Brooklyn Decker Feels Happier After Exercising

Brooklyn Decker isn’t your typical supermodel.

“I’m curvier and more athletic than the typical-size model, so I workout,”  the Just Go With It star, 23, tells me. “A lot of girls are like ‘I eat a cheeseburger, and I’m a size zero.’ Me? No way! I have to workout, and it’s part of my life and I love it. I do yoga, cardio, boxing – everything. For me, it’s about mixing things up and staying in shape.”

Not only does it improve her figure, but it also enhances her mood when she hits the gym for an hour-and-a-half 4-5 times per week.

“I’m a much happier person and a much better person to be around when I’m working out because it gets the endorphins going. You feel confident.”

She adds, “I think women view it as a task -- hard work -- and I think it’s a time for you to be selfish. Women now are focusing on their families and their jobs. Basically, women are running the world these days. We’re busy. View it as an hour to focus on yourself, to be selfish – because we’re never selfish, we’re always doing things for other people. When you get to focus on yourself, ultimately it’s helping others because you’re in a good mood, you feel good, you’re being healthy.”

Still, the woman who married Andy Roddick in 2009 lets it slide when she can’t include fitness into her schedule.

“There will be days where I don’t workout,” she says. “Like I haven’t worked out in three days, actually. So there will be times when I skip workouts, like if I’m traveling and too tired. There are days  -- obviously you’re not going to be able to workout every day – but I think it’s important to try and get to the gym or try to get exercise for at least five days or four days out of the week.”

But it isn’t all about the gym.

“A lot of women hate working out, but you can do things like hiking or going sightseeing around New York, if you’re in New York. Or going kayaking. There’s things you can do where you get physical activity without actually going to the gym, so there are ways to actually get fit without feeling like you’re working out. “

For Brooklyn, being able to run, lift weights, do yoga and cardio anywhere is key.

Because she’s regularly putting in time sweating it out, she makes sure to watch her diet. She fills up on almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts and macadamia nuts when snacking.

“Nuts are my favorite snack,” she says. “I love nuts, I love berries, and I love hummus, so I’ll have hummus with carrots or pita. Usually carrots or some sort of vegetable. And, for me, I think snacking’s so important. When you snack, it helps maintain your metabolism throughout the day. You don’t get hungry, and you fill your body with nutrients. There’s all sorts of things you can snack on that are yummy. I carry around a Luna bar in my purse in case I get hungry and I don’t have time to grab something. I think it’s important to keep yourself sustained.”

She also avoids salty foods like potato chips and French fries.

“I think everyone should reward themselves, but you can definitely feel the effects when you eat poorly. Also, it’s a lot of salt, and I travel so much, that all it does is make you puffy. When you go to a shoot, you can’t be like that, so I try to avoid the salt and fried food – there’s tons of salt – so I try to avoid that as much as I can.”

Here’s my pic with Brooklyn: