Kristen Bell knows how hard it can be to fit exercise into a busy schedule.

During our Zoom call, we realize we're both missing our regular workouts to do this interview — it's Monday evening in the UK for me and morning in LA for her. But we agree that we'll both do a few dumbbell curls while cooking later. An exercise snack, if you will.

"I don't want to get to it, but I will," Bell, 44, tells me.

It's a cliché that celebrities are "just like us!" but starring in huge projects like "Frozen" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" or "The Good Place" and "Nobody Wants This" won't help you persuade your kids to eat their vegetables.

In the latest installment of Business Insider's "5 to 9" series, where celebrities share how they spend the hours they're not working, the Golden Globe-nominated actor gives a glimpse into her life with her husband, the actor Dax Shepard, and their two daughters, aged 10 and 11.

What time do you start your day?

The whole family wakes up at 7 a.m. I have been a longtime committed supporter of not waking up before 7 a.m. I remember when our babies were born and other parents said, "Ours wake up at 5.30 a.m." and I thought, "No, I'll find the receipt, I'm not interested in that."

I'm not a morning person, and unfortunately, full disclosure, I'm also not a night person.

I'm pretty much a non-functioning corpse before I've had any caffeine, so I must chug something caffeinated to be able to speak. My primary objective when I wake up is to get to coffee, matcha, or even Diet Coke as quickly as possible.

What do you have for breakfast?

It depends, but I love it when our family eats eggs, for the protein and fats. We're also big fans of oatmeal but I try to slip in some protein powder. The girls do eat cereal, which is not my favorite, but I'm not here to be too strict and cereal is very fun. Sometimes I make high-protein pancakes.

Your daughters are lucky.

Tell them, they hate it.

Are they picky eaters or just average kids?

Aren't those things the same?

They're picky, but we talk a lot about health, nutrition, and how food affects our bodies and minds. I don't tell them they can't have a doughnut, but I tell them to notice how they feel 30 minutes later.

I'm a big fan of tough love with my kids and sometimes I have to say: "We are not always eating for pleasure. Sometimes we're eating because we know that's what our body needs."

They absolutely love Plezi drinks which are lower in sugar than other drinks [Bell is an investor and brand partner of Plezi Nutrition]. Obviously, water is the number one thing we should be giving our kids.

But the reality for any parent is that they are going to ask for something sweet and you can either fight with them all night or you can give them a Plezi and it feels like a treat.

Exercise snacking and heavy lifting

How do you keep fit?

My husband started working out a lot during COVID-19, and because I'm so competitive, I follow whatever he's doing.

For a long time, I did workouts that were tailored to women like Pilates. I enjoy those things but I really hit my stride and probably have the best body I've ever had at 44 — not just in terms of shape but also strength, endurance, and capacity — when I started heavy lifting.

My husband has been biking a lot recently to build quad strength. For the last two weeks, he cycled up to the observatory, which is a huge hill, every day.

I didn't think I could handle that, so I started with the hill in our neighborhood, which is still formidable. For the last five days, I've been on my daughter's trail bike doing 15-minute uphill bike rides.

Uphill cycling is really tough.

It's so tough. I'm very active but I never commit to just one workout because I like to challenge myself. There will be six weeks where I hike every day and the minute it feels a little bit comfortable, I'll switch.

I don't have hours to keep fit. I desperately try to fit in, say, that 15-minute cycle, but if it'll mess up my day I'll get to it later.

I keep a set of 10 or 15-pound weights underneath furniture so when I'm cooking dinner, if I haven't worked out that day, I'll do a set of bicep curls or shoulder presses while something simmers on the stove. Sometimes my workouts are sliced into my day in one-and-a-half-minute segments.

That's a thing — it's called exercise snacking.

Oh yeah, that's it. I hear people talking about their 90-minute workouts. When am I going to get that time? Never. So I rely on exercise snacking.

I try to habit-stack, too. I let the dogs out to pee at 9 p.m. every night, and then I do 24 squats. I've done that every night for six months, and it's great because I don't have to make time.

Reading and chatting before bed

Who cooks dinner?

My husband cooks a couple of times a year, and he is very good, but he usually doesn't have time. Everybody eats differently in my household, and I'd love to evict them all. I hate it, but I'll deal with it. The girls are picky. My husband is gluten-free and incredibly high-protein, so his meals are different.

I am not Martha Stewart. I pop things in the microwave and just try to make it work because, ultimately, as long as there are a couple of colors on the plate and at least one vegetable for the girls (usually frozen peas), that's my only commitment.

I was vegetarian for 30 years and vegan for a few, and then three years ago, I started eating meat again. It finally didn't feel weird to me. I felt like I needed and wanted it. Now I try to eat high-protein like my husband to support the lifting.

At family dinners, it's a mishmash but we eat together. The community of eating is far more important to me than the presentation.

What is bedtime like in your household?

We all go upstairs around 7:30 p.m. I usually sleep in the bedroom with my daughters as they don't like to sleep alone. My husband gets the master bedroom all to himself, which is lovely for him.

It's important to explain to kids why they have to do something. If they don't want to go to bed, we explain why sleep is important.

The four of us will lie in the kids' room and talk for about 45 minutes. My kids' brains are very open at night, they tell us all about their day. We usually read a book, and we're currently reading "Mandy" by Julie Andrews, which they really like. Sometimes my husband does voices with their stuffed animals.

I find it's a connective period and our way to plug back in, let them know everything is safe, the day is gone, it's just our family, and everyone can fall asleep peacefully. But it's long. It's 45 minutes to an hour, and then everyone falls asleep around 9 p.m.

Sometimes, I sneak out of the girls' room to watch a show with my husband in the master bedroom, then sneak back in.

We have three bedrooms, but our kids are very lucky and very privileged, so I was like, "Guess what? You're going to share a room, and you're going to have to deal with it, so figure it out."

• Magnus Lygdbäck takes a balanced approach to staying fit and in shape.
• The celebrity trainer makes sure his activities are enjoyable, necessary, or something he'd like to master.
• Lygdbäck's health also essentials include sleep, stretching, and avoiding negativity.

Magnus Lygdbäck is not interested in "optimizing" every aspect of his day to live as long as possible.

Sure, the Hollywood personal trainer who has worked with the likes of Alicia Vikander, Gal Gadot, and James McAvoy would like to stay as fit, healthy, and in shape as he was in his 20s. But the 45-year-old isn't not striving for perfection and, unlike other elite trainers and some self-proclaimed "biohackers," enjoying life is a high priority for Lygdbäck.

"If we find out in the future that cold showers in the morning prolong our lives, I'm pretty OK with living a little bit shorter," Lygdbäck, who is from Sweden and based in LA, told Business Insider.

Lygdbäck feels particularly strongly about sharing his more balanced approach to health with so much noise online about "optimizing health" for "maximum results."

"I think that we focus too much on how to live the longest life, how to build the most muscle mass," Lygdbäck said. "Nowadays it's all about optimizing and finding the best way to do everything. That's great to know, but you don't have to live that way. For me, it's much more about: how do I live my best life and what makes me happy?"

Lygdbäck shared his three-pronged approach to staying fit, strong, and in shape — while enjoying life.

1) Make sure your workouts tick 3 boxes

Lygdbäck thinks holistically about exercise and ensures he is doing something to tick each of the following boxes:

1. Something he enjoys
2. Something his body needs
3. Something he wants to master

For Lygdbäck that means strength training for number one; pilates, yoga, or stretching ("my body needs it, I don't love doing it all the time") for number two; and pickleball or jiu jitsu for number three.

"I think that's how we need to look at not only training and health, but life in general," Lygdbäck said.

Like many people with life and work commitments and families, Lygdbäck is busier some weeks than others, so he can't always fit in as many workouts as he'd like.

In an ideal world, however, he'd do strength training four times a week, play pickleball twice, and then do some stretching or pilates at the weekend, he said.

He hopes this will enable him to do what he loves for as long as possible.

"I want to make sure that my body can function and move well because that gets harder with age," he said. "I want to feel great, I want to be strong, and also want to be able to do everything that I did when I was 25."

His priority is maintaining his current levels as best he can rather than hitting new records or pushing himself to his limits.

2) Follow the 17/20 rule for an enjoyable and nutritious diet

Lygdbäck takes a similarly balanced approach to food by following what he calls the "17/20 principle." 17 out of 20 of his meals and snacks are "on point" (he prioritizes protein and fiber), and for the remaining three he has whatever he wants.

3) It's vital to rest and recover

Unlike many people in the fitness industry, Lygdbäck is not a fan of so-called "active recovery," which is usually low-intensity steady-state cardio like jogging or cycling.

"I see it all the time from people who want to work out, they call it 'active recovery' but it's more like a cardio session, even if it's a lighter one," Lygdbäck said.

Lygdbäck's recovery principles are simple: He tries to sleep for seven hours a night, stretches, and uses a foot massager.

And despite his aversion to cold morning showers, he will occasionally intersperse them with sauna time to reap the well-established recovery benefits of hot and cold therapy.

Ultimately, Lygdbäck's health non-negotiables are moving often, eating well, sleeping enough, and avoiding toxic people.

"I avoid hanging out with people that are negative or have bad energy," Lygdbäck said. "You can't lecture the world, but I make sure to remove myself as soon as I can."

• James Collier is a dietitian and the cofounder of the "complete food" brand Huel.
• Collier thinks the average person's diet in the West is bad for their health and the planet — but has a solution.
• Collier thinks about the whole cycle of food production, from farm to plate.

James Collier, a dietitian and the co-founder of the multi-million dollar "complete food" brand Huel, believes he can fix our food system.

It troubles him that we rely on what he views as unethical, intensive farming that worsens the climate crisis, and that not enough people know that eating more fiber — preferably from plant-based sources — can improve their mental and physical health.

Collier, 52, described to Business Insider his approach of "contemplative nutrition" — thinking about the whole cycle of food production, spanning ethics and sustainability as well as its direct nutritional value.

If you keep these in mind, Collier believes, you, and the planet, will be happier and healthier.

Here's how he practices "contemplative nutrition" day-to-day.

1) Eat plants and lots of fiber

Collier believes we are in a "fiber crisis."

Eating fiber is hugely beneficial, including for gut health. However, a 2023 study by Texas Woman's University found that only 5% of men and 9% of women in the US consume the recommended daily 28 to 34 grams, depending on age and sex.

Collier said eating more plants will help the average person get more of the nutrients they need, including fiber. It's typically more sustainable too, he said.

"I became more and more sure that there's an overconsumption of meat," Collier said. "Then I started looking at the ethical considerations and thought the way we treat animals in intensive farms just doesn't sit right with me."

