7 Weight Loss Secrets From Vanessa Hudgens for a Strong Body

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.”

Vanessa Hudgens works hard all week long, in her words “work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, sing, sing, sing, dance, dance, dance, work, work, work”—but she also knows how to take a break. The Princess Switch and tick, tick...Boom! star frequently posts photos from a pool or ocean somewhere, including just yesterday, in which she wore a zebra-print bikini top with a neon green bottom. “Happy weekendddd,” she captioned the photo on Instagram. Read on to see 6 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. Hudgens Eats Like This When on Set

“I mix it up every now and then, but I always go to the exact same spot and rotate between a breakfast burrito, this fried rice that has vegetables and eggs on it, or this thing that's like bread, but it's made with seeds and there's almond butter and jelly on top of it. And then always an almond milk latte.” For lunch when she’s on set, “lunch is kind of like combination of lunch and dinner. We have catering, which is lovely, but I kind of eat the same thing every day, whatever vegetables there are, whatever fish there is and whatever pasta there is,” she told Vanity Fair.

2. Hudgens Eats Like This When Cooking

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If she’s feeling like something different, “A typical breakfast for me is two scrambled eggs, three pieces of bacon and a half of avocado and coffee and normal lunch is chicken with another half of an avocado, tons of greens, maybe some nuts on top of there. For dinner, I normally either have grilled salmon or steak like butter on it and grilled vegetables or a salad and a glass of wine. My favorite cheat snack. I love hot Cheetos. I don't know why I always have, and I always will," she told Rachael Ray.

3. She Likes Her Tried and True Workouts

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“I'm always down to try something new. I just love getting my blood pumping and I feel like it's just such an important thing to constantly do. So I'm always down to try something new,” she told Access Live. “I like tried and true with my soul cycle, Pilates and yoga. I like, I know what works for me for my body, but I just keep that up constantly.” She can also be seen working out at the Dogpound training center.

4. This is Her One Piece of Fitness Advice

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“Just try new things. There's so many different types of fitness out there for everyone. And like one thing will resonate with you and then find a group of friends to do it with like, that's my favorite thing is getting my girlfriends together and going and doing a class together because then you have someone to hold you accountable, which I think is really important. But just enjoy it. Like, it can be a fun thing.”

5. She Says Get Athleisure You Love

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"Another great thing for working out is like get fitness clothes at leisure that you're into. Like I designed for Avia and I did this whole collection and I'm continuing to work with them because I'm like, it's so amazing when you put on fitness clothes and you actually feel good before the workout. And then you go into the workout with confidence and an extra boost in your step. And then you're looking at yourself in the mirror and you're like, oh, I look good. I feel good. Let's do this workout,” she told Access Live.

6. She Knows the Value of High Fats

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The star mentioned avocado and she means it. "I need high fats," Hudgens explained toWomen's Health. "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." "One serving of a medium avocado is low in carbohydrates, yet it contains three grams of fiber," Toby Smithson, MS, RDN, CDE, of DiabetesEveryDay and author of Diabetes Meal Planning and Nutrition, told our sister site Eat This, Not That!. "Consuming higher fiber may reduce the risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and obesity." A 2019 study says eating the fruit regularly results in "a lower prevalence of excess weight, and attenuates adult weight gain in normal-weight individuals over time."

Vanessa Hudgens is showing off her fit body in a bathing suit. In a new social media post the newlywed flaunts her incredibly toned figure in a swimsuit while posing poolside. “A lil sunshine is always good for the soul,” she captioned the Instagram snap, driving her followers wild. “The body is bodying,” one of them commented. “You are such a queen,” added another. How does the High School Musical alum approach diet and fitness? Celebwell rounded up some of her top lifestyle habits.

1. No Processed Food

Vanessa’s diet is clean. She avoids processed food and sticks to whole and healthy options. "My overall food philosophy is, if it's real, I'll eat it," she told Shape. "Many things are processed and contain chemicals and ingredients I can't pronounce. I want real food." This means no junk food, candy, or fast food.

2. Intermittent Fasting

Hudgens has supported intermittent fasting for years. When she is following the time restricted eating plan she feasts between noon and 6 p.m. and fasts for the remaining 18. “I’ve been intermittent fasting a lot, because for me, I love pasta, I love pizza, and when I’m not eating carbs I feel like a little piece of me dies,” she told People. “Intermittent fasting is great, because when I am fasting — those first two weeks are definitely rough, I’m not going to lie, but after that I feel more grounded and powerful in my workouts. And I get the nutrients that I need when I eat, but then I also eat what I want.”

3. Healthy Fats

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Vanessa goes “back and forth” between intermittent fasting and keto. However, she tries to avoid most carbohydrates and fuels up with fats most of the time. “It’s great,” she told People. “If you have the right ingredients to keep you on track, I think it’s amazing. People a lot of times think of fats in diets as a negative thing, and when you’re doing keto it’s a very positive thing. I’m always making sure I’m getting those healthy fats in, so I eat a LOT of almond butter. You feel really energetic and supported on the keto diet.”

4. Lots of Exercise

Vanessa is “basically always working out,” she told People. “I feel like I’ve kind of found a recipe for my body that works,” she says. “It’s SoulCycle for cardio, to keep my heart healthy. It’s Pilates for lengthening, leaning and toning. And yoga for my mental health.” She also lifts heavy weights. “My fitness has taken a turn. Cardio has been put on the back burner, and I'm very OK with that,” Hudgens recently told Shape. “The things that have become the most important are balance and mental health.” She does a lot of weight and strength training at The Dogpound gym, which she is “obsessed with.”

5. Probiotics

Hudgens also takes probiotics, recently partnering with supplement wellness brand Ritual, after incorporating its best-selling Synbiotic+ into her routine. "I'm always traveling and moving around and on the go, and a big proportion of your immune system's actually in your GI tract," she told People. "So I was like, 'Okay, I'm going to prioritize this and make sure that taking care of my gut is actually going to help me in a big way, whether that's with digestion or with boosting my immune system.' And Ritual does exactly that."