14 DAY TRIAL // Ciara is in the best shape of her life and she has personal trainer Gunnar Peterson to thank for getting her there. The singer, who has a new album out now, is the covergirl of the September 2015 issue of Shape magazine, opening up about her strict but very efficient post-pregnancy workout routine.
She gave birth in May 2014 and she needed about 4 months to rid herself of the many pounds she packed while carrying. Ciara jokingly admits that she ate “like a Tasmanian devil” both during pregnancy and in the weeks after birth, when she was still not allowed to work out.
Ciara dropped 60 pounds (27.2 kg) in 4 months
Should Peterson ever lack celebrity clients, Ciara’s endorsement is bound to fill his classes back up, not for the things she says but for the figure she’s gotten under his watchful eye.
Then again, there was never a time when Ciara was not in shape, so that counts too in terms of her ability to bounce back in shape. Still, she didn’t make things exactly easy on herself: she ate as much as she wanted while carrying and she took advantage of the fact that she was not allowed to exercise after birth to eat some more.
There was never guilt about it, even when she noticed that she was considerably heavier than she expected to be. However, when the doctor gave her the OK to start exercising again, she didn’t procrastinate.
“I was on the treadmill the very next day,” she says. “Once I got back into it, I worked out two or three times daily. I would go to Gunnar [Peterson] first for my one-hour training session, then I'd have two more cardio sessions later in the day. That, along with a really clean eating plan, was how I lost 60 pounds in four months. It was a very intense program, and I was extremely focused on it.”
Water and treats
In addition to doing Peterson’s customized workout plans, which include plenty of elements of boxing to burn calories and build muscle, Ciara also stuck to an eating plan that had been carefully laid out for her.
She doesn’t go into specifics to mention what she could and could not eat, or the number of calories she’d consume daily, but she does say this: she made it a point of drinking a lot of water and allowing herself the occasional cheat day.
Ciara swears she couldn’t live life without French fries or pizza, a cheeseburger, vanilla ice cream or Oreos. The point is that you have to consider them treats and only enjoy them every once in a while, in moderation.
Another thing that’s worked for her in terms of keeping cravings at bay is the thought that the food isn’t going anywhere. That is to say, whenever she feels like she just has to have something to eat (like a treat, something that doesn’t fit the plan), she takes some time out to consider if she really needs it.
Even if she doesn’t need it, if she really wants it, it will still be there later.
