HGTV’s Christina Anstead Shares What Keeps Her On Track With Diet and Exercise During Quarantine

Christina Anstead of HGTV recently released her new book on health and wellness. Now a blended family with five kids with her husband Ant, Anstead has been navigating quarantine amid the coronavirus crisis. Trying to homeschool her kids – Taylor, 9, and Brayden, 4 – whom she shares with ex Tarek El Moussa, the reality star also has to keep her toddler Hudson in tow.

Life has been busy on the home front after welcoming Hudson with Ant in September. Add to that her television shows and book publicity, the Flip or Flop star had to give herself a little leeway on her diet and exercise regime when lockdown began.

‘Christina on the Coast’ host launches new book

In November, Anstead announced her upcoming book she wrote with nutritionist Cara Clark. Revealing some health issues she’s battled personally and the steps she’s taken toward wellness, Anstead’s The Wellness Remodel: A Guide to Rebooting How You Eat, Move, and Feed Your Soul provides readers with meal plans, workout tips, and personal stories about her journey.

“So excited to announce our book The Wellness Remodel coming out in April 2020!” Anstead wrote on Instagram. “I’ve been following @caraclarknutrition meal plans since 2013 and credit her to really showing me what eating healthy looks like. This book will include all our favorite recipes as well as workout tips and strategies for reducing stress and being more mindful.”

Released in April, the wellness guide is divided into three sections – “Gut Rehab” which focuses in on food and nutrition; “Building a Strong Foundation” that concentrates on exercise; and “The Rewire” which hones in on mindfulness.

Christina Anstead quarantining with family

Speaking to Us Weekly just before her book hit the shelves, Anstead revealed how she was handling quarantine with her active family.

“Obviously, everybody’s in a very different situation than we were a month ago,” she said in April. “We’re at home and we’re all busy, but we definitely have more time to do things at home than we did before. What we’re doing here right now and what I’m doing [with] my kids is actually really cooking together, doing more projects together, doing exercises together.”

When lockdown restrictions were first implemented in March, Anstead wasted no time in having Taylor and Brayden test out some recipes from The Wellness Model.

“So today we made our first recipe straight out of @the wellnessremodel book “Peanut Butter Chocolate chip chia muffins” … it was fun and they were tasty even though we accidentally left out the sugar,” the Christina on the Coast star captioned a pic of her two kids on Instagram. “I asked the kids to help -tay said yes bray said no – but last minute changed his mind and pretty much blocked the video the whole time.”

Despite the lack of structure, the HGTV personality was keeping it laid back due to the circumstances. “Things are messy over here, things are chaotic but things are also much more relaxed,” Anstead admitted. “Giving the kids a lot of grace and understanding as they are as anxious as we are.”

HGTV star plans ahead for meals

Posting in April on some frustration over backsliding a bit when it came to healthy eating, Anstead shared that she would be sticking to her own advice from her book.

“If you are like me it’s been a series of emotions (ups downs, sad, fearful, irritated, content, and some days losing my mind),” she captioned an Insta selfie. “I’ve been eating pretty healthy thanks to @caraclarknutrition and our new book @thewellnessremodel … BUT I have been getting a bit off track especially the past few days.”

Revealing that her daily diet and exercise routine was “a little bit different” during quarantine, Anstead prefers to “have a plan” for prepping family meals each week to avoid turning to last-minute junk food options.

“It just leaves out like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m starving, there’s nothing to eat. I’m gonna order pizza,’ right?” she told Us Weekly. “I see people snacking on all this junk and like, we don’t want to come out of this being like, ‘Gosh, I really wish, you know, a month or two ago was sitting there eating all this junk all day long.’”

Anstead’s book The Wellness Model is on sale now.