Photo credit: Fitness Magazine/Gavin Bond.
With two young daughters, Olive and Elula, ages 5 and 2 and two big spring movies, Isla Fisher is one busy woman. Mrs. Sacha Baron Cohen, 37, dishes about gaining weight for The Great Gatsby and flaunting her curves, her favorite body part and how she dropped 70 pounds post-baby.
On gaining weight for The Great Gatsby and flaunting her curves: “I gained weight for that role because Myrtle, the character I play, is supposed to be heavyset. So I ate lots of protein, and I gained 15 pounds. It mainly manifested itself in my boobs, which was very exciting. Sadly, that’s gone now.”
How she lost the baby weight: “I gained 65 pounds with my first baby and 70 with my second. I had severe morning sickness both times, so I mostly ate supersize bowls of white pasta with loads of butter and cheese because that was the only thing that took away the nausea. I had to shoot Confessions of a Shopaholic about three months after I gave birth to Olive, so the producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, hired a trainer to work with me three times a week. That was both inspirational and terrifying because I didn’t want to let the trainer down. After I had my second daughter, I slowly lost the weight by breast-feeding, hiking Runyon Canyon and working with a trainer every couple of weeks.”
Why she practices yoga five days a week: “When you’re really focused on your breathing, you’re able to clear your head, and all the worries of everyday life go out the window. I love that feeling of being connected with my own body. If I’m stuck in traffic or have a bad moment in my day, I go back to my yoga practice and I breathe. Sometimes I solve a problem that was bothering me, like deciding whether to take a role in a movie.”
On loving her ‘yoga butt’: “Every woman likes her tush in jeans when she’s worked on it a little more!”
Why she doesn’t own a scale: “I have two young girls, and I wouldn’t want them to see me weighing myself all the time. I don’t think it sends the right message.”
Isla’s favorite body part: “My stomach. Even though it will never be flat again, it’s still my favorite because it reminds me of my greatest achievement: my babies.”
Staying active with her girls: “I’m an outdoor girl. I have a lot of natural energy. I’m always moving. I do yoga, and I love to hike. And I swim every day with my kids.”
Finding peace with her body: “For me, so much about life is acceptance. You can look in the mirror and find a million things wrong with yourself. Or you can look in the mirror and think, I feel good, I have my health, and I’m so blessed. That’s the way I choose to look at it. I don’t need to be perfect. I’m doing just fine.”
