Zoe Andersen, now famously known by her Insta handle, @zoehappyfit, lived all her life in France and when she moved to Los Angeles, she thought it was extremely different and experienced a cultural shock. “In LA, I saw that most people there were into fitness, whereas it was not such a big thing in Paris,” she says. This inspired her to work out in order to "fit in" amongst the LA crowd. She decided to get committed to a healthier lifestyle by including healthy meals in her diet and the decision to workout.

Before she decided to do this, she was only doing cardio, which was a trend in France in order to stay lean and healthy. She was not very consistent in this too and also tried many crash-diets in order to lose weight.

“I had been eating without knowing anything about macro/micronutrients, drinking Coke instead of water, and eating tons of [candy, chocolate, and baked goods],” Zoe wrote in an Instagram post that explains how her transformation went down. “Sweet food is my weakness.”

In early 2017, she deiced to go to the gym at least 5 times a week. She was new to the gym culture so her early days were met with a lot of experiments with the dumbells and machines. She mostly did what she saw online and it took her three to four months until she even got the words hip thrust and deadlifts right.

She never really pursued any certification program to be certified as a professional fitness coach, she posted instructional videos on her Youtube and Instagram channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wlmjQb94iwShe wrote on one of her social media accounts,

"As promised, here’s everything about my fitness journey, I hope this answers the questions you may have if not, let me know in the comments and I’ll answer themit didn’t take me 3 years to get where I am as I started training regularly and eating healthy right after Christmas 2016 but I just don’t have many before pics TRAINING▪️From January to September 2017, I would train 4-5 times a week at the gym only. I didn’t know anything so I spent maybe 3-4 months trying all possible exercises▪️Then from September to December I trained at home only and started training again at the gym around January 2018.▪️At the moment I’m training glutes 2-3 times a week, doing the gym-based legs & glutes sessions from my guide and adding the home glutes session from my guide as well▪️I don’t train arms specifically, I do one back session and one full body session at home, using light dumbbells, resistance bands and/or just body weight▪️I train abs specifically once or twice a week▪️I don’t do much cardio at the moment (mostly because I’m being lazy ) NUTRITION▪️Changing my diet made all the difference, I really can’t stress that enough▪️During my whole life until I was 26, I had been eating without knowing ANYTHING about macro/micro nutrients, drinking coke instead of water and eating tons of candies (cause sweet food is my weakness )▪️Then I started researching a lot about food and nutrition, how many calories I should get and from which foods, as well as getting good healthy meals together▪️At the moment, I don’t track calories/macros although I did for 6 months last year. I’m trying to eat healthy most of the time and I allow myself daily treats. I’m not too strict with my diet but I certainly don’t eat everything I want and I try to cook my own meals as often as possibleI won’t lie and say it’s super easy, there are days when all I want to eat is cookies and chocolate but then it all comes down to this question: what do I want more?"

By the end of the summer, her posts on Instagram and Youtube were receiving thousands of views. Then, in September 2017, a home butt-workout video with the caption, “all butt, no thighs” was watched over 100,000 times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peH54PnCLnk&t=4s

The following month, a core workout was played 120,000 times, and Zoe’s account grew exponentially from there. Clearly, the views and visitors on her profile were increasing day by day. “I received so much positive feedback from people who followed me that it made me want to dedicate as much time as possible to this account,” she says. Around the same time, she decided to leave the startup she’d been working for to focus on creating fitness content as a full-time job. Two years later, her dreams came true. Now she is living in Dubai and has more than 2.5 million Instagram followers.

That is one commendable journey!

Here's all about Zoe's workout routine and her diet plan.

Zoe Andersen Workout Routine

Zoe tries to work out four to five times a week at home or at the gym for at least 45 to 90 minutes, depending on her daily schedule and also depending on whether she tops off strength training with high-intensity interval training, or HIIT for cardio (about twice a week) and ab work out like crunch and plank variations (about every other day). She works on her glutes too for two to three times a week. Her favorite moves are squats and lunges using a few types of equipment if they are handy.

At the gym, she does three to four sets of one exercise before she moves to the next one. When she is working out at the comforts of her own home, she sticks with doing circuits, jumping to different exercises without taking breaks. “This always gets my heart rate up and makes me sweat a lot!” she says.

Here’s what her famous viral home butt-workout circuit looks like:

All butt no thighs:You don't have to overcomplicate your workouts to get a good burn -in your glutes, try the following exercises and let me know how you feel it.If you want these exercises to be efficient, you must focus on SQUEEZING your GLUTES and nothing else!Exercise 1: Donkey kicks with pulses, 20x3 each leg; the motion must come from squeezing your glutes not from arching your back or swinging your legExercise 2: Single leg glute bridges, 16x3 each leg; don't let your glutes rest on the floor and only go as high as you can without arching your back (you'll notice I'm doing smaller moves)Exercise 3: Glute bridge with hip abduction, 30x3; keep your glutes squeezed the whole time, don't let them rest on the floor and keep your core engaged while you do the hip abductionExercise 4: Straight leg lifts, 20x3 each leg; try to keep your back and hips straight and lift your leg slightly outwards to target your side bootyExercise 5: Elevated single leg glute bridge, 16x3 each leg; same as Exercise 2 and this will also work your hammies! Really focus on pushing your hips up by squeezing your glutesExercise 6: Elevated frog stance glute bridge, 25x3; keep your feet close and squeeze your glutes to raise your hips.