In 2019, he decided to mostly avoid intensely farmed meat and poultry where possible, and limit his animal-derived calories to 10%.

"A couple of days a week, I almost have zero animal-derived products, I have smaller portions of meat at meals, and I make that up with other protein sources," Collier said. "If you have a plant-rich diet, then the fiber takes care of itself."

He added: "One of the simplest things you can do to impact climate change is to change your diet. It really doesn't affect you that much and you can have a huge impact by doing that. It's easy and you don't have to be vegan."

2) Avoid 'junk food'

Growing public knowledge about "ultra-processed foods," made using ingredients and techniques not found in the home, has only confused people about what to eat because it lacks nuance, Collier said. Other dietitians who have spoken to BI agree.

A slice of high-fiber, wholegrain bread, for example, may be ultra-processed, but isn't equal to, say, a doughnut or a packet of chips, they argue.

It's for this reason Collier uses the term "junk food," which he says is easier to understand. If you minimize your intake of "junk food," you will likely be eating a nutritious diet.

So although Huel products are technically ultra-processed, Collier consumes them at least once a day. The original powder, which is marketed as a nutritionally complete food (he insists it's not a "meal replacement"), ready-to-drink bottles, bars, and "hot and savory" meal pots may be all he has if he's at the office.

Dietitians who have previously spoken to BI advocate for a "food-first" approach to getting the right nutrients, as opposed to using shakes or supplements.

Collier doesn't suggest people have Huel products for every meal. But in a world where people don't always have the time or resources to cook a nutritious meal from scratch to enjoy with family and friends, in his eyes it's "the best plan B."

Professor Thunder Jalili, a nutritionist at The University of Utah, told an episode of the "Who Cares About Men's Health" podcast that while Huel shouldn't be the foundation of a person's diet, it's fine "once in a while."

3) Socialize and stay active

It's well established that strong social connections and keeping active are linked to living healthy longer, and Collier prioritizes this as much as exercise.

"I'd rather people go to the pub and have a pint than be socially isolated," said Collier, who is based in the UK.

Collier said he feels lucky to have lots of family and friends, and keeps active and social with a mixture of resistance training, circuits, running, stretching, and yoga.

Collier's sick mother inspired him to eat more vegetables as a child

Around the age of 11, Collier started eating more vegetables after his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and became vegetarian. He could never prove it, but wondered if that contributed to her living for another decade.

Collier also experienced first-hand how nutrition science is constantly evolving. When he got into bodybuilding, he would eat six high-protein meals a day at a time when "protein spacing" was advised, thinking that was the only way to reach his goals. Now, dietitians recommend consuming protein as part of regular meals and snacks.

He went on to study nutrition at university and worked as a dietitian for the UK's National Health Service for seven years, which he said made him compassionate.

In 2015, when the entrepreneur Julian Hearn contacted him and asked him to co-found Huel, he jumped at the chance to create a product that was nutritious and convenient. At the time, he wasn't really thinking about Huel being sustainable, that was a happy accident.

By 2021, Collier started writing a book to bring his philosophies together, and "Well Fed: How Modern Diets Are Failing Us and What We Can Do About It" was published in January 2025.

"I want people just to pause and think about their food choices just a little bit," he said.

• Vacations can be a chance to take a break from, not just work, but typical food routines, too.
• That can lead to weight gain, but it's probably water weight, not fat, a dietitian said.
• Weight gained after a vacation is nothing to stress about and is completely normal.

Sometimes the scale can creep up by a few pounds after a trip full of good food and drinks, but it likely won't have a long-term effect on your weight.

Weight gained after a vacation or indulgent weekend is likely caused by water retention, not fat, Kara Mockler, a registered dietitian and training consultant, told Business Insider in 2022.

This can be worrying if you're trying to lose weight, but it's normal after eating more and isn't anything to stress about, Mockler said.

The extra weight usually falls away after you return to your normal diet. In fact, taking a break from your diet while on vacation can even be beneficial in the long run.

Vacation weight gain is often largely water

After a holiday weekend or a vacation, it's normal to see some weight fluctuation. Celebrations and vacations can involve eating foods higher in carbs and salt than your normal diet, and both of these lead to water retention, Mockler said.

"We store carbs as glycogen in our body, and for each gram of glycogen we retain several grams of water right along with it," Mockler said. "Same with salt."

This is why some people feel more bloated after a salty meal.

"So the uptick on the scale after a short period of higher calorie intake is mostly water," Mockler said.

In 2022, actor Rebel Wilson said she gained nearly 7 pounds after a week at an all-inclusive resort.

Personal trainer and fat-loss coach Jordan Syatt estimated that not even a pound of Wilson's holiday weight gain was actually fat.

"When you go on vacation for a weekend, a week, or even two weeks, it's physiologically impossible to gain that much fat," he told BI in 2022. In addition to water weight, the food inside the stomach can actually cause the scale to go up, he added.

A diet break can be beneficial

Eating more food for a short period can give your metabolism a temporary boost due to the energy required to digest it, which is known as the thermic effect of food.

Taking a diet break can also relieve the mental and physical fatigue that can come with prolonged periods in a calorie deficit and lead to greater weight loss.

The key is to get back on track after your vacation ends, Mockler said.

"There's no need to restrict your food or over-exercise, just get back to normal and drink some extra water," she said. "The excess fluid will come off over the next few days, and you'll be right back on track."

• Staci Rice lost 64 pounds on a compounded form of the weight loss drug semaglutide.
• It was expensive so she tried to maintain her weight loss without the medication, and gained 26 pounds.
• Rice started a side hustle so she could go back on the medication.

The weight loss drug semaglutide was a "miracle" for Staci Rice, making cravings and "food noise" disappear and helping her to lose 64 pounds in around eight months.

To afford to keep taking the drug, she started a side-hustle in digital marketing alongside the 40 hours a week she worked to get her new insurance business off the ground.

Semaglutide, marketed as Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for diabetes, is part of the family of appetite-suppressing drugs called GLP-1s, which includes products such as Mounjaro. Many insurance companies cover the drugs for diabetes but not weight loss.

Rice, 42, from Georgia, is among users who take compounded GLP-1s that aren't FDA-approved, because they are significantly cheaper than branded products that can cost around $1,000 a month.

In August 2024, Eli Lilly reduced the price of its GLP-1 Zepbound by almost 50% to compete with knock-offs. It now sells for $399 to $549 a month, down from $1,059. In November, the Biden administration proposed a new rule to expand Medicare and Medicaid coverage to include GLP-1s for weight loss, but it's unclear if President Donald Trump will follow through.

But even the compounded form, which cost Rice $499 at the time, was expensive.

Rice stopped using semaglutide and gained 20 pounds

Rice started taking weekly injections of semaglutide in May 2022. After she achieved her goal of losing 64 pounds, she saved up for a $18,500 "mommy makeover" (tummy tuck and breast augmentation) in April 2023, she told Business Insider.

GLP-1 users are encouraged to build up from a low dose to minimize side effects like nausea and constipation. At first, a $499 supply lasted Rice three months, reducing to a month as she upped the dose.

After the surgery, she started injecting the medication less frequently to maintain her weight rather than lose more. In early 2024, money was tight after Rice changed jobs and semaglutide seemed like something she could cut back on. She bought the compounded drug online, so she made these changes without the guidance of a medical professional.

Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, an obesity specialist and founder of a virtual health clinic specializing in GLP-1s, told BI that it's not advisable to change doses without consulting a doctor.

"I thought that I could go less and less, and eventually, I got to where I was forgetting to take the injection," Rice said. "I was thinking I had this, I was thinking, 'Now I'm set. I don't need to take the medicine anymore.'"

Rice maintained her weight for a couple of months. And although she started eating more, she presumed it wouldn't affect her progress.

But the "food noise" in Rice's head — cravings for sugar and sweet treats when experiencing heightened emotions — gradually returned, and she regained 26 pounds over about six months.

Rice had a small amount of medication left which she would take now and then, but it wasn't enough to lose weight, and she couldn't afford her previous maintenance dose.

"I started to notice my clothes were getting tighter," Rice said. Knee problems, a swollen finger, and various other aches and pains returned.

Nadolsky said he'd seen clients who abruptly stopped taking GLP-1s because their insurance no longer covered them or there were shortages. However, regaining weight is the biggest risk associated with coming on and off the medicine, he said.

"Obesity is a chronic disease and these medicines work by helping people manage their appetite and food noise," he said. "The cost of these medicines must come down. And if insurance doesn't cover them, it would be ideal that the cost would be low enough to pay out-of-pocket for them. The medicines are not a short-term fix. They are designed and used for the chronic disease of obesity."

Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, the CEO of Novo Nordisk which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, has previously blamed insurers and middlemen for the high prices of the drugs.

A side hustle to fund semaglutide

Towards the end of 2024, Rice had started her side hustle and restarted the medication on a low dose to minimize costs, deciding when to start and stop without medical guidance. The cost was different depending on the provider, and she used the money from her "very stressful" jobs to pay for it.

She now takes a low weekly dose (0.25 milligrams was her lowest, and her highest 2.5 milligrams). A 10-week supply costs her $305, and she is budgeting to afford it.

"I'm going to get back on track and I'm going to get back to where I was," Rice said. "But I hate that I ended up spending a good amount on a mommy makeover."

Rice said she feels guilty that she put her family in a financial bind and, if she could go back in time, isn't sure she would have had the surgery.

She hopes she'll be back at her goal weight by February, and then plans to stay on a maintenance dose long-term. She sees regaining the weight as a valuable lesson that maintainance without medication isn't as easy as she thought.

"It is a miracle medicine," Rice said. "I'm always going to be an advocate for it."

• Magnus Lygdbäck is a personal trainer and nutritionist who's worked with Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck.
• He has a unique, simple approach to healthy nutrition, which means no restriction or food guilt.
• Every 17 out of 20 meals should be "on point" — the other three can be whatever you want.

Magnus Lygdbäck is the personal trainer and nutritionist responsible for the physiques of some of Hollywood's biggest stars.

The LA-based Swede has worked with Alicia Vikander, Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Alexander Skarsgård, Katy Perry, and Harry Styles.

In addition to helping A-listers hit their goals, Lygdbäck practices what he preaches, and he takes a balanced approach to nutrition.

It's called the 17/20 system, and requires neither calorie-counting nor cutting out food groups.

Every 4 days, eat whatever you want for 3 meals

Lygdbäck said 17 of every 20 meals should be "on point" — the other three can be whatever you want to eat.

