LIFE & CULTURE

Christie Brinkley’s Diet & Exercise Routine

She's a veritable foodie pioneer

At 65 years old, Christie Brinkley looks virtually unchanged from her early days in the modelling industry—and it all has to do with a rigorous diet and fitness routine, as well as living a relaxed, wholesome lifestyle.

Brinkley has been in the spotlight since the early ’80s, but since then, the supermodel has become a champion for healthy living, and famously gave up fad diets a long time ago. While we shouldn’t deny the mother-of-three’s supermodel metabolism, she was one of the first celebrities to promote vegetarianism as early as the 1980s—as well as endorsing some undeniably effective fitness tips.

Here’s every diet and wellness tip that Brinkley abides by to stay fighting fit.

What Is Christie Brinkley’s Diet? 

Brinkley has long emphasised the benefits of her vegetarian diet—she’s practically avoided meat entirely since she was 12 years old. Brinkley told The Cut: “[When I became vegetarian] I started reading books right away because I knew that I had to replace the protein and figure out what to do. Over the years I’ve been a vegan, I’ve been a macro-biotic, I’ve been a lacto-ovo. The one constant since the day I stopped eating meat was that I haven’t eaten any red meat or fowl.”

For breakfast, Brinkley told Shape that oatmeal is her go-to, saying: “I rarely have time to cook it, so I just eat it raw. Then I’ll pour some flaxseeds on top of that and maybe a little wheat germ, then I’ll grab a couple of handfuls of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and rinse them off and toss them in.

“It’s like a really moist juicy muffin. It is so good.

For lunch, Brinkley told Shape she favours salads, with “every colour in [them]”. Brinkley implores incorporating all kinds of colourful foods into her diet, telling the magazine: “For many, many, many years, I’ve always said go for as many colours as possible in a day. That’s my main concept for making sure my kids get all the nutrients—making sure the deep greens, yellows and reds and purples, all of that.”

She told The Cut that her dinner involves “more of the same, except maybe I’ll put my vegetables on a bean pasta, rice, grain, or quinoa [instead].”

Her wellness philosophy? Treating it like a lifestyle, and not like a laborious task. “For me, [wellness is] a lifestyle, it’s a foundation for your future. Because your health is your greatest wealth. I really think that’s something everybody needs to invest in.”

What Is Christie Brinkley’s Exercise And Wellness Routine? 

Having lived a life in the spotlight, Brinkley has managed to maintain a consistent workout routine since the ’80s, and still switches it up in 2019.

The supermodel told The Cut that she doesn’t just work out at one explicit moment in the day—rather, she tries to fit in different, smaller workouts whenever she gets free time. She said: “When I was doing [the musical] Chicago I noticed that the second you do any activity and you add your arms as though you’re dancing, it revs you up.

“Whether it’s walking down the beach and moving your arms like you’re swimming, or picking up rocks and walking with them, you really start sweating and breathing heavily.” An example? “While I’m brushing my teeth, I’m doing leg lifts. When I’m drying my hair, I do all kinds of squats.”

She’s also endorsed the power of yoga—and considering she became the oldest Sports Illustrated model of all time at age 60, it definitely seems to be working.

When it comes to skincare, it’s no surprise that sun protection is of the utmost importance to Brinkley. “We used to think when I was growing up, that the sun was a cure-all,” she’s admitted.

“In my first beauty book, I literally had a couple of pages on how to get the best tan. One of the things I recommended (and I apologised in my other beauty book) was sitting near the edge of the water for maximum reflection on you. Now we know it’s the number-one culprit in premature ageing.”

While many celebrities prefer to keep their skin treatments and cosmetic surgeries under wraps, Brinkley said: “My choice for ageing gracefully is to dabble in treatments. To ignore science would be ridiculous. It’s my pleasure to let people know about these things.”

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