Zoe Andersen Diet Plan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs0kYEzTA3k

Zoe used to eat whatever healthy options she could find with her research over the internet. “I try to eat healthy most of the time,” she says. “I’m not too strict with my diet, but I cook my own meals as much as possible.”

Though she is not really a vegan and does plan to in the near future, all her meals are mainly plant-based and she wants to reduce meat intake from her diet anyway. She reduced consuming meat and chicken five years ago as her personal preference. She includes different kind of foods each day and does not stick to a single diet; neither does she limits or restrict herself to exclude any food group.

Breakfast: A typical breakfast for her would be a mix of rolled oats and Weetabix cereals. She likes to add soy milk instead of regular milk and a cup of coffee.Lunch/Dinner: For lunch and dinner she usually likes to have a stir fry including a lot of veggies and tofu. She seasons it well with a variety of herbs available. Her carbs option include rice, quinoa, or konjac (aka Shirataki) noodles.Snacks: If she is hungry in between her meals and feels like snacking, she eats chia pudding, some fruits or banana pancakes using a protein powder. She also sneaks in a healthier version of cookies, homemade vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies almost every day because “Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to stick to it,” she says of her approach to eating.https://www.instagram.com/p/B1b9iuiIvJN/

Cheat Meals or Cravings: About eating unhealthy foods or evading her cravings she says it is not really necessary because she goes for healthier versions. She tricks herself with healthy hacks. For example, if she is craving a pizza, she will order one pizza and share with someone and also eat a lot of veggies along with it. “I believe that a healthy diet should be balanced,” she says.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1MQyHUIb2O/She does not believe in calculating her macros or obsessing over how many calories she has had and how many are left, rather she hacks it; “this is a good way to keep control over my daily calories, and there’s always more than enough food,” she tells.

As for her beverage choices, she used to drink every once a week before but now she has replaced her weekly drink with a wine or champagne just twice per month. Her excuse? “I’m French!” she jokes

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1WfToZoKi3/ 

“There are days when I don’t feel like training or when I feel like eating unhealthy food only, and I’ve learned that it’s OK to have those days," she says, adding that the moment she eats smashes her craving by giving the body what it needs and by getting back on track as soon as possible, it feels good. “I feel, overall, so much better—more energy, less bloating—when I’m eating healthy and training consistently that it really is what motivates me,” she continued.

She also likes to inspire her followers through her posts and she does that by interacting with them as much as possible. “Every day I get messages from 13- to 18-year-old girls who tell me they hate their body, that they feel bad about having cellulite and stretch marks," says Zoe, who's proud to be who she is, despite the hate comments who attack her for having fake assets and going under the needles. She does not let them daunt her. "I think it’s important not only to tell them but to actually show that you don’t need artificial enhancements to feel confident in your own body and beautiful," she thinks.

But she does not let that affect her and not her fans so keep them motivated too by keeping it real. “It’s always hard," she says. “Being consistent and the patient is key. Progress takes time.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPC07Ez7iMkAbout her eating habits, she took to social media to address everyone who thought she was undereating or starving herself and other such issues. She wrote:

"CaloriesThis is based on my own personal view & experience, this is what works for ME, there is no guarantee that it is suitable for you.

• Before doing anything, do your own research and/or consult with your doctor.
• I am not encouraging you to do the same as me and you can disagree with me of course, then again this is what proves to be working for me.

HOW MANY CALORIES I EAT DAILYRather than giving you a raw number (because unless you’re the same age, height, weight etc. as me, it won’t be right for you) I will explain to you exactly how I calculate my daily caloric intake, so you can do the calculation for you based on your own measures:

• I adjust my daily caloric intake based on my level of activity, training included.
• Days when I’m active: I multiply my bodyweight in lbs by 15.
• Days when I’m not very active: I multiply my bodyweight in lbs by 13.
• If you know your bodyweight in kg only, multiply it by 2.2 to get it in lbs.
• This is not exact science and I don’t know exactly how many calories I burn on a daily basis but this does work for me

TRACKING CALORIESI recently started tracking calories again because I felt that my diet was getting out of control.I don’t obsess too much over hitting my daily goals, I use it more as a guiding tool to know where I’m at.Here’s what I like doing:

• I use a food tracking app.
• In the morning, I enter the meals I plan to have during the day so I can make adjustments if needed and I know what to expect.
• I set my daily caloric intake on the low range so I have some calories left.

DAY OF EATINGOf course, I don’t eat the same things every day (although to be honest, my meals tend to be very similar) but if you swipe up, you can see what a typical day of eating looks like for me.On training days, I add a protein shake and a banana after my training for example.I hope this is helpful to you. let me know if you have questions and if you want more food posts like this one, please double tap so I know this is something you’re interested in seeing."

