Just as mesmerizing as their end-of-runway kisses are their Instagram accounts that include countless workout videos and sweaty post-training selfies.
Sure, it's easy to look at those photos and immediately dismiss their VS Fashion Show prep (#goodgenes). It can't be more challenging than training for a marathon (I ran my first one this fall)—right? Wrong.
I gave myself two weeks to work out and eat like a Victoria's Secret model. I'll say this: It was no party (literally, I could not party) and I still don't have thighs as taut and toned as Adriana Lima's. But, I did learn a thing or two about what it takes to get a model bod (besides winning the DNA lottery). So get ready to take some notes. Or laugh at the craziness of it all. Or maybe do both.
Seriously, she'll work with clients from 4 A.M. to midnight, because, as Heather says, models have crazy schedules. If a girl has to get on a plane bound for Brisbane at 7 A.M., Heather's showing up at her house three hours earlier to make sure her dynamic planks and pistol squats are on point (and completed). This year, Heather, who is a former model and bodybuilder, prepped Vita Sidorkina and Eniko Mihalik for the show, though her roster of clients includes dozens of other models.
Her fitness philosophy, in a nutshell, is this: "You have to train and eat for the body you want. Food and exercise together shape the body, they are not independent of each other. I work with my clients in both areas to help them reach their goals."
She also works her clients out "for aesthetics, not athletics" so many of her fitness moves are tweaked to really chisel the abs, thighs, and butt rather than make you stronger and faster. Everyone has different goals and that's totally fine—and walking the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is one type of goal.
Related: 8 Things That Registered Dietitians Eat When They're Traveling
Starting that day, Heather sent me a workout over text or by email every night. I would do the workout the following morning and then report back to her. For example, one day I had to do three sets of something called a Bulgarian lunge, three sets of curtsy lunges, then three sets of pistol squats (chat with me on Instagram if you want to talk about how ridiculously hard pistol squats are) followed by some ego-trampling plyometrics. (Heather likes jump lunges, squat jumps, tuck jumps, and star jumps.)
Another day I might have to climb on the Step Mill or walk at a fast clip with the treadmill incline raised up to 14 or 15. I would do this for an hour. Yes, AN HOUR. Having just run a marathon, I was used to long workouts, but not at that incline. Heather would email me things like "you're going to kill it at the gym tomorrow" or "people are going to pay to watch you work out." Both messages helped!
Before we started, Heather had me send her a three-day diary of every little thing I put in my mouth. As a food editor I thought I was a reasonably healthy eater so I felt pretty good about what I was sending her, but Heather was not impressed with my diet, especially all the carby snacks I was enjoying such as sesame seed crackers and hemp heart bites. I also had regular cravings for my favorite sweet treats: cookies, chocolate, and ice cream.
A few days before my training started Heather sent me what would be my new food bible. (Spoiler, it was short.) Every morning I would eat a cup of egg whites, 1/3 cup oats, and 1/2 of a banana. Then, a few hours later, 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt and a cup of berries (I usually went for blueberries). Lunch was a protein source (a chicken breast cooked without oil or these delightful little turkey and zucchini burgers I grew to love) plus as many veggies—like kale, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms—as you wanted.
Lunch also included one apple, pear or peach. And let me tell you, I savored that apple a day. Dinner was basically the same as lunch minus the apple, but then, before bed, I could eat a 1/2 cup nonfat cottage cheese with 1 tablespoon of nut butter (the only ingredient could be nuts), and 1 tbsp of cocoa powder plus a sweetening agent like Splenda or Stevia. This one really grew on me and I started to look forward to my little faux-chocolate-mousse more than any other meal of the day.
I was never hungry, which was a good thing because I don't deal well with feeling deprived. Or perhaps I was expecting to feel so hungry that I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't live with constant hunger pangs for two weeks straight. Following a strict plan was hard (obviously) but also kind of nice, because it required absolutely no thought about what I was going to eat. I also liked that the de facto result of this was that I didn't HAVE to think about calories, because the plan took care of that for me. The only planning challenge, really, was figuring out what to do when I couldn't eat my own food.
Related: 12 Foods You Should Always Keep Stocked In Your Kitchen
In typical fashion, my friends ended up changing the restaurant where we were eating two more times so I would send Heather each of those menus. Having this level of accessibility to Heather was amazing, and definitely made me feel even more accountable to my goal. The last place had oysters on the half shell, which she said I could have with vinegar or lemon only, plus a side of steamed Swiss chard (thank you The East Pole for being so accommodating and letting me order off menu).
Heather also told me that if I was going to drink, I was better off choosing a tequila and soda with lime instead of wine because it had less sugar. At first, this was a hard swap to make, since I do love my red wine, but I got used to the taste after a while, and found that the drink made me less tired than wine usually does. It was a compromise I was willing to make for two weeks—I didn't want to cut out alcohol entirely.
Overall, the meal plan had me eating protein for breakfast and lunch (not just at dinner, like I used to) and snacking in a more consistent way, which I enjoyed. Both are practices I'm going to continue even as I ease off the super-strict program.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
By the second week my workout pants no longer felt like designer tourniquets. And, over Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law—never one to pass out compliments lightly—told me I looked "great."
The two weeks were insanely challenging and the program interfered with my lifestyle—grabbing dinner with friends became an ordeal, I was spending time carefully planning my days around my workouts and meals, and I was constantly thinking about what I was eating.
Wanting to sculpt or change the way your body looks is a totally legitimate goal and a personal choice, but when setting your sights on a "Victoria's Secret model body" know that it takes a crazy amount of work (not to mention, a particular type of genetic head-start). I learned first-hand that with the very-specific aesthetic comes a very-specific plan to follow—sacrifices will be made, so it's up to you to determine what takes priority. It was important for me to remember that these models are paid to put in this level of hardcore effort—I still have other obligations and interests (ahem, red wine).
Now that it's the holiday party season, I've backed off a little on the diet but I'm going to try and keep up the workouts as best as I can—they are a welcomed change from my regular training routine.
As for those pistol squats, they get easier. (I promise.)
