Mumbai, Jul 24 (IANS): Deepika Padukone's orange bikini scene from her latest film, "Cocktail", has been the talk of the town. The actress says the secret behind her perfect figure is not any crash diet, but a combination of regular workouts and healthy eating.

"I think ideally one should not reach a stage where you have to go on crash diets. You need to be conscious on a daily basis. I feel that this should be your lifestyle," Deepika told IANS.

"For me, working out and eating healthy is a part of my lifestyle. I don't do it for a particular shoot. I know people who eat in a crazy way and suddenly they want a perfect body, and they go on crash diets. That takes a toll on your hormones," she added.

In an industry where size zero seems to be going out to fashion, the 26-year-old says she doesn't mind being a 'healthy' version of it.

"I feel that size doesn't matter, fitness and health should come first. I know people who are heavy, but have great stamina, and I know skinny people with no stamina. It depends on your fitness level. There is nothing wrong with being a size zero as long as it is a healthy size zero," she said.

Talking about her bikini shoot, Deepika says she just had to tweak her workout and diet a bit for the desired results.

"We shot in Cape Town and I did alter my diet for the shoot. But because I have always been fit, I didn't have to go on any type of crash exercise or diet," she said.

Deepika's bold and vivacious character named Veronica in the film has been liked and appreciated by all. She says she is happy to break the perception people had formed of her.

"It's nice to know that people have woken up and realised that there is more to this person than the way she looks. They always associated me with being glamorous and thought that I could do only a certain type of role. I'm happy I managed to break this notion in people's minds," she said.

Styled from head to toe by stylist Anaita Shroff Adjania, Deepika has no qualms in saying that her chic look in "Cocktail" has been her favourite so far.

But even though she loved it, she would not like to repeat it just for the sake of winning a similar response.

"The idea is not to repeat 'Cocktail'. It (the look) was very apt for that film. I can't use the same look in another film. Of course, I want to experiment with the look, but I am still playing a character and I need to be true to that," she said.