Anne Hathaway's Catwoman Diet
by Karen Borsari
What does it take to pull off a skin-tight black leather cat suit in front of millions of viewers on the big screen? A lot of hard work and a very clean diet. Even the always-svelte Anne Hathaway cleaned up her diet before donning the unforgiving outfit. While the vegetarian actress always follows an anti-inflammatory diet she turned to the pros to help her stay slim and sculpt muscles while preparing for her role as Catwoman in the latest installation of the Batman series: Dark Knight Rises. We had the chance to talk to her personal nutrition coach Jackie Keller to find out just what the A-lister ate to get cat suit-ready.
While preparing for her role as Catwoman, Hathaway followed an almost vegan, anti-inflammatory diet, which includes whole grains to control blood sugar, avocados, almonds (she doesn't like walnuts), sesame seeds, dark chocolate, which slows the production of certain chemicals in the body, bright red and orange vegetables that are high in antioxidants (Hathaway loves yams), dark leafy greens, ginger, and tumeric, which contain powerful anti-inflammatory compounds. Keeping her protein levels up to build muscle during intense training sessions was the main challenge Hathaway faced, so Keller worked a lot of Seitan and tempeh into the meal plan.
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Some of the actresses favorite meals while preparing for the film include miso soup, a tempeh club avocado sandwich on gluten-free bread, Tuscan brown rice salad, vegetarian chicken fried steak made with seitan, egg white frittatas, and vegetarian egg rolls. It all sounds super healthy but Keller admits Hathaway is a chocolate person and loved her gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, fudge brownies, and marble cake. While working on Dark Knight Rises, Keller made sure the actress had a dessert every day so she wouldn't have any cravings. Other chocolate fixes Hathaway enjoyed include chocolate power smoothies made with almond milk, and Keller's Mighty Bars, which she shipped oversees during filming.
To stay fueled, the actress ate every two to three hours for a total of about 1500 to 1800 calories a day. That's six or seven meals plus a soup or salad daily! Because the goal was to get Hathaway fit and toned while remaining slim, continually fueling her body was a must! And if she got hungry between meals, one of Hathaway's favorite snacks was all-natural, reduced-fat peanut butter rolled with dried fruit on whole grain lavash.
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Hathaway had just one month to get Catwoman-ready but if all you have is a few days to get ready for the beach (or you want to slip into a cat suit from the premiere of Dark Knight Rises this weekend) Keller's number one tip is to cut out red meat as your source of animal protein and, "default to fish particularly salmon, sardines and trout along with legumes to increase fiber and fatty acids. This will help you fill up and reduce saturated fat and, over all you will eat less," according to Keller. Secondly, the nutrition coach suggests you do what Hathaway did during filming and reverse the portions on your plate. Vegetables should cover half of your dish with the other half divided between protein and carbohydrates. Lastly, Keller recommends doubling your water intake. "You need lots of water to keep flushing stuff through your system. Almost all of us, even the most conscientious drinker is probably under hydrated. Water is actually important for metabolism," which is why she encouraged Hathaway to stay hydrated. Thanks to these three tips, her challenging Catwoman workout, and Keller's anti-inflammatory meals the actress is in purr-fect shape to pull off that cat suit!
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