Chrissy Teigen is opening up about her fitness routine and why her relationship with food is now healthier than ever.
These days, the 38-year-old has a lot on her plate. Teigen and her husband, John Legend, share four children: Luna, 7, Miles, 5, Wren, 1 and Esti, 17 months. Earlier this year, she also posed for the 2024 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, 10 years after her first cover.
Between raising her children and working, Teigen says she still finds time to exercise and nourish her body — but she always strives for balance. Teigen, who recently partnered with Metro by T-Mobile to help launch the #NadaYadaConfessions sweepstakes, spoke with TODAY.com in an interview. The model and cookbook author revealed her favorite workout and how she balances eating healthily with her cravings for delicious food.
Working out with friends makes all the difference
Teigen’s go-to workout is pilates, she tells TODAY.com. But her favorite part about the exercise is that she does it with her friends.
“We have a standing appointment in Los Angeles, so I go with all my girlfriends in the morning,” Teigen says. Her favorite class is reformer pilates, a type of low-impact, full-body workout which focuses on repeated movements using a special machine.
“I love Pilates because I feel long, I feel like I can really target the muscles that I need,” says Teigen. The mom and model says she prefers working out with her friends over training solo.
“I like the music, I like being with all my friends, and I really like that feeling of soreness when you come out of it,” says Teigen. Aside from pilates, Teigen also practices yoga. “I’ve never been like the very bootcamp-type of girl or into all the hardcore stuff,” she adds.
She squeezes in her workouts if and when she can
As a mom to four children under the age of seven, Teigen says it can be “incredibly difficult” to make time for herself. “My workouts I do when I can. I try to do them two or three times a week, but if I can only do it once a week, I consider that a win too,” says Teigen.
However, Teigen says her her kids are a big part of her active lifestyle and always keep her moving. “I think having that many kids naturally makes you a really active person,” says Teigen.
The “Cravings” author says her children love swimming and she spends plenty of time with them at the pool. “I’m with my son on the baseball field, I’m the Girl Scouts mom, we’re out hiking a lot… it lends itself to being really physical on a normal basis,” says Teigen.
Teigen says her 17-month-old daughter Esti is “fully mobile” these days. “She’s running around all the time, she’s running around with the dogs and the cats which means I’m running around all the time chasing dogs and cats and Esti,” Teigen says.
“Wren is still just like a little bug, he’s just standing right now,” says Teigen, who celebrated Wren’s first birthday on June 19.
She’s found balance with food
It’s no secret that Teigen loves good food. She has published three cookbooks, including the best-selling “Cravings,” in 2016.
Eight years after it hit shelves, Teigen says her “Cravings” mindset still stands. “I’m very cravings-based, so when I want something, I want to have that exact flavor,” says Teigen, who paused at the start of this interview to order spaghetti and meatballs for lunch.
However, she says her eating habits have transformed over the years. “My body has changed since I’ve made the first cookbook and the kind of things and food that makes my body feel good are different,” says Teigen. She loves to cook at home, and focuses on eating as many whole, fresh foods as she can.
“I still indulge definitely … and if something big is coming up, I might try to cut back… but with food I always try to maintain a really good balance,” says Teigen.
The 38-year-old says she didn’t always have a healthy relationship with food. Reflecting on how early 2000s diet culture impacted her as a child, Teigen says “I don’t live in a world where carbs are scary anymore, but I grew up with such diet culture in my household.”
“When I was growing up the Atkin’s diet was huge, so my dad was always jumping on that and my mom was always using some crazy workout machine,” says Teigen. “Food was always talked about and dieting was always talked about.”
Over the years Teigen has relearned to love eating. As a parent, Teigen says she is encouraging her children to have a healthy, balanced relationship with food as well.
“Now that I have kids, we try to make sure that food is not talked about in a negative way. It’s a positive, fun thing and you get to indulge sometimes,” says Teigen. “They have a happy meal every once in a while.”
“Most of our week is fresh, clean ingredients, but balancing that with really enjoying life is really important to me,” says Teigen.
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