Jennifer Hudson Workout

Jennifer Hudson Weight Loss Secrets

Since her first appearance on American Idol in 2004, Jennifer Hudson has lost an impressive 80 pounds. Jennifer started her weight loss journey in 2009 shortly after giving birth to her son. She wanted to get healthy for her son and to be an active mom. Just five years later, she’s finally reached her goal – and she did it the healthy way. How did Jennifer do it?

How Does She Keep The Weight Off?

Jennifer Hudson Workout

Jennifer has been outspoken about traditional diets. She compared them to holding your breath – eventually you’re going to be “gasping for air.” Jennifer had tried other restrictive diets in the past, and none of them worked for her. Just like the rest of us, she had a hard time cutting out her favorite foods.

So, what was her secret to success? Weight Watchers and exercise. She tried the famous diet program for just one week, and has been following it ever since. She’s also been working with celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak. In total, she’s lost 80 pounds over the last five years.

Jennifer achieved her weight loss the smart way – by gradually changing her diet and incorporating exercise into her daily routine. She says that you “have to take baby steps,” and that you have to “walk before you can run.” In other words, she didn’t try to overwhelm herself by completely overhauling her lifestyle. She started making small changes through the Weight Watchers system and then worked her way up to completely changing her diet and her workout routine.

Jennifer Hudson had been an ambassador for Weight Watchers for several years before passing the torch to Jessica Simpson in 2014. She credits the program and her trainer for her incredible weight loss. She notes that Weight Watchers helped her learn how to eat like a “normal person,” and feels that the program has been “life-changing” for her. The program is more of a lifestyle change than a traditional diet, and Jennifer still indulges in her favorite foods (like ice cream) once in a while. It’s all about indulging in moderation and controlling your portions.

How Weight Watchers Works

Weight Watchers is unlike other restrictive diets. You can eat whatever you want, but you do it in a smart way. Portion control is achieved through a smart point system that helps you stay within a healthy calorie range each day. People have been using Weight Watchers for more than 50 years to lose weight, and the program is very easy to follow.

Jennifer Hudson Workout Routine

Jennifer Hudson Weight Loss

It wasn’t just Jennifer’s diet that helped her lose 80 pounds. Much of the credit has to go to her trainer Harley Pasternak who whipped her into shape. Clearly, Harley knows what he’s doing. Just take a look at Jennifer Hudson before and after her weight loss. Harley’s trained other celebrities too, like Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried and Katy Perry.

Harley started Jennifer off with an intense 25-minute circuit training routine complete with lunges, cardio, ab exercises and shoulder presses five times per week. She would eventually work her way up to 50-minute workout sessions with an extra 25 minutes of cardio workouts. Jennifer also enjoys playing basketball, which provides her with a great cardio workout.

Aside from lunges, cardio, shoulder presses and ab exercises, Jennifer also does:

  • Sit-ups
  • Push-ups
  • Squats
  • Jump rope

To stay in shape without spending hours at the gym, Jennifer keeps her workouts short, but intense. This is how Harley Pasternak trains his celebrity clients, Jennifer included.

Harley Pasternak 25-Minute Workout

Want Jennifer Hudson’s body in just 25-minutes a day? Harley starts off with a 5 minute cardio warm-up, then moves onto strength training and finishes with a cool-down. Try this intense 25-minute workout, courtesy of celeb trainer Harley Pasternak.

Cardio Warm-up (5 Minutes)

Perform five different cardio exercises for five minutes.

  • Jumping jacks
  • Jump rope
  • Knee-to-elbow
  • Punches
  • High knees

Strength Training

  • Squats: 20 repetitions (alternative moves: lunges or straight-leg deadlift)
  • Bent-over row: 20 repetitions
  • Superman: 20 repetitions

Repeat strength training round.

Cardio Cool-down (5 Minutes)

Repeat the cardio warm-up, but in reverse order. Be sure to switch up your cardio equipment and moves.

Perform this workout three to five times per week.

Harley stresses the importance of changing your workout routine so that you’re always challenging your body. Varied, intense and short workouts will keep you in that fat-burning zone, so that you burn more calories and see results quickly. He also notes that form and posture are also incredibly important. These two factors will determine how effective the exercise is and which muscles are worked.

The workout routine above can be customized to your liking. If you prefer not to do squats, try straight-leg deadlifts or lunges instead.

A Healthy Way to Lose Weight

Fitness gurus and health professionals alike stress the importance of achieving healthy weight loss. Healthy and quick don’t go hand-in-hand. According to experts, losing two pounds per week is reasonable and healthy for a non-breastfeeding woman. Women who are breastfeeding should strive to lose just one pound per week.

Losing weight the healthy way will help ensure that you keep the weight off once you’ve lost it. Jennifer Hudson is a testament to this. It took her five years, but she’s lost 80 pounds and she’s managed to keep the weight off. This type of sustained weight loss can only be achieved by making lifestyle changes, which includes a healthy diet and plenty of exercise.