Here's What A Victoria's Secret Model Eats To Maintain An Incredible Body

Before we dive into Alessandra Ambrosio's diet and exercise routine, let's warm up with the usual disclaimer.

***Eating and exercising like Alessandra Ambrosio will not give you Alessandra Ambrosio's Victoria's Secret supermodel body, her cascading mermaid hair or her Disney princess nose. This is not a guide, but rather a sneak peek for the ceaselessly intrusive among us.***

Now that we're all on the same page, let's talk about moderation.

Ale told Net-A-Porter's The Edit,

I'm all about moderation and eating something different every day. Obviously I try not to splurge on pasta, but if I'm back in Brazil where everything is pasta- or bread-based -- and so yummy -- I'll eat whatever I want, then go back to lots of salads and chicken or fish with veg as soon as I'm back in LA.

During stretches when she is cutting back, the mother-of-two still stocks up on sweets and wine.

The Victoria's Secret Angel shared,

Whenever I start to diet, everything goes downhill. So if I want a little bite of dark chocolate on a plane or a cocktail with friends on the weekend, I'll have it. In fact, I'll drink a glass of red wine with dinner most nights, and two or three times a week I'll have a cup of tea and a cupcake with [my daughter] Anja.

Ambrosio didn't exercise much before she became a parent, although she's worked it into her schedule over the years.

In my family, no one ever worked out. It wasn't until I did my first Victoria's Secret show that I started exercising. Even when I got pregnant with my daughter and moved to California, I couldn't understand this lifestyle my fiancé [businessman Jamie Mazur] had. For him, exercise was physical and mental at the same time; going to the gym was his friend, whereas it had always been an enemy for me.

In Ambrosio's native Brazil, women's bodies are generally appreciated in their natural, unaltered states.

She recalled,

It comes from that carnival culture, where women will parade around barely wearing a thing—just a tiny bikini, G-string or feathers. Every woman's body is spectacular there, not because it's perfect but because they're loving life. It's never been about having a Barbie-like physique in Brazil but having the right curves, whatever your proportions or size.

Curves are one of the many benefits of motherhood, an experience that drastically altered Ale's habits and perception of her body.

She said,

I think I have a better body now than before I had kids. It's partly because I work out, whereas before I didn't, but also to do with the shape -- it just looks more formed now, and I feel better about it than I did.

Overall, diet, exercise and even cosmetic alterations only do so much to contribute to one's overall feeling of self-satisfaction.

Ale reminded readers,

If cosmetic help makes you feel better about yourself and gives you confidence, then great. None of us can ever be sure of what we're going to end up wanting to do in the future. But it's important to take care of our mind and spirit, too, not just the outside.

Amen, you sage Amazonian queen.

Citations: Body of Work (Net-A-Porter), Alessandra Ambrosio: My Body Is Better After Having Kids (ELLE)