Preparing properly! Olivia Culpo has a very specific eating regimen she adheres to when gearing up for a photo shoot.
The 28-year-old model and current Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover girl told Us Weekly exclusively all about how she readies herself for a shoot and what she celebrates with when it’s all over. “I am not really much of, like, a juicer or a diet [person],” she explained. “For me, it’s all about protein and cutting out carbs. That’s what works for me.”
The Rhode Island native noted that she sticks to meals that are “high [in] fiber” and “low carb or no carb” if she’s “really gotta do it,” and loves eating “all protein” as well.
“That’s what I find to really, like, snatch me,” she explained. “But I think other people have different tips. I think some people need to be vegans. Some people like to do the juicing or, like, smoothing.”
Aside from her high-protein diet, the I Feel Pretty actress does her best to mentally prepare prior to shoot. “It’s all about angles. It’s all about using your body. Everybody has a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful body,” she told Us. “The secret is just knowing where you feel the most comfortable and that will translate so much more than doing four days at the gym or being on an insane diet.”
The Back 40 restaurant co-owner continued: “Mentally prepare and know that you’re ready, know that you deserve to be there. You love yourself, you feel sexy and all these things. I feel like that will always help you feel really, truly confident in who you are.”
While Culpo noted that pre-shoot juices and smoothies aren’t her “thing,” she doesn’t mind imbibing once the photo shoot is all over. In fact, once the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit shoot was complete, she and the other two models who appear on the cover — Kate Bock and Jasmine Sanders — “popped champagne” to celebrate.
“I feel like that’s another thing, you cannot drink if you’re trying to prepare to get bikini ready,” she said. “That’s like an immediate bloat. So that’s always, like, my go to when I’m finished shooting — I want a glass of champagne.”
When she’s not working, Culpo spends her time cooking — she baked a batch of scrumptious cinnamon roll doughnuts in June — and being a doting dog mom to her new puppy, Oliver Sprinkles. “I love him. I’m obsessed with him. He follows me around everywhere and he just cuddles you,” she said of the new addition to her family with boyfriend Christian McCaffrey. “It’s been fun. I never imagined that I would have a dog because I travel so much, but it’s been such a blessing to slow down in this way.”
Though the NFL player, 24, hasn’t actually met Oliver yet because he’s preparing for football season, Culpo noted that her boyfriend and the dog have bonded over FaceTime and will meet soon. “That counts for something!”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
