Julianne Hough has always had a rock-hard bod — but she hasn’t always taken the healthiest measures to get it. The Grease: Live! actress, 28, reveals in the September 2016 issue of Shape magazine that when she was younger, she was “killing herself” to stay thin and in shape.
“I love my shape [now] because I feel strong and fit, and that makes me feel confident. When I look at pictures of myself when I was 19, my body was bangin’, but I was killing myself,” the Dancing With the Stars alum told the mag. “I was working out two and a half hours a day and eating the bare minimum to survive. I was so miserable. I wasn’t healthy. To be honest, I looked like a kid. Now I’m embracing the fact that I’m a woman with curves.”
Nowadays, the athleisure designer says she has comparatively scaled back by eating a clean diet and indulging in cheat days.
“I take time every morning to start my day with a workout,” Hough continued. “That’s what makes me feel happy and personally fulfilled, which means I have so much more to give later on.”
That said, she still works very, very hard for her flawless physique.
“I exercise three to six times a week, but usually I do five days of hard-core training. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I do Tracy Anderson or Body by Simone or I work out with my trainer, Astrid Swan. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do Core PowerYoga, which I love. … When I want to tone up quickly, I’ll also take a SoulCycle class. Saturdays, I go on a really long hike with my friends or take another yoga class. … Sunday is my reboot day,” she explained of her routine. “I try to eat healthy and do something outside, like walk my dogs. I relax, enjoy the day, and get mentally and spiritually prepared for the week. It gets me excited for what’s ahead.”
If that sounds like an awful lot of dedication, the Footloose actress adds that she is still human after all.
“I want everyone to know that I’m not Miss Perfect,” Hough concluded,revealing that pizza is still one of her favorite foods. “You can cheat every once in a while, and that’s OK. You can still have a fit body as long as you work out regularly and eat relatively healthfully throughout your life.”
