Exactly How Adriana Lima Eats

In a world where many models claim their beauty secret involves “just drinking a lot of water,” and that they love “eating a burger once in a while,” it’s refreshing when someone like Adriana Lima heads to Instagram to get candid about all the measures she takes, sharing sweaty selfies after boxing workouts and photos of her strictly planned healthy meals.

She treats her body as an athlete would, so it’s no wonder she became the face of Puma last October (just in time for the end of her nearly two-decade Victoria’s Secret run). When we caught up with Lima at the launch of the Puma x Maybelline collaboration—a five-piece collection of sweat-resistant makeup—we couldn’t help but ask her about her dedicated regimen.

“I plan to live a long time,” says Lima. “Keeping your body healthy with workouts, it’s important what you put into your body. Eating this way gives you energy so you can have a long day of work and not feel exhausted.” This means going so far as to travel with a cooler full of pre-made meals done by Perfecting Athletes, a South Florida-based nutrition service used by pro boxers and UFC fighters. She’s even outfitted her hotel room with a microwave and freezer packed, vacuum-sealed meals like chickpeas, brown rice, and edamame. As, she wrote on her stories Lima eats for health, “not for pleasure.”

Adriana Lima showing the pre-packaged healthy meals she travels with.

Instagram

“You can have these type of results and instead of having vitamins, you can use food as energy,” says Lima. With all the working out she does—boxing is famously her favorite exercise and she said she regularly goes to train with Michael Olajide Jr. of Aerospace—Lima needs it.

The model continued, “Traveling and being at photo shoots, it’s kind of hard to find healthy food. I have these two girls I’m very lucky to have, Michelle [Ingels] and Paulina [Indara]. They are nutritionists and certified in Chinese medicine so they design my meals depending on what I’m doing at the gym. It keeps me moving.” For those abs? It’s worth it.

As for her beauty regimen, Lima is equally as disciplined. “I have a facialist here in New York, her name is Sandra Velandia and, depending on the season, she always changes” she shared. There’s also a layered skincare routine, which she’s shared on Instagram stories. “I like to use oils like coconut oil on my whole body,” she says. “I’ll apply a face moisturizer, face cream, sometimes it’s heavy, sometimes it’s light, and a serum. I’m obsessed with masks. I use them on a regular basis.”

And while some people opt to wear no makeup to the gym, the Puma and Maybelline spokesperson herself is a fan of doing it for an extra confidence boost. “I wear it for me. I wear it because I feel good. I feel beautiful with it. I don’t think too much about what other people will say,” she said, adding that her favorite tip is to apply and dab lipstick six times to get it to really stay. “I will tell you to try it once. You’ll see it actually works to make you feel good. I mean, why not? Why not!”

If your answer to Lima’s question is “because sweat will get my make up everywhere,” never fear. Longwear capabilities is a key part of Maybelline’s new collaboration. At the launch event, Lima dared to try smudging off her bright, winged eyeshadow with her fingers in front of a packed audience and it didn’t budge at all. The products, including mascara, lipstick, eyeshadow sticks, liquid lipsticks, and a highlighter/blush duo, are all made to endure a sweaty workout and stay on long after.