Gina Rodriguez Is Bringing Serious Baywatch Vibes in the Latest Issue of Women's Health

On her definition of health: "My definition is definitely going to be just MY definition, because we all go through our own journeys with our body and the discovery of what’s best for our body. I have Hashimoto's disease, which is a deficiency of the pituitary gland in my thyroid, hypothyroidism. So for me, I know the definition of 'health' is staying true to what’s going to make me live the longest when it comes to Hashimoto’s. That’s no gluten—as much as I love bread. That’s chilling on the soy, trying not to have fluoride; that’s working out, getting natural sugars. It’s very difficult to keep this lifestyle because I was raised so differently being Puerto Rican. You have bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But I do want to create the best life possible for me because I have been given so many blessings, so there’s just no need for me to disrupt that. I’m not perfect, I love to indulge as everybody else does, I just know that I have been given these opportunities and I think it’s best for me to take care of me, because that’s what gets me through every day."

On her history with boxing and how it is a parallel to her acting career: "Taking photos boxing is not as easy as really boxing. My father was a referee for boxing, so I grew up boxing since I was three. I got the scars to prove it! Which I am not proud of because I do not have feminine hands. But strength – inner strength – the idea that you can protect yourself and never have to use it, the idea that it doesn’t matter what size I am, inside is sostrong. Mind over matter is so strong. It’s something you learn in the ring, you can’t give up. To me, it’s interesting, I feel like boxing is very much like acting, except you’re just fighting yourself. You’re not allowing yourself to be defeated, you’re getting up after you’ve been knocked down, and you have to believe that you can win. You have to believe you can win when you get in that ring or else you’re going to get your ass beat. In acting, it’s very similar. To me, it’s always been a nice parallel. I want to be a champ. And there are many champs, I just want to be one of them."

On handling body image: "I would almost not be conscientious about my health because I wanted to be accepted the way I was — as curvy."

On being on the cover of Women’s Health and her advice for seeking your own journey: "I would love to say how honored I am to be on the cover of Women’s Health because somebody that always works on her health, somebody that owns… I don’t even want to give it power, because on the contrary, how she wrote it sound like I have a super power….but somebody that constantly is working on her weight, constantly is working on something that in the industry is so difficult. When I first got it when I was 19 and I thought, I’m cursed, because in an industry where we see images that are so specific to one type, I was never going to have that type of body. And that was untrue. Not that I wasn’t going to have that type of body, but it’s untrue that I needed to have that type of body in order to be as successful as I am today.

"I would say that when you’re creating your journey, find somebody that you would like to replicate. Find somebody that you enjoyed their journey, that you say that’s the kind of career that I want to have and look at the steps they’ve taken. And then, work on what YOU have, work on what you own, work on what is a possible for you and your resources that you have. And mold that to your own. You never have to look like anyone else. You don’t want to look like anyone else. You don’t want to have the same journey as anyone else. To me, that is a good method in seeing what are the next steps you need to take."