Her name is Tatyana Ali, but most of us know her as “Ashley” from the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Now, here is something that will make some of you all feel old: the bubbly, young girl who acted alongside Will Smith is now over 40–yes, you heard that right, little Ashley grew up! She has aged gracefully into a beautiful woman, but she admits that maintaining her slim body size has not been easy and that it came with struggle.
Tatyana explains, “Like all women, I’ve had to figure out what my body now responds to as far as exercise and eating go. It’s changed. I just want to be healthy and fit in to the clothes that I have.” At five feet and four inches tall, Tatyana confesses that it was hard finding clothes that fit her her body like most Black women.
Even with such a small stature, Tatyana was recently labeled as the “curvy girl” in a magazine that she was featured in. Although the notion that Tatyana is even slightly overweight is preposterous, her point about how the body reacts differently to food and exercise as it ages is valid. We all know that changes, such as slowing of the metabolism, happen over time.
“Health, to me, is more mental and spiritual than physical,” says Ali. “But with the physical, I drink lots of water and sleep. You don’t have to be out all the time. Go home and go to sleep. If you’re comfortable with yourself and you’re being yourself then your health will radiate.”
Now she and her body are in a new transition: motherhood. Her and her husband, Dr. Vaughn Rasberry, welcomed their first child, son Edward Aszard Rasberry, in September 2017 and then her second child in December 2019.
Ali tells ESSENCE the first weeks of motherhood with her new son, named after his grandfather and great grandfather, have been blissful, exciting, and of course, a big adjustment. “It’s so much fun,” gushes Ali. “You try to get ready, but nothing can really prepare you for what actually goes on and what it’s like.” From the moment Ali and Rasberry met their new son, it was love at first sight. “He’s the sweetest,” says Ali. “He’s so sweet, and so far, really chill. I mean obviously he cries, he’s a baby, but [when he does] I just fall more in love. Even when I’m on the other side of the house, I just think about him all the time.”
In order to keep her body in shape post-baby, she attends a spinning/boot camp class. For those that have never been to a spinning class, an instructor guides participants through pedaling on a stationary bike for a certain amount of time or distance and it’s pretty intense. Expect to sweat a lot!
For Tatyana, there is a 30-minute strength training segment at the end of the spinning session. There are countless…
… ways to exercise, but however you do it, her advice is to keep doing it. “Be consistent! Just like everything else in life, consistency counts. Sometimes we want instant results and get frustrated because they’re not coming soon enough or we hit a plateau. If you keep exercising and keep eating right though, results will eventually come.”
After expending large amounts of energy through exercising, the body craves food. Tatyana’s routine diet consists of: poultry, beets, artichokes, yogurt, manchego cheese, broccoli, fish, tuna, black tea, citrus toffees and wild rice. When she is not in spinning class, her workouts usually consist of: leg presses, leg curls, back extensions, wall sits and dead lifting.
These routines may be worth trying because she looks fantastic!
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