What Eva Longoria Eats in a Day to Stay Fit and Energized

Eva Longoria has a long list of accolades: She's an award-winning actress, producer, director, wife and mom. Oh, and she's an advocate for farmworkers, founder of the Eva Longoria Foundation, co-founder of the Latino Victory Project and was the MC for the Democratic National Convention this year. Eva Longoria is B-U-S-Y, so we were curious to see how she stays healthy and energized enough to tackle everything on her impressive to-do list.

Turns out, Longoria didn't always have the best relationship with food. After her 2010 divorce to Tony Parker, she said in an interview on the Dr. Oz Show, "I was not eating. I was depressed. I was sad. My diet was coffee." She said she knew something was off, so she went to her doctor for some tests.

"I was just depleted of every vitamin," Longoria said to Dr. Oz. "[My doctor] said it's as if somebody took a straw and sucked everything out of your body. 'You don't have any iron and your liver's overacting.' It was like all these things were physically wrong with my body, so I had to saturate with vitamins and kind of get back on this track."

It took a few years of dabbling in different diets for Longoria to find what worked for her. "I'd do a cleanse. I'd try keto. I'd try no sugar," she said. Longoria even went vegan for a short period of time, but it just wasn't for her. "I tried. I wanted to do it for the environment, but I just love cheese so much!," she said.

But now, it seems like she's found a healthy eating groove. She says, "Life is about moderation, and life is long. One of the greatest ways for me is to enjoy food."

What Eva Longoria Eats in a Day

For breakfast, Longoria says she eats the same thing most days: "I usually have egg whites and beans." (We think she'd probably be into our recipe for Black Beans & Corn with Poached Eggs.)

For lunch and dinner, Longoria says she usually plans a gourmet meal (and yes, she's the cook in her family). "I've been really bringing it during COVID. I've been making everything from fish tacos to shepherd's pie to curry. No day is the same," she says.

Longoria says that, for her, cooking is therapeutic. She adds, "I'm always scouring online and on Instagram. I follow a lot of foodie people and I've been trying new recipes."

And while most of us are bummed to be spending more time at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, for Longoria, it has been an exercise in creativity. "The first couple months of COVID I was in heaven," she says. Longoria says she took Masterclass lessons to learn how to make sourdough and croissants, "and then I went through a month of 'I can't wash one more dish,' so I kind of took a month off." She says that's when she turned to local restaurants for takeout (celebs, they're just like us!).

When asked about her all-time favorite food, she laughed and said, "Does wine count?" (She loves Napa reds, in case you were wondering). But as far as her go-to meal, Longoria says she can't get enough of tacos. "There's literally 100 different versions of tacos." (Pssst- We have plenty of tasty taco recipes if you're a taco lover like Eva!)

But, don't be fooled, Longoria isn't sitting around the house all day eating tacos and scratch-made croissants. She's also a big fan of working out. "For me, exercise is meditative," she says. The actress says running around and playing with her son, Santiago, keeps her active, but based on her Instagram account, she also seems to enjoy weightlifting, yoga, TRX workouts and core stability work (while singing LL Cool J, no less).

Is Eva Longoria's Diet Healthy?

Registered Dietitian and EatingWell's Senior Digital Nutrition Editor Lisa Valente thinks Longoria's approach sounds pretty healthy. "I love that she is getting movement for her mental health and having fun in the kitchen. While she may have tried restrictive diets in the past, her current approach of eating the foods she loves and enjoying a variety of home-cooked meals sounds like a healthy and sustainable plan. One note—I'm surprised she's eating egg whites and not whole eggs in the morning. There are lots of important nutrients in the yolk, like vitamin D and choline, so I don't recommend cutting them out. For most people, eating whole eggs is fine for your cholesterol levels."

The bottom line: It seems like Eva Longoria lives a healthy and balanced life that's full of indulgences like the occasional glass of wine, scoop of Tillamook vanilla ice cream (she's an ambassador for the brand's "All for Farmers" campaign) or slice of birthday cake. And any diet that includes those things is A-OK in our book!