Nathalie Kelley has spent the last week heating up Burning Man. The Aussie actress shared some photos from the week-long festival to her social media, looking amazing in a swimsuit. How does the Dynasty star maintain her fit physique? She approaches health, wellness, and fitness holistically. Read on to see 7 ways Nathalie Kelley stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don’t miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!
Nathalie told The Cut that she starts her mornings with a “tea ceremony.” She explains that the “moving meditation,” which involves drinking various types of Chinese tea, helps her feel grounded. “You have to be really mindful of it,” she says. “From the boiling of the water, to the steeping of the tea, to the bowls, there’s a beautiful ritual surrounding each movement. While to some people it could get repetitive, every day you’re trying to find the joy of renewal rather than repetition. It’s about how I am approaching today differently and with a fresh mind.” She spends an hour doing it, either alone or with others. “I do tea and then I do the I-Ching which is a Chinese form, basically its Chinese divination. When I get really into it I ask the I-Ching questions about decisions in my life. I go pretty deep,” she added.
In the morning, after her tea ritual, Nathalie likes to hit a yoga class. Overall, her approach to exercise is more holistic than hostile. “Let me say, whatever I do, I’m not fighting with myself,” she said. “Like my classmates will say, ‘My body hurts,’ or ‘This trainer kicked my ass,’ and I’m like, oh my god, that sounds like warring with myself. I try to do something nourishing instead. I just want real-world strength and real-world health. I would never aim for some kind of aesthetic version of health, like doing 200 squats to get a big butt and now I have this tiny waist.” She loves hiking. “I’ve always been drawn to the mountains. Maybe that’s my ancestry coming from the Andes.”
Nathalie is all about fermented food. “I’ve been trying to get into fermenting my own foods but I’m so lazy at it,” she told The Cut. She also stars her day with a hot beverage. “I try to have a hot water and lemon juice in the morning and something fermented.”
Nathalie’s diet is very unique. “I’ll have broccoli cooked in beef lard or some kind of animal fat for breakfast. I kind of try not to have grains at all in my life, although they are my weakness. I try to eat a lot of animal fats and vegetables together,” she told The Cut.
“Insects are the future. They are the most ethical way to eat animal protein,” Nathalie told The Cut. “I’ve ordered cricket powder, and I’m trying to think about ways I can sneak it into my boyfriend’s daughter’s pancakes without her knowing, which my friends say is really cruel. It doesn’t taste like anything. You just have to get around the idea that you’re eating a cricket. I haven’t tried any other insects; I’ve been told to start with crickets. To be honest, I’m still working up my appetite around it.”
“I used to approach wellness from an eternal youth perspective. Wellness used to be, How can I get my skin looking great for the rest of my life? How can I function like a 20-year-old forever? That’s really transformed as I’ve gotten into my 30s. There are parts of me that are a little vain, especially in this industry,” Nathalie told The Cut. “But to be honest, on the list of priorities, physical appearance is so low. I’m not trying to build up muscle so I can have a nice toned butt. These days I’m just so much about longevity. How can I be the best version of myself for as long as possible? I just want to have a loving, nourishing relationship with my body. I don’t want to be at war with it. I don’t want to be anti-aging, I’m not fighting anything. I want to be at home here and make it a good home for me.”
Nathalie tries to eat like a cavegirl. “I’m really into the paleo movement, and looking at the health of humans, pre-agriculture. They can trace a lot of deficiencies and general unwellness to the time when we started harvesting foods,” she told The Cut. “As hunter gatherers, we were much healthier as humans. I haven’t gotten to the level of gathering my own blackberries on Saturdays, but my goal one day is to hunt and gather my own foods. My boyfriend hunts, so at some point we would like to only eat what he ethically hunts. That would be the dream.”