Model Adriana Lima is taking some heat for talking about her extreme diet leading up to the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, which features the worlds top models in fanciful lingerie. Leading up to the show, Lima, 30, revealed that she went through a strict regimen of twice-daily workouts and absolutely no solid foods.
Twelve hours before the show, she even forgoes all liquids. “Sometimes you can lose up to eight pounds just from that,” she told the London’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. The 5’8″ Brazilian model touched off a Internet storm with her comments, forcing her to qualify her remarks and backtrack a bit on her claims.
She insisted that her “crazy diet” wasn’t as intense as it sounded. “I just have an athlete’s mind and I appreciate doing this thing,” she told E! Online. “It’s not that I do crazy diets throughout the year. I just do it for this particular thing. After this show, I become normal again!”
She was even filmed backstage at the show last week in New York, snacking on cake and washing it down with water. “I have my Starbucks coffee right there, it was a misunderstanding,” she said. “Those teenagers out there, don’t go starving yourself or only drinking liquids,” she said. “Don’t do that please.”
Lima, who has been a Victoria’s Secret Angel since 2000, gave birth to a daughter in Nov. 2009, but regained her pre-pregnancy physique in record time, thanks to portion control and intense exercise. Adriana, who’s married to Serbian professional basketball player Marko Jaric, 33, says the extra effort is worth it.
“The Victoria’s Secret show is the highlight of my life,” she said. “Becoming an Angel was a dream come true for me.”The 2011 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show will be televised Nov. 29 on CBS.