’54 is a good number’

Sofia Vergara certainly made the best of her 54th birthday on July 10.

The actress and former model took to Instagram to share a glimpse of how she spent the big day, which included a quick trip to Italy to lounge by the water.

She posted a snap of herself on a yacht, wearing a fiery red string bikini and in full glam, the gorgeous Italian water spanning behind her. And the Mediterranean sun is definitely treating her well!

“So happy for all the love from u guys yesterday! It was the best bday ever!!!” she wrote alongside her post. “And thank u Italy for all my 300 cakes! 54 is a good number!!!!”

Her many famous friends chimed in with birthday wishes as well, including Kris Jenner and Jessica Alba, plus other fans left comments like: “You’re truly electrifying looking,” and: “You look stunning! Red is your color,” plus: “WOW!!! Looking incredible at 54.”

One of Hollywood’s most renowned beauties, the Modern Family actress has explained in interviews before that while she’s always been proud of her physique and figure, things changed once she hit 40.

“I hit 40 and I started seeing a softness everywhere on my body … I knew it was time to do something, so I did,” she told Shape Magazine. She was in particular inspired by her Modern Family co-star Julie Bowen, who’d go running in the wee hours of the morning before call-time on set.

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Sofia, on the other hand, found any excuse not to join her. “I’ll say, ‘Sunday? No, it’s the Lord’s day; I can’t work out,'” although she eventually found her groove. “Being around Julie and seeing how motivated she is … I started to think more about it.”

Her go-to workout apparatus, because of her “bad knees,” is a Pilates machine. “With this machine, I was able to figure out what worked for me. I don’t love it at all, but I love how my body’s changing,” she quipped.

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And her idea of diet and healthy eating definitely evolved once she moved to Los Angeles from Colombia in 2005. “If you live here, you can’t always order the high-fat dishes like pasta with truffles. You have a little sushi, and when you’re out with your girlfriends you order a nice salad.”

At one point, Sofia even joked: “I heard about someone in L.A. who got hypnotized so they wouldn’t eat candy. I’m seriously looking into that because I’m obsessed.” Her philosophy, though, consists of working off the extra calories even harder the next day if she does cheat on her diet.

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“When I do indulge, I exercise a bit harder the next day. My workout motto is really simple: No pain, no cake!”