Brooke Shields Shares Workout to Reduce Belly Fat at 59: "Harder to Stay in Shape"
The actor is redefining her fitness regimen after having a stroke in 2023.
Brooke Shields has a new outlook on fitness after experiencing a seizure in Sept. 2023 while preparing for her one-woman show Previously Owned. In an interview with Glamour, Shields recalled temporarily losing consciousness and falling "headfirst into the wall" after a run-through of the show. "The next thing I remember, I'm being loaded into an ambulance. I have oxygen on," she said.
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Fortunately, Shields' seizure didn't open the gates to a more serious ailment or neurological disorder, and with proper rest and hydration, she was able to get back on stage. However, the scare forced Shields to reevaluate how she takes care of her body and health.
"I had had too much water. I flooded my system, and I drowned myself. And if you don't have enough sodium in your blood or urine or your body, you can have a seizure," she explained to the magazine.
Fast-forward almost a year later, and Shields is still adjusting to her new normal. The Blue Lagoon star, who recently celebrated her 59th birthday, admitted to Today.com that it's a lot "harder to stay in shape" now compared to when her career was just taking off.
"It's much easier to get out of shape quickly," Shields pointed out. "That's been a bit of a shock to my system."
Fitness has always played a role in Shields' life to some degree—but as she soaks in the last year of her fifties, staying fit has become somewhat of a learning curve for the Hollywood star.
"I have to workout," she said. Before the seizure, Shields said training for Broadway was her favorite means of exercise because "it gets you in shape for you."
"I come out of a Broadway show rock solid and fit and haven't even realized I've done it," the multi-hyphenate star explained.
But like many of us, Shields has begun to notice new changes in her physical appearance as she's gotten older. The model-turned-actor now incorporates exercises that target stubborn belly fat after gaining weight in her stomach.
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"It used to all just be in my butt, and now, that's lower, and it's shifted around. It's moved to the other neighborhoods," she shared.
Shields' told Today.com that her go-to workout for burning belly fat is the Nofar Method, a form of "really difficult pilates." As someone who "never liked pilates before," Shields had her reservations about the strength training class, but she loves that "it's so specific" and "no impact." And while it doesn't check her cardio box, she still leaves "dripping wet."
In addition to pilates, Shields limits her alcohol intake and finds ways to mix in cardio to help nurture her trimmed physique.
"That, combined with drinking less, and then doing a cardio of some kind, like a SoulCycle class or a rower with music—do 10 minutes. Even just that, I'll start to see (results)," she shared.
But ultimately, Shields said it's all about discovering workouts that help you feel your best, both in the gym and in life.
"The big thing for me is I'm now finding things that I actually really enjoy doing rather than just beating myself up in the gym so that I can fit into something, because it's so demoralizing to me and it's so frustrating," she said.
