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Heidi Klum’s got talent

Photography Rankin

There is a girl pacing around a photo studio in Hollywood, talking on the phone, while a crew buzzes around her setting up for a shoot.

Her still-wet hair is scraped back into a bun, and she’s wearing worn-in jeans and a cosy jumper. She looks like many of the assistants in the group, albeit strikingly gorgeous. It isn’t until she hangs up the phone, pulls off her sunnies and steps into the wardrobe area to greet the hair and make-up team with a warm, German-accented “Good morning” that it becomes clear: that girl is no girl – she’s uberwoman Heidi Klum.

Klum is 40 and has four kids, though you’d never guess either of those things by looking at her. The model turned TV personality – whose net worth Forbes has estimated at up to $70 million – is at the peak of her career in an industry dominated by much younger women.

She first burst onto the scene in the ’90s (after winning a modelling contest while living in her native Germany) with a wholesome yet sexy kind of beauty that was tailor-made for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, which she appeared in nine times, and earned her those giant Victoria’s Secret angel wings, which she wore for a record 13 years.

For 12 consecutive seasons on the US version of Project Runway, she’s sent eager fashion designers packing, and her knack for crushing people’s dreams with a sympathetic smile won her an Emmy, shared with co-host Tim Gunn. Given her popularity on Project Runway, it’s no surprise she was tapped for another judging gig, on America’s Got Talent. (She’s also on her ninth season of hosting Germany’s Next Top Model.)

Add in the fact that she has designed a children’s line for Babies ’R’ Us and a trainers and activewear line for New Balance, and you have to wonder if Father Time has granted Klum a few bonus hours in her day. To find out how she thrives at such a frenetic pace (all while looking ridiculously amazing), we got her to spill her strategies for staying healthy, battling stress and cultivating a full, beautiful life.


Start the day with something green

A vegie- and fruit-packed breakfast is an insurance policy, guaranteeing Klum gets in her vitamins and fibre before the day becomes too hectic. “One thing [the kids and I] do is have a smoothie every morning,” she says. She has cut-up produce in the fridge, ready to go at 6am – when her morning routine starts – so there are no excuses.


Cook simple, healthy meals

When you have a big brood of kids and a gazillion jobs, you can’t get fancy. Every week, Klum whips up a big pot of soup, and the children help with the peeling and chopping. “They see how things are done and what goes into it. Someone doesn’t just drop it off in a [home delivery] bag.”

But dinner for her wasn’t always so virtuous. Growing up in Germany, she ate very differently. “My mum fries everything and drenches it in cream sauce,” she says. Any time Mama Klum comes to visit, “It’s like – boom! – [a kilo for me],” she laughs.

When Klum started modelling at 18, she began to look at her body in a new way and pay attention to how food made her look and feel. “I had to learn: if I got bad skin from eating too much candy, I had to find a way to fix that. Other girls whose livelihood doesn’t depend on that may not be so motivated.”


Work exercise into your daily routine

Klum worked out with New York trainer David Kirsch for years, but she no longer sticks to a structured workout plan. “I have a treadmill that’s really great, but it just sits there unused. It looks nice, but I don’t have time to use it.”

To slip fitness into her jam-packed schedule, she makes family time double as exercise. She walks her dogs, cycles near the beach in Santa Monica while her kids ride along too, and jumps around with them on the trampoline.

But Klum acknowledges that as she’s gotten older, she’s had to pay more attention to the delicate diet-and-exercise balance. “The metabolism definitely changes when you turn 40. I always thought, that’s not going to happen to me, but it is happening to me. If I indulge more, I have to exercise more. I figured out what works for me.”


Make time for yourself

Klum wants to start carving out more me-time, although she admits it often falls by the wayside. She recently went in for a facial (at a place she calls an “old-fashioned spread”), and her beautician said, “It’s been a year since I’ve seen you!”

Choose business associates wisely

“I try to partner with people at the top of their game, who are really good at what they do,” says Klum, referring to her kids’ line for Babies ’R’ Us and her line with New Balance. And while she is clearly a talented multi-tasker, she chooses projects that play to her strengths to avoid overextending herself.

“I’m not trying to reinvent the running shoe; that’s what [New Balance] does. I just push the envelope with the colour or the pattern, like this digital print that was inspired by a flower but has a kaleidoscopic effect.”

She designs for the girl who wants a fashion-driven, head-to-toe look for the gym: “They didn’t ask me to come on board to do a black legging.”


Make smart choices with carbs

Klum’s busy lifestyle dictates that lunch is often eaten on set, and a trip to the catering table can mean navigating a minefield of empty carbs. “There’s usually pasta, bread, chicken, fish and vegetables,” she says. “I’ll eat everything but the pasta and bread. Do I want the pasta? I do. But I choose not to eat it.”

Of course, even Heidi Klum makes exceptions. And when she splurges, she makes sure it’s worth it. “[I was] out to dinner
this weekend and truffles are in season. I had to have the truffle pizza and the truffle pasta. It’s not like I don’t [indulge],
but not all the time.”


Suck it up

Klum’s accept-zero-excuses sensibility as a judge extends into her personal life. “I’m a no-nonsense person. I just get on with it, even if I’m tired,” says Klum. “I’m not a pill taker. Even when I have a headache, I’m someone who waits it out.”


But cut yourself some slack when it comes to your body

Klum credits her childhood in Europe, where people tend to be more comfortable with their bodies, with helping her to establish a positive body image and a healthy attitude towards ageing: “Me? I’ve always felt great about my body. I’ve always been very confident, and still am. I wouldn’t go to the gym in a sports bra and little shorts – I feel like everything’s jiggling around. But I didn’t do that before either.”

Because she was pregnant three times while appearing on TV, Heidi is accustomed to putting her body out there, as it were, while cycling through life changes in the public eye.

“When I was doing Project Runway, it felt like most of the time I was pregnant or breast-feeding. It was funny for everybody, especially Michael Kors. He would say, ‘You’ve got to pump,’ because I’d go whoop!” she says, using her hands to demonstrate her breasts’ burgeoning size. “He would say, ‘The stuff I learn on this set is crazy!’”


Don’t take life so seriously

Forget stereotypical German sternness: Klum’s trademark is a silly sense of humour, and she’s quick to laugh at herself. She taught Bradley Cooper how to yodel on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last May, for example, and she pokes fun at her recent Emmy acceptance speech.

“By the time Tim and I got on stage [to accept our Emmy], I was a little tipsy. We presented [an award] at the beginning, and then we had a three-hour break before our award came up. Tim said, ‘Let’s go to the Marriott across the street for a glass of champagne.’ We had two apiece, but it doesn’t take much for me,” she says, as if she’s just a regular working mum who had a big night out. “I don’t even know what we said!”