Brynn Whitfield is just as beautiful, charming, and silly in real life as she is on TV.
It seems almost impossible that the charisma and humor she oozes onscreen translate to a small Zoom square, but they’re present all the same. The newest breakout star for the rebooted 14th season of Real Housewives Of New York has been vacationing in Europe this summer while the show airs. She did, however, host a watch party for the first few episodes back in Manhattan before heading out on her travels.
Her newfound fame has people stopping her on the street (something she’s still getting used to), but she has found it relatively easy to stay true to her very own Brynn Whitfield brand, which involves a lot of off-the-cuff one-liners, deep loyalty to her friends, and a passion for all things health and wellness.
“I was premed in college,” Brynn says. “I’m a huge science girl, data girl.”
Despite her busy travel schedule, Brynn took some time out of her busy schedule to talk to Women’s Health about her health habits, and how she cares for her mind and body.
She follows an adjusted intermittent fasting schedule.
While Brynn doesn’t have a strict time that she stops eating at night, she aims to start her fast by 9 pm. The next day, she doesn’t have her first meal until 2 pm. That means no breakfast for this star.
Instead, she opts for an almond or regular milk latte. She tried the whole “black coffee” thing “but that’s just gross.” (Typical intermittent fasting plans involve no beverages aside from water, tea, and black coffee during the fasting period.)
Brynn is also reading up on glucose levels and how it affects you. “I’m a huge fan of glucose goddess on Instagram,” she says.
She loads up on protein.
Usually, Brynn aims to eat the same number of grams of protein per day as her weight in pounds. “I eat a ton of protein,” she says. “My brother taught me this.”
While keeping that protein goal in mind, Brynn makes sure her first meal of the day is super healthy and full of great nutrients.
Brynn has a go-to Sweetgreen order.
When 2 pm rolls around, that almost always means it’s time for a salad from Sweetgreen. What, you might be wondering, does that special Brynn Salad have in it?
“I have my own little concoction,” she says. “Half the chipotle one, plus half the caesar one…They’ll put the steelhead in with the chicken and they look at me like I’m crazy.”
She’ll then remove the hot sauce, and add “a little bit of rice” for the carbs. Her meal is topped off with a kombucha, which Brynn says she drinks for the probiotics.
But if there’s one thing she will always be sure to order off a menu, it’s a classic Caesar salad. Even if Brynn’s traveling.
“I’m so lame, I request a Caesar salad, I’m obsessed with them,” she explains.
Dinner is her time to indulge.
New Yorkers are famous for their Michelin-starred restaurants, greasy pizza slices, and *very* late dinner times. And as a true New Yorker, Brynn has her fair share of fun restaurants and pizza on the menu. The lasagna and other pastas from an Italian restaurant called Sartiano’s are high on her list, too.
But if she isn’t catching up with friends over dinner, she will order from one of the many nearby restaurants near her West Village home.
“I’m a big DoorDash gal, GrubHub, or I meet up with friends,” she says. “I allow myself to have a glass of wine. I eat whatever the hell I want for that meal because that’s like the whole point.”
If Brynn is drinking, it’s probably an organic red. “I always have a bottle of Morgon Marcel Lapierre in my decanter. I could bathe in it,” she says.
Her taste in dessert is sentimental.
From a gelato spot around the corner of her apartment, to cheesecake from Eileen’s Special Cheesecake on Grubhub, Brynn isn’t one to miss out on dessert.
“I was missing my grandma, and she used to make these yellow cakes with chocolate frosting,” she recalls. “So, I found this grocery store that sells [Betty Crocker cake mix with frosting]. I bought it. I didn’t have the eggs here, I’m staying at my friend’s house, so I put my finger in the icing and I ate it. I went back like six times.”
She’s always got healthy snacks and teas on-hand.
Brynn is a self-described “late night snacker” which means she tries to keep her apartment stocked with healthy options.
Sometimes it’s the Trader Joes Greek Yogurt with Honey, or Activia yogurt, and other times it’s just another healthy snack option. But Brynn knows that if she has snacks lying around at home, she’s going to eat them. So, her mantra is simple: “Just don’t buy the shit.”
The star also keeps a lot of Yogi tea on-hand. In fact, she has a steaming mug nearby while she’s doing her interview. “I have probably thousands of teas in my house,” she explains.
Her favorite restaurant in New York is…
Not Catch. But you knew that already.
It’s actually Sant Ambroeus, a chic Milanese café with locations in New York City, Palm Beach, and Southampton. On the weekends, this RHONY star will post up with her hard copy of The New York Times at the restaurant’s West Village location. She’ll munch on an almond croissant, bacon, and another little treat as she combs through the paper, front to back.
By lunchtime, you might also find her at a different Sant Ambroeus with the gals. “I love it there,” she says.
If Sant Ambroeus isn’t on the docket, you might also find Brynn munching on paella at another one of her local West Village favorite spots, Sevilla. But in general, any good Italian restaurant is a winner for Brynn.
You won’t catch Brynn doing cardio.
In one incredibly iconic scene from this season, Brynn struts around in a fur coat as the rest of the RHONY crew undergoes a brutal outdoor workout with a trainer in the Hamptons. And while the fur jacket seems like a good enough excuse to skip cardio, it turns out Brynn isn’t really a big fan of working out in general.
That said, strength training is Brynn’s go-to for helping her feel her strongest and most fit. “I’m not a cardio girl. I can’t stand cardio. And I don’t see any results,” she explains.
The only exception would be walking around the city. This Manhattan queen is all about strength training and found fitness. “I walk all over New York. I walked from the Met museum downtown like multiple times a week just running errands.”
She does have a favorite (short) workout class.
If she’s in New York and wants to hit up an exercise class, Brynn’s absolute favorite is Sweat 440, a four-station, 40-minute class that involves strength training, cross training, and HIIT.
“I’m a massive advocate,” she says. “I love Sweat 440 because I’m late to everything. They allow you to walk into the class like there’s a class starts every 10 minutes you can just jump in.”
Plus, the shorter classes are more Brynn’s style, anyway. “I can’t do 50-minute classes. I’m looking at the clock I’m like, ‘Get me the hell out of here. Can I just make up an excuse and run out? Can I have diarrhea?’ I’m always like trying to think of something to leave.”
Occasionally, she will hit up Barry’s Bootcamp class for a little sweat sesh, but mostly when it’s convenient during her travels.
“There’s Barry’s everywhere,” she explains. “I go to Barry’s Paris, London, New York, LA.” But, she admits that “sometimes it can be a little intimidating if it’s been a while since I’ve been there.”
I, for one, can’t wait to see what else this star gets up to as the rest of the RHONY season airs. And I might just have to settle down to watch this Sunday with my very own Brynn Bowl from Sweetgreen.
Currie Engel is the associate news editor at Women’s Health. She previously worked as an award-winning local reporter specializing in health investigations and features, and as a researcher at Time magazine.
