Michelle Monaghan is having a little fun on spring break in her swimsuit! The 46-year-old actress flaunts her impossibly toned abs and incredible figure in her latest Instagram post, playing optical illusions by covering up her swimsuit with a scarf. “Look Ma, no bikini! 😂👙🚫😂 #lookscanbedeceiving #opticaltropicalillusions #springbreaker 👻” she captioned the snaps. All jokes aside, how does the star manage to look half her age? Read on to see 7 ways Michelle Monaghan 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!
Michelle eats a healthy and hearty breakfast. “Breakfast is my fuel for the day. It might be a bowl of goat’s-milk yogurt with granola, berries,and raisins, and maybe shaved almonds and flaxseed thrown in, and a banana smoothie,” she dished to Women’s Health. For lunch she loves salads. “I never ate them before I got pregnant; now I eat them three or four times a week.” She also likes turkey sandwiches with avocado and a slice of Swiss cheese, and homemade soup, “broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash—make a big batch and you have it for days.” For dinner, she will feast on fish, including trout and salmon, paired with steamed or roasted veggies or brown rice. “Good ol’ Iowa ribeye” is something she will indulge in on occasion. “I’ve never been on a diet,” she added. “I don’t think they make sense. Ultimately, it’s eating sensibly…but if I’m at a restaurant, all bets are off!”
Michelle works out with a trainer three days a week for hour-long sessions. Her workouts consist of cable work, squats, lunges, and step-ups. “It’s a push to make myself go—it’s hard!” she says. “But whenever I get off my lazy butt, I’m happy I did,” she says.
Michelle loves to incorporate friends into her workouts. “Going on a hike with a friend or my husband works for me because it doesn’t feel like exercise,” she told Women’s Health. “You’re catching up or having a gossip session, and time goes by quickly. This weekend my husband and I played beach volleyball with friends and worked up the greatest sweat.”
“I try to drink green juice three times a week— kale, celery, spinach. Sometimes that replaces my coffee,” she told Women’s Health. “I also bought a Vitamix blender. It purees everything.”
Michelle revealed to Shape that she is big into classes, including Pilates, deeming it “really challenging.” She added: “I find that it’s a good balance for my running, which makes my muscles tight. Pilates loosens me up. I also love SoulCycle. I played a Spin instructor in a movie, and at the time I thought, There’s no way I’m getting on a bike. But SoulCycle had just opened in L.A., so I went with friends. The lights were off, candles were burning, and we were hooked. It’s like church!”
Michelle is also a runner. “I run a half marathon every year with Maria, my best friend from my hometown in Iowa. I’ve known her since I was a kid. We usually do races in different cities, so we’ll make a weekend out of it. It’s great because there are days when I have to do an eight-mile run, and I’ll get a text from Maria saying, ‘I did eight miles! Did you do yours?’ Training with her helps motivate and encourage me,” she told Shape.
“I get crabby when I don’t work out. Just ask my husband! [Laughs.] I really depend on exercising to relieve stress. Last week, I was overwhelmed and I thought, I need to go for a run or a hike to clear my head. I had a to-do list that was a mile long, and I didn’t know what to tackle first. When I run, it helps put everything into place,” she told Shape. “Years ago, when I started working out, it was about getting my body in shape. But now the mental benefits outweigh the physical ones. That’s why I love going for a hike in the morning. There’s something about climbing a mountain that’s symbolic-you set your intention and what you want to focus on. I think about what I have to do today or what I have to accomplish this week. It allows me that space where there’s no one else around.”