When singer Jordin Sparks first decided that she was going to lose weight, poor health is what motivated her.
“I had gotten really sick,” the 27-year-old told TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager in 2014 about the motivations behind her 50 pound weight loss, which started in 2012. “And I was about to celebrate my birthday and I was like, ‘I should be in the prime of my life right now. I shouldn’t be feeling like this. I really need to make my health a priority.’ And that’s what I did.”
Fast forward to nearly three years after that conversation and Sparks has continued to make her health a priority and stay lean at the same time by focusing on good nutrition. In a new interview with PEOPLE, the singer and actress shared her normal daily diet.
“To me, health is wealth!” she said. “We can enrich our lives in so many ways when we are fueled by the proper nutrition and feeling good from the inside out.”
Sparks starts off by preparing herself to drink a gallon of water throughout the day. For breakfast, she logs in a protein shake, specifically Herbalife’s Vanilla Alternative protein shake. While that’s filling, she follows her breakfast up with a snack of 1/4 cup of mixed nuts to keep herself full.
Breakfast sounds simple enough, but it’s when lunchtime hits that things get interesting for Sparks. She actually eats two lunches a day to help quell any hunger pangs. Of course, the meals are small.
“I wanted to try eating smaller meals throughout the day instead of three big meals,” Sparks said. “I like it a lot better and I don’t feel like I’m starving at any time. Just ‘grazing’ and fueling my body.”
For her first lunch, Sparks usually enjoys grilled chicken with brown rice and some asparagus. As for her second lunch, she has homemade turkey and beef meatballs (four), as well as two hard-boiled eggs. Post-lunch snacks following such filling protein-packed meals include some celery sticks with peanut butter.
By the time dinner rolls around, things are relatively light since Sparks is still digesting one or both of her lunches from earlier in the day. But when she has her last big meal, she usually enjoys grilled salmon with some Caesar salad. For dessert, she likes to indulge in some original frozen yogurt with strawberries and mango, which she picks up from Pinkberry.
All in all, Sparks’s caloric intake for the day is 1,780. And such balanced meals (though a dietitian told PEOPLE she could use a tad more veggie in her meals) are how the singer continues to look this fabulous:
Just recently, Sparks shared a throwback of the bikini photo heard ’round the world from 2011. She said that it’s been “constant work” to stay healthy since then, but it’s been worthwhile:
Keep up the fantastic work, Jordin!
Images via WENN
