our shoot filming in Italy – the land
of carbs, gelato and Aperol spritzes
- doing zero exercise and “eating
like an animal”. Hey, if it works
for you, why not? Fast-forward
to two days before getting her
naked on, she was on her sickbed
with pneumonia, scrolling through
images WH’s creative team had sent
over in the interests of inspiration.
“All these beautiful [...] models with
tiny little boobs – of course, holding
their boobs with one arm,” Vergara
shrieks, all in good humour. “The
whole boob covered! I can’t cover
my boobs with two arms!”
And yet, here we are, with the
pictures to prove otherwise. “OK,
we figured out a way, but I couldn’t
breathe for, like, 10 hours. I was
just like – [makes pained gasp] - ‘I hope the magazine is happy
with the f***ing pictures!’”
There she goes again – cursing,
and questioning what we all know
to be true. Sofía Vergara, you are
naked, 45 and fabulous. WH
cover exclusive
From left to right: Sofía with husband Joe Manganiello; at the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards with son
Manolo; looking chic post-workout; on the set of Modern Family with co-stars Ed O’Neill and Rico Rodriguez.
I can’t do squats, jumps or running,”
she says. “I have a Megaformer,
which is like an advanced pilates
machine. It’s not about having
muscles or cut abs. I don’t have
abs at all,” she insists, raising her
shirt to reveal a pancake-flat – albeit
six-pack-free – stomach. “I don’t
think, ‘I need to be like a fit model
with a perfect body.’ That would
take too much effort!”
It’s all about balance
It’s a refreshing perspective –
particularly given Vergara’s position
within the celebrity kingdom – and
one that comes from knowing just
how precious a healthy body can
be. At 28, she was diagnosed with
thyroid cancer and, after having
surgery to remove it, was prescribed
medication to control her hormones.
Keeping them on the straight and
narrow requires taking pills every
day for the rest of her life.
Following the surgery, Vergara
admits she went “a little crazy” with
her diet, eating solely for optimum
nutrition and downing shots of
spinach to boost her immune
system (she was nicknamed Doctor
Vergara by close friends because of
her obsession with health journals)
but, these days, she’s more relaxed
in her approach to food. The
evidence is on her Instagram page,
a feed awash with indulgence.
Images of the actress facing off
a monster bowl of doughnuts and
filling her plate with gooey desserts
captioned #ItsMonday make light
of her often waylaid attempts to eat
healthily from Monday to Thursday.
“People ask me, ‘Do you really eat
all those cakes that you show on
Instagram?’” she says. “Yes, I do, but
I don’t eat them every single day.
I’ve found a balance that works for
me.” What does balance actually
look like for Vergara? “During the
week, I’ll have egg whites with
vegetables for breakfast, or wheat
toast and avocado – all the things
that people eat now that are healthy.
Then on Friday and during the
weekend I eat whatever I want to.”
As difficult as it may be to believe,
Vergara spent the month prior to
PHOTOGRAPHY: MATTHIAS VRIENS-MCGRATH. STYLING: JACQUELINE AZRIA. HAIR: AARON LIGHT/ THE WALL GROUP, MAKE-UP: KELSEY DEENIHAN FOR MARK./THE WALL GROUP, MANICURE: KAREN GUTIERREZ FOR CHANEL IN BALLERINA, PROP STYLING: ABRAHAM LATHAM/ART DEPARTMENT
SEPTEMBER 2017 womenshealth.com.au 83