By "on point," Lygdbäck means that, ideally, those meals would be made up of "a good protein source, good fats, and slow carbs, and vegetables." Slow carbs are complex carbs, such as oats, rice, whole-wheat bread, and potatoes.

And for the other three meals "enjoy life."

"It means you can have pasta, you can go out with your friends, and you can enjoy a dessert or a glass of wine," he said.

Lygdbäck works in four-day cycles of five meals a day (three meals and two snacks), which means that every four days, your 20 meals start over again.

"We're in a world where it's all about 'optimize, optimize,'" Lygdbäck said. "But I don't exclude foods. I make sure to eat foods that I like. If it's something that I like that's unhealthy, I make sure not to eat it all the time. So three out of 20 meals, I eat what I want, I live life."

Portion your meals in fistfuls, not calories

When preparing actors for roles, Lygdbäck encourages them to track calories and macros (protein, carbs, fat), but doesn't think it's necessary for most people.

For those who want to track, he recommends aiming for between 30% and 40% of total food intake to be protein, and the rest a blend of carbs and fat.

Protein is Lygdbäck's top priority, personally.

"I make sure that I have enough protein on my plate, then after that, I look at carbs and fat to get a good mix, not too much or too little," he said. "And obviously I stack up on veggies and make sure that I'm getting as much fiber as possible."

Lygdbäck advises using your hands to keep portion sizes in check.

"For lunch and dinner, I do a fistful of protein, a fistful of fat or carbs or a combination, and two fistfuls vegetables," he said.

It's not a one-size-fits-all approach, but a starting point, and you can adjust based on your goals (fat loss or muscle gain), body type, and activity levels.

The approach is designed with 'happiness and balance' in mind

While some body transformation coaches encourage extreme methods, Lygdbäck's approach is more sustainable.

"There are so many diets and so much misinformation out there, so people don't really know what to do," he said. "I see too many people taking shortcuts to get something they want and in the process doing the wrong things and they're miserable.

"So I just think that we need to work much more on balance and happiness, and that's why I developed my system."

"I love food, I love a good glass of wine, I think that we should enjoy food as an important part of life," Lygdbäck said. "I don't believe in restricting, taking out foods, and telling people they're not allowed to eat something."

Don't feel guilty if you deviate from your nutrition goals, just get back on track.

"I hate when we have a guilty conscience after eating something," he said. "It's so easy to walk around and feel bad for eating food that's good. I want to get rid of that feeling entirely."

If you end up eating four meals in 20 "off track," it's not a big deal.

"I wouldn't beat myself up about the past, and I'd focus on the fact that I had 16 meals that were on point — that's pretty amazing," he said. "It happens. The system is not there to punish you. It's there to provide you with structure without forcing you to eat certain things or take out foods."

• Jeffrey, 57, submitted an average day of eating to be reviewed for Business Insider's Nutrition Clinic.
• A dietitian said his diet might be too restrictive to maintain, and he should eat more carbs.
• If you'd like to have your diet reviewed by an expert, fill out this form.

Jeffrey, 57, submitted his eating routine to Business Insider's Nutrition Clinic, where qualified dietitians and registered nutritionists offer readers advice on their eating habits.

He said his goal is to lose weight.

Jeffrey described himself as "somewhat active," having recently started doing yoga or calisthenics daily. He also plans to build up to walking a minimum of two miles a day.

Jaclyn London, a dietitian, told BI that Jeffrey's restrictive diet would likely be difficult to maintain long-term, which could see him fall into a binge-restrict pattern and even leave him nutritionally deficient.

"It is possible to lose weight, keep it off, and still enjoy your life," London said. "And all of that can be achieved with some small but meaningful tweaks he can make to each meal and through the addition of some strategic snacks."

Eat a range of fruits at breakfast

For breakfast, Jeffrey eats three eggs with some avocado, plus Greek yogurt with berries or walnuts.

London said Jeffrey's breakfast is a nutritious choice, providing protein, satiating fats, and some fiber.

However, he could eat more fruit by always having some at breakfast and eating some for snacks and in meals later in the day.

"Berries are a very common 'low carb' fruit, but the truth is, fruit (and other whole foods) provide complex carbs on which our bodies thrive," London said. "Fruit provides antioxidants, fiber, key minerals, and phytochemicals that help us feel our best by supporting our gut health and overall immunity, and increasing our fiber intake so we can get (and stay) regular."

Don't be afraid of complex carbs

For lunch, Jeffrey typically has a turkey spinach wrap using a low-carb flatbread with tomato and feta cheese.

London recommended Jeffrey eat more carbs in the form of starchy vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and legumes.

"All of these are complex carbohydrates, which are nutrient-dense, provide additional fiber, minerals, and phytochemicals which deliver powerful nutritional benefits and have been linked to decreased risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes," she said.

Starchy vegetables like potato, sweet potato, and squash can be a good place to start, London said, as they are satisfying and will help Jeffrey stay feeling full longer.

He could then try to incorporate grains like oats, buckwheat, and quinoa into his meals once he sees that the vegetables only make him feel more energized without causing weight gain, she said.

Eat snacks rich in protein and fiber

Jeffrey said he generally doesn't snack but if his energy levels are low he might have an Atkins shake.

London said Jeffrey would likely benefit from eating more snacks rich in protein and fiber to prevent him from becoming ravenous before each meal and help him stay energized.

"Include fiber-filled foods like vegetables and fruit; pulses, nuts, and seeds; plus protein from animal and plant sources at each eating occasion, and add snacks that are satisfying, nutritious, and provide just enough energy to keep your weight loss on track without losing too much too fast," London said.

Instead of an Atkins shake, London recommended making a high-protein, whole-food smoothie using Greek yogurt or milk, fresh or frozen fruit, and some nut butter.

"This will add some fiber-filled carbs, protein, plus healthy fat to boost satiety and add extra nutrient density to Jeffrey's day," London said.

Stay hydrated and strength train

For dinner, Jeffrey might eat chicken, fish, or shrimp with green vegetables (such as broccoli, green beans, or asparagus). Sometimes, he adds a small chickpea salad with tomatoes and cucumbers, he said.

London said it's great that these meals are nutrient-dense and high in protein and fiber, but she again recommended adding some carbs. London said Jeffrey should aim to have carbs take up 40% of his overall energy intake.

Equally, London advised Jeffrey stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and incorporate strength training into his workout routine.

"This is critical at every age, but especially as we get older," London said. "Replacing fat mass with lean muscle is the most effective way to keep weight off, maintain metabolic health, promote better strength, balance, and bone health as we age, and help your metabolism work more efficiently to promote slow, steady, and sustainable weight-loss over time."

• The Oura Ring is a fitness tracker popular among athletes, business execs, and celebrities.
• Fitness reporter Rachel Hosie has used one for four years and was originally attracted by its look.
• Oura ``Rings provide sleep data, step counts, and menstrual cycle tracking.

When I first learned about a new fitness-tracking smart ring four years ago, it wasn't the promise of high-tech features that most piqued my interest, it was the look.

As someone who enjoys both fashion and fitness, I didn't think the wrist-worn devices I'd encountered as a health reporter, such as the Whoop strap, Apple Watch, and Fitbit, were attractive enough for me to wear all day every day, to everything from the gym to a wedding.

But the Oura Ring, which just looks like a chunky band (mine is gold but other colors are available), was different.

Four years later, the look is still important to me, but it's the increasingly clever features that mean I still wear an Oura Ring.

Launched in 2013, the Oura ring's popularity has soared in recent years and can be spotted on the hands of athletes, business execs, and celebrities. Last December, the Finnish company announced that its valuation had doubled to $5.2 billion since 2022, thanks to $200 million in new funding. Various brands have launched their own smart rings in recent years — but Oura still leads the pack.

At $349 to $399 for the latest Oura 4 model, plus a $5.99-a-month subscription, it's not cheap, but neither is an Apple Watch, which can cost as much as $799 for the top model.

A few years ago, people were always surprised when I told them my ring was an activity tracker. Now everyone from the saleswoman at a jewelry counter to my sports teammates ask me if I'm wearing an Oura Ring and what it's like.

Here are the pros and cons of the Oura Ring that I've found after four years of wearing one.

Con: You can't really wear an Oura Ring while weightlifting

While the look of an Oura Ring is a big selling point to me, a wrist strap would be better for strength training, which is the bread and butter of my exercise.

For movements like deadlifts and pull-ups, I take my ring off as it pinches my skin.

However, I'm only interested in tracking the weights I use and reps in workouts, which trackers can't do and so I log separately.

Pro: The Oura Ring tracks my daily movements

I love that my Oura Ring picks up all my movement throughout the day, including my steps (a metric the Whoop strap, for example, doesn't track). And it's perfectly comfortable to wear, say, on a run, which is when I like to know my heart rate.

The Oura Ring can track various activities, and it's remarkably good at knowing what you've done, from cycling to rowing. It even picks up housework as an activity, which I think is a fantastic way to remind people that all daily movement, not just formal exercise, is important.

It also picks up restful moments, including naps if I were much of a napper.

Although my ring's battery life has slightly worsened with time, I only have to charge it for about an hour every few days.

While some people like having a screen on their device, data collected by the Oura Ring is shown on an app. I like being able to check mine when it suits me.

Pro: Oura Rings provide detailed sleep data

Oura Rings are generally considered to be among the most accurate wearables for tracking sleep, and it's really interesting to see not just how long I've slept in total but also the split between sleep phases, how long it took me to fall asleep, and the overall quality.

Research by the University of Oulu in Finland found that the Oura Ring measures resting heart rate at 99.9% reliability compared to a medical-grade electrocardiogram. Oura supported the study by providing equipment and software, and some of the authors were employed by Oura. However, the company was not involved in the study's design or collection and analysis of the results.

Shortly after waking up, I find myself reaching for the Oura app to see how I slept, rather than checking in with my body and seeing how I actually feel, which I don't think is a great thing.

The sleep data is clever and interesting, but arguably unnecessary for the average person. Wearing a smart ring won't improve your sleep, but it can help you change your habits.

Pro: The Oura Ring encourages you to rest

Like the Whoop strap, the Oura Ring was one of the first smart devices not just to push people to move more but to help users balance recovery with activity. If you're not well rested, Oura will suggest taking it easy.

I like that it promotes balance, but most people can only exercise at certain times and don't necessarily have the luxury of waiting for the next day when their Oura Ring might say they're in a better place to train.

That said, it's no bad thing to factor in that perhaps you should do a slightly lighter session.

Pro: The temperature sensors can tell you if you're sick

Oura Rings are very sensitive to body temperature, and this is one of the methods they use to determine when you're feeling tired and where you are in your menstrual cycle.

