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Lindsay Ellingson has walked in eight Victoria’s Secret runway shows, so when we had the chance to hear details about the diet and exercise regimen she follows, we were ready to take notes. Apparently, the 31-year-old lingerie model doesn’t subscribe to fitness fads, but rather relies on her New York–based Pilates instructor for twice-weekly workouts, which she balances with high-intensity cycling sessions and weight-lifting. When it comes to her diet, Ellingson—who also has worked brands including Chanel, Gucci, and Clarins and recently launched a campaign for Fruit of the Loom—is all about quinoa, and shared the exact ingredients she adds to her go-to lunch. Keep scrolling to see her complete food and fitness diary.
For breakfast I had:
Today I had yogurt muesli with an English breakfast tea.
For lunch I had:
I’m in St. Tropez right now, so it was just delicious: sea bass with ratatouille at my hotel. [That meal] isn’t a normal lunch for me, but I feel like when you’re by the sea you just have to have the fresh fish. But for an average lunch, I love having kale salads, I’ll go to Juice Press or any local juice shop and just get a salad. I love Sweetgreen, they have great quinoa salads. I love to put quinoa, kale, tomato, a little bit of feta cheese, avocado, and then balsamic vinegar and oil.
@lindsellingson
For dinner I had:
Oh gosh, I was on a plane again! But usually I buy an organic roasted chicken, make baked sweet potatoes, then have a quinoa salad. I’m obsessed with quinoa as you can probably tell by now.
I love snacking on:
There are these things, do you know Chia Pods? Have you seen those before? They’re really good, and they come [in] a coconut flavor that’s really good, or I’ll just grab an apple with almond butter. [I like] Justin’s [brand of almond butter], the crunchy one.
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My all-time favorite workout is:
Right now it’s Pilates, though I change it up all the time. I’m doing private training with Annie Venier at Le Petit Studio NYC. She is incredible, she’s really changed my body. She tailors everything to your body and what you need, so it’s a great workout. I do that two days a week and then I switch up in between. I’ll also do 30 minutes of cycling—I really love cycling and prefer it rather than running, [which] feels hard on my knees. I do weight-lifting with really small weights as well, I do that with my husband. I use 10- to 20-pound weights for 20 minutes, repeating each motion five times. In total I would say I do four workouts each week since I take Friday through Sunday off to let myself relax.
MORE: This Pilates Workout Will Tone Your Butt
The one thing I would never eat is:
A licorice jellybean or black licorice.
My go-to healthy drink is:
I have so many. Right now I get this drink at a small place called Tiny Empire, and it’s a spicy citrus drink; they have grapefruit, orange, cayenne, and ginger. I’m really loving that.
My go-to smoothie ingredients are:
I usually do a little bit of protein powder, almond milk, strawberries, and Justin’s almond butter. It kind of tastes like an almond butter and jelly sandwich, but way healthier.
My favorite healthy restaurant is:
By Chloe. I love the quinoa salad.
@lindsellingson
The next big health and fitness trend will be:
Right now everyone’s really into boxing, although I’m not really into these trends, and I kind of stick with what works for me and the classic workouts that elongate your muscles [like Pilates]. Underwater cycling is also becoming popular.
My signature healthy dish is:
Actually, my husband, Sean, loves to make chicken apple salad. It’s kale salad with roasted chicken and apples—he makes that for me all the time! One of my specialties is tacos, and I’ll use corn tortillas, so everything is gluten-free. Right now I’m trying the gluten-free diet, and I’m really liking it. I’ll also add turkey, kale, fresh tomatoes, and a little bit of cheddar and fresh salsa. I’m from California, so my mom, when I was growing up, made these amazing tacos my whole life.
MORE: How to Get a Bigger Butt, According to Kim Kardashian’s Trainer
The songs on my workout playlist right now are:
I’m loving the new Drake album [Views] and I’m listening to “Controlla,” Rihanna‘s “Sex with Me,” and Busta Rhymes, “I Know What You Want.” I also love Selena Gomez and a lot of old school hip-hop, too.
My guilty pleasure food is:
Anything that’s crisp, like apple crisp, or fruit crumble with vanilla ice cream. Love that! Also, I just moved to Williamsburg [Brooklyn], and there is one [restaurant] in Greenpoint that I just went to with Sean, Five Leaves, they have these amazing ricotta pancakes, but you can eat healthy [there] if you want. It’s the best brunch place.
The Instagram accounts I’m obsessed with are:
@fatmascara, @byrdiebeauty, @catquinn, and @beautyisboring_. They keep me inspired and motivated and introduce me to new trends and other different things that I wouldn’t have known about.
@lindsellingson
My favorite activewear brand is:
I have so many, I mean, I love Gap Athleta. I think like the quality of the material is on point, it’s really comfortable, and they have great styles.
When I work out I normally wear:
A legging with a cute little cropped sports bra. Athleta actually sells them—they have really [cool] matching sets.
Right now I’m working on:
A new campaign with Fruit of the Loom. I was flown in to visit this concept underwear store, I thought it was called FRUT, and I go to the register, I was so surprised that it was actually Fruit of the Loom, packaged underwear, and I haven’t shopped for packaged underwear in years. So it was a really cool way to show that what’s inside the package is what counts, and you could really feel the quality and you could see the variety, and so they totally changed my perception of packaged underwear. My favorite pieces, I loved the boy shorts. I wear them almost every night, they’re so comfortable to sleep in and they also have this lacy brief, which is really flirty and cute.
I start an average day by:
When I wake up the first thing I do is play with my dog Carly, she’s so funny and I put on my kettle and I make tea right away, I’m very “English!” Then, I watch the news a little bit, make my breakfast, and start answering my emails.
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