Celebrity chef Giada DeLaurentiis is known for her infectious smile, petite figure and as one of the most recognizable faces in the culinary industry. She is constantly eating, traveling and coming up with simple and delicious Italian recipes - while also being a devoted mother - for her fan base around the globe. How does she do it all? From eating well to regular exercise and honing in on her wellness routine, we could all take a page out of the 52 year-old Roman born chef’s cookbook of life. Here is a snapshot into Giada’s world and how she stays fit and healthy.
FOOD
It’s hard to imagine what in the world a celebrity chef eats every day. For Giada, the key is to snack all day. "I eat a little bit of everything and not a lot of anything," she says. This helps her stay nourished while also feeling light and energized for her busy schedule. A typical day in Giada’s life lends itself to healthy meals and always some room for chocolate.
Right when she wakes up she will make herself two glasses of warm water with lemon. For breakfast, she enjoys chia seed pudding or another protein-rich breakfast. For her, it’s more about substance than the amount of food she eats. She tops off her morning with an hour of yoga.
Later in the morning, she likes a hit of energy as a snack so she will make herself a kale juice.
For lunch, one of Giada's satisfying go-tos is something with a variety of textures like a Waldorf salad. She says it gives her a bit of protein and she likes the combination of soft, creamy and crunchy.
Her late afternoon snack usually consists of “fried” chickpeas.
Once it's dinner time, Giada tries to focus on protein. She likes to have a piece of salmon with lemon, capers and rosemary. She says that eating protein for dinner helps her sleep at night.
SKIN
“My mom was very good about self-care, my grandmother was very good about self-care,” she stated to Fox News. “I watched them, and I became very diligent at a very young age about taking care of my skin, using sunscreen, and just keeping it healthy all the time.”
Her skin care routine typically begins with an oil-based cleanser to remove her makeup. She will then tone her t-zone and exfoliate with a homemade mixture of rice flour and moisturizing olive oil. What does she use to rinse off? She simply uses soap and water.
De Laurentiis moisturizes with eye cream then layers a rich night cream onto her face. She is also extremely mindful of keeping her hands and arms moisturized with lotion since she is constantly using her hands on camera.
She also keeps her lips moisturized and uses essential oils to help herself relax.
HER FAVORITE WELLNESS HABIT
Everyone is always dying to know that one life-changing celebrity beauty secret and how we can adopt it. While not totally out there, one of Giada’s most eccentric wellness habits she swears by is going to an infrared sauna for detox.
“Unlike traditional saunas, which heat the room around you, infrared saunas heat you from within, releasing toxins and helping you to eliminate them through your skin,” she writes in her book Eat Better, Feel Better: My Recipes for Wellness and Healing, Inside and Out. “Not only is this a lot less stifling than a regular sauna, it’s actually quite relaxing, as you lie on a bed inside a pod-like machine throughout the treatment.”
She also reveals that the treatment not only feels good but also leaves her skin looking its best. “Many people report that their skin looks amazing afterward, and you can even burn off a bunch of calories! To help the toxins drain even more efficiently, before an infrared treatment, I put on a compression suit for 20 minutes. This gets the stagnant fluids in my systems moving so I can sweat them out.”
Arianna DiCicco
Arianna DiCicco is an educator and writer from California, born into an Italian American restaurant family with strong ties to her grandparents’ home in Abruzzo, Italy. She has lived in San Francisco, Rome and New York City where she’s made deep connections within the Italian communities and gained new perspectives about her own culture. With a Masters in International Education, Arianna has a love and passion for learning and educating others about Italian history & culture.