These features are really smart — I've heard various Oura users say their rings know they're going to get ill before they do, and studies support this. Similarly, mine has alerted me when my period is going to be a few days late based on my temperature.

I take Oura Ring data with a pinch of salt

While I do believe the Oura Ring is one of the most accurate wearables available, I also know to take all the data with a pinch of salt, and I won't live or die by what it tells me.

This is what Livvy Probert, a personal trainer, sports scientist, and head of science at personal health assessment company Hawq Score, previously told me. Wearable tech like Oura Rings are great for monitoring your own sleep and activity trends and progress, but because accuracy can't be guaranteed, you shouldn't necessarily read too much into the numbers.

• The personal trainer Ben Carpenter said it's a mistake to rely on willpower to make healthy changes stick.
• For lasting fat loss, Carpenter advises making habits that can be kept long-term.
• Work with, not against, your existing preferences, he said.

If you want to lose weight successfully — and for good — it helps to make it as easy as possible.

By making healthy habits effortless, you won't have to rely on willpower and are more likely to stick to them, Ben Carpenter, a personal trainer and fat loss coach, told Business Insider.

Carpenter's new book, "Fat Loss Habits," is designed to help people set themselves up for sustainable fat loss.

"When it comes to weight loss, a lot of people view obesity traditionally as a lack of willpower," Carpenter said.

But willpower is a finite resource, and at some point, it will run out, he said.

By choosing a form of exercise you enjoy, rather than what's optimal, you're more likely to develop a habit that becomes so ingrained in your routine that you don't have to think about it.

"Over time it becomes second nature," Carpenter said.

Think long-term

Changing your mindset about fat loss could be the key to getting off the yo-yo diet cycle.

Carpenter said that instead of asking yourself how you can lose as much weight as possible as quickly as possible, ask what you could still be doing in a year's time.

"What could you be doing so well a year from now that next January you aren't asking yourself again, 'What diet should I go on?' I think that's a fundamental mindset shift that would help most people," Carpenter said.

People go on and off restrictive diets like they're switching lights on and off, Carpenter said: "If someone can adopt health-promoting behaviors that they can adhere to for long periods of time, arguably the need for dieting diminishes."

For your weight loss to be long-term, you need to think about long-term habits, Carpenter said: "Most people are trying to achieve long-term goals, but they're doing it via short-term behaviors."

Dietitians have previously told BI that diets promising rapid, drastic weight loss are unsustainable and best avoided.

Keep a food diary for a couple days

Carpenter recommends people self-audit before trying to lose weight.

This could be as simple as keeping a food diary for a couple of days to help you identify tweaks. For example, swapping cream in your coffee for milk.

"I prefer to ask people what they're doing at the moment, their own preferences, and then try and find things that take as little effort and cause as little pain as possible," Carpenter said.

He added: "If you can get better results doing 99% of everything you are already doing, it takes a lot less effort and willpower than someone going, 'Here is your new diet plan, good luck.'"

Overhauling your diet can seem doable at the start but motivation often dwindles.

"From a motivation perspective, it could be really exciting to make substantial changes to your eating and watch the scale drop quickly. It might even motivate you to keep going," registered dietitian Alix Turoff previously told BI. "But when your plan is very rigid, this motivation typically lasts only a few weeks before you're burnt out and wanting to quit."

• Business Insider health writer Rachel Hosie struggled to decide whether to get Botox for her wedding.
• She said the decision was made harder by the rise of "undetectable" beauty treatments.
• People increasingly look inexplicably ageless, setting what she sees as even less attainable beauty standards.

Getting engaged a year ago was one of the most special and exciting moments of my life.

But wedding planning has come with some tricky decisions: Should I change my name? Is "Mr Brightside" an acceptable first dance song? And should I get Botox for the first time?

I've changed my mind endlessly: perhaps I'll get just a little something to smooth out the lines that, as a 32-year-old woman, have appeared on my forehead in recent years. "No, actually, I won't," I think.

For every sister-in-law warning against the "weird, shiny texture" Botox can give skin, a gym-mate encourages me to do it because I "won't look back."

I worry that Botox will become yet another expense alongside the mani-pedis, hair coloring, and waxing that are quietly expected of women to live up to patriarchal beauty standards, but my feminist principles are what are really causing me to hesitate.

While some men increasingly feel the pressure to look young, the scrutiny women — particularly those in the public eye — face is unrivaled. By erasing those signs of life, would I be part of the problem in a society that, as Anne-Mette Hermans, who studies the sociology of cosmetic procedures, told me, puts on women "a penalty on looking older"?

Deciding whether to get antiaging treatments like Botox isn't a new problem. Still, it feels harder to avoid as aesthetic treatments and surgeries become more subtle and less detectable and, in turn, make everyone look inexplicably ageless — setting even less attainable beauty standards.

I know that women are valued for looking young

Christine Hall, an aesthetic doctor at London's Taktouk Clinic, told me that since the COVID pandemic, skincare has replaced makeup as the aesthetic focus for many women and girls. This reflects a shift from the heavily made-up look of the mid-2010s — with many celebrities revealing they've had filler removed — toward looking "natural" and effortless.

Of course, by "natural," we mean young.

I've never worn a lot of makeup and am happy to go out and about bare-faced, so I was pleased that societal expectations changed. But the focus shifting from makeup to antiaging just as my first wrinkles appeared made me feel uneasy.

Antiaging has been big business for centuries, as Western cultures traditionally value women for beauty and fertility, which are seen as synonymous with youth. These ideals followed women when they entered the workforce in greater numbers.

"A beautiful appearance, especially for women, can definitely lead to advantages on the relationship market, but also in terms of jobs, in terms of promotions, in terms of so many different things," Hermans, an assistant professor studying cosmetic procedures at the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, said.

Psychologists point to a phenomenon called the "halo effect," where people unconsciously assume an attractive person has positive traits, such as trustworthiness and intelligence. A 2021 study from researchers at the University of Buffalo found that people perceived as attractive "are more likely to get hired, receive better evaluations, and get paid more."

So wanting to cling to our youth makes sense, and I don't shame anyone for having treatments like Botox.

After the FDA approved Botox for cosmetic use in 2002, Gen X started the trend of facial "tweakments" in earnest. It was taken to new heights by millennials amid the rise of social media and filters that made them appear wrinkle-free. The Kardashian-esque "Instagram face" quickly became ubiquitous.

Now, increasing numbers of Gen Zers are getting "baby Botox" in their 20s in the hope of preventing wrinkles. (Some practitioners, however, won't administer Botox to line-free faces as it can actually make people look older and, if done incorrectly, lead to muscle atrophy and sagging).

While the US has tighter regulations around cosmetic treatments than some countries, it's remarkably easy in the UK, where I'm from, to find someone who will administer Botox — whether at a "home salon" or your dentist.

"The idea of tweaking things in your own body and especially the face, it's become far, far more normalized," Hermans said.

Gen Alpha, children born after 2010, is seemingly set to continue down the same path, with the emergence of "Sephora kids" who are as young as 10 and save their pocket money to buy expensive antiaging products they don't need.

"When I was 16 or 17, it was all about blue eyeshadow and putting on as much foundation as possible. And now obviously the trend is kids wanting Drunk Elephant products and acids on their skin," Hall told me.

Commenting more widely on beauty trends, Hall added: "Nobody wants to wear makeup. Everyone wants to have natural, glowing skin." At the same time, aesthetic treatments are "much more acceptable now," she said.

This combination has in part ushered in what's dubbed the "undetectable" era of beauty. In recent months, the faces of Lindsay Lohan, 38, and Christina Aguilera, 44, have been the subjects of online fascination because they suddenly looked dramatically younger without the tell-tale signs of cosmetic treatments.

For the average person who doesn't have the same resources as celebrities, this presents a paradox between wanting the result of treatments to look natural while also making enough of a difference to justify the price tag.

Earlier this year, I tried what I had hoped would be the holy grail of antiaging treatments: "microtox," for a hefty cost of £495 ($657).

Popular in Korea but relatively new in the West, diluted Botox is injected into the skin's surface rather than muscles, preventing a frozen-looking face.

I hoped my skin would be wrinkle-free while maintaining all movement and expression. While my skin glowed, the effect on my fine lines was negligible and wore off over a couple of months.

So, when I look at photos of myself in the run-up to my wedding and wince at my forehead lines, I think, sure, Botox may be contributing to low self-esteem among women, but we can't change the world overnight.

If everyone else is giving in and walking around with shiny, smooth foreheads, maybe I should, too?

I want to look like myself at my wedding

It's now less than six months until my wedding, and considering most people get Botox every three to six months, I've nearly run out of time to do a trial run.

Hermans told me that a big predictor of whether someone will get any kind of aesthetic treatment is whether those in their social circle have done so. None of my close friends have had Botox — yet.

For now, I've decided not to get Botox.

While I may have crinkles and lines on my face, I also know who I am, which I was still working out a decade ago. My face looks like me, lines included. Just as my muscle definition reflects my love of strength training, my forehead lines reflect that I've embraced life.

I still have moments where I catch my reflection in harsh lighting or an action shot photo and don't like what I see. But perhaps reframing how I think about my looks is the answer, not Botox. After all, trying to "fix" everything you dislike about your appearance is an expensive path to go down.

When I'm smiling at my new husband on our wedding day, I want him and everyone else to be able to see my joy — forehead wrinkles and all.

• It can be tempting to follow extreme diets and workout regimes when trying to get fit and lose fat.
• But personal trainers who work with celebrities advised making gradual but sustainable changes instead.
• PTs whose clients include Ryan Reynolds said moderation and realistic goals lead to long-term success.

'Tis the season when people resolve to get fit, lose weight, and build muscle — only to quickly give up and make the same resolutions again a year later.

Four top personal trainers who work with both the general public and celebrities shared with Business Insider the biggest mistakes people make when trying to achieve their health goals.

They all feed into one central mistake: biting off more than you can chew.

Mistake 1: Trying quick fixes like fad diets

David Higgins, whose clients include Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, said that trying quick fixes and going to extremes will "often lead to burnout, injury, or a cycle of frustration because they don't address the root causes of poor movement, nutrition, or lifestyle habits."

That includes following fad diets with unsustainable restrictions or exercising too much.

Higgins advised going back to basics: "Focus on movement quality rather than quantity, prioritize consistency over intensity, and remember that small, sustainable changes compound over time.

"Start with foundational habits, like improving your posture, breathing correctly, and incorporating whole foods into your diet. These simple shifts set the stage for long-term success."

