Trying to stay on track! Real Housewives of Atlanta star Cynthia Bailey gained — and then lost — 20 pounds while quarantined amid the coronavirus pandemic and she explained to Us Weekly exactly how the weight fluctuation occurred.
The model, 53, chatted with Us exclusively while promoting her partnership with Seagram’s on Monday, August 24, and played a game called “I Can Explain,” during which she gave context for some of her most popular Instagram photos. The quarantine weight journey came up when Bailey was shown a photo of herself wearing a bikini that she posted last month.
“This was after I came back from Los Angeles and honestly you can’t tell so much in there, but I actually gained 20 pounds from the quarantine and my wedding dress designers were not happy about that because now I can’t fit [in] my dress,” the reality star explained.
In July 2019, Bailey got engaged to her boyfriend, Mike Hill. The heartfelt proposal was filmed for an episode of RHOA that aired in December and the couple are currently in the midst of planning their nuptials.
The Bailey Wine Cellar owner told Us she was able to drop the pounds she had gained once she returned to her Atlanta home without Hill, 50, in tow. “I was here at Lake Bailey by myself, so I was able to, kind of, control what’s in the refrigerator,” she explained. “I was able to be healthy. I was able to like, you know, start exercising again and just get control over my diet and my eating.”
Though the Bravo personality noted that she wasn’t “super strict” about her eating regimen, she did practice intermittent fasting, which involves eating some meals per day and then not eating anything for an extended period of time. “I wouldn’t eat anything until, like, maybe four or five in the afternoon and I’d eat maybe one or two things,” she said. “And as you can see, it worked!”
The Alabama native continued: “So of course I had celebrate and bless the world and post a little thirst trap picture of me in my two-piece because I was happy that I actually looked like how I wanted to look. I haven’t seen a flat stomach in a long time since the quarantine.”
In keeping with the fitness theme, the next Instagram post Bailey had to explain was a snapshot of herself and Hill running on treadmills at the gym. “That’s Mike and I working out, social distancing at the gym during the pandemic,” she recalled, noting that the gym wasn’t busy that day and was very clean. “We’re being careful, but at the same time, you have to get back to your life. We need to work out … all we do is eat and work so we need it for our mental sanity.”
Another thing that’s helping Bailey stay sane in quarantine? The occasional cocktail. As part of her collaboration with Seagram’s, the Bailey Agency founder crafted a libation called the Bailey Bellini, which is made with the brand’s bottled Escapes Peach Bellini drink, sparkling wine, frozen peach slices and vodka.
“It’s light and it’s tasty,” Bailey told Us of her creation. “Seagram’s Escapes has a lot of different flavors but peach Bellini is my favorite … Being a Georgia peach and [having] a Housewives peach, Bellini is definitely my favorite!”
