Jag Gundu/Getty ImagesWhen big red carpet events like the Oscars are on the way, celebs may use certain tricks to slim down quickly or tone up in preparation for it.
But, a more viable solution to getting red carpet ready for an event is staying red carpet ready all year long.
That way, you're always prepared.
We talked to celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson, who has worked with the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian, Cameron Diaz, Madonna and Jennifer Aniston, about just that, with the fitness guru giving us her tips on how to stay fit, toned and ready for the red carpet the whole year through.
Take a look at Anderson's tips below!
Determine Your Goals: The first step, Anderson said, "is to look at yourself as an individual. Look at your goals and what you want to achieve."
"If you don't want to look bulked up, don't go running and spinning," she continued. "Look at yourself and decide where you want to be a year from now. And don't say you want to look like someone else."
When a celeb client comes in to train with Anderson, the first thing she does is look at the person's schedule, where they're "genetically weak," and what hasn't been serving them well. Her goal is to help create balance if there's imbalance in the body, so her clients can keep their bodies in tip-top shape.
Maintaining Weight Loss: Anderson encourages her clients to be realistic about their schedule and their ability to stay consistent with a particular exercise and diet regimen so that it will be sustainable. Working with a sustainable exercise and diet regimen will not only help you see the results you want with your body, but maintain them as well.
Maintaining Abs: "The body doesn't work in a compartmentalized way, so I would never have someone just work their abs because that's just setting yourself and your body up for failure," Anderson said. She encourages full body workouts instead that tone up the abs. "If your abs need the most work, I would put you on a program similar to the Metamorphosis Abcentric program (check out her full Metamorphosis program here).
Eating Healthy: When clients are trying to eat healthier to maintain that red carpet bod, Anderson has a few rules of thumb:
"Number one, everything they eat needs to be organic," she said. "Number two—no processed foods; Number three—don't just cut out food groups for no reason, but if you're going to cut out a food group, cut out gluten. Number four--If you have the luxury of getting a food sensitivity blood test, get one. It will tell you how your body functions, what you're sensitive to and what causes inflammation in it."
Top Secrets to staying red carpet ready: "Stay 100% focused on your program, making sure that it actually can change and transform you," Anderson said. "Don't trend off from thing to thing; you have to be focused. There has to be strategies behind what you're doing."
"Work out four to six days a week--year round--and make sure the foods you're putting in your body are foods that your body is going to recognize and use in the proper way (that means eating clean, organic foods like Anderson suggested above)," she continued. See an example of one of Tracy's meal plan's here.
Anderson said it's okay to enjoy a few glasses of wine, and you can still eat any food group you want to maintain a hot red carpet ready bod. But, you also need to be conscious of the integrity of the food you put in your body.
Tracy's Take on 30 Day Challenges: By now you've probably seen the 30-day abs, glutes and other fitness challenges that are floating around Instagram and Twitter. As for Anderson's take on those, she said, "anything that's going to motivate you or challenge you is fine. As long as you don't have the mindset of ‘okay, once this challenge is over, I'm done.'" The body likes consistency, she said, which means continuing on that track past the 30, 60 or 90-days it requires.
As for juice cleanses, Anderson said, "I'm not a fan," adding, "the body doesn't like to digest and not digest, and I'm opposed to the emotional stress it can cause on women." For example, the weight that can come back quickly once you stop the juice cleanse.
Instead, she recommends trying a meal replacement. "I have a really great protein powder that has a high level of nutrition that we did with John Hopkins University. It has a full amino acids profile. It doesn't have any soy or fructose. If you put two scoops of that protein in a blender with kale or blueberries or things like that, and you drink it right away, then you're getting consumable amounts of antioxidants and things that your body can consume right away—that's a benefit.