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"  Photo: Lindsay Ellingson, Anne-Marie Van Dijk, Doetzen Kroes; Photo: Paul Porter /BFAnyc.com Last night, The Double Seven hosted a party for top model Anne-Marie Van Dijk&amp;#039;s promising new initiative, CLEANSE, which is dedicated to promoting a healthy and happy lifestyle in an industry based on models&amp;#039; (sometimes alarmingly thin) physical appearances. Providing a slew of classes on topics such as snacking tips, confidence boosters, green living, and nutrition, Dijk insists that CLEANSE walks (or, fiercely struts!) the talk. ELLE.com chatted with Dijk about the program&amp;#039;s extensive services and her penchant for Vita Coco water and goji berries.  ELLE: When did the initial idea behind CLEANSE come about? Anne-Marie Van Dijk: I had been playing with the idea for a number of years, based on my experiences as a model. I was always looking for the right professionals to help me. Even though my agents always had the best intentions for me, they&amp;#039;re not psychologists, nutritionists, or personal trainers. They do their best, but it&amp;#039;s just not enough, especially when your profession is all about your physical looks. It turned out, I just had to create a team of my own to make sure I stayed on track in a healthy way. Several years ago, I realized that this resource should really be there for models. How do we not only meet models&amp;#039; personal needs but also the requirements and the vision that their agency has? We fuse the two, and that&amp;#039;s what I think is part of the solution.  ELLE: What sort of services does CLEANSE offer? AMVD: We have various services. One of them is classes. Every Saturday, we offer a class. We&amp;#039;ve been doing that for several months now. In an industry that&amp;#039;s all about your physical looks with young girls and specific standards, you need extra help. That&amp;#039;s where CLEANSE comes in. We go, &amp;quot;Okay, what does the agent want? Where is the girl at in her life?&amp;quot; We then design a wellness plan and work with a team of highly specialized professionals. They all understand what it takes to be a successful model. Some girls come once, love it, and that&amp;#039;s it; other girls come in after Christmas to get in shape for Fashion Week rather than crash-dieting. At the end of the day, we&amp;#039;re very much about walking the talk and not just talking the talk. We remain really discreet and confidential. Responses so far have been great, and I think it&amp;#039;s a part of the solution: for girls to stay healthy but still look great physically.  ELLE: Considering we&amp;#039;re currently in the midst of Fashion Week, does CLEANSE offer survival tips? AMVD: Last season, we started a whole &amp;quot;Get Runway-Ready&amp;quot; series of classes. We had classes on how to boost your level of confidence, and we had a smart-smacking class.  ELLE: Any specific snacks you like? AMVD: Well, Vita Coco water is a great way to stay hydrated. It gives you enough sugar in a natural way, and it tastes awesome. I&amp;#039;m a huge fan of nuts and dried fruit. Get goji berries and sunflower seeds. It gives sustained energy without a sugar crash. ELLE: Would you say CLEANSE is against the stereotypical model diet, like coffee and cigarettes. AMVD: I personally drink coffee. We&amp;#039;re very open. It&amp;#039;s all about moderation and the foundations of proper nutrition. One of the other classes we have is Nutrition 101. Of course there&amp;#039;s room for a piece of chocolate or ice-cream. We just want the girls to have that freedom, and we&amp;#039;ll never deprive them. We do want them to make sure that the foundation is there, and that&amp;#039;s what CLEANSE is all about. Depending on the girl, we&amp;#039;ll tweak that. Even with her philosophy\u2014if she&amp;#039;s a vegan or in a raw food direction\u2014we&amp;#039;ll guide her. It should be very positive and empowering as opposed to controlling and obsessive.  ELLE: On just any ordinary day, what is your beauty routine? AMVD: Less is more for me. I am very natural. I wear very little make, probably because of my job. On set, I wear so much! I cleanse, and that&amp;#039;s where the title of the initiative comes from. CLEANSE: one body, one planet. I personally feel it&amp;#039;s really important to educate people on more natural skincare products that nourish your body and aren&amp;#039;t harmful for your body as well as the planet. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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