Cameron Diaz Diet and Workout Routine
Cameron Diaz can do it all. She’s an actress, producer, model, and author — quite the impressive list of achievements! But, despite all this, Cameron holds to a deeply personal philosophy about living a simple life.
She embraces her beauty, getting older, and her body. I have enjoyed learning more about how this philosophy impacts her diet and workout routines, and I’m excited to share that with you!
Cameron’s written about her approach to wellness in several books. In her writing, she explains how she believes in moving her body, resting her body, and fueling her body well. She believes that aging is a journey, and she views getting older as an opportunity to grow into her beauty.
To help her body feel and look good, she makes sure that it is well-rested and well-fed. Here is how that philosophy impacts Cameron’s everyday diet and workout routines:
Cameron’s Diet
Cameron didn’t grow up prioritising eating well or focusing on nutrition. As a teenager, she would eat two bean burritos from Taco Bell every day, and she loved to snack on junk food whenever she could! In fact, eating well didn’t really click with her until she was in her mid-30s. Then, she started learning more about aging and taking care of her body. She began to prioritise focusing on what she eats and drinks.
Cameron enjoys a night out with friends, and she says that a meal with a friend is always a good meal. However, she typically eats meals that she has prepared by herself at home. She loves to cook, and she prepares most of her dishes with lemon, garlic, olive oil, and salt.
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What Cameron Diaz Eats for Breakfast
Before Cameron eats, she drinks water. Rehydrating after sleeping helps her feel a lot better when she wakes up. She keeps a big glass of water by her bed so that she can drink it first thing in the morning.
Cameron likes to joke that she eats two breakfast meals — one before her workout and one right afterward. For her first meal, she likes to eat something to help her feel awake and energised. Some of her go-to dishes include:
- Overnight oats
- Scrambled eggs
- An apple with almond butter
- Toast
- A piece of chicken
After working out, she eats again. This meal looks more like dinner than breakfast. She typically goes for chicken, some kind of grain (like brown rice), and sautéed or roasted vegetables.
Sometimes, she’ll treat herself to breakfast tacos. Her tacos include egg, avocado, greens, cilantro, and lots of salsa.
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What Cameron Diaz Eats for Lunch
Cameron typically likes to eat lean protein, carbs, healthy fat, and vegetables for every meal. One of her favourite combinations for lunch is a savory protein (like chicken) with an avocado.
Another easy meal that Cameron prepares for lunch is what she calls whatever-you-got-ramen. She posted about it on her Instagram. She uses instant ramen noodles and combines them with whatever vegetables she has in her fridge. Here’s a basic recipe:
- 2 ramen instant packs (She uses lemongrass, ginger, and garlic pepper)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 3 cups of chicken stock
- 1/2 cup each of diced carrots, celery, shiitake mushrooms, and broccoli
- An egg for protein
- Juice from 1/2 a lime
- 1 tsp of rice vinegar
- Chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon each of diced garlic, shallot, ginger, and crunchy garlic chili sauce
What Cameron Diaz Eats for Dinner
Cameron’s signature dinner dish is lamb chops. She cooks them with garlic, lemon, oil, salt, and oregano, and she lets them marinate for a long time to help the lamb become extra flavourful. Then, she grills them. She also tries to eat veggies at every meal, so she serves this with a side salad or side vegetables. One of her favourite salads includes:
- Broccoli
- Kale
- Avocado
- Toasted bread
- Garlic
- Manchego cheese
- Mustard
- Fresh mint
- Red Wine Vinegar
- Champagne vinegar
- Olive oil
Cameron’s dad is Cuban, and she likes to make dishes that her dad would make for her as a kid. One of her go-to dishes is called Bistec de palomilla, which is a pan-fried steak that’s been marinated in garlic, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Delicious! She serves this with an avocado salad.
What Cameron Diaz Eats for Snacks
When Cameron was growing up, her family would typically have white rice available throughout the day as a snack. Today, Cameron still enjoys munching on rice throughout the day to keep her energised. She prefers to get her carbs through grains, like rice, rather than through chips or cookies.
Cameron likes to cook her rice in chicken stock, and she adds vegetables, lemon, and garlic to it. If she’s going to be out of the house for a long time, she typically has a container of the veggie stir-fry with a set of utensils in her bag.
In addition to rice, Cameron enjoys a spoonful of almond butter if she’s awake and hungry late at night.
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Cameron’s Workout Routine
Have you seen Cameron’s abs? If so, you already know that she works out a lot! She is a fit woman, and she is dedicated to her workout routine. But, even outside of the gym, Cameron tries to stay active. This is one of her principles for aging well. She goes on regular short walks when she can, and she tries to make sure that she isn’t sitting for too long. In other words, she likes to stay moving.
Just like with her diet, Cameron didn’t begin to prioritise fitness until adulthood. She had to get in shape to film Charlie’s Angels, and this helped her realize how strong her body could be.
Cameron grew up being really thin, which she didn’t like. In fact, she struggles to gain weight or keep muscle on. She enjoys having some toned muscle, and exercising helps her do that.
