Priyanka Chopra Refuses to Kill Herself at the Gym: ''I Don't Listen to My Body, My Body Listens to Me''

Quantico star covers the November issue of Women's Health magazine

By Kendall Fisher Oct 13, 2016 3:24 PMTags

Priyanka Chopra has always been the first person to tell you she's not a huge fan of hitting the gym and dieting...and yet she still manages to maintain her beautiful, strong body. So what's her secret?

The 34-year-old actress sat down with Women's Health magazine as the cover girl of their November issue and said she's all about a well-balanced life, refusing to let anything get in the way of health.

"My favorite way of staying in shape is staying active. I think that's most important," she told the publication.

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However, she also knows the importance of just living life, too.

"All of us are super busy. We have so much to do. Life is just really fast-paced," she noted. "You don't have to kill yourself at the gym, you don't have to starve yourself. I love having my pizzas and burgers and buffalo wings, on the side, for sure. But I like staying fit as well."

Chopra's idea of her perfect body is "curvaceous but not super-skinny but at the same time I want to be lean," she revealed to the publication. "So I try and eat healthy whenever I can."

But staying fit isn't just about looks for the actress. It's also important for her career. "I have to stay super active and agile because I do my own stunts," she revealed. "I do all my fights myself. I trust my body and my instincts."

In fact, that's the mindset she maintains to stay in shape

"People always say you should listen to your body. But I don't listen to my body," she said. "My body listens to me. I can't afford to be sick or low on energy. It's mind over matter."

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She continued, "I'm going to have a good day, and not in that fake 'Happy girls are the best girls way!' way. Identify the weaknesses, shut them in a box, find your strengths, and run with them."

That mentality has certainly taken Chopra quite the distance, seeing as she's starred in more than 50 film and television productions, was once named Miss World and is currently the lead in ABC's hit show Quantico—all of this, not without setbacks.

"It's been a huge struggle for me to be able to come into mainstream entertainment in America and actually break the mold of what a Bollywood actress should be," she explained. Still, she refused to be stopped. "Success is always about what's next. I don't settle and I don't stop."

For example, when ABC initially approached her in 2014 she gave them one rule: "I'm used to playing the lead and I don't want to compromise."

You can enjoy Chopra's full interview with Women's Health here and on-stands October 18.