If I had Gabrielle Union’s body, I would wear the crap out of this bikini. I would wear it everywhere. I would wear it to the gym. I would wear it to dinner at fancy restaurants. I would wear it to the Golden Globes. This is a seriously cute bikini. Gabrielle covers the September issue of Health Magazine, and I was expecting some boring “this is what I eat, just steel-cut oats and some carrots I dug out of my private garden” nonsense. But Gabrielle is realer than that. She would happily sleep in and eat pancakes every day if only she was never photographed. Some highlights:

On whether it’s possible to have it all: “I don’t think so. A mother, to have it all, has to somehow also provide a check, also be superfreak Kama Sutra down to the ground, be a size double zero, be super present in the PTA but still putting in extra hours at work. It is impossible. There are literally not enough hours. To me, having it all is not having it all and it being OK.”

On social media haters: “If it kinda strikes a nerve, I need to know who said it. I deep dive into their social media. No one who’s ever said anything super negative to me has an amazing life. Once I realized that, it’s different than, like, J.Lo saying, ‘Her squat form wasn’t right.’ Because she would know. But you, in your mom’s basement, really?”

On workouts with her husband, NBA star Dwyane Wade: “[W]e like to walk through the neighborhood. Mainly because we’re nosy. We want to see what houses are for sale.”

On whether she likes working out: “I do not. I’m not one of those people, like, ‘I can’t start my day without it.’ Nope. I can actually start my day beautifully, sleeping in, eating some pancakes.”

On what keeps her motivated to work out: “Knowing that there are people who cannot wait to circle your fat and draw an arrow to it keeps me in the gym….. So between fearing health issues and fearing ‘Stars, they’re just like us! Look at their cellulite!’—that keeps me in the gym. Then when I get in there, I get competitive and won’t leave. I basically have the Olympics happening in my mind with strangers. They don’t realize we’re competing, but I usually take gold. Mainly because they’ve left.”

Her philosophy on living well, including drinking and eating bacon: “You know, my grandma lived to be 110, and she drank alcohol, like, every day. I don’t drink every day. But if somebody’s like, ‘Shots!’ I’m like, ‘Yes!’ If someone says, ‘Bacon!’ I’m like, ‘Yes!’ She lived. I definitely live.”

On learning to not feel guilty: “We put guilt on ourselves because people are judging us. I have figured out how to say no and create comfortable spaces where I have real joy in my work, in my home, in my marriage, with the kids.”

On when she feels sexiest: “Out there on the deck, when I have a bikini on, holding a cold beer, and my husband’s there. I’m not in hair and makeup. I’m just chilling at home.”

[From Health]

While I know this is just a version of the Cool Girl Bible – that you can look this beautiful at 44 and still drink beer and eat bacon – I actually sort of believe it with Gabrielle Union. I too would love to eat bacon and have a stiff drink every day, but that’s not going to happen. Part of it is genetics, but part of it is that Gabrielle actually works for what she has and she isn’t afraid to talk about that work and how we, as a society, have unrealistic expectations about “having it all” and how women are supposed to be all things to all people.

Photos courtesy of Health Magazine.