Ellie Goulding Shows Off Her Abs in ‘Shape,’ Talks ‘Aspiring Vegan’ Diet

Ellie Goulding just gave her fans six perfectly-chiseled reasons to envy her, as the singer recently showed off her amazing abs on the cover of Shape magazine. Plus, she revealed that she didn’t even have to target her abs to get them.

Ellie Goulding’s six pack proves that the “Burn” singer is a pro when it comes to burning calories. During her interview with Shape, Ellie revealed that she’s a fitness fanatic who isn’t afraid to put in the work, and her commitment to staying fit has helped her discover which exercise routines work best for her.

.@elliegoulding reveals the four fitness rules that help her get that insane six pack: https://t.co/gcm6jJqPPt pic.twitter.com/ycF2UA3QHJ

— Shape Magazine (@Shape_Magazine) November 11, 2015

According to Ellie, she likes to mix things up. Some days she’ll go for a run outside before lifting weights indoors with her trainer, and sometimes she’ll take a Barry’s Bootcamp class. The classes combine weight lifting and cardio, so Ellie Goulding obviously isn’t the type of gal who likes to do her cardio on certain days of the week and her strength training on others. Instead, she does a little bit of both during each exercise session.

Goulding told Shape the most effective workout she’s ever tried is a 45-minute HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) class. However, she also says that it’s the “hardest thing” that she’s ever done (and she runs half marathons!).

“I come out of there feeling like something big just happened to my body, and I’m completely drained. Of all the workouts I’ve done, this has been the best for me.”

HIIT is a pretty simple concept: you alternate between doing an intense exercise for a certain amount of time and doing a less intense exercise for a certain amount of time. For example, you could do one minute of burpees followed by 30 seconds of jogging in place. According to Shape, HIIT workouts are great for busy people like Ellie Goulding because you can get great results in a short period of time; one study actually showed that 15 minutes of HIIT is more effective than an hour of jogging on a treadmill. Ellie seems to be doing her body good by pushing through a 45-minute HIIT workout.

Ellie Goulding’s abs might be envy-worthy, but the singer insists that she’s not focused on making her body look a certain way. Instead of stressing out about how much she weighs or how many inches she loses around her waist, she only focuses on getting stronger. Those abs are just a nice side effect of increasing her strength.

“If getting stronger means getting more toned and slimmer, so be it, as long as strength comes with it. I’m happy with my figure. I’ve never intended or tried to be skinny. It’s my not thing.”

To get in the same mindset as Ellie, it might be as easy as changing the fitness goals that you set for yourself. Instead of telling yourself that you need to lose a certain amount weight by a certain date, focus on being able to run a certain number of miles by a set date. You can also challenge yourself to up the amount of weight that you use and reps that you complete while performing certain exercises.

Last month, Ellie Goulding revealed she was actually forced to cut back on how much she exercises after discovering that she was suffering from an unspecified heart condition. She needed to get the condition checked out and didn’t mind the exercise ban. Obviously, she’s still doing enough to maintain the body she has worked so hard for.

“I have been chilling and not being as militant about what I eat,” Ellie told Perth Now. “It’s nice to know you actually can’t go to the gym, you’re not allowed.”

If you think it’s impossible to get in great shape like Ellie Goulding, do not despair. The songstress hasn’t always been a health-conscious fitness fanatic, and she manages to maintain her incredible figure without being super-restrictive. Ellie admits that she used to smoke, she can’t completely give up alcohol, and she still doesn’t eat healthy all the time. The singer calls herself an “aspiring vegan,” and she likes to sip on green juice. This is an easy way to get a good dose of veggies every day. Goulding has a pretty relaxed attitude when it comes to preparing the health drink — instead of following specific green juice recipes, she makes hers on the fly.

“I put in things like bananas, avocado, spinach, broccoli—whatever’s in my fridge, really,” Ellie told Shape.

However, her favorite vegan meal is salad with a side of sweet-potato fries. Ellie didn’t reveal how she prepares her fries, but tossing them in olive oil and baking them would make them much less fattening than actually frying them. Ellie Goulding warned other aspiring vegans to be careful when purchasing or preparing foods that are labeled as vegan — a lack of animal products doesn’t mean a food is healthy or low-calorie.

“I eat a lot of quinoa and nuts too, but I also love eating chips. It’s actually easy to be a bad vegan because a lot of junk foods are vegan!”

As long as Ellie Goulding keeps working out as hard as she does, she probably doesn’t need to worry about treating herself to the occasional handful of chips or a vegan cupcake.

[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Victoria’s Secret]