When it came to playing Psylocke, the telekinetic, leotard-and-purple-highlights-rocking mutant in X-Men Apocalypse, Olivia Munn didn't phone it in. The star committed to working out every day, training in sword fighting and martial arts so she could do her own stunts, whether that meant flipping through the air in a harness to slice a CGI car in half, or spinning a katana so fast it'd make the Quicksilver break a sweat.
"My intention was to just get as fit and as healthy as I could be, for myself," she told Women's Health in its June issue.
To fuel her throughout those workouts—and filming the movie—she focused on essentially eating what you could find at a farmer's market. "I also started getting into eating 20-80, where 80 percent of your diet is fruits and vegetables and 20 percent is whatever." By the time the movie wrapped, she'd lost 12 pounds.
If that meal plan sounds familiar, that's because it's very similar to what chef Allen Campbell prepares for Gisele Bündchen and husband Tom Brady each day. Unlike the Bündchen-Bradys, Munn ditched the diet as soon as the movie ended. She still tries to eat clean, buying only organic fruits and vegetables, and starts each day with a smoothie, E! reports, but if the actress wants an order of onion rings or craves Kraft mac & cheese eaten straight from the saucepan, she's going to go for it.
While living the 20-80 diet, Munn cut back on meat, getting most of her protein from nuts and seeds, her trainer, Karine Lemieux, told Elle. She also trained for 6-7 hours per day to prepare for the intensely physical role, so she could wield a sword like a pro. It's no wonder, then, that she lost weight without intending to; it also prompted Page Six to deem her "scarily skinny." (This is where we feel the need to get all PSA-y and mention: Her training schedule was basically like a full-time job, so that she could quickly get prepared for her role and shouldn't be taken as exercise advice. Consult your doc before starting a new eating and exercise plan. Okay, we'll get off the soapbox now.)
Back in 2013, Munn spoke to WebMD about her diet, explaining that she avoids processed foods and decided that if she couldn't see every ingredient in a dish, she wouldn't eat it. Ultimately, though, she tries not to freak out about what she eats.
"If I 'stress eat' and I 'fall off,' I know it's just life and I know I can be in control," she told the website.
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