Aussie Model, Instagram superstar, founder of Body by Ellie, and most recently, the face of Stylerunner’s highly-anticipated FLIGHTMODE campaign, Ellie Gonsalves, 26, is serious fit girl goals.
“She personifies exactly what it means to inspire her community through fitness,” says Stylerunner Founder & CEO, Julie Stevanja — which is why Ellie was hand-picked to showcase the exclusive activewear line, fusing feminine prints with strong, bold silhouettes, a reflection of Ellie herself.
Opening up to Amodrn about how she was bullied growing up, Ellie has learnt to develop a thick skin through years of working in an industry riddled with critics. “I think I gained a lot of confidence from just focusing on taking care of my body and how I wanted it to look and feel in it instead of what someone thinks they have the right to make me feel,” Ellie says.
Now sharing details of her personal and professional happenings with over 1.6 million followers, Ellie is no stranger to people telling her how she should and shouldn’t be living her life. “I built my career with the assistance of social media and it’s so hard being yourself when EVERYONE in the world feels like they can pick and poke at you and tell you what you should be, what you aren’t or what you will never be.”
Here, Ellie reveals her secrets to inner happiness and non-negotiables for living her best life.
How would you best describe your health and fitness philosophy?
Over the years I have found that for me, it’s not about working out like crazy, or eating strict meals or counting calories or whatever people count these days. The most important thing I have come to find not only about health and fitness but about life in general is it’s ALL about a realistic balance that fits your lifestyle. If you are unrealistic with yourself, that allows no room for your personal happiness or freedom and then you get caught up feeling guilty for snacking or missing a session or two.
I have come to find it’s okay to have that donut, cookie dough or chocolate… however for me, it’s all in moderation and that keeps the balance for me.
If I indulge, I keep that in mind the next morning I am in the gym or I might squeeze a few little extra movements or extra cardio in my workout. If I miss a workout because I’m flying, I might just have half the donut instead of the 18 I would normally have! [laughs].
What workouts do you enjoy and do you currently have a favourite?
I love having a variety of workouts as you would see in my Body By Ellie Program because I get bored if I’m doing the same thing over and over again. I love training legs though, I feel like I get such a great sweat going and I always really love feeling strong. I am also a huge fan of chin ups and push ups, they are SUCH a great strength building movement, and, you can almost do them anywhere you are!
Can you describe for us your day on a plate?
I try to have 5 meals a day — sometimes 6 depending on how long my day has been. For example; If I have an early call time for a shoot or I need to be on set which requires me to be awake between 4-5am, I will usually start my day with a smoothie packed with protein, healthy fats and carbohydrates, I will generally have my supplements and a green tea. Following that I have a snack, lunch, another snack, dinner and a little treat like a small amount of frozen fruit following that.
I keep my meals healthy and clean 80% of the time, because I know my food is my fuel/energy, I fuel myself to push through my days or I know I will run out of steam.
What is the first thing you do when you wake up of a morning?
I snuggle my dog Daisy for five minutes, check my emails, then go to the gym and start my day with a workout. I MUCH prefer working out in the mornings before I have breakfast instead of an afternoon or evening workout. It sets the tone of the day for me and gets my brain working. Plus you get your workout out of the way for the day and don’t have to worry about fitting it in or feeling too tired/unmotivated!
What are some beauty rules that you live by?
I enjoy taking care of myself from the inside out and that reflects through my skin, my eyes, nails and hair. I drink plenty of water, exercise regularly, use good quality beauty products, take supplements and eat healthy to nourish my body with everything it needs to thrive. I was also taught from a young age to look after my skin, so I VERY rarely sit in the sun. I use anti-aging eye cream, protect my face and skin with SPF and keep my skin very well moisturised.
I love taking care of my skin, it’s the largest organ of the body and if you are good to it, it will be good right back to you!
How do you stay fit and healthy while you travel?
For me it’s all about routine, healthy food, tonnes of water and supplements (I.e. supergreens, celery seed extract and a multi-vitamin). Travel obviously disrupts my normal routine, but if I workout before I get on a plane and somewhat soon after my flight while eating healthy food consistently and staying well hydrated, my body responds well.
I take my resistance bands, headphones and I have my Body By Ellie program on my iBooks app so I have no excuse, I just have to get it done and I feel great afterwards and nothing beats that post workout feeling you get — it also kicks jetlag’s ASS!
With a background in modelling, has there ever been a time where you struggled with self-confidence? If so, how did you overcome this?
Absolutely, I think it’s something every girl struggles with throughout their lives, I know I have and sometimes do have those moments still if I’m having an off day. Because I was bullied through school I developed quite a thick skin from a young age. But that doesn’t prepare you for some people in the modelling industry (I’m sure it’s similar like that in all different industries). I’ve been told I’m too much of something or not enough of something else more times than I can remember.
What the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
To be myself… and I know that might sound SO cheesy and obvious, but it’s something I definitely struggled with from time to time growing up and I know a lot of other people who I am close with can also relate to this. I felt like I didn’t fit and I could never be myself and for that I hated myself for a very long time. But when you embrace who you are, you just don’t have to pretend to be anything else and the people around you who really love and accept you for who YOU really are shine through.
I have come to find my relationship with myself is the most important thing, because then when you love and accept yourself, you can fully love and care for those people around you.
My circle of influence is such a big part of that. Surround yourself with people who are supportive, fun and loving — real people you want to be around who also reflect the same qualities, then you will thrive. My dad always use to tell me, don’t worry it will be better in the morning… so be proud of who you are, do your best and theres no better time than right now to be who you truly want to be.. tomorrow is a new day. They’re the bits of advice I have taken on board over the years.
What is one thing that you want your followers to know when it comes to Insta VS real life?
Here’s the thing, it’s a realistic balance for me, I try and keep my social media as real life as I can. I like to keep a few things in my life private while also knowing that my social media is as much of a business platform as it is a direct link to building relationships with people from all over the world who feel like they resonate with my social.
But, everything you see online is just what they want you to see. Life is not perfect for anyone, even if you’re Beyonce or Kimmy K. If people really understood that, I think there would be a lot more happy and content people in the world not trying to compete for best looking Insta life. It takes months, sometimes years to shoot a movie, and yet they chop the heck out of that down to a 90 minute display all of its amazingness.
They don’t show you the thousands of rewrites they had to do, the natural disasters that stopped shooting from happening, the actors forgetting their lines, the colour grading, the inserting of audio after it’s all shot etc. We just see the polished product and THAT is social media, it’s only the bits that someone wants to share of something. So, keep it REAL homies.
FLIGHTMODE is now available at Stylerunner.com.
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