Vanessa Hudgens Reveals Her Secrets to Staying in Shape—and Photos to Prove It

Vanessa Hudgens has found her happy place and is sharing all of her secrets to how she got there. In a new interview with Shape, the My Little Pony star opens up about her mental and physical health transformation, revealing exactly how she became the most confident version of herself. Read on to see 7 ways Vanessa Hudgens stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bikini Photos!

1. She Fully Accepts Herself

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"Over the past couple of years, I've really come into my own," Vanessa explained. "When you're fully accepting of who you are, and you stop trying to suppress pieces of yourself, you can conquer the world. I love how silly I am. I love how excitable I am. And I love that I'm finally at a place where I can access those things. Even the quirky stuff that might have been shut down by other people in the past, like being ridiculous with my friends, those are things I'm now allowing to thrive. For some people, I'm way too much. But I love who I am, and there's such power in that."

2. She Doesn’t Do Much Cardio

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Vanessa used to rely on cardio to stay in shape, but not anymore. "My fitness has taken a turn. Cardio has been put on the back burner, and I'm very OK with that. The things that have become the most important are balance and mental health,” she said.

3. She Is “Obsessed” with the Dogpound

Vanessa regularly shares photos and videos of herself breaking a sweat at a trendy bicoastal gym. “During the pandemic, when everything was paused, I created a little community. I'd get my friends together over Zoom and we would do Isaac Boots's live workout classes. As the world started to reopen, I found myself obsessed with Dogpound,” she revealed. “I go with my best friend; we're extremely competitive. We have the best time — the amount of dancing we do between sets is ridiculous. Everyone knows when we're at the gym. They say they hear us before they see us.” She also revealed one of her favorite moves, squats with a rack, “and I love to see how much weight I can add to the bar,” she said. “That's empowering. And I've just gotten back into Pilates with a reformer. It works your muscles like nothing else.”

4. She Celebrates Her Victories

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"At my fittest, I feel unstoppable. You think, 'There's no way I can get through 30 reps.' But then you do, and you remind yourself that you can do anything you set your mind to,” she explained. “Those little victories should always be celebrated. That's what contributes joy and happiness and power and strength to your life.”

5. She Only Eats “Real” Food

"My overall food philosophy is, if it's real, I'll eat it,” she said. “Many things are processed and contain chemicals and ingredients I can't pronounce. I want real food. If I'm in Italy, and I see them making pasta by hand, or if it grows from the earth, that's real. I stay away from the processed stuff. I also don't eat meat. I'm a pescatarian. What animals go through is so inhumane. That's not a system that I support.”

6. She Eats Two Big Meals a Day

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Vanessa doesn’t follow a traditional meal plan. “I eat two bigger meals a day instead of three,” she explained. For breakfast she will typically eat something with avocado, “maybe vegan sausage, and a piece of healthy bread,” she revealed. “Dinner depends on my mood. I let myself have what I want. If that's a big bowl of spaghetti with clams and a glass of wine, then that's what I'm eating. Sometimes I crave a salad, and I'll make a big one with nuts and goat cheese and salmon. Other times, it's tacos and a margarita. I've learned that when I try to be super conscientious of everything I put into my mouth, all I can think about is food. But when I listen to my body and eat what I want, that's when I'm happiest.”

7. She Loves Being Outdoors

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Vanessa is her happiest when she is surrounded by nature. "I love to be anywhere with a ton of trees,” she said. “Being in the woods or the forest or the jungle is grounding for me because nature has balance. Everything happens the way it's meant to. I feel like when you can get out of your head and fall into the energy of nature, that's when you're at your purest form. It's when I find my flow."

Vanessa Hudgens posed in a bikini at the Forte Village Resort in Italy a few hours ago, yet another in her series of Instagram images that show her living her best life. She's in town for the Filming Italy Festival and brought her mom, Gina Guangco. “Sun girl At it again,” she captioned it, “Feat. Mama g and” a turtle emoji—in an accompanying video, she climbs aboard an inflatable turtle in the water. So how does Hudgens manage to have so much fun while also staying fit? Celebwell rounded up some of her best fitness and diet advice. Read on to see 5 ways Vanessa stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bikini Photos!

