Kate Hudson reveals her body secrets

Kate Hudson at the Golden Globes. Photo by Getty.

So what's her secret? Working out for 20 minutes a day – a ritual she credits with boosting her bum and her brainpower.

The mother-of-two says she exercises just about anywhere and everywhere she can. “When I’m at home I fit in Pilates. It has always been my foundation as it engages everything from your saddlebag area to your triceps,” she says. “You’re going into your abs in a deep way that doesn’t normally happen with crunches.”

More: Five ways to boost your fitness motivation

Thirty-five year-old Hudson finds plenty of other ways to stay active too. “I love exercising with my kids! Bing’s like 16 kilos, so if I walk around with him in my baby carrier for a couple of hours, that’s a workout.

Ryder and I have done kickboxing together. I’ll sprint with him on my back, and then I’ll do squats. He’s 10 now, so he’s starting to get a little too heavy. I’ll probably get another year out of him, then Bing’s next. I’ll also take Bing and bench-press him. You’re not literally working out, but after about five times lifting them up, you’re exhausted – and they’re loving it.”

But one thing’s for sure, if you want a body like Hudson, consistency is key. “I wouldn't say I work out a lot, just consistently,” she says. "People think for some reason you have to work out for two and a half hours but, it can be little. It can be 20 minutes, it could be 40 minutes.”

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Other tools in her get-fit, get-happy arsenal include exercise DVDs for when she’s travelling. Her favourites are Brazil Butt Lift (“It’s a lot of lunges,” she says, “but it’s a tough workout”) and Insanity, which pegs itself as “the hardest workout ever put on DVD.”

And when it comes to dieting, Hudson never goes hungry. “I could never survive regular juice cleanses that are so Hollywood, it’s just not for me,” she says. “I like food too much.”

Instead, when Kate needs to cleanse, she’ll do an elimination diet, getting rid of sugar, gluten and red meat for a month in order to go back to “how we should be eating”.

That means “rice, beans, lentils, beautiful salads, low-mercury fish, some nuts, blueberries and raspberries, and all sorts of vegetable dishes,” says Kate of her go-tos.

More: 10 ways to reduce your sugar intake

The actress says she gets recipes from friend Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbooks – and loves to join in when Paltrow is creating. “That’s my favourite thing – going into her kitchen and eating everything!”

Of the elimination diet, Kate says: “It’s hard to stay focused, but the good thing is, you can drink. You can have good tequila straight up and certain vodkas that aren’t wheat-based.

So basically healthy eating is made possible only by an end-of-the-night dirty martini!” Sounds like our kind of diet!

Behind the scenes with our December cover girl Kate Hudson