Sunday Night Football's Maria Taylor Shares Swimsuit Photo of "Soft Life"

WNBA star and free agent Te'a Cooper has clearly learned to love swimsuit photoshoots since appearing in Sports Illustrated. Cooper, 26, enjoyed some downtime by hitting the pool, and shared the photos on her Instagram. The athlete can be seen posing in the water in a vibrant red bikini, completing the look with a beautiful blue necklace and dark sunglasses, her hair pulled into a ponytail. “Te’a SWIM WEEK 💦🫶 @target,” she captioned the post. “My girly,” commented fellow player Angel Reese. Here’s how Cooper stays fit, beautiful, and on top.

1. Vegan Diet

Cooper cooks her own meals as much as possible. “I recently just tried going vegan for a few months and it was great,” she says. “I felt great. My body felt great. I had a lot of energy. It’s just refreshing. This past year, I just started cooking regularly. I cook breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, so I’m just now getting into that. I guess you can really tell the difference more if you aren’t an athlete, but I really did feel the effect of eating vegan foods in the off-season. Energy-wise, during the day, when I’m not doing anything and I’m not sleepy without practicing stuff, I think that’s when I felt the difference more. It’s a huge difference, honestly.”

2. Sports Illustrated Model

Cooper is a Sports Illustrated model, and while she was surprised to be asked to take part, she was thrilled in the end. Being with her fellow athletes at the shoot in St. Thomas helped make her feel more comfortable. “When I got the call, I initially [thought], ‘Did they call the right person?’” she joked.“It kind of felt like I was getting ready for a game. It was really comfortable. I was super excited to just be with them and see them be out of their element, too. They are so empowering. They just really make you comfortable in your own skin.”

3. Embrace the Roller Coaster

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Cooper believes in embracing the journey, both ups and downs. “Everything’s not always gonna be up — it’s a roller coaster,” she says. “Sports teaches you the beauty of the ups and downs… I think for mental health purposes, enjoy that roller coaster. So, you know, things happen, but it always has a way of working out. So no matter where I am in life, I just feel like it’s gonna work out. Unfortunate things happen, but it’s like I’ve been there before, been down before, so I’m gonna be up soon, and I just kind of stay humble and stay in the middle and just stay steady, honestly.”

4. Fashion Forward

Cooper loves how the WNBA players are becoming known for their fashion as well as their skills. “I took the game day ‘fits very seriously,” she says. “I would say embracing your own style and confidently walking in your own style [is important]. How you see yourself and what you put out there — the evolution of you and just seeing your style grow — I think is the most interesting aspect of it. I love fashion and I definitely want to be on a runway someday!

5. Self-Care Is Self-Love

For Cooper, self-care is about a healthy lifestyle. “I think really, a lot of things are mental,” she says. “People think eating healthy is like you’re on a diet or you’re trying to lose weight when really it can be a lifestyle. Like you just wanna be cleaner, you just wanna be healthier mentally, physically, emotionally, and some of that has to do with your food. I think just focusing on yourself and making sure you feel good is the best advice I can give. Everybody’s story is different and everybody’s emotions are different, so my advice won’t help somebody who’s not me—but just taking care of yourself could help everybody.”

WNBA star and free agent Te'a Cooper has clearly learned to love swimsuit photoshoots since appearing in Sports Illustrated. Cooper, 26, enjoyed some downtime by hitting the pool, and shared the photos on her Instagram. The athlete can be seen posing in the water in a vibrant red bikini, completing the look with a beautiful blue necklace and dark sunglasses, her hair pulled into a ponytail. “Te’a SWIM WEEK 💦🫶 @target,” she captioned the post. “My girly,” commented fellow player Angel Reese. Here’s how Cooper stays fit, beautiful, and on top.

1. Vegan Diet

Cooper cooks her own meals as much as possible. “I recently just tried going vegan for a few months and it was great,” she says. “I felt great. My body felt great. I had a lot of energy. It’s just refreshing. This past year, I just started cooking regularly. I cook breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, so I’m just now getting into that. I guess you can really tell the difference more if you aren’t an athlete, but I really did feel the effect of eating vegan foods in the off-season. Energy-wise, during the day, when I’m not doing anything and I’m not sleepy without practicing stuff, I think that’s when I felt the difference more. It’s a huge difference, honestly.”

2. Sports Illustrated Model

Cooper is a Sports Illustrated model, and while she was surprised to be asked to take part, she was thrilled in the end. Being with her fellow athletes at the shoot in St. Thomas helped make her feel more comfortable. “When I got the call, I initially [thought], ‘Did they call the right person?’” she joked.“It kind of felt like I was getting ready for a game. It was really comfortable. I was super excited to just be with them and see them be out of their element, too. They are so empowering. They just really make you comfortable in your own skin.”

