Walking into the hotel room where Adriana Lima is conducting interviews is like walking into a busy, bustling movie set. Cameras are rolling, lights are shining, but in the middle of it all sits Adriana, poised and professional. With more than a decade of modeling under her belt, you might guess why Adriana would be making appearances in New York – after all, it's the start of New York Fashion Week. But to guess that, you'd be wrong. She's here as the new face of Amazon beverages, a set of coconut-water and tea-based drinks infused with Brazilian superfruits.
"Brazilians have always had a natural approach to healing and just to health in general," she says. "Coconut water is just the best for you; it's always something we had in Brazil. Since I was a little girl I've been drinking it. So of course, this was a great fit."
See what else the model had to say about her two baby girls, her favorite ways to workout and her biggest junk food guilty pleasure!
You have a lot of projects going on at any given time, and you also have two small children! (Valentina, 3, and Sienna, almost 1). How do you personally balance career and motherhood?
The key word is organization! [laughs] I love my job and I love my children. It's really about figuring out your schedules and getting everything down that you need to do and sticking to your plan. Really, truly: organization.
You gave birth to your youngest daughter, and two months later opened the runway show for Victoria's Secret. What was that like? Were you nervous?
That was my biggest challenge in my life, for sure. And no one told me to do that, that was all me. I decided to set that challenge for myself and it really gave me a goal to work towards for getting my body back in shape. And of course, I got my doctor to sign off on it and tell me when I could start my workouts. So three weeks after I gave birth he said, "Okay you can start working out again."
But again you can’t fight nature! I had no idea what was going to happen to my body after I gave birth for the second time, and whether I'd be able to get back into shape or how fast. I did the best that I could, and luckily I was a part of the show. It was a really a great, but tough experience for me. I had my trainer Michael Olajide, Jr. come to Miami and we were working out – but it wasn’t easy. With a newborn and an almost 3-year-old, to find time to workout isn’t easy! That much is true. But we did it, every day.
What's your favorite way to workout?
I’ve been doing boxing for many years – over ten years! The first time I heard of boxing I was about nine years old. My mom had a girlfriend that boxed, and I remember she came in the house with her red gloves and I thought "Wow, those are really really cool!" [laughs] and I was like, one day I’m going to try that. And I came here to New York and I met Michael, and we started working out, and it’s become a passion of mine really. I found this workout because I’m really an energetic person. I love challenges, I love intensity and I also like to challenge my mind. Believe it or not, boxing is not only about physical force. You use a lot of concentration; it’s really mental. So every day you learn something new as well. It’s not boring, it’s not repetitive, and that’s one of the things I love about boxing.
You clearly eat well and exercise, but what's your guilty pleasure food?
I love cakes. Chocolate and coconut cakes. I love that combination!
Your oldest speaks three different languages - what would you recommend others do when it comes to teaching language?
We’re very lucky because I’m Brazilian, so I only speak Portuguese with my kids, and my husband is Serbian, so he only speaks Serbian, and my oldest she goes to school, so at school she only speaks English. Really, you just have to be consistant, and only speak one language [at a time] so they don’t mix it up.
Would you want them to learn other languages?
Sure! If that’s something that they want, we’ll encourage them.
They're growing up so fast! What are they into right now?
Valentina loves to paint. She can paint for hours! She loves glitter, you know those glitter glue sticks, and she puts stickers on everything. She started doing jui-jitsu two times a week so she’s also really into that. And on Sundays, she goes to swimming. She’s really great, she loves to swim!
And Sienna, pretty soon she’s going to start walking, she’s started pushing herself up. She's learning more and more every day and she can say water in Portuguese (ågua) and she can say mamãe and papai, and she’s come up with a nickname for Valentina: she calls her Tatãe!
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is in December! Have you started preparing?
I’m going to start to prepare soon [laughs], after the shoot wraps in Paris, I’m going to start to really work out. But pretty much I can count on my kids to keep me in shape. I’m running around, all day, going to the playground playing house, it’s fun. It’s a fun exercise.
:
