Emily Bett Rickards Swears by These Clean Eating Staples To Stay Lean
Emily Bett Rickards is a sci-fi icon, having portrayed Felicity Smoak on the CW series Arrow. She also channels female wresting icon Mildred Burke in the recently released film, Queen of the Ring. Emily worked hard to ensure she was in top shape for the role.
A workout journey is always a process, but a little motivation and inspiration can go a long way.
"I just see the dedication of these wrestlers who put their bodies through this fun, engaging, injury-prone lifestyle, and their love of storytelling is something that brought me to my profession," the actress told Entertainment Weekly. She totally did what it takes to look and play the part.
Here are five clean eating habits Emily Bett Rickards swears by for building a lean, toned, and sculpted body.
Emily Bett Rickards Doesn't Drink Coffee
Emily has great discipline. She revealed that she's comfortable cutting out foods that aren't good for her. One thing she quit was coffee.
She told New Beauty, "I was drinking so much coffee a day. We were working on a show that was crazy hours, six days a week, 10 months out of the year, and I was using coffee to fuel. I was in my 20s. I thought that's what was going on, but my cortisol levels were crazy. I also have food allergies and that kind of thing, so I already have a history of knowing that I have to cut out certain things. When that started to slow down, I was like, 'Oh, coffee seems like something that's a habit. I should challenge it,' so I cut it out."
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She Loves Matcha
Emily's go-to drink is matcha. In November 2024, she even launched her own company, Paradise Matcha. She shared the exciting news in an Instagram post, writing, "The mission of Paradise Matcha is simple: to bring a moment of paradise to your day with every cup of matcha you whisk. Your paradise might look different than mine, but if we're both taking that moment, wherever we are, we're connected. Matcha is meant to be shared—with your heart and with others."
Emily raved about matcha during her New Beauty interview, too.
"I realized that matcha has L-theanine in it, which is the amino acid that promotes calming. It pairs up with the caffeine and kind of takes you on this caffeine hill. If you picture coffee as a big peak mountain, like Everest, it brings you up and then brings you down sometimes. Matcha and L-theanine and the caffeine kind of buddy up, and they go on this like rolling hike, so you get this sort of chill alertness," she said.
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She Eats Lots of Protein
To prepare for her role in Queen of the Ring, Emily increased her protein intake.
"So much of that bodybuilding, putting on muscle and being healthy are what you put into your body," she explained to New Beauty. "Of course, I was drinking a ton of matcha at the time as well, but it was a lot of chicken breasts and eating more food than I'd ever eaten. I think we're so used to thinking: 'Oh, we're going on a diet; we're going to lose what we love,' but it's not true. I mean, my brain and my body were so happy because it was so fueled in the way that it needed to be."
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She Works With Experts
Emily sought assistance from fitness and nutrition experts to help her get into top shape for Queen of the Ring.
"I wasn't unfamiliar with weights, but I was very unfamiliar with putting that type of muscle on, so I needed a team of people. Without a team of people, it wouldn't have been possible. So, my trainer, Thomas Taylor, at T3 Athletics, and my nutritionist, Dr. Diego Botezelli, created a program that was sort of macros, counting nutrition and high protein. They designed it so that it was no cardio, heavy weights and weights that would grow with me as I got stronger," she told New Beauty.
Emily also stressed, "I really encourage people to take a healthier path and not do it alone. If you can, get a professional who really has spent their time. I think we can learn a lot from YouTube and that kind of thing, but it's nice to have somebody to talk to about what's going on with your body and how you can move forward with what your goals are because everyone's goals are different."