Most mornings, Cameron goes to the gym. Sometimes, she chooses to sleep in if she feels like her body needs a break, but she likes to try and give her best to go for at least 10 minutes every day.
Cameron cares a lot about listening to her body and what it needs at the time. Because of this, she likes to have variety when exercising, and she is willing to try different types of workouts. In general, her workouts include cardio and strength training.
Here’s some of what she does:
Strength Training
Cameron trains with celebrity trainer Teddy Bass. Teddy encourages Cameron to use weights in the gym, and he typically has women use heavy weights with lower repetitions to build muscle. He also encourages her to lift weights every other day.
Cameron uses weight training to train her upper body, core, and lower body. When she wants to gain muscle, Cameron uses 10- to 15-pound weights. Otherwise, she sticks to 5-to-8- pound weights.
However, if you want to work out like Cameron, you should be careful when lifting so much weight. She struggles to gain muscles, but certain body types, mesomorph and endomorph, can actually gain muscle quite easily. So if your goal is to look more lean and toned without gaining bulk, you should try to do bodyweight training instead of weight lifting.
At times, Cameron will even do workouts that are similar to those in Crossfit. For example, she does workouts that include tossing tires and rope exercises.
In addition to weight training, Cameron also incorporates Pilates in her routine to help with muscle tone.
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Ab Workout
Cameron’s core workout is full of planks. It’s only about 10 minutes long, but it still looks challenging.
- Plank blast
- Twists while planking
- Open twists while planking
- Roll-ups
- Waist twist with ball
- Ab squeeze with ball
- Standing torso twist
- Side reach
- Standing crunch
Do each move for about 1 minute each.
Lower Body Moves
Although Cameron’s workouts vary depending on her needs and goals, her trainer has her doing these three moves regularly:
- Single-Leg Squat – 15 reps on each side
- Side Curtsey – 15 reps on each side
- Plie with a Calf Raise – 15 reps on each side
Cardio
Cardio is the most important part of Cameron’s workout routine. She says that her heart is her most important muscle, and she wants to keep it healthy.
Although she enjoys walking, running, and other types of cardio too, Cameron typically does HIIT, because she likes the way HIIT workouts engage her entire body.
Teddy encourages Cameron, and other women, to do cardio workouts in ways that make the most sense for them. Dancing, running, walking, and cycling are just a few examples. He thinks that consistency is the most important thing when it comes to cardio workouts.
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Cameron’s Go-to Interval Workout
When Cameron is in need of a short, but intense, workout, she goes for this interval routine:
- Running. She runs at 30 seconds at 10 to 12 mph or 17 to 20 kmph, and then she takes a 15-second break. She repeats this for 5 minutes.
- Lunges with rows — two sets of 15 repetitions
- Squats — two sets of 15 repetitions
- Pushing and pulling cables — two sets of 15 repetitions
This routine takes about 20 minutes.
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Outdoor Sports
Cameron loves being active in the sunshine. She likes to make sure that she gets sunshine when she can, because it helps her feel energised and happy.
Paddleboarding (which requires a lot of core strength), running, hiking, and swimming are some of her favourite ways to mix having fun and exercise.
She has also golfed for years, and it is one of her favourite activities to keep her body moving. Golfing might not sound like a workout, but it actually can be. In fact, it burns about 270 calories per hour.
Working Out After Having a Baby
Cameron had a baby daughter in 2020, and that changed her ability to work out as often. She says that she gets less time to herself, and she has to plan her workouts with her daughter in mind. She jokes that lifting her daughter should count as weight lifting. :)
Even though she was joking, she said that holding her baby (and doing some squats with her little one) has made her arms and legs stronger. I believe it!
As you might know, I had my own daughter in 2020 too! It is important to ease into exercising slowly and carefully after having a child. When I was ready, this was one of my favourite workouts to do postpartum. :)
Final Thoughts About Cameron’s Routine
Cameron does a really good job of being both disciplined and listening to her body. This can be a really hard balance to figure out, and I admire the way she gently challenges herself.
I also appreciate Cameron’s approach to her diet. She eats healthy food, and I love that she tries to eat veggies at every meal. But, even though she eats a nutritious diet, she doesn’t sacrifice on taste either. Her meals look delicious!
Cameron’s body is lean, but it is also muscular. She likes feeling strong, and she enjoys having defined arms, abs, and legs. Because of this, her workout routine includes a lot of upper and lower body strength training with weights.
As I mentioned, Cameron is naturally very thin and she struggles to gain weight. It takes time for her to develop muscle. If you have a mesomorph or an endomorph body type, you will probably develop bulk if you follow Cameron’s strength training routine. :)
Let me know what you thought about Cameron’s approach to diet and fitness.
Love Rachael xx
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Rachael is an Australian born certified personal trainer and nutritionist who holds a Bachelor degree in Science.
After struggling for years to find an exercise and diet program that is tailored to women striving for lean and toned body with no bulk she designed her Lean Legs Program. This program is tailored to each body type and focused on helping women get toned but feminine bodies, without getting bulky.
Her mission is to empower women and help them stay in shape in a healthy and balanced way.