Taylor Swift is a woman of many talents, from her sell-out Eras tour, highly-anticipated album re-records, and record-breaking concert film, the singer-songwriter is truly an inspiration. In fact, even Taylor Swift’s openness about diet culture has been a positive influence on fans, according to research published in 2024.
So how does the 34-year-old get into shape for her high-energy performances, and power through tough choreography without breaking a sweat or compromising her impressive vocals?
Much like actress Margot Robbie, when it comes to maintaining her fitness, Swift appears to have mastered the art of balance. And if her three hour-long Eras performances are anything to go by, it’s a philosophy well worth emulating.
Here, we’re taking a deep dive into Swift’s diet and fitness routine, including the tools she uses to prioritise her mental health, and the delicious foods she’ll never go without.
How Did Taylor Swift Get Eras Tour Fit?
While Swift has undertaken many rigorous international tours over the years, she knew that the Eras Tour, at three hours in run length, would be her most ambitious. In her TIME Person Of The Year interview, the star joked that she’d previously ‘toured like a frat guy’, and wanted to do it differently this time.
She began training six months before her first show.
“I knew this tour was harder than anything I’d ever done before by a long shot,” she told TIME.
So, she ran.
“Every day, I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud,” Taylor said. “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs.”
For those unaware, a three hour run could mean Swift was getting through nearly half a marathon (21.09km), if not more, daily (the average person would run between 5-8 kilometres in an hour).
Swift also did strength and conditioning training at Dogpound gym, alongside learning the choreography for the Eras tour performances.
Quite a few marie claire writers attended Swift’s Eras shows in Sydney and could not believe the energy and commitment that she brought out on stage. The star danced and sung her heart out in the hot Sydney weather without ever seeming to tire or miss a note. She truly is a marvel.
What Is Taylor Swift’s Exercise Routine?
Exercise-wise, Swift has been known to frequent Body By Simone when she’s in New York. Founded by Australian personal trainer and former Broadway dancer Simone De La Rue, we love the ‘BBS method’, which combines high-intensity dance-based cardio with body-weight moves and light dumbbells to create long, lean muscles. You can see Swift’s go-to 20-minute workout here.
Running is another way Swift likes to get her sweat on, particularly as it’s a chance to listen to new music and explore new cities.
“For me, running is about blasting a whole bunch of new songs and running to the beat. It’s also good because it makes me find a gym wherever I am,” she told WebMD.
“I’m very much out in the world, and I love exploring the places we go when we tour. It’s important for me to live a full life.”
What Is Taylor Swift’s Diet?
When it comes to her diet, Swift takes a balanced approach, focusing on eating healthily to feel good, but always allowing for indulgences when she feels like them.
“During the week, I try to eat healthily, so that means salads, yoghurt, and sandwiches,” she told WebMD.
“It’s nothing too regimented… I don’t like to create too many rules where I don’t need them. We know what’s good for us, thanks to common sense.”
As far as the weekends go, the songstress favours classic comfort foods as treats.
“I like comfort foods. I love a burger and fries, I love ice cream so much, and I love baking cookies. Actually, I love baking anything,” she said.
Swift also touched on her baking prowess in an interview with Bon Appétit, saying, “I bake pumpkin bread for everyone I know, and make ginger molasses cookies and hot chocolate and chai.”
Her favourite thing to bake? Chai sugar cookies with eggnog icing. She also told the publication that she stocks up on cinnamon rolls and cookie dough, just in case there aren’t any freshly baked treats around when she wants one.
A staunch proponent of drinking plenty of H2O, Swift told Bon Appétit that she’s extremely conscious of staying hydrated while on tour.
“I have so much water in my dressing room—because I drink, like, ten bottles of water a day. That’s pretty much all we have in there,” she said.
We suppose that makes sense when you’re dancing for three hours straight multiple nights a week.
How Taylor Swift’s diet approach inspires her fans
Research published in the journal Social Science & Medicine in 2024 found that Taylor Swift’s openness about her experiences with diet, weight and appearances have a positive influence on fans.
“Overall, Swift’s disclosures of her own eating/body image struggles positively influenced her fans’ relationships with their eating behaviors and body image,” the researchers wrote.
This research speaks to a time when Taylor Swift made headlines for openly talking about her relationship with body image and diet culture. In the documentary Miss Americana, she talks about her previous restrictive eating and how public comments about her have made it hard to not have an urge to diet.
“I tend to get triggered by something, whether it’s a picture of me where I feel like my tummy looked too big, or someone said that I looked pregnant or something. And that will trigger me to just starve a little bit, just stop eating.”
But she also says “it’s better to think you look fat than to look sick”. She’s also spoken in media interviews about how important it is to eat enough food, telling Variety , “Now I realize… if you eat food, have energy, get stronger, you can do all these shows and not feel (enervated).”
How Does Taylor Swift Prioritise Her Mental Health?
Physical health aside, the singer prioritises her mental health through the cathartic act of journaling and, of course, songwriting.
“From a young age, any time I would feel pain I would think, ‘It’s OK, I can write about this after school,'” she told Glamour.
“And still, any time something hurts, like rejection or sadness or loneliness, or I feel joy or I fall in love, I ask myself, ‘Can I write a song about this, so I know how I feel?'”
In the same interview, Swift also revealed that she regularly checks in with herself to keep any negative inner chatter at bay, saying “I keep an internal gauge of whether it’s been a healthy week or not”.
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
