Newly anointed Victoria’s Secret Angel Barbara Palvin knows that she has to take her diet and fitness regimen seriously to maintain her toned model’s body. But as she told Us Weekly exclusively when we caught up with her at the new Incredible Collection by Victoria’s Secret launch in NYC in April 2019, she’s here for it!
“Being a Victoria’s Secret model is not just work, it becomes your lifestyle,” the Hungarian model tells Us. “So even before I became an Angel, I started to get a routine into my life, working out every day or four times a week and eating in a certain way that works for my body. I’m just doing that.”
The 25-year-old star — who has been dating Dylan Sprouse (yes, the twin brother of Cole Sprouse!) for just over a year — doesn’t take group fitness classes. “I’m too shy for that,” she explains. But she does work hard with her personal trainer in Hungary, and when she’s in NYC, “I train at Dogpound,” she says of the celebrity-approved gym that Ashley Graham loves. “They have special things — all the straps, weights — it’s painful.”
One particular exercise that pays off for her booty is a reverse lunge on a stability ball. “You have the ball, you put one leg on it and one behind you. So you bend down straight and put your leg back straight, stand up and then go down,” she explains. “You do that eight times, both legs, and actually if you do it before a shoot, for example, it really lifts your butt.”
And having a workout buddy always helps with an intense strength training session. “I did work out with Alexina [Graham] for awhile because we are really good friends,” she says. “It was actually funny that we both got the Angel contract now. We’ve been knowing each other for awhile so I would work out with her.”
To motivate each other, they keep it simple. “Like, ‘Hey dude, don’t be lazy!’” says Palvin. “Actually, we both wanted [to be Victoria’s Secret models] for so long and when she started to work with VS three years ago, I was like just wait for me, I’m coming, I’ll be there soon,” says one of VS’ newest Angels. “So it’s kinda like, now we’re here, now we have to show the world.”
As for Palvin’s diet, she aims for balance. “I do the 80/20 thing. Eighty percent of the week I do chicken with vegetables, fish, or granola in the morning or oatmeal and then I’ll do 20 percent of cheating,” she says. Those high-calorie treats look like “having a drink with friends or having a burger,” she adds. “I always need that. So, once a week there is definitely a little indulgence.”
After she and Sprouse, 26, moved in together to their NYC apartment, weeknight dinners became a shared event. “I cook more, but he does when he thinks that I’m stressed,” she tells Us. “He’s got this meat and greens soup from a family recipe and he would always make that for me.”
With reporting by Fortune Benatar
