What Gwyneth Paltrow really eats and how much she really exercises

Actress reveals how she's learned to take it easy and brush off criticism.

ByABC News
June 1, 2017, 12:04 PM

— -- Gwyneth Paltrow isn't as hard on herself as she used to be.

In a new interview for Edit, Net-a-Porter’s weekly digital magazine, the 44-year-old Oscar winner and Goop founder revealed that she has learned to brush off criticism, doesn't work out nearly as much as she used to and eats whatever she wants on vacation.

"I can’t be on a cleanse all the time," Paltrow said, calling a seven-week cleanse she did last year "awful."

"At home, I loosen the reins: a glass of wine, maybe a baguette dripping in cheese, some fries," she revealed. "On vacation, I eat what I want -- and there’s no exercising, either."

Speaking of exercise, Paltrow no longer spends two hours a day in the gym either.

"There’s just no time anymore. I’m getting old, my back hurts! It’s depressing," she confessed.

Gwyneth Paltrow appears in the latest issue of Edit, NET-A-PORTER's weekly digital magazine.
Net-a-Porter

But with age, Paltrow has found the wisdom to let go of the criticism she regularly receives.

Explaining why she thinks she gets so much flak, Paltrow said. "It’s got a few layers to it. People were fine with me as an actress, but with Goop it was like, ‘Stay in your lane.’ Women in general get a lot of pushback, especially if you’re successful and attractive."

She was quick to add, "I’m not saying I’m attractive. I mean when you’re considered attractive."

The star took a lot of heat when she announced on her Goop website in 2014 that she and ex-husband Chris Martin were "consciously uncoupling."

But she stands by her use of the term.

"People are coming around. I know it’s a dorky term, but it’s very worthwhile," she told the fashion magazine. "I’m always the person who gets s--- at first, but then later people say, ‘Hey, maybe that’s a good idea.’ I don’t mind."

For Paltrow, choosing to make her split consciously was both the best and the most difficult thing she's ever done.

"I wanted to turn my divorce into a positive," she explained. "What if I didn’t blame the other person for anything, and held myself 100 percent accountable? What if I checked my own s--- at the door and put my children first? And reminded myself about the things about my ex-husband that I love, and fostered the friendship? What I put myself through to get there was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life."

Gwyneth Paltrow appears in the latest issue of Edit, NET-A-PORTER's weekly digital magazine.
Net-a-Porter