Sarandon's secret to staying young is surprisingly simple-and non-invasive. "[My] emphasis is on being healthy ? rather than what you inject or reconstruct. Beauty comes from inside -- it has to do with what you take in."
By eating a diet replete with antioxidants -- those nutritional powerhouses found in many fruits and vegetables that are linked to decreasing the risk of heart disease and cancer -- and by making time for regular exercise, deep breathing, visualization and volunteerism, the actress stays sound and sexy.
A former vegetarian, Sarandon admits she got bored with the meatless lifestyle. "I [still] don't eat a huge amount of red meat," she says, adding, "I can't eat as many carbs as I used to, but I've never been able to do anything as severe as the Atkins diet." After menopause hit at age 54, she cut back on carbs; like many menopausal women, her metabolism changed and she found she was accumulating more weight around the middle. When she does indulge, she chooses whole-grain products over refined grains such as white bread and pasta.
Green Is Good
On a daily basis, Sarandon makes sure she takes a calcium/vitamin D supplement for bone health, vitamin C, emu oil for arthritis in her knees, Co-Q10 (an antioxidant thought to boost brain power and heart heath) and one or two tablespoons of "green stuff," as she calls it.
Green stuff" is a powdered form of organically grown vegetables including broccoli, kale, parsley, wheat grass, flaxseed and root vegetables such as turnips and parsnips.
The secret to her enviably smooth complexion lies more in what she doesn'tdo than what she does. Smoking, for instance. "I kind of tried it at one point around The Hunger," she says, referring to a 1983 vampire film she made with David Bowie, then admits, "If I had a boyfriend who smoked, I'd pick one up. But I never got hooked. I smoke in films when it's called for, but it's always a prop, [not] a chemical addiction."
Sarandon favors regular dermabraision treatments to remove skin cells and keep her face looking young and fresh. So far, she's refused to consider plastic surgery, Botox injections or soft-tissue fillers.
"I really need my face to move, so I've never been tempted to get Botox," she insists. With many Hollywood directors lamenting that Botox has made it impossible to find an actor who can express emotion, Sarandon's resistance is a bit unusual. "I am not saying that at some point I wouldn't mind my neck looking better, but I'm just so afraid of being unrecognizable, or to lose the shape of my eyes."
Maintenance Musts
Even with Sarandon's hectic, spontaneous schedule, she always finds time to walk on her treadmill.
"I realized that I had to find time for myself and started going to the gym," she says. Her personal trainer spices things up to help stave off boredom. "We use exercise balls or play catch with a heavy ball, as opposed to just getting on machines." Sarandon also does Pilates when she can, and has unsuccessfully tried yoga. "I must have type-A personality," she laughs. "I got so competitive that I hurt myself!"
Because Sarandon has a family history of high cholesterol and stroke, she took a cholesterol-lowering medication for two years. "I recently went off [of it] and am trying to use psyllium and other colon cleansers to bring [my cholesterol] down naturally."
Sarandon had a breast cancer scare years ago when doctors found a calcium deposit in her breast. She underwent a biopsy to have it removed. It was benign, as calcifications often are, but "now I have breast checks every three months," she says.
Positive Perspective
She also engages in guided imagery, a visualization technique that some studies have shown can affect everything from perception of pain and weight loss to smoking cessation.
"If you can't imagine yourself in a good place, how can your body go there?" she asks. "Visualize everything from living to be 120 years old to peace in the world. You have to imagine it before it can happen," she says.
As a child of the '60s, she still embodies many hippie ideals. "Trying to remember to breathe is an important thing. Enjoying and remembering how lucky [you are] to still be here, and [investing] in friends," she says**
**taken from webmd
No comments:
Post a Comment