Model Alexis Ren Is Pretty Much Vegan, *Except* For This One Thing
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Alexis René Glabach, 24, better known as Alexis Ren, started modeling at age 13. Since then, she's appeared in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, co-founded sustainable brand Future Prosperity, graced a Maxim cover, and competed on Dancing With The Stars.
A decade later, Alexis is a model with a mission, promoting healthy living, self-love, and empowerment for young women to her 14-million-plus Instagram following. Over the years, she's opened up about her struggles with an eating disorder (in which she restricted food and exercised to excess). She's also founded Warriors to virtually mentor young girls on healthy eating and exercise, giving them the tools she wished she had as a teen.
These days, Alexis splits her time between Hawaii and the mainland U.S. When she's living the island life, though, Alexis feels like she's in her best routine. "I'm a nature lover, and I go there to remember what's important," Alexis tells Women's Health. For her, that's nourishing her bod with sustainable eats and flavorful dishes made primarily with plants. "I've been dabbling in plant-based diet for the last four years," she explains. "I realized that there's such an abundance, you don't have to sacrifice taste or quality of food when you're vegan."
Here's exactly what a typical day of plantiful (get it?) eats looks like for the model-turned-activist.
Breakfast
Alexis needs some java to get going in the AM. "When I wake up, I immediately have my coffee with vanilla soy creamer," she says. "I can't process the day without it." Alexis grinds and brews her own coffee, usually opting for a Bulletproof or a Four Sigmatic blend.
She also eats fruit, like a banana, to fuel her morning sweat sesh. (She doesn't like working out on empty.) "I don't want to be in fasting mode in a workout because then you're depleting your muscles," she says.
Then, Alexis prioritizes her post-workout meal. "I'll be done with my workout by 11, stretch, and then right after that I have some sort of protein." Her go-to is a Metagenics vanilla protein shake.
Lunch
Soon after, Alexis is ready for lunch. "I'll take out all my pots and pans and figure out my first full meal," she says. To feel more connected, she usually whips something up by hand with fresh-picked ingredients from her garden.
"I'll do kale salad," she says. "I'll chop up the kale I picked in small pieces with my hands and add onions and then garbanzo beans because they're a really good protein." Next, she smashes avocado into the greens and drizzles a homemade on an olive oil, lime, and nutritional yeast dressing. "It doesn't look pretty, but it tastes way better," she says. In a word: "fire."
In case you were wondering, yes, cold foods are Alexis' jam. "I feel more energized and better when I have salads and smoothies," she says.
It's not all greens on her plate, though. Part of Alexis' recovery has been to bring bread back in. "Bread was always a trigger. I gauged how much I've healed off of my eating disorder based on if I can eat a piece of bread and be okay. Bread's not the enemy, and I know we need carbohydrates," she explains. "The last six months, I've been loading bread into my diet and being okay. I'm at peace with it."
Dinner
Alexis models her evening meal after the bowls at famous plant-based eatery Cafe Gratitude. She makes her own cauliflower rice for the base by boiling the veggie and blending it just long enough. Then, she boils up more produce and sautés onions. Alexis tops off her plant party with a nutritional yeast, coconut aminos, and cashew sauce. It's her one warm, cooked meal for the day.
Every so often, though, fish makes its way onto the menu. Though Alexis isn't strictly vegan, she's incredibly conscious about where that fish comes from. "If I have fish, it's gonna be caught in Hawaii by a friend," she says. "I do believe that there needs to be an energetic transaction between the animal and you."
Morning, noon, and night alike, Alexis sips lots of water. "I'll take a one-liter glass bottle, fill that up with water, squeeze in limes, and add stevia," she says. "It tastes like lemonade or limeade."
Dessert
When she has a hankering, Alexis includes some sweets and treats into her day. "It's really about giving yourself permission to let things taste that good," she says. "Some of my favorite desserts are raw pastries. I always find it so fascinating that we can have pastries that are raw."
She also loves a raw pumpkin pie from Erewhon Market in Los Angeles.
Are those better-for-you candies really all that? Here's what Ariel Winter has to say:
And thought alcohol isn't off the menu, it's rare. "I may have a glass of wine like every two weeks," Alexis says. "To be honest with you, I don't feel that well when I do. I look for an Italian an Australian and Italian or French wine, because I find that they don't pump as much sugar into their wines."
Ultimately, though, that's what Alexis calls "a successful day of self-love through food." Amen to that.
You Might Also Like
