Sarafina El-Badry Nance is honeymooning in her swimsuit. In a new social media post the astrophysicist and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition model shows off her amazing body in a bathing suit while vacationing in the tropics. “I’ve peaked,” she captioned the series of Instagram snaps, taken while staying at Soneva Jani in the Maldives. How does the newly married scientist approach health and fitness? Celebwell rounded up her top lifestyle habits.
Serafina underwent a double mastectomy after discovering that she carried the cancer-causing mutated BRCA2 gene. “I learned that I had an elevated risk of breast cancer as high as 87% and an elevated risk of ovarian cancer (around 30%),” she recalled to TODAY. Instead of having to undergo a lifetime of cancer screenings every six months, she opted for the preventative surgery that reduced her risk of breast cancer from 87% to less than 5%. “I knew that that was the right course of action for me. It really was a no brainer,” she said. “It wasn’t a fear-based decision. It was an empowering decision.”
Cycling is part of Sarafina’s approach to fitness. While in the Maldives, she shared a little video of one of her bike rides. The Cleveland Clinic explains that biking, a low-impact aerobic exercise, is great for building muscle, improving strength and flexibility, and improving balance. It can also boost mental health and help other health conditions, including arthritis.
Sarafina also enjoys hiking. She even got engaged to her now-husband while on a hike in the mountains. “A weekend of 60k steps in the Sierras,” she captioned one of her posts. According to the National Parks Service, the physical benefits of hiking include:
- Building stronger muscles and bones
- Improving your sense of balance
- Improving your heart health
- Decreasing the risk of certain respiratory problems
Sarafina is a yogi. There is a laundry list of reasons to do yoga, explains Harvard Health. “Researchers found that people who practiced yoga for at least 30 minutes once a week for at least four years, gained less weight during middle adulthood,” they said. “People who were overweight actually lost weight. Overall, those who practiced yoga had lower body mass indexes (BMIs) compared with those who did not practice yoga. Researchers attributed this to mindfulness. Mindful eating can lead to a more positive relationship with food and eating.”
Sarafina wanted to break stereotypes. “I think that the stereotypes of what a scientist looks like and what a body of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model looks like is embedded in my mind, in everybody’s minds,” she told Today. “I think there’s something deeply profound about having to come back into yourself,” she continued. “I never thought (my application) would go anywhere, but it was recognizing in myself I can do this.” She called her photoshoot “so empowering,” especially after undergoing the double mastectomy. “I got to embrace my body in a way that I hadn’t gotten to post surgery,” she said.