Emily Ratajkowski is a busy woman. The model, actress, writer, and mother is constantly on the move, but she always has time to share some cute bathing suit shots on social media. The 31-year-old star posted a photo of herself wearing a red bikini, because there’s always time for swimsuit selfies. How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Ratajkowski stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don’t miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!
Ratajkowski is firm about boundaries, something she wants young girls to be strict about. “For a young girl going into modeling today, I would tell her that the agencies, as much as they seem like they’re protecting you, they’re not,” she says. “You have to learn to have your own limits and boundaries and to take care of yourself. I think the industry really needs to change, but that’s one way that a young woman could protect herself.”
Ratajkowski makes sure to keep her phone out of the bedroom to ensure better sleep. “When things in my life start to feel stressful, or I look at the news and feel like, ‘Oh my God, everything is falling apart,’ it can really feed into anxiety,” she says. “One of the things that I don’t always do and I wish I did more is sleep with the phone outside of my bedroom. I think when you know that your phone is right by you and accessible to you, even if you’re asleep, I don’t think you shut out all of that, on a subconscious level.”
Ratajkowski knows what it feels like to doubt yourself—but she always works through it. “I always felt very sure of the fact that I was never going to be as good as I wanted to be and I think getting past that and just doing it, and even doing something poorly and badly can be hugely important,” she says. “The way to battle self doubt is to keep working. It’s OK to have that feeling; you just have to move past it.”
Ratajkowski knows the importance of downtime and relaxation. “I feel like, at least for me, that was a very new idea in the last two years,” she says. “Most of my life [physical and mental health] were very disconnected, but now I check in with myself more. Sometimes that means ordering a mountain of Thai food and staying at home and watching TV — and that can be wellness. I love eating a meal in bed on like, a Thursday night or whatever instead of going out and just being cozy, you see?”
Ratajkowski’s love of reading eventually inspired her to write a book of essays called My Body. “I’ve been an avid reader my whole life, and it was one of the reasons I didn’t write more, because I had so much respect for wonderful writing that I felt like, ‘Why attempt, why not just appreciate?'” she says. “I’ve always been drawn to sparse, unpretentious writing. Flowery language doesn’t really interest me. It covers it up. It’s often difficult to be very direct and not flowery because you really have to figure out what … you’re saying. I have so much respect for people who are good at that, especially in essays, because the idea of an essay is to get to the root of something, to investigate it.”