Zoe Andersen Daily Routine

That's not all. Zoe thinks being productive and staying active throughout the day is really crucial to your overall well being. That's what she shared what she does in her day to motivate her followers to make the best out of their day too.Check out her Daily Routine here:6:30 amShe wakes up quite early! She makes her first breakfast and just like the rest of us, she hits us the social media to connect with her fans! Here' what she says!"I wake up usually right before my alarm goes off and check my phone to see if my mom messaged me (I can’t help but worry) and I check if there’s anything urgent I need to deal with. I then check my Instagram and take a few minutes to scroll through positive and motivational content to start my day off right feeling optimistic and ready for the day - need the good vibes!Then the only thing that drags me out of bed is my morning coffee I make a quick breakfast and then sit on the sofa with my coffee and I start replying to my audience. If I posted the night before, I’ll have quite a few comments to reply to and I also reply to a few DMs."

9 am9 am probably is the best hour of her day because she gets to sweat it all out! She has her second breakfast of the day with the people she is working out with. Pretty good start, I must say! In her words,"I just arrived at the launch of an awesome brand. Because it’s a fitness-related event, we’re doing a class so I say hi to everyone, take a few pictures, and then get ready to sweat. After the class, there’s a healthy breakfast for everyone, with (vegan) protein shakes, coffee, fruits, etc. We take a (sweaty) group picture, I grab something light to refuel my body, and then it’s time to say bye to everyone and head back home to shoot some content."11 am to 1 pm

This hour is just dedicated to film her content because the light is perfect so she works on her website and her social media handles. In her words,"Usually, the lighting is good at that time in my apartment and I film most of my content from home (home workouts, etc) so I’ll set everything up and film."2 pm to 2.30 pmThis is the lunchtime for her. She clear loves her coffee to be having it with her lunch! Here's what she has to say about it!"I’m starving by the time I’m done so I make something quick (my go-to lunch recipe is usually quinoa with zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, tofu, and some soy sauce) and coffee of course!"2.30 pmOnce she is done with lunch, she hops back on to her social media sites and starts her work again. She spends a lot of time doing research and since she does all the editing work herself, it takes her hours on the computer too. She explains,"After lunch, I start editing the video I’m going to post, I spend some time on Instagram replying to some DMs again and I do my laptop work (emails, planning, writing…).There’s a lot of time spent just behind the screen, planning content, editing videos, replying to emails, etc. Sometimes it takes me a really long time because English is not my native language so I really have to plan everything I’m saying. I do everything by myself (filming, editing) so I do spend a lot of time on my phone or laptop."4 pmAt this time she usually needs her second break, so this is the time for her to run some errands or hit the gym. Yes, she works out twice a day sometimes! She feels that breaking her tasks into smaller tasks is a great idea so that they are evenly distributed in her schedule. Here's what she says,"After a few hours, I usually really need to get out so I’ll meet a friend for coffee or run some errands. I went to a class this morning so no gym for me today. Otherwise, I usually go around 4 to 5 pm because that’s when I need a break, and training really is my therapy. It clears my mind and gives me such positive energy; I feel powerful and super optimistic after my workout and usually spend 45 minutes to one hour in the gym."7 to 8:30 pmShe usually heads out for a good evening snack or dinner with her friends to try some new vegan restaurants or additions in a menu she loves. She reveals,"I’ve got a menu launch to attend in the evening and I’m not going to lie, this one’s got me totally revved up as it’s all vegan! One of the things I love most about Dubai is how many amazing culinary options it has. And how vegan friendly it is. There are new places opening all the time or places adding vegan options to their menu. I’m going with a friend and it’s the perfect girls' date night – anything with a ton of food usually is!"https://www.instagram.com/p/B0Ywcmpngez/9 pmAnd when she gets home, she is back on with her social media because this is probably her second most favorite thing- engaging with her audience (and because the first one is working out!) This is how she does it,"This is when a lot of the work starts! After posting, I engage with my audience so I’ll spend some time replying to the comments and it’s sometimes a bit tricky because I might be out for dinner with friends but I’m posting that night and according to my IG insights, 9 pm is the best time for me to post so I’ll be on my phone for a while. Most of my friends are cool with it but some people get annoyed. I can understand it’s not nice to be with someone when they’re on their phone but on the other hand, it’s part of my job and I always apologize in advance"11 pmThis is when she finally wraps it up and get it bed. But before she dozes off, it's Netflix time for her. She says it's quite important to her, here's why,"I’m back in bed with Netflix at the ready. Before I delve right into my fave new series, I’ll check Instagram one last time. Yes, I know screen time is bad for you before bed but it’s the only way I can get mine to shut down otherwise, it’s constantly working, thinking about new ideas, things to do, etc and I just can’t sleep."

For Zoe, being productive and active throughout the day is the healthiest thing that one can do as it can help show in your workouts and general fitness too. The lifestyle you live is the reflection of your actions, she thinks. And with this routine, she tried to stay as fit as she is now.