Mistake 2: Trying to out-train a poor diet

And remember, said Magnus Lygdbäck, whose clients include Alicia Vikander and Gal Gadot, you can't "out-train a poor diet."

"To lose weight you need to control your diet, eat fewer calories than you spend," he said.

Mistake 3: Setting unachievable goals then giving up when you inevitably fail

Luke Worthington, who has worked with Dakota Johnson and Naomi Campbell, said people also too often take an "all or nothing" approach to health and fitness. When they inevitably can't stick with their unrealistic new regime, they believe any slip-up has undone their good work and give up altogether, he added.

Instead, start with what's achievable for you, and don't copy a celebrity or athlete's plan, Worthington said. And it's OK if you can't fit in all your workouts one week or deviate from your nutrition goals sometimes.

"The most effective program is the one you actually follow, so setting realistic and sustainable goals is important," Worthington said.

"I find that the 'sweet spot' for most goals is to commit to three full body workouts a week, and then stick to it all year round.

"This is enough to make consistent progress, but also not too much where it becomes impossible to fit into a 'normal' life," he said. "If those workouts are balanced, working all major muscle groups through all planes of motion, and progressive — meaning you are able to increase your workload over time — then you will get results."

That's better than doing six workouts a week for six weeks but stopping because it's too much or you've been injured.

Get fit and lose fat sustainably by finding what you enjoy, need, and would like to improve

When approaching exercise, Lygdbäck recommends people think about three factors:

1. What you enjoy
2. What your body needs
3. What you'd like to master or improve

Then, try to find a way to tick each box every week. For Lygdbäck, that means a mixture of strength training, yoga and pilates, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Don Saladino, whose clients include Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, called this approach the "moderation mindset," adding that taking time off to recharge and relax will prevent you from giving up after a few weeks. Consistency trumps intensity, he said.

Saladino gave the example of someone cutting down from drinking three days a week in 2024 to one in 2025.

"They just went from drinking 152 times throughout the year to 52," Saladino said. "Big improvement right there."

• Business Insider has interviewed dozens of people who've lost weight.
• We rounded up some of their top, practical tips to make fat loss simpler.
• High-protein diets and calorie deficits are key strategies for successful weight loss.

Weight loss is, on the face of it, simple. If you are in a calorie deficit — consuming less energy than you're burning — you will lose weight.

The reality is much more complicated. Genetics play a role, as do underlying health conditions. For many, new habits only get them so far if they don't change their mindset.

Business Insider has interviewed dozens of people who've lost significant amounts of weight, and gathered their best advice.

1. Join a sports team

When Alaias Bertrand, a marketer and content creator in Florida, joined a sprint team, the rigorous training schedule helped her lose 75 pounds without really trying.

That said, while exercise does contribute to overall calorie burn, it makes up less of our overall daily energy expenditure than most people think.

2. Eat from a smaller plate

Bertrand told BI that a smaller plate helped her cut portion sizes and reach a calorie deficit.

"That was something that was very doable for me. It was very actionable because all I have to do is grab a smaller plate," she said.

Eating smaller portions also helped Stephen McKenna, a former school principal, lose 145 pounds.

3. Walk for 10 minutes

McKenna started by aiming to walk for 10 minutes a day, adding five minutes each week to help him lose weight. He now makes sure to get 7,000 steps a day.

Leah Mancuso took a similar approach: Mancuso, a photographer, told BI she started by walking on the spot at home or in her backyard for 10 minutes at a time.

It kick-started changes that would see her lose 200 pounds: Mancuso now walks around 8,000 steps a day.

4. Eat one nutritious food a day

If the idea of overhauling your whole diet is overwhelming, start small. Mancuso started by trying to eat one nutritious food, such as eggs, each day.

5. Get more protein

Eating more protein is helpful for shedding fat because it keeps you feeling full, takes more energy to digest than carbs or fat, and helps your muscles recover after workouts.

Many of the people BI interviewed, such as Alec Kneberg and Andrea Pence, cited high-protein diets as key to their weight loss success.

Kneberg, a bank worker, lost fat while building muscle, and Pence, a mom of two, lost 140 pounds over two years.

6. Hit a calorie deficit but don't over-restrict

A calorie deficit is the only way to lose weight without surgery, and counting calories can be a helpful tool (albeit not one that's right for everyone).

Maria Kirkeland, who lost 159 pounds, found that calorie counting actually helped her make sure she was eating enough while still losing weight, which helped her stick with it.

"Before, when I'd tried to lose weight, I'd done more guesswork, and I think that led me to undereat, which would then lead me to break because I got so hungry," said Kirkeland, a teacher.

7. Find lower-calorie swaps

Lower-calorie versions of his favorite foods helped Kneberg stick to his calorie deficit, he said.

Bethany Dobson, a fat loss coach and personal trainer who lost 44 pounds, had a similar experience. Coming up with lower-calorie versions of her favorite meals helped her stay on track.

8. Eat high-volume foods

High-volume foods are those that take up a lot of space on your plate (and in your stomach) for relatively few calories, helping you stay full while in a calorie deficit. Focusing on high-volume foods helped Benji Xavier lose 100 pounds.

9. Meal prep

Xavier, a content creator, also meal-prepped to help him stay on track with his nutrition and reduce the chances of him opting for fast food.

Taking time on Sundays to make meals for the week ahead meant he could eat healthily even when he was too busy to cook.

Swapping takeout for a healthy, portion-controlled meal delivery service, combined with walking, also helped Megan Tjelle, a nurse, lose 55 pounds.

10. Strength train

Strength training has many longevity benefits and also helps you maintain muscle mass while losing fat. Many people BI interviewed, including Kirkeland and Tjelle, did strength training, even if they started off just walking.

11. Visualize a healthy lifestyle

For Mae Suzuki, a YouTuber, working on her mindset was the key to breaking free from a binge-restrict cycle.

When she started visualizing her dream self and following the habits she imagined she would have, she lost 40 pounds over six months.

• Small, sustainable dietary changes can lead to substantial weight loss over time.
• Five people who lose weight shared how their diets changed before and after.
• Most focused on portion control, calorie counting, and incorporating whole foods.

It's rare to lose fat without changing your eating habits — after all, a calorie deficit (consuming less energy than you burn) is the only way to lose weight.

However, you don't need punishing diets or to cut out all your favorite foods.

For many people, small tweaks like focusing on protein and eating smaller portions make big differences.

Five people — each of whom lost between 50 and 200 pounds — told Business Insider how their diets changed.

Less fast food

Clark Valery, an assistant manager at a pharmacy chain in New York, lost 140 pounds by cutting down on fast food and cutting portion sizes.

Before he lost weight, a typical meal could be two Big Macs, 20 chicken nuggets, two large fries, and a soda from McDonald's, or eight tacos from a Mexican restaurant. "The portions could've fed four people," he said.

To lose weight, Valery ate meals like scrambled eggs on a whole-grain English muffin with a small piece of sausage, or grilled chicken with salad or vegetables.

Lower-calorie swaps

Maria Kirkeland, a teacher from Norway, lost 159 pounds in two years by counting calories. She made some small changes to her diet too. For example, she replaced the salami and cheese on her bread with cottage cheese and low-sugar jam, and started making her own salads with less dressing than those in her work canteen.

At dinner, Kirkeland started eating leaner cuts of meat and opting for boiled or baked potatoes over fries. "They're not very calorically dense, they're very filling, they're very satiating, and they're so nutrient-rich. I love potatoes. I eat them for almost every dinner I have," Kirkeland said.

Easy, whole-food meals

Leah Mancuso, a photographer in Scottsdale, Arizona, hates cooking but still made changes to her diet to help her lose 200 pounds. Previously, Mancuso mostly ate drive-thru meals and freezer food but she's now developed new staple meals like cottage-cheese bowls and chicken with potatoes.

"I try to eat mostly at least minimally processed foods, but also make it very, very easy because I don't like cooking," Mancuso told Business Insider.

Substantial lunches, light dinners

Betsy Grunch, a neurosurgeon from the outskirts of Atlanta, lost 50 pounds when she quit fad diets and educated herself about nutrition. Before losing weight, she regularly ate fast food, such as pizza or Chick-fil-A, and had energy-dense drinks like sodas and frappuccinos.

Now, she intermittently fasts by skipping breakfast, then she eats a large, high-protein lunch and a light dinner. Grunch focuses on whole foods and protein, with carbs in moderation, she said.

Meal prep

Benji Xavier, a content creator from New Jersey, lost 100 pounds by making healthier versions of his favorite meals. Xavier used to eat a lot of fast food for convenience. To lose weight, he meal prepped on Sundays so he had healthy dishes ready to go during the week.

Xavier focused on high-volume, high-protein meals such as turkey and eggplant lasagne, or chicken-fajita-stuffed bell peppers.

• Melissa Hemsley's cookbook offers recipes to reduce ultra-processed food intake.
• Ultra-processed foods are linked to health risks like cardiovascular disease and cancer.
• Hemsley's recipes include white chicken chili, noodle salad, and no-bake peanut bars.

If cutting down on ultra-processed food is on your 2025 goals list, finding tasty new recipes is a big help.

Melissa Hemsley is a chef whose latest cookbook, "Real Healthy," is designed to help people "unprocess" their diets.

The recipes are packed with vegetables and designed for those who are short of time.

Ultra-processed foods have come to the fore of public health consciousness in recent years, as research increasingly points to the potential health risks of UPFs, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Hemsley recommends dishes including a white chicken chili with peppers and beans, a zingy vegetarian noodle salad, and no-bake peanut butter chocolate oat bars.

White chicken chili

Hemsley said: "A tomato-less chili, hence the name 'white chili'. I use yellow peppers here to keep the chili 'white' but use whatever color you can find. I like to serve the toppings separately and let everyone help themselves. In terms of the beans, use whatever white beans you like, such as cannellini or butter beans. I find sweetcorn is always worth keeping in the freezer, but if you've got canned corn, then drain, rinse, and add it right at the end."

