When the Angels make their way down the catwalk at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, they don’t seem to have an ounce of fat on them! But you can stop envying them, because their pre-show diet and workout regimine is far more unappealing and grueling than you probably thought.
We are led to believe these women are blessed with genes that let them eat whatever they want without gaining a pound, and that they stay in top-top shape with a little pilates or yoga. There’s no denying that genetics play a role in having an Angel’s body (evident by Heidi Klum’s catwalk body just a few months after giving birth), but when the Fashion Show is just weeks away, genetics are pushed aside and it’s crunch time, at least for Adriana Lima.
Lima, an Angel since 2000, has been working out every day with a personal trainer since August, and for the last three weeks she’s been working out twice a day!
“It is really intense, it’s not really the amount of time you spend working out, it’s the intensity: I jump rope, I do boxing, I lift weights, but I get bored doing that. If I am not moving I get bored very easily.”
She also sees a nutritionist who prescribes protein shakes, vitamins, and supplements, and has her drinking a gallon of water a day. Nine days before the show, Lima will stop eating “solids” and only drink protein shakes. Two days before the show she will return to drinking water normally, followed by no water at all 12 hours before the show.
“No liquids at all so you dry out, sometimes you can lose up to eight pounds just from that,” she says.
For the 30-year-old mother and Angel of 11 years, the Victoria’s Secret show is worth it.
“Actually, the Victoria’s Secret show is the highlight of my life. Becoming an Angel, once I achieved that, it was a dream come true for me. And I know that after all this is done, when I sit down with my daughter one day, we are going to look back and it’s going to be very special.”
