Queen Bey, after a four-and-a-half-month hiatus taken after the birth of baby Blue Ivy, did a four-concert run at the newly-opened Revel Resorts in Atlantic City. While she wasn’t performing the bulk of the stuff I love, which is more from her Dangerously In Love days, she still tore up the stage. (Tons of videos have been shared from the show.)
According to all the reports I’d seen, she was going pretty hard in the paint to get back into shape – not just looks wise, but capability-wise, too – except… Beyonce spoke for herself:
I had to lose 60 pounds. They had me on that treadmill. I ate lettuce!
Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m almost entirely certain she’s joking. You don’t have the energy to do all of what she’s doing – planning and rehearsing for a show, getting back into shape for a high intensity performance – on lettuce. And, while I know that she was breastfeeding for a good three months at least and that contributes greatly to your ability to lose weight post-delivery, I simply don’t think she would’ve successfully lost the baby weight eating “lettuce.”
Source: toyazworld.com
That being said, I got curious… what other stories were out as far as how Bey was getting back into shape? Preferably not involving clearing out a row of iceberg lettuce a day?
Since her pregnancy, her body has changed, like every woman’s does. She says she had to get her tone back because she is “definitely softer,” she tells People.
“But I feel my body bouncing back. Whatever was tight and muscular, like my legs, I’m seeing it come back. You just have to work at it,” she insists.
And working at it she does indeed with three 90 minute sessions per week — but mixes it up with running, dancing and crunches on an exercise ball.
She clears up rumors about having a trainer living with her — false!
When she isn’t working on her fitness in the gym, she relies on a strict protein based diet in the kitchen.
Her meal plan is quite sparse, but here it is:
Breakfast – egg whites
Lunch – protein shake or fresh sliced turkey with capers
Snack – edamame or cucumbers with vinegar, cayenne pepper and lemon, berries or a green apple
Dinner – yellowtail sashimi with jalapenos and wasabiThis is why she is fit ladies; the key is in your diet and exercise regime!
She admits that breast feeding Blue helped her lose “the bulk” of the baby weight, but she only nursed her until she was 10 weeks old. [source]
Three times a week, sure, but outside of that treadmill work, what is she doing?
Um…I think the video says a ton. Though she joked about “eating lettuce” and “getting chocolate wasted” (can’t lie, sounds kinda fun) Beyonce was kicking ass dancing every day, eating protein-heavy and hitting the treadmill.
In short, put the iceberg lettuce down. It didn’t do anything to deserve this fate.
33 comments
I’m very happy that Bey lost her weight. I love hearing people talk about their progress with weight loss. I am a huge advocate for whole grains and protein so I’m glad to see that her diet was pure protein. It seemed pretty well balanced as far as getting in at least most of the major food groups, but then again, I don’t exactly know what was included in her protein shake. The only issue I see is that it doesn’t seem like she got “enough” fruits and vegetables. Like you said, her diet just seemed pretty sparse lol. Where were her whole grains? Did she include calcium in her protein shakes? Needless to say, Bey looks great!
That quote will be the reason I’m giving the ladies in my water aerobics class a mean side eye. One chick almost passed out last week because she’s doing the Beyonce’ lemonade diet. I know Bey isn’t endorsing any one thing but some people will see “lettuce and treadmill” and that’s all they will do.
I’m not a huge Beyonce fan, but I am glad that she has always acknowledged how hard she works to maintain her figure (as opposed to other celebrities who act like they can eat anything and don’t mention the personal trainer, private chef etc OR say that they lost their pregnancy weight by breastfeeding or chasing after their children).
