Getty Carrie Underwood performing at CMA Fest in June 2022
This week, country superstar Carrie Underwood gave fans a fascinating peek into what a day in her life is like while on the road for her massive “Denim & Rhinestones” tour. On February 6, 2023, the “American Idol” alum uploaded videos of herself all day long in her Instagram Stories, from waking up on her tour bus at 8:15 am to the moment her head hit the pillow several hours after her concert in Atlanta. Among the fascinating tidbits she shared was a look at her daily diet while on tour, which includes lots of vegetables and protein — and a little wine, too. Here’s what you need to know:
Carrie Underwood Shares Very Specific Diet & Exercise Routine on Tour
As Underwood travels from city to city on her tour bus, she follows a strict diet and exercise routine that she said helps her be her best during each performance. Though she said she typically wakes up at 8:30 am, she woke up a bit early on February 6 and began sharing her day around 8:15 am, while still under the covers as the rumbling sound of the bus — traveling from Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlanta — could be heard in the background.
Carrie Underwood’s Morning Routine:
The mom of two boys shared a photo of a Bible and several journals along with a mug with a large “C” on it, writing, “Coffee and Jesus to start the day off right…”
Makeup-free and wearing a teal robe, she then shared what she typically eats in the morning.
“Breakfast on the bus…I don’t really eat a lot of breakfast,” she said. “I probably wouldn’t eat anything if I wasn’t gonna go workout, but I get really hungry when we’re working out, so I need something.”
Holding up a golden turmeric Urban Remedy bar, she continued, “So, nine days out of 10 I eat one of these bars for breakfast — either this one or a different flavor, and that seems to be enough but not too much. And I try to avoid dairy on show days because it does make a difference.”
At 10am, she took fans inside her workout session in a mobile gym, wearing a Body Armor tank top; Underwood has promoted the sports drink on her Instagram page before. When she excitedly asked her fitness trainer, Eve Overland, what she had planned for her, Overland responded, “All the things!”
Carrie Underwood’s Afternoon Routine:
At noon, Underwood could be seen sitting at a small table with a plate containing two hard-boiled eggs cut in half, as well as a pile of lupini beans, which Food & Nutrition says are actually a member of the pea family, and a pile of edamame, which Food Network says is a soybean that’s harvested before ripening.
“Alright, it’s lunchtime on the bus,” Underwood said in her video. “Today I have some edamames, some lupini beans; I eat these literally almost every day as a snack because they have a lot of protein and I like beans.”
She continued, “And eggs! I will get eggs from our chickens whenever we roll through town. I’ll bring them with me, put them in the fridge on our bus. I’ll boil them on our days off and cook with them and stuff like that. I love eggs. I eat a lot of them.
After a 12:30 pm shower, Underwood paged through a lookbook of different outfits to choose from for the show that night, and then headed to get her hair and makeup done by Whitney Gregory at 2:15 pm. Two hours later, she was on stage for a soundcheck.
Carrie Underwood’s Evening Routine:
At 5 pm, Underwood shared a photo of her dinner, writing, “Same dinner, every show day. No exceptions.”
In the middle of a large white plate were two scrambled eggs alongside half of an avocado mashed up. There was also a container of vegetables with hummus, including a couple of small carrots and cucumber wedges, several asparagus spikes, red and orange peppers, and baby tomatoes.
After dinner, Underwood changed into a new outfit, chosen from a rack of clothes and multiple boot options, for a backstage meet-and-greet session with fans. At 7 pm, she had changed into a t-shirt and sweatshirt, saying she was “back in my comfies,” for time alone to stretch and meditate before her highly-physical performance, which includes aerial acrobatics.
“I do a bit of stretching and stuff, kind of getting my body ready for the aerial things that I do but also for just being on stage,” she said. “There’s lots of stairs and I’m kinda running around in high heels. I feel like stretching and getting my body ready for that kind of helps my mind-body connection and makes me a little more stable on stage.”
Following her concert, which included multiple outfit changes beneath the stage filmed by a member of her team, Underwood returned to the camera at 11:20 pm, still with full makeup on — including rhinestones all around her eyes — but she was back on her bus and holding a glass of red wine.
“I have a little wine, a little cheese ’cause I’m starving and this is my reward,” she laughed. “Now I have to try to make myself sleepy because there’s just a lot of stimuli out there and all my senses are on alert. So, hopefully I can get sleepy at some point.”
Underwood then shared a video from the same spot where she began the day — in bed with her head on the pillow — at 1:15 am.
Quietly, she said, “Hopefully I’ll get a good night’s sleep and we’re gonna wake up and do it all again tomorrow in Charlotte.”
Carrie Underwood Unwinds By Growing Her Own Food
Parker Young/AudacyCarrie Underwood sits down with Katie Neal at Audacy’s 2023 Totally Private concert event
One of the ways Underwood unwinds after she gets home to her family in Nashville is by gardening. During an interview with Katie Neal before Audacy’s annual Totally Private concert, Underwood said that she recharges by working out and being active, but also growing her own food.
“I’ve gotten super into gardening over the past few years,” she told Neal. “I love that I’m so excited to, like, order seeds and start seeds and order trees and plant things. It just makes me very happy. And I feel like it’s a very healthy hobby to have as well.”
But Underwood said her gardening talents only seem to work outside, not on her indoor plants.
“I murder every plant in my house,” she revealed. “In my house, I will kill it. But if it’s in the garden and I can eat it later, I’m gonna actually put in the time.”
Underwood said her biggest crop over the past year was likely her 38 tomato plants, but she has also been growing squash, okra, lettuces, spaghetti squash, beets, carrots, and black-eyed peas.
In June 2022, during a virtual interview with Neal, Underwood said that she has learned over time that prioritizing vegetables and protein in her diet helps her feel and perform better, so it’s why she is so regimented with her eating and exercise on tour.
She said, “You get to a point where it’s like, if I eat ‘off script’ in that context — in life, it’s fine — but in that context it’s like…if your body doesn’t process it as well or makes you kind of bloaty or makes you feel slow or whatever it is? It’s like, I know what that’s going to do.”
Underwood said of her preferred diet, “It’s good, healthy fats and protein and it gets me through the show without making me feel like I just ate a lot of food.”