Victoria’s Secret model Sara Sampaio stays active at home and on her travels, and there are few places more beautiful for outdoor exercises than Bora Bora. Sampaio, 32, shared pictures of herself wearing a red Alo yoga outfit, doing poses on a platform over the stunning turquoise water. “So much to be grateful this year🥹 can’t wait for what 2024 has in store,” she captioned the post. Sampaio has been working since she was 15—here’s how she stays healthy and happy.
Sampaio loves running and SLT (Strengthen Lengthen Tone) workouts. “I’ve been doing a lot of SLT. It’s like a really intense Pilates with a machine,” she told The Cut. “I’ve noticed with my body that small movements have done more for my body than the boot camps. My body moves better when it’s very focused on small movements that elongate your body and your muscles.”
Sampaio enjoys a balanced diet, making sure any indulgences are made up for with healthy options the next day. “I’ve been through, not crazy diets, but I’ve been very strict or not eaten carbs and that made me so crazy,” she told The Cut. “I’m from Portugal — we eat a lot of carbs, like bread, pasta, and rice in just one meal. There’s no worse thing when you want something so bad and you’re like, I can’t have it, I can’t have it. I was stressing so much about it that my body was not feeling well. Mentally, you’re not feeling good. If I want to have a little bread for lunch because it makes me happy, I’m good.”Â
Sampaio likes mixing up her workouts. “I just try to work out three to four, five times a week, depending on how my body is feeling and how my week is going,” she told Hollywood Life. “I’ve been doing a little bit of everything. I’ve been doing some cardio classes, especially when I’m in LA and then I’ll do resistance training or weight training, mixed with a little bit of cardio. Sometimes I’ll go to Pilates, I just try to do a little bit of everything.”
Sampaio put on some pounds during the pandemic lockdowns and loved how she looked. “I really learned to take my body for what it is; love it if I put on weight, love it if I lose weight— we’re all human beings, we fluctuate but I used to be really hard on myself,” she told Elle. “It’s one of those things when you’re in your formative years, you really take it personally but now I’m like, I’ve put on weight this quarantine and my boobs grew and I’m like this is great!”
Sampaio is a firm believer in the benefits of regular therapy sessions. “Therapy has been one of [the things that helps me],” she told The Cut. “You go to the doctor every six months to take care of your physical health, so take care of your mental one. Reading has helped me a lot, and to put things in perspective. I try to be very aware of situations and people. I think being aware of that has really helped me take a little bit back the anxiety in a certain way.”