By Nicole Berrie
Photography and artwork by Austyn Weiner
TO ATTEND THE BACKSTAGE PRESS JUNKET HELD BEFORE THE ANNUAL VICTORIA’S SECRET FASHION SHOW (which airs tomorrow evening on CBS) could be akin to meeting the President of the United States, only with more security. “Identification please,” an anonymous guard in a dark suit asks in front of a trailer stationed outside of the 69th Regiment Armory building on Lexington Avenue. After I pass the first checkpoint, I am asked to sit in front of a camera where another suited gentleman takes my photo, verifies my identification and prints a press pass bearing my likeness and name. “I feel like I’m about to meet Obama,” I tease, half-joking. The man looks back with a blank stare and sternly replies, “Bigger. We have Taylor Swift.” Touche.
With official credentials in tow, I proceed to the Armory where I’m checked for a third time and only then do I ascend to the bubble gum pink curtained room where a flurry of Angels are perched in pink makeup chairs as an army of GLAM teams attend to their already flawless faces. Karlie! Doutzen! Hilary! Adriana! Candice! Alessandra! They’re all here clad in thigh-grazing, blush-hued silk robes and not much else. Most girls are deeply engrossed in their iPhones, checking Instagram, Facebook, only glancing up to receive a brush of black mascara or dab of under-eye concealer. Meanwhile in the back, Cara Delvingne and Behati Prinsloo try to amuse themselves by tossing breath mints in the air and catching them with their mouth, hooting and hollering like a couple of schoolboys when one succeeds. We’re only hours away from showtime and not a one seem nervous. On the contrary, it feels like a slumber party, complete with a buffet-style meal of Suja pressed juices, fruit platters multiple quinoa salads, scrambled and hard-boiled eggs, not to mention a variety of hot sauce accoutrements. The ubiquitous coffee and cigarettes? Nowhere to be found. Below, bonberi caught up with a handful of those gorgeous Angels on their philosophy on keeping fit, not just in preparation of their personal Super Bowl, but all year round.
Hilary Rhoda
What is your personal training regimen pre-VS show?
I think consistency is key. A lot of people ask me in interviews, “What did you do a week before or a month before?” I say that it’s part of my lifestyle. I go everyday of the year. It’s not something I cram for a specific thing or go on a crazy juice cleanse or diet. It’s just part of my life.
Do you have a specific diet you follow?
It’s about having a good relationship with food. Don’t deprive yourself. Let yourself have the pasta or chocolate but still eat healthy. Just don’t have a huge plate of it.
What are your favorite workouts?
I do Tracy Anderson and Soul Cycle. Those are basically the only two things. I need to feel like I sweat and that I’m gonna die. I played sports my whole life. Field hockey and lacrosse and I played tennis so I think that’s just in my head and in my mentality about it. I like that level of exercise.
We hear you recently got into cooking! What’s your specialty?
I made a mustard, apricot pork tenderloin with green beans and wild rice the other night. Oh and I just got a slow cooker! I’ve been doing lasagna or I’ll make apple cinnamon oatmeal at night and it’ll be ready in the morning.
What did you do this morning pre-show?
I was at Tracy this morning at 6am. It was still dark and freezing. When I got here, I had some eggs with hot sauce and some yoghurt and fruit.
What is your every day health non-negotiable?
Working out. I need to sweat everyday. It just makes me feel good and for my mind. I feel a little bit clearer.
First thing you’re gonna do after the show?
I’m just going to enjoy a glass a wine.
Lily Donaldson
What is your philosophy when it comes to keeping healthy?
Clean living. My mom always says to eat things as close to the original source as possible so things that have not been processed and are from the ground. I grew up pretty healthy. I was lucky to get a good education about that stuff. Obviously I don’t do that all the time, but if you can…
What is your workout regimen?
I like to do Pilates. I’m not a cardio kind of person. I’m more like stretching and that kind of thing. And I horse ride.
Do you like to cook?
I cook everything. I like cooking an English roast. Rosemary is good with vegetables. Olive oil, salt and pepper. I like simple.
Do you have any travel tips?
Keeping the same skin regime. But I love traveling and being in different cultures and trying different foods.
What was the last travel place where the food was amazing?
Tokyo and India.
What did you have for breakfast?
Today I had oats and eggs. I have oats all the time, I’m really English that way.
Jessica Hart
How do you keep healthy when you’re constantly on the go?
It’s hard. Especially with our lifestyles because we’re always traveling and it’s hard to have healthy options. I think it’s always good to force yourself to only have healthy options around. I always try to keep all the healthy stuff in the fridge so that when I’m dying to snack, the only thing that’s left is almonds or I have to cut up fruit or make a salad, so that when I’m really wanting to eat something, I don’t go for the bad things.
What do you keep in your fridge?
I always like to buy a lot of vegetables. But I hate wasting and a lot of the time, all of a sudden I’ll get a job and there will be all this amazing fresh fruit in my fridge that I waste but sometimes it’s just better to have it there to save myself.
What are your favorite healthy snacks?
I love things like radishes and cut up peppers. I just Instagrammed the other day, I was flying to Milan and I cut up all these vegetables. I had snow peas, almonds and I just took them on the plane. I was so happy to have that as an option because plane food sucks.
What is your fitness regimen?
Anything and everything goes with me. I need to have an element of surprise with my body because I get bored. I’m always trying new things. I have a trainer that knows that so he’s always coming up with new things. But other than that, Pilates, Soul Cycle, anything I can find. Any new fad, I’m there to try it out.
Did you have to kick it up to prepare for today?
For probably a month now, I’ve been doing a little bit extra. Every spare second you have, you do a workout because also it’s better to have worked out for weeks before and not so much the few days prior because it’s better to let your body relax. And maybe cut out a little bit more wheat. Every time is different and I go with whatever I can. I try not to tell myself I can’t do anything because then I want to do it.
What’s the first thing you’re going to do post show?
The after party is always fun but unfortunately I have to work in Australia the next day so I can’t really celebrate too much. But I definitely will have a glass of wine and probably a burger.
Doutzen Kroes
Do you have any tips to keeping healthy?
Cooking! I love to cook with my son.
You must travel all the time for work. What’s your healthy tip for traveling?
I’ll go to Juice Press and grab one of those boxed salads that are easy to take on the plane.
What are your favorite healthy foods?
Quinoa and a big salad. I love that. I don’t put food inside my body that’s not nutritious.
Do you have a favorite fitness routine?
I love Ballet Beautiful. I love how it makes your body long and lean and not too bulky.
What did you have for breakfast?
I had scrambled eggs and a smoothie, which I put chia seeds and goji berries inside. My son had oatmeal and avocado.
Jourdan Dunn
You must travel all the time for work. What’s your healthy travel secret?
Snacking. Bring your favorite snacks like nuts and fruit. Bananas are good. A bar, that’s really good. I’m always on the go and sometimes catering is not always up to scratch so a good snack is essential.
What’s your favorite cuisine?
I love Thai and Caribbean food. I just love spicy foods. I’m all for big flavors and spice.
Do you ever cook at home?
Yes! My specialty is curries. I love a good curry. I could have curry everyday. The ingredients depend on if it’s an Indian curry, Thai or Jamaican.
What did you have for breakfast?
Fruit salad and scrambled eggs.
Do you have a fitness routine?
I’m really bad. This weekend I tried to squeeze in a few hours in the gym but it’s like, really it’s not going to do anything. But it made me feel good to say, “Yeah I did something.”
Have the veteran girls give you any advice in walking the show?
I channel my own thing. When I’m at the rehearsals you see them and you’re like, ok, they’re just so confident, so I’m just like, I’m going to do me.
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