BlackDoctor.org
There’s an old fable that talks about the mysterious “fountain of youth.” It describes how at this one fountain, if you drink the water from it you will forever look and feel young.
Now, we don’t know if this fountain really exists, but these four women sure look like they’ve found it! Take a look at how in their 70’s, these four women don’t look a year over 40.
(photo credit: facebook)
The legendary singer who has stayed a size 10 for the past 4 decades- puts her stable size down to not eating after 6pm, drinking lots of water and, of course, dancing. She says she stays away from sweet and prefers to eat healthy foods because of how they make her feel. Her daily breakfast consists of banana, kiwi and melon, and brown German bread.
In addition, she believes sleep is so important that she only has two meals a day because she sleeps so long. With a home in Switzerland, she has become a devotee of saunas and steam rooms and “walking 10 miles up and down stairs at home”. It is Tina’s mental attitude that perhaps plays the biggest part in her refusal to let herself go she believes we are what we think and that women need to embrace themselves at every point in their lives!
Linda Wood Hoyte, Age 73
The Capricorn grandmother is a National and International Bodybuilding champion with 28 years of body building experience. In fact, her bodybuilding career has run concurrently with her 40+ year professional management career in corporate America which spanned working for five Fortune 500 companies.
She is also a certified personal trainer with demonstrated success delivering nutritional seminars and exhibiting training techniques at sports conventions and shows.
As we all know, food can make or break how you look, feel and behave. So instead of letting food control you, Linda controls food.
“Recognize your triggers,” explain Linda. “For me, it’s always been ice cream. I would buy a carton of fudge vanilla swirl, for example, planning to limit myself to just a half cup for dessert. I’d dig into the creamy mixture, have ‘just a taste’ ‐‐ and all my plans went into the trash.
Along with the empty half‐gallon carton of ice cream. Inevitably, I felt sick the next day and mad at myself for giving in.
I’d try setting up rules (‘I’ll only eat ice cream on weekends,’ or ‘I’ll only eat vanilla ice cream ‐‐ that’s safe and boring’), but those rules were a game of deception that resulted only in weight gained.”
“After you recognize your trigger foods, discover safe healthy foods substitutes.
Annette Larkins, Age 74
“I do not have a regimented way of eating, and most of the time I do not pay strict attention to what I eat at any particular meal,” admits Larkins.
“That is of course, within the ramifications of my consumption of a healthy, non-cooked, plant based diet consisting of fruits, nuts, vegetables and seeds. Also, the amount of meals I consume daily varies—it depends on my appetite weather I eat one, two, or three meals a day, and the clock does not dictate when I eat—except I try to avoid eating late at night.
My personal evolution demands that I generally do not eat before noon. I am not advising this for anyone else; I am not, as a rule, hungry before then. Most times I will begin with juice of some kind—either green or whatever my taste desires. I may then have a big salad.
For dinner I may have another salad with additional greens of some kind: collards, spinach or kale, for example. Included in this fundamental bill of fare are nuts, avocados, soaked wild rice, sprouted legumes, and or sprouted bulgur wheat.”
“Even though I basically do the same exercises, I may vary the order. For example: I descend and ascend my spiral staircase until I have accumulated 100 floors (once down and once up equals one floor)—I may do them consecutively or break them up throughout the day.
In my downstairs gym, I walk on my treadmill for about five (5) miles—sometimes in order to break up the monotony, I do the treadmill before the stairs. Between what I just described, along with dancing, gardening, and miscellaneous activity, I average eight (8) miles a day. I have a tracker that records my activity—I average about 15 or 16 thousand steps a day!”
“It’s not about survival. That’s not what I want to do. I didn’t come here to survive. I want to thrive,” says Larkins.
Ernestine Shepherd, Age 80
Baltimore grandmother Ernestine Shepherd is the Guinness World Records’ oldest female bodybuilder.
But less than 20 years ago, she was middle-aged, flabby and round woman who hated what she saw in the dressing room mirror as she tried on swimsuit after swimsuit.
“I was too prissy to exercise,” she said. “I just didn’t want to have my hair messed up. Didn’t want my fingernails broken.”
That all changed when Shepherd decided her health trumped all and hit the gym.
Here’s how Shepherd made her amazing and inspirational transformation:
She started out slow. Shepherd said she began her workout regimen alongside her sister, starting with a simple aerobics class.
Even though she thinks big, the key she says is increasing the workout steadily. Shepherd said she had never given much thought to bodybuilding until a trainer at her gym suggested she start lifting weights.
She eats smart. Shepherd’s diet may not be for everyone, but her focus on healthy foods is a lesson in restraint.
Shepherd said she eats several small meals a day as part of a diet plan she formulated with her trainers. She takes in 1,700 calories a day, mostly comprised of boiled egg whites, chicken, vegetables and a liquid egg white drink. And she is adamant that she does not use performance-enhancing drugs or even supplements beyond vitamin D.
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