Xay, don’t forget Liposuction & tummy tucks in that celebrity list…
I’m glad for Beyonce, and I’m also happy for her plugging breastfeeding. For someone with a schedule and career like hers to breastfeed says a lot. It wasn’t just good for her post-baby weightloss, but it was great for Blue Ivy too. Breastfeeding isn’t a magic bullet for weightloss, but for some women (me included) it makes a real difference. And it made me more conscientious about what I was eating. I wasn’t just concerned about what or how much I was eating, but it made me rethink nutrition. I wanted to make sure I was getting enough of all the right things for my little boy. I tried to avoid things that might be bad for him. It made me more aware of the detriments of my cheating too. If I wanted a candy bar, I looked at that little face and imagined feeding him an Almond Joy and I had to put it down. Don’t get me wrong, I ate well–still do–but concern for his health was more motivating than the “guilt” that comes with eating junk food. Now I just have to take that concern and work it into the way I fuel myself. Work in progress.
As this was People mag and not Shape or Fitness mag I’m sure she just gave a rough surmise of her diet and not a daily/hourly blow by blow of every meal. If u start off in shape, toned and muscular getting back on shape isn’t quite as difficult to do. Especially if ur already accustomed to a good fitness routine. Depending on the type of pregnancy weight gain (i.e., fluid retention) some women drop a great deal of baby weight in the first few weeks. And let’s face it the microscope of the camera and millions of dollars at stake would make any woman eat “lettuce” (lol) and hit the treadmill.
Ummm…the calorie content of her diet is under 1000 calories. So this is basically a starvation diet; popular amongst Hollywood types.
I don’t find this to be sustainable, or realistic for most of us. No one is giving me $1,000,000 to get thin fast and to suffer dizziness, dehydration, fatigue and clumsiness that accompanies such a low calorie diet. It has been reported that Victoria Beckham (Posh) eats about 500 calories per day, Angelina Jolie about 900 and most Hollywood types, 1200. 1200 is the LOWESt caloric diet any nutritionist recommends; unless you want your hair to fall out, your kidneys and liver to suffer distress and your mind to be a fog, constantly. I do not approve.
Just, for clarity’s sake… there are no ounces or portion sizes listed here.
As stated by someone else, calories are not listed, so you do not know that she is consuming less than 1,000/day. Also, it was not said that this is a realistic diet for most people; this is the diet followed by ONE person who needed to lose weight and regain tone in order to return to part of her “job”. Sustainable is partially based on motivation: she had concert dates to keep her motivated. The diet provided is probably a high-level example of a typical day – it also does not discuss any dietary supplements she was taking or go into her workout routine in detail. I would not expect anyone responsible to go to the grocery store and stock up on nothing but sashimi based on reading this.
Thank u Jennifer! Thank u to inform folks just to have a balanced food intake and exercise! It’s a process! These celebrities make money as in their looks! It’s sad the anyone has to do this to be accepted in society. Love urself first is the key! I am proud of Beyonce even though I don’t agree with this type of diet, cause what folks fail to realize when u eat a very very low dangerous intake of nutritional foods, u will gain everything back and then some, so take ur time and understand if u want to be fit GO LEGIT!!!
I think Beyonce did what most women in Hollywood do after having a baby… she focused heavily on losing the “dreaded baby weight” and got super strict. Let’s not forget she was an advocate of the Master Cleanse, which she used to get rail thin to play Deena in Dreamgirls.
Now if she had to lose 60lbs and had 3.5 months to do it… that is about 18-20lbs a month or 5-6 lbs a week. Let’s assume more than likely the first 20 melted off after delivery because whenever ppl talk about “losing the baby weight” they go from the weight that the women were with child, not usually immediately after delivery, which is often a big difference.
I’m sure with breastfeeding, she had to sustain a certain level of calories and nutrients if, prayerfully, she listened to her doctor’s and did what was best for her daughter. Women can burn up to 500 cals a day, I’ve heard, from BFing. I don’t know, I didn’t do it. My last weigh in with child I was 370. 6 weeks later at my follow up I was 319. It happens.
More than likely, preparing for the tour burned it off. Janet always said that when prepping for a tour, she was in dance rehearsals up to 6 hours a day and that’s how she’d get into shape. I kinda figured the same was true for Bey. And yeah I don’t think she was on lettuce either lol
MICHELLE, YOU COULD NOT HAVE SAID THIS ANY BETTER….I FULLY AGREE.
ENJOY YOUR BABY.
GOD BLESS.
