Kate Hudson Wants You To Stop Stressing About Fitness Goals And Focus on Feeling Good

After meeting actress, entrepreneur, and now recording artist Kate Hudson IRL, I can confirm that she literally glows (just look at our pic!). But early on in our chat, I realized it's more than just great highlighter. She's got a legit, lit-from-within thing glowing on. "Nothing that you put on your skin is going to be better than what you put in your body," she says (insert mic drop emoji here). So in addition to her successful activewear line, Fabletics, Kate is adding MyFitnessPal, a health and fitness tracker, to her healthy business roster. "It's a way to talk to people about easy ways to start changing their habits to what is going to be the beginning of the rest of their lives," she explains. Taking a page from Kate's book of wellness wisdom, here are the healthy habits she swears by.

Instead of cutting things out, "be mindful" of them.

"I don't eat a lot of sugar; I don't eat a lot of bread. I'm not a big drinker but I love a cocktail—old fashioneds, Negronis, dirty martinis, and I love wine. So if I'm like 'hey, Bri [Brian Nguyen is her trainer], I gotta get it in my tip-top shape,' he's like, 'well, that's the one thing we're going to watch.' I like a good cocktail but I also like to feel good; I like to feel healthy. I like to sleep—too many cocktails and sleeping do not go well together. So I say 'be mindful of alcohol; don't cut it out.'"

Together, Kate and Brian put together a plan for the tracker called 7-day Small Steps, Big Wins. A few new healthy habits Kate's making: upping her protein intake, adding strength training to her workouts (she also loves Pilates), and tracking her nutrients.

Practice what you preach.

"Being healthy takes so much discipline. There's this wild misconception that because you have means, it means that someone is being disciplined for you. The truth is, I work really hard and that doesn't come because I'm not disciplined. I'm disciplined by nature. I think it came from sports when I was young. I loved sports. Dance was a huge part—not wanting to go to dance class but my Mom made me go. The early brain patterning helped me in my future. I always say to moms, get your kids in sports. Rani [Kate's 5-year-old daughter] is in soccer; she's in dance. They need to see you doing it; that's the biggest thing," Kate says. "They want to follow suit and do the workout with you."

Tap into a village.

"With MyFitnessPal, you're downloading into an entire community that's 20 years old, so their database is extraordinary. I like how straightforward it it. You find out what you're eating, what amount of carbs and protein you're eating. It asks you your goal and it helps you track those," Kate explains.

Brian adds, "The app is a sense of community. Come, we're just hanging out. We want to hear your story; we want you to be curious about the next recipe. The only way to make things actually stick is to log. Without it, you lose the accountability. A food journal changes everything."

Remember, it's never too late to start.

"Just because someone wasn't given the knowledge or didn't come from an athletic family—active lifestyle is what we did when we were little. Going on vacation was biking and hiking and swimming and racing each other across the lake. But just because someone didn't grow up like that doesn't mean they don't have the opportunity to create a new pattern," Kate says.

Turn to smart tools for help.

"When it comes to food, we live in a time where our relationship with food has been scarred. It's really tough, a lot of people aren't making their own food anymore—so to be able to get into an app that's free to really understand what it is that you're feeding yourself, I think that's so important not only for someone's personal journey but as a whole. I also love my Oura Ring. I love an electrolyte—it makes a big difference in my skin and in my brain," Kate say. "Food, sleep, water—those are the things that are going to make the real difference."