Jennifer Connelly, the Oscar-winning actress, made a splash in "Top Gun: Maverick," showcasing a fit and toned physique at 51. Eschewing the pressure to chase a youthful appearance, Connelly focuses on well-being and happiness. Her approach to health and beauty is holistic, encompassing diet, exercise, and a positive mindset. Let's explore the secrets behind Jennifer Connelly's radiant health and fitness.
Embracing Natural Aging
Connelly has openly expressed her views on the societal pressure for women to equate beauty with youth. She told People magazine that it’s a shame it’s so hard for so many of us to appreciate the beauty of an older woman and to accept it in ourselves. Research from North Dakota State University indicates that individuals with positive perceptions of aging may live 7.5 years longer than those without them. Connelly focuses on her happiness and doesn’t obsess over a youthful appearance. As she told Parade Magazine, “The thing that really matters to me is well-being and happiness, maybe it comes from knowing people who have tortured themselves trying to meet these strangely narrow and rigorous definitions of what our culture thinks is beautiful.” Northwestern Medicine defines happiness as a sense of purpose and well-being.
Diet: Mostly Whole Foods
Connelly maintains a healthy diet consisting of mostly whole foods - vegetables, beans, grains, fish, nuts, fruit. She has been vegan for a pretty long time but she does eat fish on occasion depending on where she is and what’s available. The American Heart Association notes that highly processed foods can be detrimental to health due to added sodium, sugar, and unhealthy fats. It is also reported that about 70 percent of the sodium in the typical American diet comes from commercially processed and restaurant food.
Exercise: Running and Yoga
"Running is my favorite workout," Connelly said, according to Parade. But, she added, “I tried doing jumping lunges for a while. In addition to running regularly, Connelly incorporates yoga into her weekly routine. As she told Vogue, the things I’ve really loved doing over the years most consistently are running and yoga. She runs maybe four days a week. It’s very meditative for me and it gets my blood flowing, even if it’s for ten minutes.
Skincare
Connelly is very much aligned with the philosophy of taking a holistic approach to health, well being and beauty. Taking care of your skin is definitely part of the approach. As the face of Shiseido skin care, Connelly follows a faithful ritual of cleansing, toning, and moisturizing using the company’s Future Solution LX line.
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Haircare
When it comes to her hair I really don’t do that much to it. Since cutting it short (I had it cut and styled into a long bob for a role) I’ve started using different products, like Fekkai Beach Waves, Bumble and bumble Bb. Texture Hair (Un)Dressing Creme and shampoo and conditioner from René Furterer. She tries not to do too many processes on it and give it a rest. She doesn’t color her hair-I had to go blond once for a role. But when I feel like it needs a little boost she’ll go to Marie Robinson in New York and she’ll put a gloss on it. She does notice that my hair and nails are at their best and much stronger when I take Vega One and Green Vibrance supplements.
A Holistic Approach
Connelly’s approach to beauty and wellness is holistic, emphasizing the interconnectedness of physical and mental health. She tries to do things that complement each other and work from the inside out. She eats well, exercise regularly and live my life in a pretty balanced and healthy way.
Lessons from Tom Cruise
The release of Top Gun: Maverick has sparked conversations about age and fitness, particularly when comparing Connelly's co-star, Tom Cruise, to his counterpart from the original film. At nearly 60, Cruise exhibits remarkable fitness. While Cruise may be an exception, his dedication to health offers valuable lessons.
It's been reported that during Mission Impossible shootings he was having only 1200 calories a day. Although that is not sustainable in the long run, it is well known that calorie restriction is a contributing factor to longevity. In 2018 his diet was about having 15 meals per day, mainly nuts and berries. Another diet that is unsustainable for a long period. Eating that frequently would keep his insulin level constantly high, leading to insulin resistance and eventually making him fat. But this shows us that he eats lots of anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant foods. He eats lots of good proteins, mostly grilled at lower temperatures. By doing this he avoids AGEs (advanced glycation end-products) with form when proteins are exposed to high temperatures, especially deep frying in vegetable oils. AGEs accelerate the aging process in our bodies. He avoids Carbs. Carbohydrates will spike your insulin and again, will lead to insulin resistance and eventual fat gain.
All we know about Tom's workout can be condensed into these two points. He does weight training. The muscle loss that comes with aging is called Sarcopenia. And Sarcopenia is one of the greatest enemies of elderly people. We all know senior people that are not fat, but look extremely weak and fragile. That can lead to fractures and overall lower life quality. To avoid that we need resistance training with weights. Weight lifting is even better. He is generally very active. He used to practice several diverse physical activities, like running, cycling, fencing and kayaking.
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By adding these few things to our daily lives we can get a lot to look like Maverick: Reduce carbs (especially the refined ones, like sugar and flour), add anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant foods to our diet, eat good proteins and choose the cooking method wisely, do weight training and be active.
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