Earnestine at 85
Earnestine Shepherd, the oldest female bodybuilder in the world, wakes up at 2:30 a.m. and runs 4 miles every morning. She is an inspiration to many people and teachers that you can get healthy at any age. She likes to say that the age is just a number. You may say she probably ran marathons since 10 years of age and spent in the gym most of her life. You may be surprised to find out that this beautiful 85-year-old woman started going to the gym at 56 years old.
Together with her sister, they set the goal to be the oldest bodybuilders in the Guinness Book of World Records. Her sister asked her: if anything happens to me, I want you to keep it up. Unfortunately, Ernie’s sister unexpectedly passed away from a brain aneurysm, never seeing their dream come true.
Earnestine got into a deep depression, stopped going to the gym and gave up on herself. One day, her sister came to her in a dream and asked: “Get up and do what I asked you to do!”.
In two weeks, Earnestine returned to weight training and, in 1 year, won the bodybuilding competition for her age category. Earnestine is currently teaching weight training classes, and she was shocked when men started asking to train with her.
Earnestine is a beautiful example for all of us and does not leave any reason for excuses. Exercising, nutrition and a positive attitude are some of her main secrets. If she, having started at 56 years old and became the oldest bodybuilder, it means that every single of us has a chance to make our mature years the most productive, purposeful and beautiful years of our life.
As we age, beauty does not come from make-up. It comes from health. These are the secrets of how to maintain healthy beauty and youthfulness I’ve discovered and am happy to share with you:
1. Consider yourself young.
Everything that manifests in outward appearance starts on the inside. If you consider yourself old on the inside, you will feel and eventually will become old. Do not make excuses that you cannot do something because you are growing old and continue being excited about life.
2. Health and beauty start on the inside.
No matter how much makeup you put on your face and how expensive it is, it is never as good as the glow of your healthy rosy cheeks. Your skin is a reflection of your internal organs’ health. REGULAR DETOXIFICATION and HEALTHY NUTRITION, including A LOT OF RAW FOOD, is the key to a young-looking body and well-functioning internal organs.
3. Have a regular exercise routine and get enough oxygen.
Aim to do as much exercise outside as possible to enrich your body with oxygen. Running, swimming outdoors, and cycling are best. Exercise indoors makes your body cells go into an anaerobic state. Practicing various types of breathing is also a great anti-aging practice.
4. Do yoga regularly.
Yoga is the only exercise that will help you to keep your body flexible and will help you to avoid muscle stiffness. Do a light stretch before and a deeper one after your fitness routines.
5. Drink plenty of quality water.
The best water is the one that you want to drink: healthy spring water (if you have access to it). Other options are Reverse Osmosis water or Hexahedron 999 water. If you do not have any of the above, make sure you use a regular carbon filter and change it regularly.
6. Hair Care.
Minimize use of curling irons, straightening, perming and other practices creating permanent damage to your hair roots. Use natural hair colouring, with use of herbs such as henna, cascara and indigo. The Light Mountain has some very natural colours, like light brown. You need to keep the colouring on your hair only for about 45 min (read instructions on the box) for a permanent effect, and they really work for grey hair.
7. Protect your skin and lungs.
Do not be lazy to grab a pair of gloves when doing dishes by hand, and put a protective mask when cleaning with strong detergents (if you have to use them at all).
8. Use a vegetable bristle brush and loofa to stimulate your sebaceous glands and circulation.
One of our guests shared that she got rid of stretch marks using it!
This is how you use the dry skin brush:
- It is best to do it in the morning on dry skin.
- Starting from your hands and moving towards your chest, rub your skin with a brush in a circular motion. Do the same with your legs, back and tummy. Always brush TOWARD your HEART.
- Start brushing gently, increasing the intensity as your skin becomes conditioned.
Do the same with loofa, except use it while in shower and on wet skin (and with soap) and be more gentle. Do not use loofa, if you have a break out of psoriasis, eczema, or any kind of sores on the skin. An extra long body scrubber is most convenient way to use loofa, but you can also use a small hand type.
9. Decrease soap on your skin, when showering.
Unless you use loofa, very warm water is all you’ll need in most cases (except private areas). Soap changes your skin pH, making it too alkaline. Use natural deodorant, such as Bee Fresh by Back-to-Earth. Regular deodorants clog your skin pores.