1. Vanessa Intermittent Fasts

“Right now I’m intermittent fasting so I eat what I want in a six hour window and don’t eat the rest of the time. I’ve been doing night shoots so sometimes I start eating at 6pm but I woke up at 2pm,” she told People a few years back. “Some studies suggest that alternate-day fasting is about as effective as a typical low-calorie diet for weight loss,” says the Mayo Clinic. “That seems reasonable because reducing the number of calories you eat should help you lose weight. Some research suggests that intermittent fasting may be more beneficial than other diets for reducing inflammation and improving conditions associated with inflammation.”

2. Vanessa Does Keto

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“It works, it really really does. It’s high fat so you don’t have to rid yourself of avocados. It’s really sustainable and it gives you a lot of energy which is something we’re all searching for,” she told People. “If you want in on these weight-loss benefits, you need to make sure you are adhering to the diet's key principles, which begins by stocking up on the best keto diet foods,” says Eat This, Not That!. Those foods include avocado, walnuts, eggs and mushrooms.

3. Vanessa Likes the Same Workouts

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“It’s always just pilates, SoulCycle and yoga,” Vanessa says about her workout routine. She’s lately been doing workouts at the DogPound, a training center in Los Angeles and New York. She filmed herself there with friend GG Magree, for Instagram.

4. She Lost 10 Pounds This Way

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Vanessa had to gain 20 pounds for a role in the movie Gimmie Shelter. “It was amazing because I ate pizza and ice cream every year,” she told Rachel Ray. But then she wanted to lose the weight. “So after that, I got really invested in fitness. Luckily, I love it. I'm a fitness junkie. So I ate really clean, and thought of food as sustenance and fuel. When I found out I was going to do the cover of Women's Health, I didn’t have time to get 'fit fit' for the cover but did it with diet, and lost 10 pounds.” “I feel like I work hard to get to where I got to for that cover, so I was like ‘You know what? I did my best and this who I am, so you’ve got to be proud of it!’” says Vanessa.

5. She Eats These Foods in Particular

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“A typical breakfast for me is two scrambled eggs, three pieces of bacon and half an avocado—and coffee. A normal lunch is chicken with another half of an avocado, tons of greens, maybe some nuts. For dinner I have grilled salmon or steak with butter on it, grilled vegetables and a salad—and a glass of wine,” she said on Ray. Her favorite cheat food? “Flamin’ Hot Cheetos!”

Actress Vanessa Hudgens has been flaunting her bikini-body on her Instagram this summer—and now continues into fall! Whether it’s her lounging in the pool, hanging with friends, or posing during a beach vacation, Hudgens isn’t afraid to flaunt her body, showing she’s come a long way since her Disney Channel days. Over the weekend, she posted an Instagram story of her in a swimsuit saying, "The cow print obsession continues." Read on to see five ways Vanessa Hudgens stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bikini Photos!

1. She Loves Pilates and SoulCycle

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Hudgens revealed in an interview with Parade that she loves Pilates and SoulCycle. “My body builds muscle very quickly and I don’t love the way it looks on my body. So I find the way that I achieve the body that I want for myself is to lengthen, to lean and to tone,” she says. Hudgens reveals that she will do both exercises in the same day “And some days when I have the time, I love doing Pilates first and then going over to Soul Cycle. I love a double up! I always feel so accomplished when I double up. I’ve been going to this Pilates studio called WundaBar for years and it’s just a great deep muscle-training workout. It’s not super high intensity but I always feel it the next day.”

2. She Prefers Classes

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Hudgens says that she prefers going to fitness classes to workout. “I’m the type of person that needs to be in a class,” Hudgens told POPSugar. "I need someone telling me what to do, and I love being in a group environment because I'm very competitive, so it pushes me to work harder than I would if I was by myself."

