Celebrities Reveal How They’re Planning to Stay Healthy This Holiday Season

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Celebrities Reveal How They’re Planning to Stay Healthy This Holiday Season

'Tis the season for… diets? The holidays aren’t exactly known as a time of healthy eating and working out. But since stars have to stay camera-ready at all times, they’re not about to pack on pounds or let the party season and its endless cocktails and cookies derail their health and fitness routines. It’s easier than you think to stay slim, toned and energetic from Thanksgiving to New Year’s! We asked healthy Hollywood stars, including Danai Gurira, Kristin Cavallari and Busy Philipps, to give Us their realistic tips for avoiding holiday weight gain — and compiled it all into one handy guide. Scroll down to see the best diet tips, workout strategies and wellness hacks for a healthy holiday season.    

Credit: Granitz/WireImage; Mike Coppola/NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Celebrities Reveal How They’re Planning to Stay Healthy This Holiday Season

'Tis the season for… diets? The holidays aren’t exactly known as a time of healthy eating and working out. But since stars have to stay camera-ready at all times, they’re not about to pack on pounds or let the party season and its endless cocktails and cookies derail their health and fitness routines. It’s easier than you think to stay slim, toned and energetic from Thanksgiving to New Year’s! We asked healthy Hollywood stars, including Danai Gurira, Kristin Cavallari and Busy Philipps, to give Us their realistic tips for avoiding holiday weight gain — and compiled it all into one handy guide. Scroll down to see the best diet tips, workout strategies and wellness hacks for a healthy holiday season.    

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Focus on Mornings

Afternoons and evenings seem to bring endless errands and parties during the holidays — which is why Teddi Mellencamp ensures her mornings are healthy. “I start before my kids even wake up, I try to work out,” the fitness guru and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star told Us at the WeHoliday L.A. event on December 16. “Because that kind of starts the flow, like feeling good throughout the day, as opposed to waiting until we've already made some, not the world's best decisions with food. Like, if I start my day positive and healthy and good, I'm already in the right mindset.” She has a healthy breakfast for the same reason. “If you tell yourself it's a lifestyle change, it's not a diet, it's easier,” she explained. “This is how I can have balance and enjoy a big fun dinner with my family — because I know that breakfast and lunch is going to be super healthy and I got a good workout in.”

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Chew Gum

Danai Gurira’s advice for avoiding the dreaded December pounds is refreshingly simple: “When you feel like you’re eating too much, just throw some gum in your mouth and just keep chewing,” the Walking Dead star, who has teamed up with Johnson & Johnson for her “Make HIV History” initiative, told Us November 28. “It might alleviate how much you’re consuming sometimes.”

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Stay Consistent With Workouts

Extra calories will hardly have the chance to add up to extra weight if you maintain your fitness routine. Kristin Cavallari says consistency is her answer to more food and drink. “I worked out the day after Thanksgiving,” the Uncommon James designer, who hits the gym five times a week, told Us November 27. “You just have to keep up the routine and it can't be like, 'Oh, I fell off the wagon this day, so then everything goes out the window.'” The benefit of Cavallari’s method is that you can indulge. “I'd say 80 percent of the time I'm eating really healthy and for me that means, for the most part, gluten-free, trying to stay away from white sugar, white flour, white salt and then the other 20 percent I indulge. I eat whatever I want, I enjoy it and then I get back on track.”

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Try a Diet Delivery Service

Jared Haibon and Ashley Iaconetti aren’t about to let the holidays derail their plans to be in shape for their wedding next year! Rather than relying on takeout during the busy season, the Bachelor in Paradise stars are trying the South Beach Diet delivery plan. “We’re getting our meals next week, so then we’ll be able to cut down on some on the delivery [food] that we overdo it on,” Iaconetti told Us November 30. As Haibon added, “We’re trying not to overeat.”

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Keep Life in Perspective

Sometimes the best way to stay healthy is simply to enjoy the season and not worry about indulging. “I really am just such a strong believer in moderation,” Busy Philipps told Us on November 28. “And you know, my body doesn't define me as a person, so [the holidays] are not particularly something that I feel I need to make adjustments for.” Remember to be grateful instead, she suggests: “The most important thing that people focus on during the holidays is spending time with their families and loved ones and reflecting on the year to come, how they can give back and what the true holiday spirit is all about.”

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Get Ahead of the Party Food

“I literally just cooked a Whole 30 meal last night,” Erin Foster told Us on November 28. “I’m not on the Whole 30, but I try to implement it here and there at least, because it’s just such a light, healthy way to do it. And I am staying healthy because I look like s--t when I don’t and I don’t like that.” Besides that, says the actress and producer, “I don’t think there’s some big, magical secret. It’s like, diet and exercise. I personally work out because I love to eat. I will never compromise fries, pizza, burgers, because they make me happy. Food makes me happy.”

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Focus on Fitness

Katherine McNamara doesn’t even worry about the extra food. “I focus on fitness. I’ve gotten so much into training and fitness since Shadowhunters and now with Arrow, it’s completely changed my lifestyle,” the actress told Us November 28. “When I don’t stay in the gym and when I don’t keep that discipline up, I don’t feel good. I don’t have the same mental capacity, even. And so it comes down to, if you do something good for yourself, you feel good about yourself.” Another tip? Get your friends and family on the workout wagon. “My grandma’s even started going to the gym since I’ve started and it’s really fun to kind of get everyone involved and get friends involved and find new and interesting ways to stay fit.”

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Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

Rachel Zoe swears by one easy tip for holiday wellness. “Honestly, I try to drink a lot of water. Like, probably not enough,” she told Us at the Holiday/Resort 2019 Collection Presentation for her fashion line on November 28. “I honestly don’t know because I don’t sleep a lot and, you know, you just put your kids first. I’m always on the go, so I try to remember to hydrate. It’s important — more important than you think.”