Top Model with 65

You radiate joy, are incredibly fit, cheerful, and at the peak of your modeling career at 65. Do you see yourself as an ambassador for the Best-Age movement?
It’s nice for me to show young people through my work that age is just a number and doesn’t automatically mean a decrease in quality of life. And I can also set an example for older people that you should never stop living your dreams, no matter how “crazy” they may seem to others.

Where does your indescribable energy and healthy attitude toward life come from?
It may have started with an experience I had at 24. At that time, for health reasons, I tried a full fasting cure. I wanted to give the old wisdom “Fasting is a surgery without a knife” a chance, so I drank only water under medical supervision for 14 days. After that, I gradually built up with raw fruits and vegetables for another two weeks. Fasting like that is really tough, and I often asked myself why I was putting myself through this torture. However, after the cure, I felt reborn! I got to experience firsthand how fasting and the new way of eating afterwards – mainly fruits and vegetables – positively changed my health. Even the planned surgery became unnecessary. I felt light, flexible, and freer than ever before. Something magical happened to me!

How did this new sense of life manifest?
It sparked an interest in nutrition and health. I wanted to find out more about the connections. Through the fasting cure, my body became more sensitive, and I could suddenly feel what did me good and what didn’t. When you “clog up” your system over the years, you unfortunately lose this ability. The equation was simple: if I ate poorly, my system reacted immediately with tiredness, sluggishness, or discomfort. If I ate fresh foods, I felt fit and energetic, slept wonderfully, and had a balanced mood.

What led to your decision to give up meat?
After watching a disturbing film about animal transport on TV, I couldn’t believe what sentient beings had to endure in these transports and slaughterhouses, just so we could satisfy our “taste buds.” It became clear to me that I share responsibility for the suffering of animals as long as I eat meat and consume animal products. I watched the entire report, crying in a state of shock, and decided that I may not be able to change the world outside my four walls, but I can certainly determine what will be consumed within them. Animal protection is important to me because animals cannot protect themselves and need our protection. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should!

Did you cut fish and meat from your diet overnight?
Yes, I haven’t eaten either for 40 years without any deficiencies or other complaints. Over time, I’ve almost completely eliminated cheese and other dairy products. A vegan diet seems to be the most compatible for me, and I am striving to eventually eat 100% vegan. Since this change, I’ve only felt one thing: “fantastic!” I’m happy that my husband enjoys this diet as well and has not eaten meat for many years.

What do you say to people who only eat organic meat from the farm?
The pig from the “local farm” doesn’t care why it had to give up its life. I don’t judge anyone who has a different opinion than I do on this issue, but one should stand by it and not judge me for not wanting to eat meat anymore. I am the best example that you can be fit and happy without meat and don’t have to take supplements. Don’t let yourselves be misled and told that you will have deficiencies afterward!

But doesn’t the human body need protein?
It is scientifically proven that due to excessive protein consumption worldwide, diseases like cancer, cardiovascular problems, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, MS, immune deficiencies, gout, rheumatism, arthritis, and many others are dramatically on the rise. Besides, the possible, necessary intake of vitamin B12 for vegetarians or vegans is nothing compared to the damage caused by animal protein in excessive quantities. There’s enough plant-based protein!

Which foods and lifestyle habits are on your feel-good list?
Daily, I eat a lot of fruits, berries, vegetables, and herbs in all variations (raw, steamed, or boiled). Spelt, whole grain rice, quinoa, buckwheat, barley, millet, oats, corn. Flax seeds, sesame seeds. Nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and pine nuts are all part of my daily diet. Legumes, beans, and lentils wonderfully replace animal protein. Dates, figs for sweet cravings. I drink lots of warm water daily, teas as needed, and little coffee. Instead of cow’s milk, I use soy, almond, hazelnut, oat, or rice milk for cooking. Cold-pressed oils: depending on the dish. I try to eat regularly to avoid hunger pangs. I cut out denatured foods; if a product has more than five ingredients on the packaging or I don’t understand the descriptions, I prefer to leave it on the shelf. Smoking has never been an issue for me, so a beauty killer for the skin is avoided, and my lungs are happy too. Without movement, movement, movement, even a healthy diet won’t help much. I try to walk outside daily with my husband because sitting is “the new smoking”! Yoga keeps me flexible and is good for my nerves. Twice a week, I train on the Power Plate.