3. She Stays Hydrated

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When she’s working out, Hudgens tries to keep hydrated, as she believes it helps her perform better. "There's nothing worse than taking the time to workout and feeling depleted, like you can't work out to your fullest capacity," she said to Delish.com. "For me, that happens because I'm dehydrated.” Hudgens does have a go-to drink. “Propel Vitamin Boost electrolyte water is the perfect answer to that because it has electrolytes but also a splash of vitamins,” she said.

4. She Practives Intermittent Fasting

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Hudgens practices intermittent fasting, specifically she only eats during a six hour window. Hudgens told Delish.com "In that six hour window I eat as much as I can to hold me over until I break fast again."

5. She Works Out Every Day

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Hudgens works out regularly. ​​“I would do seven days if I had time,” she told Parade. Hudgens specifically likes to do her workouts in the morning. “I love starting my day off that way because sometimes I’ll have a less productive days and if I’ve gotten a workout in, then I feel like I’m accomplished no matter what.”

Actress Vanessa Hudgens has starred in a lot of different roles. She’s best known for her work in Disney’s High School Musical franchise. After that, she starred in projects like Spring Breakers, Bandslam, Second Act, and The Princess Switch franchise. Hudgens has also starred in FOX’s live productions of Rent and Grease. How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 7 ways Vanessa Hudgens stays in shape.

1. She Enjoys Fitness

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One of Hudgens’ workout secrets? It’s enjoying fitness. “If I ever get to the point that I’m not happy with my body, I’ll do something about it,” she tells Women’s Health. “You will always have the power to do something. Sometimes it will take a little longer than you would like, and sometimes it may be a little more extreme. But if you honestly have a goal, you can do it. You just need to figure out the right way to get there.”

2. She Loves Avocado

Hudgens opened up about her diet in her Women’s Health interview. “I eat a whole avocado a day," she says. "I need high fats. If I'm not getting enough, my body holds on to calories. We've been trained to think that fats are bad, but they're so good—a source of energy and sustenance that keeps you going through the day. That's the only way I can not eat carbs."

3. She Does SoulCycle

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Hudgens shared some of her favorite workouts in an interview with Women’s Health. She says that she likes to go to fitness classes, particularly SoulCycle. “I tend to ride for the teachers,” Hudgens says. “I'm such a performer. I love being in front, because I'll push myself harder and I'll give the class energy too. So it's a win-win.”

4. She’s Building Confidence

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Hudgens tells Women’s Health that she has built a lot of confidence in herself. “I would feel less than because of my size. I see how women who are 5’9” walk into a room, and I am so attracted to the space they take up. But then I started to realize that you can take up space without height—with your achievements, points of view, and opinions. Now that I’ve realized I can work through it, I’m like, ‘How do I make myself feel more confident?’”

5. She Loves Yoga

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Hudgens also loves to practice yoga as a way to stay in shape. “I don't consider it fitness," she says to Women’s Health. "It's more like therapy for me.” The American Osteopathic Organization states that yoga has a lot of benefits. “Aside from the physical benefits, one of the best benefits of yoga is how it helps a person manage stress, which is known to have devastating effects on the body and mind.”

6. She Works Out With Others

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Hudgens shared some of her fitness secrets in an interview with Shape. She says that she likes to workout with her friends. “During the pandemic, when everything was paused, I created a little community. I'd get my friends together over Zoom and we would do Isaac Boots's live workout classes. As the world started to reopen, I found myself obsessed with Dogpound. I go with my best friend; we're extremely competitive. We have the best time — the amount of dancing we do between sets is ridiculous. Everyone knows when we're at the gym. They say they hear us before they see us.”

7. She Eats Real Food

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Hudgens tells Shape that she likes to eat natural food. "My overall food philosophy is, if it's real, I'll eat it. Many things are processed and contain chemicals and ingredients I can't pronounce. I want real food. If I'm in Italy, and I see them making pasta by hand, or if it grows from the earth, that's real. I stay away from the processed stuff.”