One the most common mistakes people make when trying to slim down is not giving your body an adequate amount of fuel. In order to gain the body you want, you need to eat enough.

A balanced meal should include protein, complex carbohydrates, plenty of nutrients from fruit and veggies and last but not least, good fats. Feeling hungry when working out will only slow your metabolism, and will ultimately turn your body to your muscles as a fuel source. Meaning that if you choose to work out on an empty stomach, you will likely lose the abs you worked so hard to gain in the first place.

Drinking enough water helps prevent bloating and fluid retention, as adequate amounts of H20 will prevent your dehydrated body from clinging on if it knows there’s plenty more where that came from.

While simultaneously helping to flush toxins from your system, water aids in lean growth as it carries oxygen to your muscles, helping both their power and endurance. Add coconut water to the mix like VS angel Candice Swanepoel!

Behati Prinsloo, who’s married to Adam Levine, posted this picture of her meal involving lots of leafy vegetables.

There are plenty of foods out there that help the body to build lean muscle such as spinach, eggs and beef, but brown rice in particular will help you on your merry way to the VS runway. As a low GI alternative, brown rice provides the body with a long-lasting energy source throughout the day and your workouts to aid in lean muscle growth, endurance and weight loss.

Now that we’re fuelling up the right way, we can get up in gym and start working on our fitness! If lean muscle is what you want, then the two (stretching and strengthening) really do go hand-in-hand.

Working your muscles at their full extension is a super effective way to build slim tone and prevent bulkiness. Disciplines like Pilates and Yoga work with this stretch and strengthen techniques, and when performed in conjunction with the above diet tips, can help you to slim down and tone up.

By now you’ve probably/most definitely heard of Barre workouts at places like WeBarre and Xtend Barre. It’s a glorious fusion of Pilates, yoga and ballet that can give anyone the body of a prima ballerina – with no dance experience necessary!

Classes begin with a yoga-inspired warm up before moving onto interval training which focus on strengthening, cardio and toning, and it’s got the angel seal of approval.

“I’m obsessed with the Barre Method, which I do three times a week and reminds me of the ballet classes I did for eight years as a kid,” Victoria’s Secret angel Alessandra Ambrosio says.

It’s time to listen to your mum when she tells you to stop slouching. Practicing good posture not only helps you to appear taller, longer and leaner but can also improve back pain and headaches.

A strong core is key when it comes to maintaining good posture, and exercises like yoga, Pilates and you guessed it, Barre, will help you to get there faster.

“Pilates forces you to be aligned and pull up [to] re-create a ‘perfect-posture’ look,” says Pilates instructor to the stars, Nicole Stuart.

For more easy fitness tips, read 8 Ways To A Flat Belly With No Exercise, 10 Low-Impact Exercises For Your Best Body Ever and Body Confidence Tips From Three Superfit Women.

Text: Woman’s Day/Bauer