Serves: Four

Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra if needed
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 yellow peppers, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chile flakes, to taste
• 1.2 litres vegetable or chicken broth
• 2 x 400-gram tins of white beans, drained and rinsed
• 200 grams frozen corn
• Juice of 1 lime, plus a little zest if you like
• Sea salt and black pepper

Optional toppings

• Soured cream or yogurt
• Fresh cilantro and/or scallions onions, sliced
• Sliced avocado
• Sliced radishes or cucumber
• Lime wedges
• Jarred jalapeño slices or chile flakes

Method

1. Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt. Heat the olive oil in a large pot and, once warm, add the chicken thighs, skin-side down. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes over a medium-high heat until very well browned, then turn and cook on the other side for 2 to 3 minutes. Lift out of the pot and set aside on a large plate.
2. The chicken should have given out plenty of fat but if not, add a splash of olive oil to the pot and, once warm, add the onions, peppers, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Fry for about 12 minutes over a medium heat until very soft, stirring every so often. Add the garlic, fry for a minute, then add the cumin, oregano, and cayenne or chile flakes and fry for 2 minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Return the chicken thighs to the pot and pour in the stock. Simmer for 25 minutes, then add the beans and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.
4. Remove the chicken thighs once cooked through and take the meat off the bones and shred. Set aside, discarding the chicken skin if you wish. Use a potato masher or the back of your wooden spoon to crush roughly a third of the beans (this will help thicken the chili).
5. Add the frozen corn, then cook for 5 minutes or so until tender. Remove from the heat, add the chicken, lime juice, plus a little zest if you like, and taste for seasoning.
6. Ladle into bowls and finish with the toppings you like.

Big veg noodle salad with lime, ginger, and peanut dressing

Hemsley said: "Even in the colder months, I think a big noodle salad is always a great thing to have up our sleeves. In the depths of winter, in and among all the cheesy bakes and big soups and stews, I crave fresh, zingy, crunchy salads like this. Use any noodles you like, even spaghetti would work if that's what you've got. I love buckwheat (soba) noodles. Swap the peanuts and peanut butter for cashews or almonds if you prefer. Do the lime trick to release more juice by rolling the limes on the kitchen counter before you slice them in half."

Serves: Two

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 nests of noodles
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 2 big handfuls of raw peanuts
• 1 large carrot, cut into ribbons with a peeler or cut into thin strips with a knife
• 1⁄4 sweetheart cabbage, very thinly sliced
• 1 small apple or pear, cored, and cut into matchsticks
• 1⁄2 small cucumber, diced

For the dressing:

• 2 tablespoons smooth or crunchy peanut butter
• 2 big limes: zest of 1 and juice of both
• 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
• Thumb of fresh ginger, finely grated
• Pinch of chile flakes
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• Sea salt and black pepper

Method

1. For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients in a small bowl or shake in a jam jar. Taste for seasoning.
2. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then drain and rinse immediately with cold water. Toss the noodles with the sesame oil and set aside.
3. Toast the peanuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, shaking the pan every so often, until golden.
4. In a large bowl, toss together the noodles, carrot, cabbage, apple or pear and roughly half the dressing. Slowly add more splashes of dressing if you like, tossing as you go, until everything is nicely coated. Top with the cucumber and peanuts.

Chocolate peanut butter (no-bake) bars

Hemsley said: "A no-bake family favorite treat. Pretty irresistible but if you don't devour them over a few days, they will keep for a week in a sealed container. Store in the fridge in warmer months. If catering to any nut allergies, swap the ground almonds for more oats and switch the nut butter for pumpkin seed butter. If you have a preferred nut butter, try that — I love a cashew butter but keep it to the smooth variety for a silkier texture. Look out for 60% minimum cocoa solids for your chocolate."

Makes: 16

Time: 20 minutes, plus setting time

Ingredients

• 250 grams smooth peanut butter
• 100 grams ground almonds
• 100 grams porridge oats
• 6 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A little pinch of sea salt

For the chocolate layer

• 180 grams dark chocolate, roughly broken
• 1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
• Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Optional topping

• 2 handfuls of toasted peanuts

Method

1. Line a small baking pan or dish (about 15 x 8cm or square equivalent) with greaseproof paper, making sure it comes up high enough on the sides so that you can lift the mixture out of the pan once it's set.
2. Mix the peanut butter, ground almonds, oats, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt together in a bowl. Transfer to the lined pan, pressing down with the back of a spoon or spatula to make it even and compact.
3. For the chocolate layer, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (a heatproof bowl set over a pan of very lightly simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water). Once melted, stir through the peanut butter and pour this evenly over the base. If topping with the whole peanuts, scatter these over the chocolate layer. Sprinkle over a little pinch of flaky sea salt.
4. Set in the fridge for 1 hour or until firm, then cut into 16 pieces to serve.

• Ashley Dunham's experience of the festive season changed after she started using a weight loss drug in 2022.
• Semaglutide, one of several appetite suppressing drugs called GLP-1s, helped dampen her "food noise."
• Several of Dunham's family members are also on GLP-1s, and their Thanksgiving food bill is much lower now.

The holiday season used to be conflicting for Ashley Dunham.

It was a joyous time to get together with family and friends over delicious food and drinks. But as someone who wanted to lose weight, navigating that brought internal turmoil and what felt like tests of her willpower.

Between Christmas and Thanksgiving, she expected to gain 15 pounds "just by eating pretty regularly, how I would typically eat for the holiday," she told Business Insider. And then came the grueling diets in January.

Now, everything is different.

In August 2022, Dunham, 33, from St John's, Florida, started taking a compounded form of the buzzy weight loss drug semaglutide (marketed as Ozempic and Wegovy).

The appetite-suppressing medication silenced the "food noise" in Dunham's head, meaning she ate less without trying and no longer felt guilty when she did eat. She also found she had more mental capacity to think about things aside from weight loss.

With family and friends now also on similar medications, known as GLP-1 agonists, Dunham's festive get-togethers have changed drastically, she said.

Her family isn't alone: The KFF Health Tracking Poll estimated in June 2024 that one in eight Americans either take or has taken one of these medications. While the drugs have been game-changing for many, others have experienced negative side effects, such as nausea and constipation that was so bad that they came off them.

Dunham experienced nausea, migraines, and constipation in her first few months on the medication but they faded with time.

Dunham used to gain weight every holiday season

2024 is Dunham's third holiday season on the weight loss drug.

In 2022, the year she started semaglutide, injecting it once a week, she lost 12 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas. "I could barely finish my plate," she said.

After 17 months on the medication, Dunham transitioned to what she described as a maintenance dose, which she continues to take every 10 to 14 days. In 2023, she was able to finish her plates of food, but prioritized protein and was satisfied without overindulging. Those on GLP-1s are advised to eat a high-protein diet and regularly exercise, including strength training, to minimize muscle loss.

Before taking semaglutide, Dunham used to tell herself she couldn't have any festive treats and then feel guilty if she did.

Now, she said she can happily go to festive events, enjoy one drink and one cookie, and be satisfied.

"I'm not scared that the cookie is going to have some negative repercussion," Dunham said. "I've lost a lot of the guilt from enjoying the holidays."

Dunham's Thanksgiving food shop was significantly smaller this year

At her Thanksgiving table this year, half the group was on a weight loss medication, Dunham said.

This meant that instead of buying and preparing green beans for 10, for example, Dunham cooked for six to reduce food waste, she said.

Dunham lives with her husband and six-year-old son, and since he started using GLP-1s five months ago, the family's grocery bill has dropped by about 50%, Dunham said.

"On a crazy month, we would typically spend $1,200 or £1,300 on groceries, but now we spend more like $600 or $700," she said.

She no longer makes weight loss New Year's resolutions

Before taking semaglutide, Dunham would resolve to lose weight at the start of every year.

"I don't really recall a year, even when I was in a smaller body, that I didn't have a resolution to lose weight," Dunham said. "Even when I was really skinny, it was always just about losing weight."

At the turn of 2024, for the first time, Dunham decided she no longer needed to.

Dunham said semaglutide has also come with cognitive benefits, such as improved focus. Her goals were to read more books and achieve things that had nothing to do with her weight, food, or calories.

"It was so freeing," Dunham said, "and a little jarring too because when your life no longer revolves around your weight, you have so much more brain space to actually achieve for your greater good, and even the greater good of society. Who knows?"

• Microtox is a treatment little-known in the West, which promises to smooth fine lines without freezing the face.
• Originating from South Korea, microtox is diluted Botox injected into the facial fibers, not muscles.
• I tried it, and while my skin glowed, the result was more subtle than I'd hoped for.

When my boyfriend proposed last December, I was overcome with joy for our future — and excited about wedding planning.

But I was surprised that although I'm not anxious about my looks, I felt the urge to perfect my appearance. If I'm not going to pull out all the stops on my wedding day, when am I?

I've whitened my teeth (painful), tried eyelash lengthening serum (it turned my under eyes red so I won't be repeating), and nailed down a solid skincare routine.

But no amount of retinol or SPF is going to smooth the fine lines that have appeared on my face in recent years.

Botox is, to many, the obvious solution to this symptom of human existence that we're conditioned to fear. That and other non-surgical "tweakments," such as fillers, are on the rise. From 2019 to 2022, the number of people getting Botox injections in the US jumped by 73% (to an all-time high), and those going under the needle are getting younger.

While social media has made people more anxious about their looks and reduced stigma around treatments, a more natural aesthetic is now on trend. This has seen celebrities such as Courteney Cox and Khloe Kardashian dissolve their fillers.

In that vein, I feared I would suffer from the dreaded "frozen face" Botox can cause and be unable to express my emotions on one of the most emotional days of my life.

(My fiancé, for his part, says I "don't need Botox" — but what does he know?)

So, when I heard about a treatment called "microtox" that promised to smooth fine lines without limiting facial expressions, I was desperate to know more.

Also known as "glass skin treatment," I learned microtox hails from South Korea — known for its advanced skincare — and involves diluting Botulinum toxin (aka Botox) with saline or other skin-boosters. Crucially, it's injected into the facial fibers that connect the muscles to the skin instead of the muscles themselves, smoothing the face without freezing it.

At 31, I'd never had any injectable cosmetic procedures before, and microtox seemed like a soft landing into the world of anti-aging treatments.

I tried it, and while my skin glowed, the smoothing effect was too subtle to be worth the £495 ($657) price tag.

'An airbrushed look and lustre'

After checking with dermatologists that microtox is safe, I quickly realized this relatively new treatment isn't offered by many clinics in the UK, where I live.

I booked a consultation with the Taktouk Clinic in London's ultra-affluent Knightsbridge neighborhood, which three years ago became one of the first places in the UK to offer microtox.

The treatment was originally £695 ($922), but the clinic told me the price was lowered to £495 ($657) in July to bring it in line with their other skin boosters. Business Insider was given a media rate of £476 ($631).

First, Christine Hall, an aesthetic doctor at the clinic, and I talked on Zoom about my skin and what the treatment involved. She told me not to drink any alcohol 24 hours before or after microtox, and also to avoid painkillers, the sauna, steam room, and gym.

Hall said microtox is incredibly popular in South Korea, where her mother is from, and is seen as a "red carpet treatment" to have before a big event.

