Heidi Klum looks and feels a fraction of her age at 51. “I’ve said many times, ‘I probably will be walking around at 70 if I feel like it, still with a mini skirt if I want to show my legs,’” she told Alex Cooper on Call Me Daddy. “At the end of the day, I still look in the mirror and I feel good about myself. I still have the passion for shopping for fun things and putting on fun outfits and doing my hair and doing my makeup,” she continued. “I still have the fire in me. I love fun things, and I’m still running around the beach with my boobs hanging out, and I don’t really care. Do they look like how they looked before I had kids and they sucked the living daylight out of them? They are different now!” Here are some of the habits that keep Klum looking and feeling young at 51.
She Nourishes Her Body with Food
Heidi nourishes her body with food. “The myth that models don’t eat is totally not true,” she told Shape. “I just think that because we’re in this business, we have to choose more wisely.” She avoids junk food, opting for fruits, vegetables, and lean protein instead. One of her secrets? “In 2013, I made a New Year's resolution to drink a fruit and veggie smoothie every morning. It's one of those that went from a resolution to a life habit. My kids and I do it together, and we love it,” she told Shape. She also loves anything pickled or fermented. One of her favorite dishes? Her family’s sauerkraut soup recipe. A shot of apple cider vinegar in the morning is also part of her daily routine. Some scientific research supports the health benefits of fermented foods, including antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anti-atherosclerotic activity.
She Exercises a Few Times a Week
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“It’s not just about doing the cardio so that you’re nice and fit, and slim and trim, but your heart needs to pump, too,” she told Shape about why she exercises. “Whenever I need motivation, I think of the big picture. I want to be as healthy as possible for myself and my family,” she said. “I don't really exercise that much,” she added to Buro27. I mean, two times a week for sure. I will do the Stairmaster I've got at home or a running machine. I also think it's important not to exercise too much. I don't think you have to do a lot, but if you do a little bit all the time, I think that's important. Sometimes I'll do some little weights while I'm running.”
She Practices Intermittent Fasting
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Klum is a fan of intermittent fasting. "My last [meal] is at 6 p.m.," she told ET. "I eat with my kids, so I think that also helps a little bit. I think that when you eat a little on the earlier side, it has time to digest and I think it is a little bit better for your body."
She Uses These Digestion Hacks
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Digestion hacks also help Klum keep her body healthy. “Maybe this doesn't work for everyone, but I learned in this clinic that I went to for two weeks with my husband because he had these horrible headaches, is that you're not meant to drink anything while you eat,” she said during an interview. “Not a half an hour before, not during, not a half an hour afterwards. So you're supposed to drink throughout the day, but not when you are eating because it dilutes our stomach acid. And then the stomach acid is too weak to break down the food. So that's important.” Another hack? “No raw vegetables” at night, “you know, like carrots or anything like that,” she explained in the same interview. “It is terrible to do that. Same with fruit or salad. So in the past I've always been chowing down on salad, but what happens is when you lay down at night, you go into rest mode and your poor stomach and your intestines need to rest. So if you're doing all these things like that, it can't rest. So it's super busy getting through all that uncooked food.”
Swimming
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Heidi spends a lot of time in a swimsuit, so it’s not surprising that swimming is one of her favorite workouts. "I’m fortunate enough to have a pool at home and, when the pandemic started, I began swimming 20 laps a day,” she told Women's Health UK (via DailyMail) in 2020. Swimming is a good way to get regular aerobic physical activity, according to the CDC. Just two and a half hours per week of aerobic physical activity, such as swimming, bicycling, or running, can decrease the risk of chronic illnesses. In addition to the many physical benefits, there are multiple studies supporting the mental health benefits of swimming as well.