10. If you have “problems” with skin, like acne or boils, try eliminating for 3-6 months these foods:
- Fried (anything with heated oil)
- Meat & milk + other animal products
- Chocolate
- Flour products
- Sugar (including molasses, brown, turbinado) in any shape or form. Replace it with raw honey, agave and real maple syrup, stevia, and dried fruit.
- Any junk food, transfats and food with additives
You may see miracles. Maybe you will even decide to continue staying off some foods you eliminated.
11. Use on your skin only what you can eat.
A mouthwash I picked up, had instructions: “Do not swallow. There is enough poison to seriously harm a child. If swallowed, call poison control centre immediately.” What happens if you take anything into your mouth? Isn’t it going to be absorbed? The main ingredient of one of the most popular toothpaste brands can cause DEATH, according to the Guide of Cosmetic Ingredients. Bottom line: if you can eat it, it is safe for the skin also!
12. Eat plenty of greens.
Use a variety of those in your smoothies, salads and juices in ample amounts. The best thing is to have your own little garden and pick fresh greens daily (it does not have to be lettuce, but can be dandelion, clover and chickweed leaves).
13. Juice for your health.
Since our soils are depleted of nutrients, teeth are not used to handling “real” hard food, and the digestive tract is overworked and inflamed, the body does not get a chance to receive all the necessary nutrients from whole food, which should generally happen. Using a variety of freshly squeezed juices, especially from greens and vegetables, will help you solve many problems related to nutritional deficiencies, such as unpleasant issues such as bleeding gums or falling out hair.
14. Stand on your head!
Any exercise during which you go upside down, like an inversion table or simply laying on the floor with feet up, will improve your head and hair circulation. Be careful: this exercise has some contraindications, including high blood pressure.
15. After washing rinse your hair with herbal infusions of chamomile or stinging nettles.
Your hair will be amazing. Method of preparation: put 1 Cup of dry herb into a 2 Qt jar, and pour over it boiling water. Cover the jar with a plate or lid and let it sit for 30 min. Strain the tea, pour it into a bowl or basin, and dilute it with enough water to create a comfortable temperature. Rinse your hair well in the solution, and dry with a dark-coloured towel (the herb will stain the towel). In season, you may be able to buy some fresh nettles. They are best – you can juice them in your greens juicer and add them to the warm water as a rinse.
16. Frog Therapy.
Juice ½-2/3 cup wild grass from your yard (ensure it is not sprayed). For this therapy, you will need a juicer for leafy greens, like a wheatgrass juicer. Ensure your bathroom is warm (you can use a small heater during the procedure). Standing in your bathtub, apply all over your skin until the juice is used up, and apply a small amount to your hair roots (optional). Cover your shoulders with an old towel to keep you warm. Keep the grass for about 15 min and thoroughly remove with a shower, loofa and soap. Your bathtub will need to be cleaned after, and you need to use some old towels to clean the mess, but this decadent treatment is super rejuvenating for your physical and energetic bodies.
17. For refining pores of the skin:
- Steam baths are great.
- Steam your face with soothing herbs, such as chamomile and lavender, marshmallow root and calendula .
- Apply a small amount of mixed with a drop of thyme, tea tree and/or lavender essential oil to pimple, to disinfect it.
- Fruit masks with apple, pineapple or strawberries are fantastic! Put some pieces or well processed pulp on your face and leave it for 20 min. My friend used to put leftovers of everything she ate on her skin: cucumber, lemon and tea bags. She had the most beautiful skin I’ve ever seen!
18. For Dry Skin:
- Do not use any soap on your skin.
- Ensure you drink plenty of water.
- Make an oatmeal bath: put some oatmeal in cheesecloth and tie it. Place the cloth in the bathtub with water.
- Use avocado or banana, mixed with water for moisturizing, as well natural creams, made with oils and other quality ingredients. My favourite ones are Heaven Sent Butter by Back-to-Earth, and Damascus Rose Oil by Badger. They have no preservatives and can be used on the face. You can also check-out some local companies that make natural body care products.
- Adding 1 tsp- 1 Tbs. cold pressed flax seed oil to your food will help your skin glow, and using silica supplement (my favourite brand is Huebner) for a few months will help both your hair and skin.
