Lili Reinhart may be in great shape, but that doesn’t mean she likes the gym. “None of it’s my favorite, I hate it,” the Riverdale actress exclusively told Us Weekly Thursday, November 12 of her preferred exercises.
Recently though, she had a fitness epiphany. “I wanted to feel really strong, physically strong,” the actress — clad in a black, high-slit Markarian dress at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in NYC — continued. And she has Wonder Woman herself to thank for it. “I was inspired by Gal Gadot,” she admitted. “I was like, I want to be like you. I want to be strong so, you know, I didn’t feel like, ‘Oh I needed to be skinny or thin. It totally wasn’t like that.’”
Instead, Reinhart — who is dating Cole Sprouse, her Riverdale costar — confessed she now looks at her workouts as a way to make up for her eating habits. “I have a really bad diet. I really love junk food and soda so I have to live an active lifestyle in order to keep eating the way I want to eat,” said the 22-year-old. “I have to keep my heart healthy, so that’s the goal.”
Helping her in that goal is the personal trainer she recently started using — “which has been kind of life changing,” she shares. “I just know what I’m doing now when I’m at the gym, because I used to totally not.”
The CW star is adamant about sharing a body positive message with her fans. She knows confidence always doesn’t come easy, though. “It’s hard because I’ve totally been on the receiving end of the mirror and thinking that’s not what I want to look like,” the star, who previously shared that she suffered from body dysmorphia, tells Us. “But if you’re doing things that make you happy and you think you are treating your body well by nourishing it with good food and exercise then you should just accept yourself.”
And for fans struggling with being proactive with their health, Reinhart encourages them to reconsider — if only for their mental health. “I guess I would say if you’re living a life that makes you feel good, then I think that really helps you accept whatever you body looks like at whatever time.”
With reporting by Nikaline McCarley
