What do you typically eat in a day? “I’ll have a green tea in the morning. When I’m working, I’m usually rushing, so I’ll have a spinach, egg white, feta and sun-dried tomato wrap that I get at Starbucks. For lunch, when I’m working, I’ll go to the Whole Foods across the street. I’ll usually have chicken and broccoli — that’s the vegetable that I love — and probably potatoes, too. I’ll either have that or a turkey bacon avocado sandwich on ciabatta. A typical dinner on a good day is chicken, rice and vegetables, or salmon, rice and vegetables. For snacks, I like Tosi SuperBites; the cashew coconut ones. They sell them at Whole Foods. I also always have almonds in my dressing room and mixed nuts with cranberries.”
What would be your advice to someone looking to adopt healthier eating habits in 2022? “Experiment and find the things that you like. You can say, ‘I’m going to try to focus on finding a healthy snack I really like.’ Then grab a couple of different ones that you’ve never tried before. Then, for dinner, you can focus on trying a few different things that you’ve never tried before that are healthy. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself and have fun with it.”
Describe your fitness routine. “I work out about about four days a week. I do not like the gym and all those machines that I don’t know how to use, but I like [taking] classes. I love Pilates, yoga and those types of workouts. During the pandemic, I discovered that there’s so much on YouTube and online.”
Are there any YouTube workouts you would recommend? “I like Move With Nicole. I like her videos. She has a lot of 30-minute, full-body Pilates workouts and others that target specific areas [of your body]. She’s one of my favorites.”
What is your best advice for someone who is starting a workout plan? “Don’t be hard on yourself and keep going, because the results will come. Just take it one day at a time and be persistent. Group workout classes might be really good, too. Just find [something] you like.”
When it comes to working out, do you ever struggle with motivation and how do you overcome it? “Yes. Personally, it’s not my favorite thing to do, but I also know that when I do it I feel better. If I’m doing my workout, then I’m drinking my water and making sure I get my greens in. It all goes together.”
Raven’s Top Three Tips
• “A tweak that you could make to your diet could be to throw spinach into anything that you’re eating. It kind of goes well with everything. You won’t even notice it’s there, and you’re getting in some greens.”
• “Drinking green tea in the morning is a great thing to do. It energizes you, and it also helps with inflammation and any kind of bloating. If you have it first thing in the morning, it can really help with how your body feels the rest of the day.”
• “We make up a lot of reasons for why we can’t start [getting in shape], but anybody can do anything for 15 minutes a day. If you start there, you can build from it.”