"They're about 10 years ahead of us in terms of aesthetics, so I try and keep up with them because it informs me about what's going to come over to this side of the world," Hall said.

"You're going to look refreshed, your skin's going to be glowing, but nobody's going to particularly be able to tell you why," she added.

The treatment wouldn't do much to deep wrinkles, but could give me an "airbrushed look and lustre," Hall said. "Sign me up," I thought.

My face was numbed before the treatment

The clinic, which is chic and minimalist but with period features that give it an old-money feel, is discreetly positioned on a busy street of designer shops.

After checking in, I was sent to the elegant restroom, complete with expensive perfumes, to cleanse my face.

Hall greeted me in the waiting room, and I was reassured that her glowing, smooth complexion was neither frozen nor line-free.

She assessed my skin and said it was in good condition, meaning microtox wouldn't have a hugely noticeable effect — it's popular with people who have very oily skin or want to minimize redness.

Clinic manager Hilda Akpenyi then applied a powerful numbing cream to my face, topped with a plastic mask to stop it from evaporating. The cream took half an hour to take full effect, and my face quickly started to tingle and feel hot.

Hall explained that, unlike other clinics, Taktouk dilutes Botox with Klardie Cellup Ruby Solution, which she said is a hyaluronic acid skin booster designed to reduce pigmentation, hydrate, and boost radiance. This, however, makes Taktouk's treatment around £100 ($132) more expensive than its competitors, she said.

Microtox is a bearable, 20-minute procedure

Hall took me to a spacious and bright treatment room, where she wiped off the numbing cream and cleansed my face again before I made myself comfortable in a reclining chair.

Over 20 minutes, Hall made around 100 injections about one millimeter deep across the entirety of my face, unlike Botox which targets specific areas. She regularly changed the needle to keep it sharp and avoided going too close to the muscles of the mouth and eyes to prevent drooping, which can happen if it goes in too deep.

The process was slightly painful but bearable, and it felt just as you'd imagine lots of tiny needle pricks would. Having a numb face was arguably more uncomfortable.

We were able to chat throughout, and I felt reassured hearing Hall's approach is all about small, subtle, natural-looking tweaks. "The ethos of the clinic is that we're extremely conservative and we're very happy to say no," she said.

Hall finished by applying a soothing moisturizer to my skin. What I didn't realize until she held up a mirror was that my face was covered in bumps from each needle prick. It reminded me of the acne I used to have, which I thought was ironic. Hall said the bumps would ease after a couple of hours.

As I traveled across London to meet a friend, I was conscious of the looks I was getting. It took more than a few hours for the bumps to reduce, but 15 hours later the next morning, they were 95% gone.

Microtox made my skin glow

Hall said that the effects of microtox could appear within a few days, and would peak two weeks after the treatment.

For a fortnight, I dutifully monitored my face, conscious of every pore and line.

After a few days, I thought my skin appeared slightly smoother, with more sheen. As the days passed, my complexion looked somewhat tighter and glowier without being shiny, despite the lines on my face looking the same.

However, I was disappointed that my freckles faded.

After two weeks, my skin looked smoother and younger overall, and my crow's feet diminished. I was starting to understand why microtox is called "glass skin" treatment.

But the effect was slight — people who knew I'd had the treatment told me they could "maybe" see a difference, otherwise no one commented.

The effect is meant to last two to three months, but for me, it was negligible. My skin gradually went back to normal over the weeks, so it was hard to tell when the results wore off. It was like I'd had a really good facial, with longer-lasting results but a significantly higher price tag.

The result didn't justify the cost

The concept of facial tweakments is paradoxical. On the one hand, you want subtle changes so people can't tell you've had anything done. But on the other, you want enough of an effect to justify the cost.

For me, microtox wasn't worth the cost, but I wasn't the prime candidate, and people who have oily skin and large pores might have better results.

If money were no object, I might have had microtox again, considering it an expensive (and less relaxing) facial that would turn back the clock on my face a year or two for a few weeks.

However, for now, the anti-aging holy grail of having smoothed wrinkles while maintaining facial expressions remains to be found.

• Ciara, 28, submitted an average day of eating to be reviewed for Business Insider's Nutrition Clinic.
• A nutritionist said eating more food, especially carbs, would help her.
• If you'd like to have your diet reviewed by an expert, fill out this form.

Ciara, 28, submitted her eating routine to Business Insider's Nutrition Clinic, where qualified dietitians and registered nutritionists offer readers advice on their eating habits.

She said her goals are to lose fat and gain muscle.

Ciara does five CrossFit sessions plus five cardio workout classes a week. She rests on Sundays, she said.

Rebecca Ward, a sports nutritionist and personal trainer, told BI that as Ciara uses so much energy, she needs to eat enough to fuel herself and help her body recover, even if she wants to lose weight.

"She would also benefit from taking a lighter training day on one of her days rather than having only one rest day per week," Ward said.

Building muscle requires enough rest and recovery time between workouts, Ward added.

"If she's sufficiently fueled through better, more optimal food choices, that is definitely achievable," she said, referring to building muscle and losing fat.

While strength training is essential for muscle building, exercise is not a prerequisite for fat loss. Moving more does contribute to a calorie deficit, but research suggests formal exercise makes up only about 5% to 10% of a person's overall daily calorie expenditure.

Overexercising without recovering sufficiently can put stress on the body, hinder progress, or be a symptom of an unhealthy relationship with exercise.

"When we overexercise, we often do it for the wrong reasons, believing we 'need to sweat every day to burn calories' or we 'need train cardio to lose weight,' when actually our bodies will benefit more from a mixture of exercise regimes," Hayley Madigan, a personal trainer, previously told BI.

Ciara eats a high-protein diet

Ciara doesn't eat until 3 p.m. when she has half a high-protein ready-meal consisting of rice and meat.

After working out, she has an egg-white omelet with mushrooms, onions, and cauliflower rice or salmon with broccoli and cauliflower rice.

Later in the day, she has a portion of protein pancakes, two packets of protein chips, and, if she's still hungry, a protein shake or bar.

Ciara estimates she eats 1,200 to 1,300 calories and 110 to 120 grams of protein a day.

By not eating till 3 p.m., Ciara creates a large fasting window from the evening before. While some people feel good while intermittent fasting, it doesn't suit everyone and isn't required for fat loss.

Jaclyn London, a registered dietitian, previously told BI she recommends people eat breakfast as it can form part of a healthy relationship with food and also "set the stage" for the day ahead.

Eat enough carbs to fuel and recover

Ward said it's great that Ciara is eating plenty of protein to help her maintain muscle mass, but she'll struggle to build muscle with such low overall food intake.

"Her diet is very low in calories given the energy expenditure she will have with 10 exercise sessions a week," she said. "It will be difficult for Ciara to recover from or fuel her workouts optimally."

It's true that a calorie deficit is required for fat loss, but dropping your intake too low can have negative consequences such as slowing the metabolism, fatigue, brain fog, muscle loss, and menstrual-cycle loss.

"I'd be intrigued as to how well she performs during workouts that are designed to hit her goal of increasing muscle mass," Ward said. "She would benefit from having more carbs in her diet to optimize performance in said workouts, to achieve higher intensity and volume."

Ward recommends Ciara eat more carbs with every meal and snack, perhaps starting by eating more fruit daily, which would provide fiber too.

Carbs not only provide energy for workouts but help replenish glycogen stores after exercise too, which aids recovery.

Don't forget healthy fats

Ciara's diet is also low in fat.

"Fats are essential for optimal health, are fuel for exercise at lower intensities, but also very important for recovery," Ward said. "So adding in a little oil, avocado, nuts, and seeds will help her recover from training and have greater vitality from fat-soluble vitamin absorption."

Consider separate fat-loss and muscle-gain phases

While it's not impossible to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously, doing so in separate cycles can be more effective.

This means eating at maintenance calories or a slight surplus to fuel muscle growth for a few months and then dropping into a slight calorie deficit to lose body fat.

"Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is possible, but is definitely sub-optimal and arguably better done in phases, i.e. maintenance and then a fat-loss phase," Ward said. "The exercise is more enjoyable too when at maintenance calories."

• The personal trainer Sana Shirvani used to regularly do intense workouts and restrict her diet.
• She ended up burned out, so shifted her focus to strength training and eating a balanced diet.
• Shirvani said she feels better physically and mentally.

Personal trainer Sana Shirvani learned the hard way that pushing her body more and more doesn't yield better results.

The London-based trainer, whose clients include Halle Bailey and her fellow cast members of the 2023 live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," told Business Insider that doing too much intense exercise of varying types burned her out.

"I was always that gym bunny who would go to a million HIIT classes and completely batter myself and think that's the right way to get results," Shirvani, 32, said.

"I always used to pour from an empty cup. I'd have multiple burnouts a year and it got to a point in 2022 where I had such a bad burnout that it took me six months to recover," she added.

Her approach to fitness has evolved "massively" since then. Seeking help from other trainers to reduce her workload, having a less restrictive diet, focusing on longevity, and replacing HIIT with strength training and low-intensity cardio have helped her feel better about her appearance and feel less anxious and stressed, she said.

"It was such a big wake-up call for me," Shirvani said. "I was mentally really not in a good place for a long time."

Shirvani is among those who have realized in recent years that more is not always better when it comes to fitness. Focusing on recovery has become more important to many, reflected by the increasing demand for smartwatches and rings that measure how well you've recovered as well as moved.

Here's how Shirvani's priorities have changed.

Low-intensity exercise to minimize stress

While short spells of intense exercise can bring health benefits such as improved cardiovascular fitness, research suggests multiple, long HIIT classes each week can put stress on the body. However, personal thresholds vary depending on lifestyle, stress, and fitness levels.

Instead of regular hardcore workouts, Shirvani does low-intensity steady state (LISS) cardio, such as walking, climbing on a stair master, or incline walking on a treadmill.

She uses the time to relax and listen to a podcast or just be with her thoughts.

Strength training for longevity

Shirvani does a minimum of four resistance training sessions a week — two lower body, two upper body — and a full body workout, plus rehab exercises if she has time for a fifth session.

Strength training has helped Shirvani build muscle, but her health is a bigger priority than her appearance. She wants to continue moving well and being pain-free and preparing her body for potentially carrying a child, as well as the menopause. She hopes the workouts will prevent age-related muscle loss, and maintain joint health, balance, and stability, she said.

Research shows that strength training is crucial for healthy aging as it helps combat age-related muscle and bone density loss.

"Every single human on this planet should be strength training in some sort of capacity," Shirvani said.

However, she stresses that as someone without children who works in the fitness industry, her routine may not be manageable for most people.

