Singer, Oscar Winning Actress, Dancer, Fashion Icon – Cher has become a household name with a career spanning decades. She’s always been a strong independent woman, inspiring us with her attitude. Famously, she responded to her mum when she told her she needed to settle down and marry a rich man with “Mum, I am a rich man”.
At 73, she is on her ‘last tour’, although she said the same on her world tour in 2015! She had doubts about touring again but decided “Bitch, you’re 500. Do it now.” Whatever you think of her music, it’s hard not to be impressed with her refusal to slow down as she gets older. She opened her show in London last week by saying “I am 73… what’s YOUR granny doing tonight?” So, how does she stay so fit even in her 70’s? Well as expected, it’s the usual eat well and exercise, but it certainly seems to be working!
She Avoids Meat, Dairy and High Fat Foods
During a chat with her Twitter followers Cher revealed that she doesn’t eat processed or red meat, and tries to eat veggie alternatives wherever possible. She also chooses food that will give her energy as she noticed that high fat foods make her feel sluggish. She avoids dairy too, picking non-fat milk if she does have it and believes cheese is one of the worst things for the body, as it doesn’t digest well. Balancing the nutrition of her diet is obviously an important part of ageing for her.
She Makes Healthy Choices
Admitting to binging at some points, it took her a while to learn to make healthier choices.
“I have had some bad binges while making movies. At the end of The Witches of Eastwick, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon and I really went crazy. We’d go from one of our trailers to the other stuffing ourselves with Pepperidge Farm Cheddar Cheese Goldfish, M&Ms, Cokes and Hershey’s Kisses.
Then Michelle and I found out we could microwave sweet potatoes in four minutes, and that changed our entire lives. We lived on sweet potatoes, baked potatoes and Caesar salads.”
She now concentrates on food that will give her energy, such as brown rice, legumes, vegetables, pasta and fruit such as bananas, papaya and nectarines.
No Drugs or Drink
Rising to fame in the 60’s, one night have expected Cher to have taken some drugs during the LSD, Woodstock inspired hippy years. Being healthy has always been part of her life, which means not much dabbling with the stuff she considers unhealthy. She admits to having done drugs, but said they never agreed with her and she only has a drink 3 or 4 times a year too.
Playing Sports
As a tomboy growing up, Cher always loved sports. She even learned to surf in her 60’s! Luckily she has always liked being active, which makes exercising 5 times a week fairly easy for her. She does everything from the aforementioned surfing, going to the gym, walking and even Wii Tennis.
A Great Attitude to Ageing
All these things can seem obvious – we all know exercising and eating healthy is the best way to live, but Cher is living proof that it does work! But what also keeps her young is her great attitude. Whilst ageing doesn’t scare her, becoming obsolete does, and in her industry she says they are one and the same. She doesn’t want to become useless and things that is a very unattractive prospect, so she keeps going!
“My mum is 93 and she keeps going, ‘Cher, age is just a number. If you don’t bother it, it won’t bother you’”
Her advice to young women is to “do everything you want to do, you can’t take no for an answer”, but what about us midlifers? She implores us to change our ways.
“Get a new life! Do something fabulous!”