3. Embrace the Roller Coaster

Shutterstock

Cooper believes in embracing the journey, both ups and downs. “Everything’s not always gonna be up — it’s a roller coaster,” she says. “Sports teaches you the beauty of the ups and downs… I think for mental health purposes, enjoy that roller coaster. So, you know, things happen, but it always has a way of working out. So no matter where I am in life, I just feel like it’s gonna work out. Unfortunate things happen, but it’s like I’ve been there before, been down before, so I’m gonna be up soon, and I just kind of stay humble and stay in the middle and just stay steady, honestly.”

4. Fashion Forward

Cooper loves how the WNBA players are becoming known for their fashion as well as their skills. “I took the game day ‘fits very seriously,” she says. “I would say embracing your own style and confidently walking in your own style [is important]. How you see yourself and what you put out there — the evolution of you and just seeing your style grow — I think is the most interesting aspect of it. I love fashion and I definitely want to be on a runway someday!

5. Self-Care Is Self-Love

For Cooper, self-care is about a healthy lifestyle. “I think really, a lot of things are mental,” she says. “People think eating healthy is like you’re on a diet or you’re trying to lose weight when really it can be a lifestyle. Like you just wanna be cleaner, you just wanna be healthier mentally, physically, emotionally, and some of that has to do with your food. I think just focusing on yourself and making sure you feel good is the best advice I can give. Everybody’s story is different and everybody’s emotions are different, so my advice won’t help somebody who’s not me—but just taking care of yourself could help everybody.”

Australian model Elyse Taylor kicked off 2024 with some pool time (after all it’s summer Down Under!) and shared the pictures on her social media. Taylor, 37, posted a snap of herself floating in the water, wearing an Adidas top and football (soccer) shorts. “Footy shorts forever,” she captioned the upbeat post. “Good for ducking behind cars 😂,” a friend joked, to which Taylor responded “My go to.” Here’s how the model stays fit, healthy, and youthful at any age.

1. Confidence With Age

For Taylor, a good wellness routine is all about making her feel confident in her skin. “For me, how I eat and exercise is based on feeling comfortable at work in lingerie and swimsuits, (and being able to keep up with my kid)!” she tells Beauticate. “Modeling is more competitive than ever. I’m constantly on set with 18 year-olds, and I need clients to see us side by side and not think twice about my age. To make sure of this, I follow an eating style that works for me – the blood type diet – unless I’m on vacation or date night. I work out every single day unless I’m spending the day with my daughter. I do genuinely enjoy exercising, and find it really clears my mind and definitely helps get my body moving when I travel so much. I used to work with a trainer, but now I like to do my own thing, including skiing, climbing, swimming… really whatever works with my schedule. I’m pretty active and so is Lila, and I want to encourage that for her.”

2. Blood Type Diet

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Taylor follows the Blood Type Diet, giving up coffee, dairy, and alcohol. “So basically you find out what blood type you are and there’s an app and a book you can read and it tells you what foods are good for your blood type,” she tells Vogue Australia. “Some categories that are great, some medium, and some obviously don’t eat. If you want to be really hard core you just eat the good ones, and it [the weight] literally just falls off. Like your skin, your hair, everything looks better. You know, it’s your blood, it makes sense. Everyone I’ve put on [the diet] has always done those juice fads or all that… and it’s either bloated them or they couldn’t stay on it. At least with this you can eat, but you’re not starving yourself. I found it really great, especially after having a baby.”

3. Taylor’s Day

Taylor enjoys healthy habits throughout the day. “I work out five days a week at the gym in my building or wherever I can on the road,” she tells Women’s Health Australia.” I do 60 minutes of cardio, like fast walking, and then 30 minutes of floor work, with a focus on my stomach, butt and legs. I also love to swim, it’s great for strengthening and toning. I have coffee at 5am when I wake. Breakfast is usually around 6am, which is a green juice and a banana. I eat lunch between 12-1pm and have a chicken salad or egg whites and spinach. Dinner depends where I am in the world, but it’s usually fish and greens. I try to drink lots of water throughout the day but could definitely drink more.”

4. Nude By Nature

Taylor is the face of natural makeup line Nude by Nature. “For day-to-day, I don’t like to use a lot of makeup in my down time so I’ll use the BB cream,” she tells Vogue Australia. “I’ve had this Nude by Nature one for a couple of months now, which is one of the perks of being the face,” she says, laughing. “So I’ve gotten to know the products perfectly. Then the [Nude by Nature] rose highlighter just on my cheeks if I’m going to a casting. I try to keep it as minimal as possible.”

5. Honest About Her Job

Taylor admits her job is literally to look good, and that is simply not realistic for the average person. “Remember that it is my job as a model to be taking care of how I look all the time,” she tells Beauticate. “An average woman doesn’t have the time, the energy or the finances to do that. Even the Victoria’s Secret girls don’t always look how they look in those shows – they prepare full time for months to look like that for one night. You need to focus on yourself and do what makes you feel good. Instagram really can be the worst. My best advice (and something I definitely do myself) is to unfollow anyone that makes you feel awful. Models or not, we are all women. We all carry our own baggage even when we try to put our head down and stay in our own lanes. So don’t make it harder for yourself than it already is.”