What La La Anthony Eats In a Day to Stay Feeling Fit & Healthy

Michael Simon for Kellogg’s Special K

You might remember La La Anthony (check her out on Instagram @lala) from her time hosting popular VH1 shows Flavor of Love, Real World and I Love New York. Or maybe it's from one of her critically acclaimed films including Think Like a Man or Baggage Claim. The television star and actress has gone on to become a New York Times best-selling author, producer, businesswoman and mother. As you can imagine, her busy schedule could make it challenging to eat healthy and stay active. However, Anthony is driven and keeps a healthy, balanced approach to her life and work.

To help give back to the community (something that's very important to Anthony), she joined forces with Kellogg and Black Girls RUN! to put on the Special 5K. Starting today through June 30th, you can log your miles in the virtual race. But that's not all: each 5K logged will help provide 100 meals to Feeding America, up to 2.5 million meals. We spoke with Anthony about her life, motherhood, staying healthy and this initiative to learn more.

Can you tell me about your morning routine? What does a typical morning look like for you?

"I have a 14 year old, so typically after I get up, brush my teeth and wash my face, I'm begging him to get up. 14 year olds don't like to get up. So my mornings are spent trying to get Kiyan to wake up. With things being virtual, he's actually graduating middle school this week. He completed another school year in the midst of everything going on so I'm really proud of him… but right now, he's still sleeping. So my morning routine revolves around getting my son up."

Related: How I Tricked Myself Into Becoming a Morning Person—and How You Can, Too

What does a typical day of eating look like for you? What are some of your go-to meals?

"For breakfast, I am a cereal person and always have been. I love Special K. They have so many flavors that I'm into. It's a great breakfast to get you going and get your energy up. When it comes to lunch, I love seafood. It could be a shrimp salad or a taco with shrimp with vegetables. For dinner, I love Spanish food, or a nice piece of fish with veggies. Baked chicken with sweet potato is another one. Again, I try not to go too crazy but those are some of my typical meals.

That said, I am a chocolate fanatic. I won't sit here and make it seem like I'm this extremely clean eater that only eats vegetables. Like any kind of chocolate, I want to get my hands on it."

La La, we can definitely relate. Everything, even chocolate, can be part of a healthy eating pattern. Chocolate even boasts some impressive health benefits. Anthony's meals seem pretty balanced to us, we think she would love these sheet-pan salmon dinners.

Staying active is clearly important to you. What are your favorite ways to stay active? How do you stay motivated to be active with your busy schedule?

"During the pandemic, it was really hard to stay motivated because every day was becoming very routine. It's been nice now to get back into the swing of things. It is hard, though. The first two weeks of getting back into anything is always tough whether it's working out or staying active in general. After the first day, you might feel like "I can't do this" but you've just got to push through. I remind myself that when I'm in shape and my body feels good, I feel better all around. So you've kind of got to talk yourself through it.

As far as workouts are concerned, I love cardio and getting on the bike. Spinning is definitely my thing. I love boxing, too. Too much of one thing can get boring, so I try to do a couple different types of exercise. I'm trying to do more pilates and yoga. It hasn't totally grabbed me yet since it's a little slow for my personality. I'm from New York and I'm always like 'go, go, go.' Slowing down a little bit is what I need to do anyway, so I definitely want to venture into that yoga and pilates space."

You recently partnered with Kellogg and Black Girls RUN! for the upcoming Special 5K. Can you tell me a little bit about that decision?

"I'm all about community and getting people together to better themselves, and also help other people in need. So this was a great partnership with Black Girls RUN! and Special K. Today we are unveiling the Special 5K and it's the first virtual event where every 5K you log turns into donations for Feeding America, up to 2.5 million meals. Two and a half million meals is a lot of food for people who need it. It's also just fun to get a cool group of girl friends or family members together and say, 'Let's get out there, let's do this 5K and push ourselves, and look at the good we are doing.'

I am not a marathon runner so I love that you can be a beginner, you can be a seasoned veteran and you can still participate. It's just one kilometer at time and however you have to get to that one kilometer, we're going to motivate you and support you. Those kilometers can really help someone in need and that's why I really wanted to be a part of this and why it's incredible. Also, the Black Girls RUN! foundation is doing so many amazing things so to be a part of that community is really cool. I'm sure they would love to have all of us join, so I'm excited to see everybody sign up and push ourselves to get this done. Plus, it's nice outside!"

We couldn't agree more! Join Anthony at the Special 5K and sign up today. Sign up is open from June 8 to June 30th, 2021. Share your progress on social and be sure to hashtag #Special5K.

Let's talk about your upcoming projects! Between filming a new season of The Chi and your upcoming film Juju, how does being on set impact your routine? What are some of the ways you stay healthy and feeling your best while filming?

"It's tough. On set, there's everything you could imagine including cookies, chips, and pretty much every food that at times you want to stay away from is right there in your face. You have to have some discipline. Sometimes it's good to bring your own meals to set so that you don't feel tempted to overindulge. I try to pack my own food because sometimes my discipline is not the best… especially if I see something chocolate. I want to have one that turns into two or three or four. But you just have to be prepared. It's like anything else in life: if you come prepared, there's less room for mistakes.

Whether it's meal prepping or having snacks that I need ready, it's always about preparation. It's better for me on set and in my day-to-day life. Whenever I leave things up to whatever will happen, that's when it doesn't work for me. But also, you want to live, have fun and enjoy great food, too. I think that's part of life and everybody should have that."

What does eating well mean to you?

"Eating well to me means eating food that's going to keep myself and my family healthy. It will give us energy and fuel to experience life together and hopefully be around for a very long time."