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How to Get the Body of a Beauty Queen

By Windsor Hanger

December 2008/January 2009

Tara Turnure – Miss Washington USA in Venus Swimwear

Alright girls—brace yourselves. Do you want to know how beauty queens get their tight abs, toned legs, and shapely arms? Let me warn you—while effective, it's not pretty, it's not fun, and it's not easy. It requires self-control, hard work, and 110% dedication.

There are many paths to strong, sexy, confident-in-a-bikini-on-stage land. The path we're going to follow today was that taken by Miss Washington, Tara Turnure (see the article "From Boston Babe to Beauty Queen" in the November 2008 issue). We'll start with Tara's workout plan and continue on to outline her pre-pageant diet.

Tara's Workout Regimen:

TONS of cardio. Cardio is absolutely crucial if trying to burn off fat!

Run 3-5 miles six days a week

Tara suggests doing cardio in the morning!

Work out with light weights (3-8 lbs.) three times a week

Tara joined a fitness club and found a "cardio sculpt" class that she loved. If you're not comfortable working out with weights on your own, find some classes to take at the gym that incorporate light weights and high repetitions

Weekly Pilates class to strengthen the core and lengthen your muscles

Three weeks before the competition, Tara amped up the cardio to two sessions daily, six days a week

Tara's Diet Regimen:

Low Carb! The only carbs Tara ate were high fiber cereal and fresh fruit.

Low Sugar! No candy!

No Dairy! Tara cited her dairy-free diet as making the biggest difference!

At least 8 glasses of water a day! No other liquids—that's right—no alcohol.

In addition, Tara stressed that it is extremely important to get a solid 8 hours of sleep every night. Working out at that intensity is not only physically but also mentally exhausting. Getting enough sleep can be the difference between total success and total burn-out.

Now this may seem a little bit extreme to you—I know it does to me—after all, not many of us are going to be walking around on a stage in our bikini being scrutinized by hundreds of people anytime soon. I'm not suggesting that you all quit studying and hit the gym for 2 hours a day or cut out dairy, sugar, and bread. But perhaps you can take away from this not only how to get extremely buff-looking (if ever the need arises) but also an appreciation for all of the hard work that goes into physical fitness. As Tara has shown us, being a beauty queen isn't all silly waves and sparkly tiaras—it requires hard work, dedication, and a lot of sweat.