Old habits and their power should not be underestimated. How do you stay strong when faced with temptations?
The more often you practice “new” habits, the further the “old” ones fade into the background and lose their power. The earlier you start living with discipline, the easier it is to maintain your weight as you age. We can choose with our diet and enough exercise how we want to live and feel: fit or sluggish! Once you’ve experienced firsthand that “conscious abstinence” isn’t a bad thing, but actually liberating, you eat healthily with pleasure. For me, it’s about giving more life to the years, not just more years to life. When you see your mother suffer from gout and know that much of it is due to a meat- and cheese-heavy diet, you reconsider many things!

You’ve been a model for many years and are currently in top form. What is your daily beauty routine when it comes to skin care?
It’s quite simple. Makeup removers for eyes and face, usually a good soap, tonic water, eye cream, moisturizer, sunscreen, 1-2 times a week a scrub, 1-2 times a week a moisturizing mask. In winter, I enjoy fine alkaline baths. I mainly use natural products for my face and body.

You stopped coloring your hair early and simply let it go gray. Why?
At first, it took some courage. When I stopped coloring my hair in my late 30s, women with gray hair were still considered “old, worn out, unattractive, and beyond good and evil”! Gray hair, back then, was simply a “no-go” for many people, not just those in the advertising industry. But since I got headaches from dyeing my hair, I decided to give it a try. 25 years ago, I was one of the first models to gain a foothold in the advertising industry with gray hair. Today, the market is full of amazing, attractive gray-haired women who laugh out of glossy magazines with joy, class, style, and even sex appeal. Thankfully, times have changed, and “we gray-haired women” are now seen differently. Clients also got tired of seeing 14-year-old girls with anti-wrinkle creams in ads.

You’re one of the rare women who wear their gray hair long…
Yes, it’s a pity that there’s still the belief that older women should have short hair. The opposite is true. Too short hair makes the sagging chin area and a wrinkled neck more prominent, and short male hairstyles tend to accentuate harder facial features as you age.

Can you give some beauty tips?
There are a few things that have always been important to me: never going to bed with makeup on, avoiding excessive sunbathing, and: beautiful teeth, hands, and feet are a must. The most beautiful jewelry for a person—whether man or woman—is, for me, besides beautiful skin, healthy teeth. A well-maintained mouth is one of the most important beauty features. A wrinkled face with beautiful teeth is always better than a wrinkle-free face with bad teeth. The same goes for well-groomed hands and feet. One should never be ashamed of work, and there are jobs where hands get damaged, but fingers and toenails should always be clean and well-maintained. Detoxing and cleansing are wonderful concepts for the body, mind, and soul.

In addition to physical “toxins,” there are also mental and emotional poisons…?
Yes, a lot of junk can accumulate in the mind and soul! Clearing that out may not be as easy as changing your diet, but it’s worth looking into those corners and cleaning up. Negative thoughts are a powerful beauty killer! No matter how good your diet is or how many hours you spend in the gym, if you’re envious, dissatisfied, or angry, it won’t help. Negative thoughts quickly leave unpleasant traces on any face. No cream or injection can fix a bad facial expression in the long term. Soul hygiene is very important! It starts with loving yourself and others.

Where does your unwavering positive aura come from?
Thank God, I was born with a big dose of humility and gratitude and a generally positive attitude toward other people. I approach everyone with openness and can find joy in the little things, which is a gift from heaven. My sense of humor has also carried me through the toughest situations in life with a smile. I think the trick in life is to make it look easy! That