Kate Hudson’s diet is all about balance. After she had her youngest daughter, Rani, she was more rigid and followed a Weight Watchers program (she’s a partner for the brand), but now, she embraces flexibility and grace. “I like living my life—I’m not highly regimented,” she told SELF in 2016. “I want to indulge! I want to do things that are not necessarily healthy sometimes.”
That said, she still tries to start most mornings with celery juice, and always incorporates nutritious choices. In a new video for Harper’s Bazaar, the 41-year-old actress broke down exactly what she eats in a day and her general mindset when it comes to fueling her body.
She doesn’t like to eat immediately after waking up.
“I do not eat first thing in the morning,” she said in the video. After drinking water, she makes a b-line to the juicer. “If anybody does celery juice on an empty stomach they know why,” she added with a smirk. “Cause it’s a joyous morning activity.” (Keep the juicer close and the bathroom closer—got it!)
Eventually, she’ll have breakfast.
This is typically one of two meals: two soft-boiled eggs with sourdough, butter, avocado, olive oil, and sea salt or oatmeal with almond butter and banana, “and maybe some blueberries, some maple syrup, cinnamon, chia seeds,” she added. She’ll also throw some type of nut in the mix—walnuts or almonds. “Walnuts are—I feel like they’re underrated,” she scoffed. “I feel like more people use almonds or cashews but a walnut? A walnut in your oatmeal is really yummy.”
Lunch is usually a salad or a smoothie.
“A smoothie for me would be like a protein-based drink. I like the chocolatey type flavors, like banana and almond butter and chocolate,” she said. (Hudson actually just launched her own line of nutritional powders.)
“If it’s a salad I’ll eat anything really,” she added, but a chopped salad is her favorite. “Here in L.A., La Scala is like a staple and they do the most amazing chopped salad; I do extra salami, no cheese, cucumbers, no tomatoes, basil and extra dressing.”
Then, she works out for at least 30 minutes per day.
“I always try to find at least a half-hour to work out. In fact, today I didn’t work out and it’s getting late. And I’ll still find time to work out,” she said. Hudson told SELF that she likes to switch it up (“Change is my constant.”), but dancing and Pilates are her two favorite ways to move. “Nothing, literally nothing, makes me feel like I’m back to my body more than Pilates,” she added.
She can’t stay away from her favorite snack.
Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers, Farmhouse Cheddar
Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers, Farmhouse Cheddar
Chips and salsa. “Anytime I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m kind of not fitting into my jeans,’ it’s usually because I’ve been on a big chips and salsa kick,” she explained. “And Simple Mills makes an amazing cheddar almond flour cheddar. It’s like a Cheez-It, but healthy. That’s big in our house.”
She tries to eat dinner with her kids.
Which means she often eats early. “Rani eats around 5:30 but then my boys will eat around six so I try to get everybody to do between 5:30 and 6:00,” she said. One of her favorite easy meals to cook is chicken with nutmeg gravy and rice. “It’s shallots, it’s lemon, fresh herbs that you put in there and you kind of brown the chicken in the oven,” she said. “It sounds extensive but it's actually simple. You make like this nutmeg gravy and rice and it’s so insanely yummy.”
When there isn’t a pandemic going on, she also likes to go out to eat.
And she won’t count calories while reading the menu. “If I want to go out and eat at a restaurant with amazing food, I’ll do that, like, once a week where I’m not thinking about it,” she told SELF.
She loves sparkling water and a good cocktail.
“If I’m in a health mode it’s sparkling water all day long. If I’m not on a health kick, which happens every other week, I might do a pre-dinner cocktail—a martini or I’ll do a Moscow mule,” she explained. “Sometimes I’ll do some tequila. If I’m feeling really fancy, I do love a Negroni and I love something called Boulevardier. It’s bourbon and campari. Cocktails are good but I’m a good responsible cocktail person. Like I’ll go a good two weeks and be like, ‘Oh, I haven’t had a cocktail.’”
Ice cream is her dessert of choice.
But it has to be dairy-free. “My late night snack is always going to be in the ice cream department,” she said. “And as much as I’d love it to be like an old school Haagen-Dazs, they do great oat milk ice creams now. So I try to stay non-dairy because it’s a little bit better for me. And mint chip I love because it’s refreshing. But I really like a dulce de leche type … with chocolate chips.”
Community holds her accountable.
Because her routine is always changing, Hudson appreciates being part of wellness communities that keep her in line. “I’ve always said that community is essential to wellness, that’s why Fabletics is a community, that’s why I’ve partnered with WW, which has an amazing community of members who support each other,” she recently told E! News. “Your community—no matter who it is—can help you find balance! Don’t expect yourself to be a super-human! It’s just not possible.”
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Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.