- Avoiding heated and hydrogenated (trans-fats, margarines) oils. These oils are like pieces that do not fit into a puzzle. They take up the space of good oils, and do not accomplish what those do. This leads to degeneration of the tissues and deprives the skin cells ability to use healthy fats.
- Decrease amount of salt you consume. It considerably dehydrates your cells, including skin.
- Avoid drinks and foods containing caffeine and coca-cola, as they have diuretic effects.
19. Brush Your Hair Carefully and Braid it for the Night to Avoid Splitting.
Here is a little video on how to brush your hair correctly. Wen you wash your hair, use some conditioner, and ensure that your hair does not get overly dry in hot conditions (steam bath or weather). It is a good idea to do once or twice a week a deep conditioning with warm oil, such as coconut, or other oil. Damascus Rose Oil by Badger can also be used for this. You apply the oil on your hair, cover it with a towel and leave for min 8 hrs. Then you wash it off using shampoo.
20. Do Facial Exercises.
Tonya Zavasta wrote a book on the topic and offers a number of free exercises online. Tonya is a true inspiration when it comes to keeping your skin beautiful. She says that overtime you can reshape your skin and get rid of some wrinkles. You can also research and experiment various electric Facial Toners.
21. Brush and floss your teeth regularly.
Using Waterpick Water Flosser is a very effective way to keep your teeth clean.
22. Do Eye Exercises.
Simple exercises visual eights & circles, looking at a distance alternating with looking at your finger, exposure of the closed eyes to the sun, as well as contracting and relaxing your eyes, will help your eye health. We do not mind to shower every day, but most of us do not spend even 3 min daily to exercise our eyes!
23. Nurture People in Your Life.
Happy people are beautiful. When we are nurtured and loved, we feel beautiful and age slower. Aim to nurture relationship you have and keeping it healthy, be it a partner, a child, or friends. It does not mean to be a caregiver, to put meals on the table or drive to activities. It is taking time to do a back rub or a massage for your loved one at the end of the day, it means from time to time to write a kind letter or appreciation, and it means to be kind, respectful and not to say hurtful things when you are upset. Those wounds don’t heal quickly and destroy the relationship permanently. Treat other people with grace and follow the golden rule.
24. Simplify.
Declutter your house, your purse and your laptop bag on a regular basis. Simplify your life. More things you have to take care of, less time is left to create. And to create is what we are created for! Spend at least 5 min every day thinking about something good, praying, relaxing, dreaming.
25. Detoxify your brain.
Somebody said that live cannot be both intensive and extensive. Find every day 30-60 min in a midday to slow down and unwind. Walk barefoot on the ground, close your eyes and have a power nap, do a meditation, stretching, or go for a slow walk. Your nervous system needs these, and you will have more energy for the rest of the day.
“Age is a mental rather than physical concern. It’s irrelevant if you don’t mind.”
Author unknown
In our society, we are so obsessed with inches, pounds and looking young. We are bombarded with stereotypes of how we should look, what we should weight and what we need to wear. We painfully perceive the aging process, and often just a thought of getting older and looking into a mirror may be painful in itself. If we do not see what we want to see there, it may lead to the identity crisis and deep down giving up on ourselves.
I believe, the age is nothing but a number, even if you, due to various life circumstances are not looking as Ernestine. Because your soul never grows old. Because your grandma was the most beautiful woman on Earth, and there are many women who are your examples and your heros, no matter what age they are. We think of the 2nd part of our life as of something undesirable, as if life only was possible before we reach that mark. This stage of life is full of wisdom and opportunities, as long as you see it that way.
I’ve seen people being 60..70… year old and I felt that I was around a very young person. And I’ve seen people who were complaining that they had hard time getting up the stairs when they were just 50! They were complaining they were getting old, and they looked like they were! Is it not all about genetics. It is first of all about joy of life, keeping positivity and living a purposeful life at any age.
There is youthful beauty, and it is wonderful and inspiring. And there is a mature beauty, beauty of a soul that had done a lot of internal work, if full of joy and looks at life with humour. When you love yourself, your soul, you will love your body. When you love yourself, other people will love you. When you when you are healthy and vibrant, and when you have zest in you, people will find you beautiful and will admire you.
Never lose your spark, and never grow old. Remember: wrinkles are sexy.
