They both routinely share their workouts on Instagram, and Garner looks stronger with each new post.
“[Garner] likes to work really hard, she’s very, very strong,” Nicely told Shape last year. “I consider her a professional athlete in what she’s capable of physically. We both love to dance, we both love to work hard, I think it’s a good combination.” That explains why the pair have worked together for several years. On a typical day, Nicely said they’ll start with a solid warm-up, “and then we’ll get the blood flowing and the heart rate up a bit with some cardio dances.” After that, they do two to four dances, Nicely said, and it’s on to the plyometric box series, a type of workout that’s characterized by “quick, powerful movement involving a system of reactive exercises,” like Garner’s side jumps and hops, per the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).“She’s definitely someone that loves to show up and get a workout in and feel good,” Nicely said. And that’s obvious. So, when Garner told Barrymore she starts her days with hard cardio, that’s what she was talking about.
Box Jumping Workouts
Nicely tells E! Online that she has Garner doing box jumps. One of Garner's favorite workouts might just make you jump for joy. Per Nicely, the actor typically does box jumping workouts with a plyo-box for 20 minutes, six days a week.“We started with an 18-inch box and she was like, ‘Whoa, okay, my heart rate is up, this is a new thing!’ she told E! News. “And now she’s jumped on a 36-inch box. We think of it as an adult jungle gym in a way, we do a lot of box jumping and agility and coordination training while holding heavy weights on boxes.”While explaining the benefits of plyometrics (aka jump) training, Nicely told Shape the workouts "develop strength, coordination, and cardiovascular stamina simultaneously.” “A lot of people worry about the impact on their joints and fear that it is dangerous to jump as they age,” Nicely said. “As a NASM-certified trainer and corrective exercise specialist, I can assure you that jumping is essential to bone health. Bones need to be stressed with impact to build density, which makes you less likely to break a bone or develop osteoporosis.”
Staying Active While Traveling
A busy schedule doesn’t stop Garner from squeezing in a sweat session while traveling. “I will use a hotel gym or I will do one of The Limit on-demand videos that you can use without any weights or without anything, just to get my heart rate going,” she previously told TODAY.com. “I also really like the Peloton app. I’m not a runner, but if I’m listening to one of the outdoor running things on the app where they’re talking you through the run and you’re running, say, in intervals and you get a break every now and then or you slow down every now and then, it makes the time go more quickly. And so I use that a lot when I’m traveling.”
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Intense Training for Physical Roles
When she was preparing for her role in the film “Peppermint,” Garner underwent intense training that consisted of weight training, dance cardio, boxing, artillery sessions with Navy SEALs and stunt work, per Entertainment Weekly.“It was the greatest fun. Plus, no working mom is ever going to say to her kids, ‘Pardon me while I do my second workout,’ so the fact that it was my job allowed me to really indulge in that experience,” she told the publication.To sculpt Garner’s arms for the role, personal trainer Simone De La Rue instructed her client to lift heavier weights (typically 15 pounds).“We also did a lot of bodyweight work, and supplemented with my custom resistance bands,” she told Women’s Health, adding that she prioritized triceps extensions and dips.
The Importance of Consistency
Per Nicely, fitness is a lifestyle for Garner rather than a fad. “She’s so consistent with her workouts and sometimes it doesn’t equal an hour,” she told E! News. “She’s a mom of three, she runs businesses, she’s an actress and she has a very busy schedule. So whatever amount of time I’ve got with her, we go hard.”
Skincare and Embracing Natural Beauty
Garner makes sure to take care of her skin. She shared some of her favorite products with TODAY. Garner says that she uses a sunscreen from Neutrogena. “This new Sheer Body Mist is excellent. It’s not a spray that you spray on and then you have to rub around, it does that part for you. Because it’s really diffused, but it lands on your skin. She emphasizes embracing natural looks and encourages her children to do the same.
Choosing the Right Workout Gear
Looking to start the day like Garner? Be sure to snag a pair of her favorite sneakers before your next sweat sesh. Over the years, Garner has tried many brands, but she previously told TODAY.com that she's "devoted" to Brooks sneakers, specifically the Ghost and Glycerin models. Sometimes I have little dalliances with other brands … but for working out, for HIIT, I’ve been running some, so for running, it’s Brooks for me all the way," she said.
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