Keke Palmer is sharing the details of how she achieved her sculpted physique.
At the Essence Fest on Sunday, July 6, Palmer spoke to PEOPLE about giving birth to her 2-year-old son Leo and how she got back in tiptop shape
“You have to get back to yourself after the baby. It’s really, really hard. Anybody with kids knows sometimes it can take 3, 4, 5 years,” Palmer said.“It really wears your ass out.”
One component of Palmer’s regimen is waking up in the morning and getting active before she begins her day.
“I’m a Pilates girl down, I don’t care. It’s the Pilates. And I need people to know it doesn’t matter what that scale says. It matters about the muscles,” she said. “That’s what I love about Pilates. It don’t matter what your size is, your body is going to be snatched with Pilates.”
Also, finding a workout class was a game changer for Palmer because she didn’t want to spend time figuring everything out at the gym on her own is difficult and too much to deal with.
“So if you could find a dance class, Pilates class, a yoga class, a cycling class, whatever class that you like that can happen at the top of your day before you go to work, it will do wonders. The consistency of that will do wonders,” she explained. “And then I’ll say, make your own food. I know, I know it’s a lot. Nobody wants to do the meal prep sh*t, but making your own food and knowing what you put in it, it does wonders.”
“Making your own meals, keeping it consistent with some type of activity. It really does transform your body,” Palmer continued. “And then fun stuff. Sometimes we forget that everything don’t have to be a serious workout. What if I just go play tennis or pickleball with my girl? What if we just go swimming for a day? You know what I’m saying? Let’s walk around an amusement park with the kids.”
According to Palmer, having the right mentality and consistency has been the key with helping her stay on track with her nutrion even when she falls off the wagon
“It is a mentality and it’s really just about knowing what our goals are,” she says. “I think for me, I really wanted to be strong and active in whatever way that meant for me. And it came from consistency and knowing that I had time for myself.”