Ever wonder how Beyoncé and Jay Z stay in amazing shape?
Well, wonder no more! Because we have an EXCLUSIVE interview with the man who makes sure those two, and many more, look their very best!
We recently talked to those aforementioned celebrities’ personal trainer, Marco Borges, and the founder of 22 Days Nutrition, who told us a little bit about his 22 Day Vegan Challenge!
And the first thing he revealed is what makes his personal program tick, and the intricacies of the challenge that’s got A LOT of celebrities, including Ryan Seacrest and Jennifer Lopez, hooked!
Here’s what he said:
├óΓé¼┼ô22 Days Nutrition stands for the fact that psychologists discovered it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. So, if you adopt a healthier habit over the course of 21 days, and perhaps eliminated an unhealthy one, on the 22nd day, you’d be a better, healthier, cleaner version of you.
The reason why we do the 22-day program is because people think it’s a program that begins and ends. It doesn’t end. On the 22nd day, it’s now a habit, it’s engrained in you. You’ve learned how to ride that bike. So on the 23rd, 24th, 25th, and 100th day, you’re not going to forget how to ride that bike.
That makes sense!
He continued:
People have habits and those habits are the ones that lead to success or lack there of. If you are constantly making terrible decision when you come home from work because you always have a box of Oreos, how do you eliminate that problem? It starts by not buying Oreos when you’re at the market! Food is the most widely abused substance on the planet because it’s easily accessible, and it’s widely acceptable. If you’re a on a diet, what’s the first thing some one tells you? ├óΓé¼╦£Oh come on! Are you kidding? A brownie’s not going to kill you!├óΓé¼Γäó There’s always an excuse.
We have to get out of that mindset where we think that just because it’s food, it’s okay. The reality is, more often than not, we’re dying at what’s at the end of our fork faster than anything else! Heart disease is still the number one killer in this country, which to me is just mind-blowing.
We created a habit out of treating ourselves to food, and in reward we treat food as the reward. We’ve lost the ability to socialize if it isn’t with food. From the moment we’re born, we celebrate every single year with what? A cake!
Obesity is a disease? It’s an action. It should be a verb, it shouldn’t be a disease. And the reality is that we have directly caused that, and we can directly and/or indirectly change the course of that.
I chose to coin everything that we do as plant based, because I want people to understand that it’s not an all or none approach. It’s not either you are with us or you’re against us. Whether you want to just go plant based for breakfast, that would be amazing. Maybe you want to breakfast/lunch every single of day of the week meatless or a plant based, and then have something for dinner that isn’t.
The benefits of the plant based don├óΓé¼Γäót begin and end with whether or not you are 100% vegan. The more you eat towards the plant-based diet, the greater degree of benefits you’re going to experience.”
As we mentioned before, Marco Borges isn’t just the founder of this program that’s got so many celebrities looking and feeling great, he’s also Queen Bey and Jay Z’s very personal trainer. The fitness and diet guru explained how he got the gig, and how the married couple are currently doing in his program. He said:
├óΓé¼┼ôI studied in exercise physiology, and biology, and I’ve practiced as a lifestyle coach 24 years! A while ago, I was working with a mutual friend and he knew that Jay was going to be in town, and thought that we should meet, that we would hit it off, and introduced us. I couldn’t say enough kind things about him. It’s pretty apparent. I just think the world of them both (Beyonc├â┬⌐ and Jay Z). I think they’re both the most amazing human beings ever├óΓé¼┬ª just really, really special people…(Beyonc├â┬⌐ and Jay Z are) doing unbelievably well. As you├óΓé¼Γäóve probably noticed while they├óΓé¼Γäóve been on tour, they look amazing and they feel amazing. They’ve chosen the plant-based diet that works for them. How they define that, I allow them to do that.
It’s not about judging, it’s not about saying, ├óΓé¼╦£Well, I├óΓé¼Γäóm vegan 99.8% of the time or I’m not.├óΓé¼Γäó It’s really about what works for you, and if you allow people to define plant based in a way that’s the most accessible, most easiest for them to follow, easiest for them to engage their family with, then you├óΓé¼Γäóve found success. The minute that you say, ├óΓé¼╦£okay, guys, all or none’, you├óΓé¼Γäóve just lost 90% of the people.
When you look at someone that has a platform like Jay or Beyonce or Ryan [Seacrest] or Jennifer Lopez, you really understand the effect, because everyone in the world is talking plant based. Not because plant based is great, but because Bey, and Jay, and Jennifer, Ryan, so many people are excited about what 22 days is doing. And that to me is like oh my god, I couldn’t ask for a better position to be in.
To me, it doesn’t matter if it’s a superstar performing in front of 100,000 people, versus someone that you bump into not living the life they really wanted to live or rather, just living a life they stumbled upon. That’s the absolute greatest feeling in the world. The feeling sensation is immeasurable, it really is.”
Marco’s last piece of advice is for anyone attempting to stay healthy and how important it is for people to create good lifestyle habits. It’s basically vital for your vitals! He said:
“Many times, people will say, ├óΓé¼╦£Well, they (celebrities) have access to anything. They’re famous, and they can do things that I can’t do.├óΓé¼Γäó
But, imagine that someone like Ryan Seacrest ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ a guy who works 30 hours a day ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ he still finds the time because he’s passionate about his health. He knows that if he doesn’t have his health, he can’t do all of the things that he does. So it’s a priority, he prioritizes his health. When you think about the things that you want to do in life, none of them are possible without your health.
You have to find the time to make it a part of your life, and create a habit around it, whether it’s exercising 30 minutes a day three days a week or exercising an hour every day or having someone to walk with or creating your breakfast, lunch and dinner before you leave your house. It is an action that cannot be an afterthought, but rather, something that you are planning for.
People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan. If you think about the things that you want to do before you actually go out and do them, it allows you to plan accordingly, so that you can plan for the success that you want.
While some of the more successful people definitely have the ability to bring certain things into their life that maybe not everyone can bring, the reality is what’s made them successful is that they have the ability to be able to focus on the things that they find most important to themselves, and they find a way to do it. And that’s how you create success with your health as well.”
Wow! We couldn’t say it better ourselves!
A BIG thank you to Marco for enlightening us all on how our favorite celebs keep looking great, and for the advice on how we can all do it ourselves if we’re willing to put the work in!
The best part is… that’s not it! We’re gonna have MORE from him very soon!
Let us ALL start creating healthier lifestyle habits starting today!!!
[Image via Instagram.]
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