The author of the above quote is Mimi Kirk–age 75. And she’s still gorgeous and agile and traveling and fit.

The reality is that most people don’t believe they will ever get old. Or if they do, they don’t plan for this:

It just gradually creeps up on them in an imperceptibly progressive fashion until one day you are OLD.

What is “old”? Is it a number? Well, no. If we look at some people who have aged well, they are still beautiful, fit and vibrant while being “70” which many might consider “old”.

Take Annette Larkins for example:

Mimi Kirk at age 75:

And Ruth Heidrich in her late 70’s and still running marathons:

Now, in contrast view how some popular well-known celebrities have aged and are younger than the above examples:

Carrie Fisher, a.k.a. “Princess Leia” from Star Wars

Her co-star Mark Hammill who played Luke Skywalker:

Gina Davis who played in “Thelma and Louise”:

Now, this is not an indictment against aging nor against overweight people. It’s an indictment against DISABILITY which can happen at any age due to obesity and poor health. This is directly attributable to lack of exercise and poor diet and is the personal responsibility of each one of us.

It happens MORE in old age because youthful bodies can tolerate a lot more abuse. It’s as we age that we lose the vitality to tolerate this abuse as well and we start losing the battle and our habits catch up with us.

A plant-based diet is a start, but is not the sole solution because there are a lot of overweight and unfit vegans out there. We need to cut our fat and salt intakes and get exercise.

In fact, Mimi Kirk herself, the inspiring and lovely lady above, while eating a vegetarian diet for decades which no doubt helped her in maintain her youthful looks today, had weight gain and arthritis that bothered her enough to go raw vegan and become a raw chef and write recipe books:

After switching to raw food, she lost the weight AND the arthritis. Raw food has an amazing ability to preserve health, reduce weight and keep one young.

Annette Larkins shown above has been raw vegan for over 30 years. She is still active and fit and looks radiant.

Others on their path to a fit older age are Teresa Jordan who is in her 50’s, raw vegan chef and athlete:

As we watch people age what we are really watching is a history book of their life habits. There is some genetic component, however, genetics can only take one so far. AND, as regards to disability related to old age, genetics are a non-factor. LIFESTYLE IS KING.

If you are young and reading this and still eating junk food, please be forewarned that your lifestyle habits WILL catch up to you. These days, it’s happening sooner rather than later as seen in the photos of the celebrities above.

Celebrities are often looked up to and admired for their lavish lifestyles, but with those lifestyles comes rich eating and this often translates into not aging well.

While plastic surgery may turn back some of the wrinkles, surgery has very little affect on disability and osteoporosis. That is completely exercise and diet related.

I have personally witnessed senior citizens eating regularly at fast food restaurants and family-style diners like Denny’s and this has been a life-long habit for them. The high-protein diet depletes their bones and the refined sugars and flours and high fats cause weight gain, clogged arteries and diabetes, to mention just a few things.

This sometimes can be reversed, sometimes not depending on how late in life one starts. I’ve heard of many inspiring stories of recovered independence and function by adoption a high-raw plant-based diet.

In Loma Linda, California, there is a high concentration of Seventh Day Adventists who are mainly vegetarian, many vegan. The amount of their populace who remain disease free and independent late is life is high as is true of Japanese Okinawans. Please connect the dots between cause and effect and plan for your future now. Many save up for their retirement but neglect to invest in their health which is where their true wealth lays. And, many often say “Where did the time go? We were busy raising a family, running a business, etc” there is always a way.