In that last video, I see just how pretty of a lady she is. I haven’t seen her much up close like that since she first started with Destiny’s Child….she appears to have a humble and kind character in her face…
And yes, I can tell Beyonce works hard to get the body she has. I remember her early career days, she is not a woman who stays skinny no matter what. You can tell if she didn’t take care of her body, she would not be where she is. And that’s ok and she knows it. Plus she’s a dancer and works hard, so she can maintain her figure…cool!
LOVE! Thanks for sharing the video. She’s a fun performer. 🙂
Congrats to her for toning and getting herself back into concert ready shape. I scrunched my face when I read her short meal list. Without a total portion or calorie content provide on the surface it doesn’t look like much.
My weight loss journey will be a long one and I am up for doing the hard work. Consistently hitting the gym, watching my portions and making sure I am getting my 3 meals + 2 snacks in per day.
I love Beyonce and all but something ain’t right about her diet. When you are breastfeeding you HAVE to eat. That diet that was mentioned, there is no way she could have been breastfeeding the whole time. There are only two things (1) either she worked like hell for two months before Revel to get back in shape and/or (2) she’s lying about it especially eating just lettuce. You’ll dry out just eating what you eating in that diet.
I stopped being a fan a while ago because she seemed like she was going in another direction, but these videos definitely make her more personable. One thing i can say, she is hard worker and disciplined.
I’m just glad to see that she is not have surgery or a cleanse done!!
what a horrible diet to live on! i wouldn´t want to live like that for all the money in the world.
laughed about the capers though 🙂
I just really hate the amount of pressure we put on female celebs to “lose the baby weight”. I think it sets up unrealistic time frames for women in the real world.
Yawns..same story differnet face! Yes she lost the weight, but in the real world we don’t have a nanny, private chef, trainer. I remember hearing about the lemonaid madness and shook my head.
Personally I look up to the “real” women who juggle a family, job, and sometimes school and manage to get those extra pounds off. To you ladies Iift my twists
I love beyonce you go girl…
Great job we black women need motervaters and who can relate to our body make up
Someone please tell me how much cucumber, edamame, apples, egg whites, and sashimi must be consumed to take in a HEALTHY number of calories given how much she was exercising and rehearsing? I think we all know the answer, but we won’t say it (because we all know it’s a sin to say anything negative about Beyonce). But my mom is a retired doctor and she said it: “God bless her, but she was undereating. It would take LOADS of cucumbers and egg whites to hit a healthy calorie level WITHOUT exercising, much less WITH exercising AND rehearsals.”
I often find this site full of great information, but I am disappointed this type of “sparse” diet (as the magazine even said) with the goal of dropping weight this quickly (5 pounds a week?!) is supported here…even if it is Queen Bey.
So. I actually had to go back up to see where I “supported” this type of diet… because I’m not sure I did. If anything, I merely wanted to offer up a contradiction to the fact that a LOT of different outlets were saying “Beyonce lost her baby weight by eating lettuce!!!111”
And, for the record, the amount of weight one can lose safely within a week depends on how much you weigh when you begin. Someone who’s 20lbs overweight might struggle with that, but someone who’s 140lbs overweight? Ch…let’s just say 5lbs is a walk in the park.
I said “no portion sizes were listed” NOT to defend her, but to dissuade people from thinking that knowing the foods she ate is enough to ascertain whether she was under-eating or not. Your mother, doctor or not, doesn’t have enough information to determine that, either. Would you rather she lied in everyone’s faces and said “Oh, I eat burgers all the time and I’m completely healthy!” like every other Hollywood type who sits down in front of a reporter? Or would you rather see that she buckles down and busts her ass?
It’s so weird. People make irrational claims and then, when you clarify, they come back to tell you that you’re a “stan.” I just need y’all to focus on what’s in front of you instead of making assumptions. I’m not much of a fan of her latest work, but I really dig her work ethic. In short, this isn’t a “it’s a sin to say anything negative about Bey” environment. I am an adult, and she ain’t my child.
