Yolanda Hadid, the Dutch-American former supermodel, reality TV star (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), and mother to supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, has captivated audiences with her enduring beauty and commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Despite battling chronic Lyme disease, Yolanda has maintained a positive attitude and impressive physique, inspiring many. This article explores Yolanda Hadid's approach to diet and exercise, drawing on various sources to provide a comprehensive overview.
Yolanda's Dietary Philosophy: "You Are What You Eat"
Hadid firmly believes in the power of food as medicine. She emphasizes the importance of consuming organic, anti-inflammatory foods to minimize inflammation, particularly crucial for those battling chronic diseases like Lyme disease. "You really are what you eat, especially for those of us who battle chronic disease," she stated. She avoids pesticides that are sprayed on conventional produce because they can be toxic and affect the immune system.
The Queen of Lemons: Starting the Day Right
Yolanda starts her day with a large glass of water infused with the juice of half a lemon. She believes this practice "alkalizes the gut," cleanses the body, and provides essential nutrients first thing in the morning.
Breakfast: Energizing Oats
For breakfast, Hadid opts for a quick and energizing bowl of oats. She flavors it with a dollop of organic butter, a handful of slivered almonds, chopped strawberries, organic honey, and a small packet of Stevia for added sweetness.
Lunch: Protein-Packed Salads
Lunch for Yolanda is typically a protein-packed salad featuring in-season vegetables sourced from the farmer's market. A typical example includes fresh arugula, curried chicken salad, Brussels sprouts, and cranberries, dressed with olive oil and honey vinaigrette, and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Read also: Diet and Workout: Gigi Hadid
Afternoon Pick-Me-Up: Goat's Milk Latte
In the afternoon, Yolanda enjoys an easily digestible goat's milk latte. She boils the milk with cardamom and cinnamon, then sweetens it with a spoonful of honey.
Dinner: The Lightest Meal
Hadid makes dinner the lightest meal of the day, similar to Mariah Carey's approach. She shared with Harper’s BAZAAR US that she always makes dinner her smallest meal of the day.
Anti-Inflammatory Focus and Organic Choices
Yolanda prioritizes anti-inflammatory foods to minimize inflammation in her bloodstream and throughout her body. She tries to eat a lot of organic vegetables because pesticides that are sprayed on conventional produce can be toxic and affect the immune system. She has also showcased her weekly meals on Instagram, emphasizing the use of various vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds. She even sings the praises of drinking bone broth.
Cheat Days and Indulgences
While dedicated to healthy eating, Yolanda acknowledges enjoying occasional indulgences. In May 2017, Hadid told Nine Honey: “I’m no saint-I love pizza, sweets and wine as much as everyone else, but I have such sensitivities to these foods that it’s almost not worth the price to pay. Sadly, there is one food Yolanda is desperately missing: Hamburgers.
Yolanda's Workout Routine: Staying Active and Strong
Beyond her dietary choices, Yolanda incorporates regular exercise into her lifestyle.
Read also: Supermodel Workout Routine
Horse Riding: A Passion and a Workout
Considering Hadid raised her children on a ranch in Santa Barbara, California, it’s no surprise the mother-of-three developed a passion for horse riding. She stays active by horseback riding, as well as partaking in other rigorous outdoor activities several times a week. A 2017 report from the British Horse Society (BHS) also showed that horse riding has been proven to boost serotonin levels in the brain, leading to longstanding improvements in mental health for riders.
Gym Workouts
Yolanda includes workouts both in and out of the gym as part of her routine.
Other Activities
She also focuses on conditioning, rebuilding and getting her strength back one day at a time.
Additional Factors Contributing to Yolanda's Well-being
Spending Time with Loved Ones
Hadid values spending time with her loved ones as an integral part of her well-being.
Animal Therapy
Animal therapy plays a role in her positive attitude and overall health.
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
Stopping to Smell the Roses
Stress can lead to excess weight gain and is bad for your health overall, so Yolanda makes sure to take time to appreciate life's simple pleasures.
Controversy and "Almond Mom" Accusations
Yolanda Hadid has faced criticism and controversy, particularly regarding her past comments and actions related to her daughters' diets and appearances. After her daughter Bella disclosed that she had anorexia as a teenager, people are re-examining controversial comments her mother made on reality TV.
The "Almond Mom" Label
Yolanda has recently become the dishonorable poster child of the #AlmondMom outcry online. The phrase is being used by millennials and Gen Zers to pejoratively describe mothers who developed extremely restrictive eating habits during the diet-culture mania of the 1980s and ‘90s and foisted them onto their children. Freshly exhumed series footage from 2014 shows the former Bravo-lebrity advising a then-teenage Gigi Hadid to counteract feeling “really weak” by eating a couple of almonds and chewing them really carefully. In response to her social media backlash, Yolanda shared a video of herself chowing down on almonds.
Perceived Restrictive Behavior
Diet was one of Yolanda's keywords. In one of the most shocking scenes, she tells Gigi that she's only able to eat 'bad' food for one night on her birthday, because as Gigi was about to work fashion week, Yolanda told her they like girls 'just a tad on the skinny side' in Milan and Paris. (As we know, food - however unhealthy it is - is not good or bad.) Another stand out scene is when Gigi calls Yolanda, telling her she feels faint, and has eaten half an almond. Yolanda's advice? In season four, she also praises Gigi for a diet (which sounds no fun, and very unhealthy), telling her: 'Aren't you proud? It's hard to exercise six days a week. Her commitment to modelling meant that Yolanda also worried about Gigi playing volleyball, because Yolanda considered it a 'masculine' sport, which would make Gigi 'big and bulky'. 'Volleyball is a very masculine sport. Yolanda was even unimpressed when Gigi tried to eat cake at her own graduation. 'This is the hardest for being on our diet,' she tells her when she cuts the cake.
Defending Her Approach
Despite the controversy, some defend Yolanda's intentions, arguing that she was trying to instill healthy eating habits in her children. Stinson says being an almond mom helped her drop the more than 70 pounds she gained during the pandemic. “I don’t restrict my kids from having certain foods,” she said. “For me, being an almond mom isn’t about being [skinny], it’s about being healthy and teaching my kids how to eat with balance,” she said.
Overcoming Lyme Disease
For most people, it takes a lot of willpower to stay on a healthy diet, but for Yolanda Hadid there's a much bigger incentive than a bikini body: She's trying to regain her health while battling Lyme disease. "You know, I've learned in these past four years that a lot of toxicity that is in our body comes from food and preservatives and the things we eat," she told Bravotv.com. "I've gotten really serious these past couple of years about eating clean, eating healthy foods--fruits, vegetables--and it really takes down the inflammation in my body and my symptoms are less. I'ts not a cure but it definitely is a very important part of getting well."