Vanessa Hudgens has found her happy place and is sharing all of her secrets to how she got there. In a new interview with Shape, the My Little Pony star opens up about her mental and physical health transformation, revealing exactly how she became the most confident version of herself. Read on to see 7 ways Vanessa Hudgens stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bikini Photos!

"Over the past couple of years, I've really come into my own," Vanessa explained. "When you're fully accepting of who you are, and you stop trying to suppress pieces of yourself, you can conquer the world. I love how silly I am. I love how excitable I am. And I love that I'm finally at a place where I can access those things. Even the quirky stuff that might have been shut down by other people in the past, like being ridiculous with my friends, those are things I'm now allowing to thrive. For some people, I'm way too much. But I love who I am, and there's such power in that."

Vanessa used to rely on cardio to stay in shape, but not anymore. "My fitness has taken a turn. Cardio has been put on the back burner, and I'm very OK with that. The things that have become the most important are balance and mental health," she said. 

Vanessa regularly shares photos and videos of herself breaking a sweat at a trendy bicoastal gym. "During the pandemic, when everything was paused, I created a little community. I'd get my friends together over Zoom and we would do Isaac Boots's live workout classes. As the world started to reopen, I found myself obsessed with Dogpound," she revealed. "I go with my best friend; we're extremely competitive. We have the best time — the amount of dancing we do between sets is ridiculous. Everyone knows when we're at the gym. They say they hear us before they see us." She also revealed one of her favorite moves, squats with a rack, "and I love to see how much weight I can add to the bar," she said. "That's empowering. And I've just gotten back into Pilates with a reformer. It works your muscles like nothing else."

"At my fittest, I feel unstoppable. You think, 'There's no way I can get through 30 reps.' But then you do, and you remind yourself that you can do anything you set your mind to," she explained. "Those little victories should always be celebrated. That's what contributes joy and happiness and power and strength to your life."

"My overall food philosophy is, if it's real, I'll eat it," she said. "Many things are processed and contain chemicals and ingredients I can't pronounce. I want real food. If I'm in Italy, and I see them making pasta by hand, or if it grows from the earth, that's real. I stay away from the processed stuff. I also don't eat meat. I'm a pescatarian. What animals go through is so inhumane. That's not a system that I support."df44d9eab23ea271ddde7545ae2c09ec

Vanessa doesn't follow a traditional meal plan. "I eat two bigger meals a day instead of three," she explained. For breakfast she will typically eat something with avocado, "maybe vegan sausage, and a piece of healthy bread," she revealed. "Dinner depends on my mood. I let myself have what I want. If that's a big bowl of spaghetti with clams and a glass of wine, then that's what I'm eating. Sometimes I crave a salad, and I'll make a big one with nuts and goat cheese and salmon. Other times, it's tacos and a margarita. I've learned that when I try to be super conscientious of everything I put into my mouth, all I can think about is food. But when I listen to my body and eat what I want, that's when I'm happiest."

Vanessa is her happiest when she is surrounded by nature. "I love to be anywhere with a ton of trees," she said. "Being in the woods or the forest or the jungle is grounding for me because nature has balance. Everything happens the way it's meant to. I feel like when you can get out of your head and fall into the energy of nature, that's when you're at your purest form. It's when I find my flow."