In an exclusive interview with Women's Health, Jennifer Aniston talks about the workouts she hates, how she stays motivated, her favorite skin-care products, her top healthy snack, and more
Everyone always focuses on Jennifer Aniston’s hair—but if you ask us, her toned physique is every bit as envy-worthy (have you seen any tabloid pics of her in a bikini—like, ever?!). Which is why we were so pumped to have the chance to sit down with her and ask her about her fitness routine, along with all of her other stay-healthy-and-gorgeous habits. Here’s the interview (edited for space and clarity):
What are your favorite workouts?
Oh my god, I have a lot of favorite workouts. I love cycling, I love yoga of course, and I recently started doing barre method—which is painful and hard. Variety is the key for me.
What happens when you find yourself doing the same workout over and over—why doesn’t that work for you?
Because you eventually stop doing it, and you just get lazy. Mixing it up is always fun because that way you know you're excited, and it’s muscle confusion. It keeps your body awake.
Have you ever tried any workouts that you just hate and you would never do again?
Umm, boot camp? (Laughs)
What was so tortuous about that for you?
I don’t know, it just seems like I’m not a soldier. I’m not into boot camp, I don’t need to do all of this—I just want to stay fit! (Laughs) I don’t want to get yelled at—at all. Please stop yelling at me.
How do you stay motivated to work out when you’re just not in the mood?
You know what, there are days I go “I can’t” and “I don’t want to,” and I think you just have to listen to your body. So sometimes you just don’t work out. And then there are times when you go, “Really? Do you really not want to?” And then if you just say, “OK, I’m going to get on some machine for 10 minutes,” you just start to get the endorphins going. Then you feel great, and you just keep going. So sometimes you can actually override the “I don’t want to work out.”
But for the last year and a half, I went from being a crazy workout girl to sort of saying, “My body wants a little bit a of break.” So I kind of stay with more simple stuff and taking walks and not being neurotic about working out and eating right. I started to enjoy life a little bit more. The only downside to that is there’s that couple extra pounds and about 4,000 pregnancy rumors, but you know, other than that, it feels great.
Why do you think it is that you had this shift in your mindset? What inspired you to take a more laid back approach to fitness?
Well, honestly, it started with a knee injury. So that was that. I had a knee injury, and my dog died, and I fell in love. [Editor’s note: In case you haven’t heard, Jennifer is engaged to fellow actor and former Parks and Recreation hottie Justin Theroux.] So I don’t know what that was, but it sort of all fell into place.
Changing gears a bit, what would you say are your top three beauty tips?
I would say do a scrub three times a week to really get your skin clean. Hydrate—obviously drink, drink, drink lots of water. And moisturize. And I’m going to throw a fourth one in and say sleep.
You signed on as an Aveeno spokesperson last year; what have you learned about skin care since you started working with the brand?
Well, first of all, everything that goes into Aveeno products—how conscious the choices are that they make. Just with the ingredients that they choose, how they’re grown, how they’re formulated—it’s all very interesting.
Do you have any new go-to products from the line since you started working with the brand?
Yes, the Protect + Hydrate 30 SPF. The Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer is really awesome. And then of course the Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub.
You mentioned staying hydrated is so important. Are there any other things you’ve noticed diet-wise that make a difference in how your skin and hair look?
Royal jelly—have you heard of that? It’s from beehives. I got it in France, but you can get it anywhere. I noticed if you take a spoon of that a day, it helps. But honestly, I think just eating really good fruits and vegetables, less fried food, of course—fried food is terrible, soda is terrible. Just fruits and vegetables and healthy lean proteins and water. Of course, alcohol tends to dry up your skin.
Speaking of eating, what is your favorite healthy snack?
Frozen grapes. I like the red ones—they’re really easy and delicious. They give you that frozen crunch. I was at a spa one time, and they gave me a little cup of frozen grapes after my mud bath soak or whatever. It was sort of like, “This is genius.”
Want to learn more about Jen's healthy habits? Learn how to train like Jennifer Aniston.
MORE: Kristen Bell: “Stop Using the Word Fat”
