Rita Ora, the British singer, songwriter and actress, got a new tattoo and wanted to share it, and her bathing suit body, with the world. “I got blessed by @winterstone,” she captioned a recent photo dump, tagging the Los Angeles tattoo artist, “ate amazing food - saw a pink sky - just a few cool things I wanted to share with you all. Happy Sunday love you. 💫☀️.” How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 7 ways Rita Ora 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!
1. Here’s How She Keeps it Cool
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Ora likes “cold showers. I really believe in them for the morning, especially. It’s the only thing that wakes me up. Cause I don't drink coffee, so I need something to be like, brrrr,” she told Vogue Australia. She also likes a cold “jade roller. I always believe in the cold, it takes down the inflammation. So I'm a big jade roller fan.” Speaking of cold, consider adding ice to your drinks. In one University of Utah study, diet participants who were instructed to drink two cups of water before each meal lost 30 percent more weight than their thirsty peers. And you can magnify the slimming effects of H2O by adding ice. German researchers found that six cups of cold water a day could prompt a metabolic boost that incinerates 50 daily calories. That’s enough to shed 5 pounds a year.
2. Here’s Her Exercise Routine
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“I do circuit training. I usually work out for one or two hours, depending on how much time I have,” she told Shape. “I do three circuits and repeat that three times. I mostly focus on my thighs and my bum, so I do a lot of squats and weight lifting. And I do one circuit of cardio. What I’ve learned is that you can take your time with training. You don’t have to beat yourself up as long as you get in the workouts that you need. I used to push myself until I felt sick. But I’m approaching it differently now. I enjoy working out. And I like the aftermath—that feeling of contentment.”
3. She Exercises to Feel Better, Not Look Better
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“I didn’t start working out to get skinnier—I started working out to feel better,” she told Shape. “And I think it’s important for women to know that.” She also feels better doing what she loves. “Music really makes me happy. Just seeing my fans sing back to me and watching them digest something that I've made in a room of four walls. It's just, there's nothing like it. So just connecting with my fans, musically is the best,” she told Vogue Australia.
4. She Ups Her Protein
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Ora eats eggs for breakfast and chicken and fish for lunches and dinners. Great choice. Protein is kryptonite to belly fat, and the building block of a lean, toned belly. When you eat protein, your body has to expend a lot of calories in digestion—about 25 calories for every 100 calories you eat (compared with only 10 to 15 calories for fats and carbs). Not only that, protein is more filling. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that a high-protein meal, as opposed to one high in carbs, increases satiety by suppressing the hunger-stimulating hormone ghrelin.
5. She Avoids Bread and Sugar
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Ora avoids bread and sugar. Avoiding added sugars is essential to a healthier and happier life. According to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease more than doubled for those who consumed 21 percent or more of their calories from added sugar. (To put that into frightening perspective: the average American man eats 2200 calories a day and gets 496 calories, or 22.5 percent, from sugar. The average American woman eats 1858 calories and gets 400 calories, or 21.5 percent, from sugar.) One of the easiest ways to reduce your added sugar intake is to cut out sugary drinks and processed foods—that’s anything with a label that lists more than one or two ingredients.
6. Here’s How She Gets Through Her Day
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“I have this sort of peppermint oil thing that I do, which is basically like you breathe in and you kind of do that”—she puts the oil in her hands, rubs her palms together and breathes it in. “I'm big into meditating and breathing techniques. It helps you get through the day.” She also has a few self-help gurus. “My self-care gurus really started off with the women in my life and my mother was very into looking and feeling good. She was always very glamorous, had her nails done and her hair done and always had a pair of tweezers in her hand. And she would always kind of find something to pick.I always remember thinking, whoa, how much can one person do to themselves? But then I realized grooming is also like self soothing. So it does a lot of soothing for me by just grooming myself as simple as a body cream and a body oil. That is like my kind of salvation, really, when I get home,” she told Vogue Australia.
7. Here’s How She Winds Down
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“I like to sleep in because I always have to wake up to go to work. So when I'm not working, I like to sleep and get up and work out and kind of take my time,” she said to Vogue Australia. She also likes: “Reading, hiking. I like exploring. Oils.” To wind down at night, “I wash my face. I brush my teeth, I do a bit of flossing. And then I get in bed and it's the way I kind of wash my day away.” Also: “I like to read a lot. I also meditate. Think it's really important to sort of decompress the day. I sometimes write things down. I watch a bit of TV, even if it doesn't make any sense, just to kind of get my mind out of what I've been doing.”