"You can still reap those benefits with two or three weekly strength training sessions," she said.

Eating a balance of protein, carbs, and fats

Shirvani used to think she had to eat plain meals like chicken, broccoli, and rice and stick to "crazy" calorie deficits to be healthy and leaner.

Now, she feels better for eating more and has learned that she can make nutritionally balanced dishes that are flavorsome using spices and sauces.

Shirvani doesn't eliminate any foods, and still enjoys chocolate and desserts.

"Moderation is such an annoying word, but it's genuinely everything in moderation," Shirvani said. "Food is there to be enjoyed."

Eating enough protein is her priority because it helps her body recover from workouts. Her staple meals include chicken salads topped with cheese, shepherd's pie, and homemade turkey burgers.

She's also started paying more attention to her energy levels as she's got older. On days when she ate a high-carb breakfast, such as a bowl of oatmeal, she found she was hungry a couple of hours later and felt her energy levels slump.

In contrast, when she has a high-fat and high-protein breakfast, she feels satiated for longer.

"This is so personal though, this does not apply to every single person. I know people who have oats in the morning and they've got so much energy," Shirvani said.

Sleeping for recovery

Sleeping well is Shirvani's top priority when it comes to recovery, and for that reason, she never goes on her phone in bed.

"That's helped me massively," she said.

Research suggests that blue light exposure from screens such as phones could disrupt sleep.

Shirvani takes saunas when she can to relax in the evening. She always gives herself time to wind down before sleeping, rather than working late and going straight from emails to bed, she said.

She's also a fan of offloading her brain through journalling and ice baths a couple of times per week.

• The celebrity personal trainer Don Saladino shared his daily supplement intake with Business Insider.
• Health experts generally advise a "food first" approach, but supplements can fill nutritional gaps.
• Saladino's regimen includes multivitamins, omega-3, creatine, magnesium, and vitamin D.

Don Saladino takes his health and fitness seriously.

The 47-year-old New York-based personal trainer has worked with celebrities including Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, and Anne Hathaway.

Saladino told Business Insider he's dedicated to eating and training optimally, and he strives for continuous improvement as he ages.

"Is my body composition better now than it was when I was in my 20s? Yes," Saladino said. "Am I as strong now as I was when I was in my 20s? Yes. Can I do all the things now that I did when I was in my 20s? One hundred percent. No doubt. I feel like my physique gets better and better."

While nutrition, training, and sleep play the biggest roles, supplements are also a part of Saladino's lifestyle.

Experts in various fields generally recommend a "food first" approach (meaning striving to get all the nutrients you need from food), as overdoing supplements can have harmful side effects. However, everyone's requirements are different, and supplements can help people fill gaps.

Saladino takes the vast majority of his supplements with his first meal of the day. Having that as his routine helps him remember to take them, he said.

He shared his list of 11 daily supplements with BI.

Multivitamin

While much existing research suggests multivitamins have minimal impact, some studies suggest they can be beneficial for memory in older people, and the National Institutes of Health said they could help people who aren't getting enough of certain nutrients.

Omega-3 fish oil

Omega-3 fatty acids in foods such as oily fish are well-established to benefit heart health. They slow the build-up of plaque (which blocks the arteries), lower blood pressure, and reduce triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood.

But whether fish-oil supplements provide the same benefits as eating oily fish is still inconclusive.

Creatine monohydrate

Creatine occurs naturally in foods such as red meat, and it helps the body produce energy for intense activity.

"It's one of the most highly researched supplements out there, and I can't tell you a reason not everyone should be taking it," Saladino said.

Emerging research also suggests links between creatine and mental-health and cognitive benefits, too.

Magnesium

Saladino takes a magnesium supplement before bed, he said.

Magnesium is involved in various bodily processes, including regulating muscle and nerve function, managing blood sugar, and making protein, bone, and DNA.

The recommended daily amount for adults is between 310 and 420 milligrams, depending on age and sex. This amount can also be attained by a large handful of almonds or eight small potatoes.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is important for bone health, mood, and immunity support. We can get vitamin D through sunlight and food, but supplements are recommended to help keep bones, teeth, and muscles healthy.

Rhiannon Lambert, a registered nutritionist, previously told BI that people in the UK and countries with similar levels of sunlight should supplement with vitamin D, especially in the winter.

Resveratrol

Resveratrol is a chemical found in red grapes (and also red wine and grape juice). It may be beneficial for people with hay fever or for those looking to lose weight, the National Library of Medicine says, and some think it has anti-inflammatory, anticancer, heart-health, and brain-health benefits.

Research is divided, however, on whether it's effective for humans when consumed in pill form, as BI previously reported.

Urolithin A

Urolithin A is a compound naturally found in foods such as pomegranate. It can help mitochondria function better to power our cells with energy — this is a process that deteriorates with age, so urolithin A is considered promising for antiaging.

A study published in 2017 found that pomegranate juice extended the lifespan of fruit flies, and a 2022 study found that older adults who were given 1000 mg of urolithin A per day for four months had significant improvement in muscle endurance.

Protein powder

Protein is important for overall bodily function, but it's especially important for active people, as it helps muscles rebuild and repair after workouts.

"There's nothing magical about protein powder, and it's not a necessity, but it's a huge convenience factor," Cliff Wilson, a physique coach, previously told BI.

Amino acids

Amino acids are the chemical building blocks of protein. They're found in protein-rich foods, or there are specific supplements such as branched-chain amino acids and essential amino acids.

There's little evidence that these supplements improve endurance, but there are potential benefits for strength training. That said, if you're getting enough protein through your diet, supplements are probably unnecessary, according to the NIH.

Glutamine

Glutamine, another amino acid, is produced by the body and found in food such as eggs, beef, and tofu. Saladino mixes his glutamine supplement with creatine, salt, and water and drinks them together in the morning, he said.

Potential benefits of glutamine supplements include reducing muscle soreness after workouts, boosting the immune system, and supporting muscle recovery. But studies suggest that they don't necessarily lead to more muscle growth.

Curcumin

Curcumin is the active chemical found in the spice turmeric. It's been found to reduce inflammation, boost heart health, reduce cancer risk, promote healthy skin, and improve brain function.

Lili Reinhart, 28, feels as strongly about mental wellness as physical.

The actor, best known for her roles in "Riverdale," "Hustlers," and "Look Both Ways," has 25 million followers on Instagram, and she makes the most of her platform.

Reinhart is outspoken and candid on everything from Donald Trump's reelection to mental health and acne.

In January 2024, Reinhart said she'd been diagnosed with the autoimmune disease alopecia, which can cause hair loss. Reinhart also has chronic fatigue, and she regularly raises awareness for her conditions in a lighthearted way.

While driving to a doctor's appointment, Reinhart spoke to Business Insider about how she keeps herself feeling good outside her working hours, from getting take-out with her boyfriend (fellow actor Jack Martin) to bookending the day with her dog, Milo.

A four-legged alarm clock

How do you start the day?

My little mini schnauzer Milo loves to wake me up. He doesn't do it when he's with my boyfriend or assistant, but he knows that just by sitting up and staring at me, I will feel it and wake up. It's kind of nice that I have this little natural alarm clock.

So, usually around 7:30 a.m., I get out of bed, go downstairs, let him out, and feed him. I don't take my phone with me because I think it's important not to look at your phone immediately after waking up.

If I'm lucky, I can go back to sleep. I try to get as much sleep as humanly possible so I wake up as late as I can. If I need to set my alarm for 10 minutes before I have to leave, that's what I'll do. I have chronic fatigue so I need my rest.

What do you eat for breakfast if you're not dashing out?

If I have a relaxing day, I love ordering breakfast or making myself oatmeal. I did a food allergy test and found out that I'm highly sensitive to eggs, but I've been eating them my entire life and I'm not going to stop. I often order eggs with toast and chicken apple sausage, or an eggs Benedict, and an iced oat-milk latte.

I like to sit outside in my backyard and soak up some sunlight on my face before I start the day. It helps wake my body up in a natural way.

Thorough skincare to manage acne

What does your skincare regime look like?

I've always been very good and consistent with my skincare because I've had acne and when you have acne, you're usually pretty strict about those kinds of things.

My own struggles inspired me to launch my new skincare line, Personal Day. So I use my cleansing powder in the morning. If I've been stressed and I have a breakout, I pat the salicylic acid acne treatment all over my face and then follow up with a day moisturizer.

I do the same at the end of the day except I double cleanse, and two to three times a week, I do the Personal Day peel and mask too.

Has acne been a constant in your life?

I developed acne when I was 12, which was a surprise because my older sister and my parents all had really good skin. It became more problematic as I got older and worked more consistently, had crazier hours, wore a lot of makeup, and dealt with more stress. The stress of my life was reflected in my skin.

When I was 24, after trying all the different topical treatments, I went on Accutane for six months but it did not have a good effect on my body. It made me very swollen and inflamed, so I stopped, but then my acne came back even worse. I went back on it for a bit while filming Riverdale just to try to keep the acne at bay.

When my esthetician, Sarah Ford, told me to pay more attention to the ingredients in my skincare, things changed. Since using Personal Day, which doesn't contain any acne-triggering ingredients, my skin has never looked better.

I wanted to start a brand that could really help people.

Gentle movement

What's your approach to food?

I'm an unhealthy eater, so I've had to change my habits, which hasn't been easy. I've just tried to be more mindful of everything I consume. I'm conscious of minimizing chemicals in all sorts of products, from skincare and tampons to food.

I order dinner in a lot — my boyfriend and I have been getting a lot of barbecue wings recently.

How do you keep active?

I've been dealing with some health issues that have made it a bit harder to be active, but I walk my dog a lot.

I have an autoimmune disorder, and so when I work out, my body doesn't feel energized or replenished. It actually feels very depleted. So I have a very tricky relationship when it comes to movement because I am still figuring out what works for my body.

I've just got back into very gentle, soft stretches at night. I grew up dancing and in musical theater, so I like to stretch. It takes me back to that time in my life, and it's meditative too.

I hope to be more active again soon. I would love to go on a nice long hike here in LA because I do enjoy it.

How do you wind down for bed?

My boyfriend and I like to watch a movie or a show and I try not to go on my phone at the same time, so it's only one screen at a time.

I end my night by feeding my dog and letting him outside. He eats three times a day because he's a little prince, so I give him what we call his midnight snack. I take some deep breaths when I'm outside and soak in some fresh air before I get into bed.

Unfortunately I do wind down on my phone, which is the worst way to do so. I try to limit my screen time, but I'm only human.

I go to bed snuggling my dog, so it begins and ends with Milo.