1. Her Workout Routine
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Gareis lifts weights and does Pilates. “I like to shock my body every once in a while with something new because if I do the same thing every day, I get bored," she says. "I swim. We have a pool at home. I use my home gym. I go to the gym and do it on my own and sometimes I’ll use a trainer. I’m training with weights. Today, I did Pilates. Pilates works the smaller muscles, whereas lifting works the bigger muscles. I always try to incorporate three things: cardio, stretching and lifting. Sometimes, I’ll walk with my cousin, just put on my sunblock and my hat and we’ll go power walking, or maybe go to the beach and take a really nice beach run — just as long as I’m doing something. But don’t forget to rest.”
2. Healthy Balanced Diet
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Gareis enjoys a healthy, well-rounded diet for herself and her family. “I eat healthy about 90 percent of the time: protein, vegetables, fruit, yogurt and milk,” she says. “I always try to prepare a well-rounded meal. For breakfast, I will make a veggie omelet or I will make pancakes, but I make oatmeal pancakes now, as opposed to making them with flour. We’ll squeeze fresh orange juice. For lunch, we all have those containers that have five different spaces and I make sure I have every little food group. At dinner, I will have four kinds of vegetables, and one, sometimes two proteins. I’ll have a complex carb, like brown rice. Sometimes, I’ll get a pasta that has quinoa in it instead. My kids don’t know the difference and they love it.”
3. Wake Surfing On the Lake
Gareis also did some wake surfing on her Lake Tahoe vacation, and posted the video on Instagram. “I figured out how to let go of the rope and navigate the wave! I am now completely addicted!!!!” she captioned the post. “Wakesurfing is a great way to release stress and tension,” says Krish Tangella, MD, MBA, FCAP. “The combination of physical activity and being out on the water can have a calming effect on the mind and body.”
4. Family Bond
Gareis loves spending time with her family, which experts say offers benefits both mental and physical. "There have been more than 20 years of dozens of studies that document that family dinners are great for the body, the physical health, the brains and academic performance, and the spirit or the mental health," says family therapist Anne Fishel. "In terms of nutrition, cardiovascular health is better in teens, there's lower fat and sugar and salt in home cooked meals even if you don't try that hard, there's more fruit, and fiber, and vegetables, and protein in home cooked meals, and lower calories. Kids who grow up having family dinners, when they're on their own tend to eat more healthily and to have lower rates of obesity."
5. Role Model
Gareis wants to set a good example for her children when it comes to health and nutrition. “I don’t like the word ‘diet’, for myself or for parenting," she says. "When I talk to my kids, I talk about growing foods. We talk about avocado being brain food, or protein will help build your muscles, and milk will help your bones. We talk about all the positives of food. I never say, ‘Oh, this is fattening,’ or ‘No, this is bad for you.’ I just say, ‘First, we eat our growing food, and then we can have dessert.’"
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