While I’m not a fan of all Bey does, I am a HUGE fan of her work ethic. But one can have great work ethic…at the wrong things, or to the point of being unhealthy.
I don’t want Bey to mislead or lie by saying she ate burgers and ended up this way. But let’s also remember celebs do lie “to make it seem like it was all so healthy” and leave out extreme behaviors or fads they are doing to drop weight. So whose to say Bey wasn’t eating lettuce and running on a treadmill? To quote (often-crazy) Courtney Love “Quit telling these girls you’re just eating fish and broccoli and going for a run, you bulimic liars!” Courtney’s crazy, but that made me laugh.
But I’m also one who questions if it is healthy to drop large amounts of weight in a short period of time, especially after just having a baby. Again, my question and opinion.
In any case, I do view your site as a great resource (as I look towards 35 and have 15 pounds more pounds to go to hit my college cheerleader weight….gotta keep at it!), and am happy to hear that this lifestyle or method to achieve this goal isn’t necessarily supported.
And yes, I can tell you about the crazy life of weight-conscious cheerleaders, too. LOL
(Is this my Soror Marin?!)
“But let’s also remember celebs do lie “to make it seem like it was all so healthy” and leave out extreme behaviors or fads they are doing to drop weight.”
I have to tell you, thanks to connections…I now can confirm that the vast majority of them are leaving stuff out. I mean, we can only evaluate what’s in front of us, but yes, chances are pretty high that most are leaving something out.
“But I’m also one who questions if it is healthy to drop large amounts of weight in a short period of time, especially after just having a baby. Again, my question and opinion.”
No one’s gonna fire a bullet in your direction for having an opinion, I just know that there’s an actual answer for many questions that I can share. As far as this is concerned, there are a lot of variables involved: how long the person is losing weight for, how much they’re aiming to lose, what they’re eating to lose it, the micro-and-macronutrient calculations for their nutritional intake, hormone levels, whether or not they’re breastfeeding, whether they’re active, how active they are, what they do outside of their peak activity levels… lots of things contribute to healthy/unhealthy, because every body is different. These are just the variables I’ve discovered in JUST beginning to work with people, you know?
I’m a HUGE anti-starvation/anti-dieting person, mainly because people who lose large amounts of weight do so BY starvation, and I’m starting to come to the conclusion that it might be more problematic than we originally imagined.
And…cheerleaders? Chile, I can only imagine. Here’s hoping you get where you’re going healthily. 🙂
I am surprised that you have not discussed tia and tamera mowry or maybe I have not been trolling your page like I usually do and missed it. But they both have touched on losing weight due to there careers. With the one who just had a baby you can tell that she is losing it slowly. They talk about being vegan and gluten free a lot so I hope that they are doing it healthy. But it is interesting to see how they are getting back in shape.
It’s kind of difficult for me to follow celebrity news. If you guys see stuff, send it over!
I have a greater appreciation and respect for Beyonce’ than I think that to have a child and then work so hard to get back to business is such a blessing. I just had my 4th daughter and it is so hard to find something realistic that I can do to get back to business, lol. I know what I need to do it is just…being able to reach inside that inner self and motivate yourself as an artist to work hard for not just yourself but to inspire your family
I personally find her meal plan sustainable and filling. When you REALLY want to lose weight and get healthy, you will. So far in my weight loss journey I have lost 51 lbs in a little over 14 weeks. By incorporating quality protein (free range poultry, grass fed meats and wild fish), tons of veggies, minimal fruits, with seeds and nuts and lots and lots of water you will see GREAT results even without exercise. Once you get your eating in check start with whatever exercise you can i.e. walking, jogging, zumba, kettlebells and keep changing things up and push yourself. Just remember it’s not about just losing weight to look great in a bikini, it is to be healthy. I feel sooo much healthier and just better overall. Hope this can help someone, God bless:)
beyoncé looks great as usual. But it seems to me like she lost waaay more than baby weight, she is much slimmer than before she got pregnant, at least on the pictures. It was serious diet.
Oh and I love her pictures on her tumblr especially the ones with Blue Ivy so so cute
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