Susan Lucci, the iconic Emmy-award winning actress best known for her role as Erica Kane on "All My Children," has long been admired for her glamorous looks and boundless energy. At 77 years old, she remains a vibrant example of how a balanced lifestyle can contribute to lasting health and well-being. Lucci's commitment to wellness became even more profound after she experienced two significant cardiac events in recent years. Now an outspoken advocate for heart health and an ambassador for the American Heart Association, she openly shares her diet and fitness regimen, inspiring others to prioritize their well-being.
Early Emphasis on Wellness
Susan Lucci learned the importance of wellness early on and always took her health and fitness seriously. Fans were shocked when she revealed she almost had a fatal heart attack, Lucci urges, “It’s important for everyone to know their family history".
A Heart-Healthy Diet Inspired by the Mediterranean
Following two heart surgeries in the past five years, Lucci adopted a diet inspired by the eating habits of people who live in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, including France, Greece, Italy, and Spain. The All My Children alum just opened up about what she eats-and it’s a favorite of nutritionists. Research has found that people living in these areas are less likely to develop cancer and heart disease compared to Americans. This approach emphasizes whole, unprocessed foods and moderation. The diet emphasizes a lot of fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, beans, nuts, and olive oil. It also suggests that fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, and yogurt be eaten in moderation.
"My doctor told me, 'You keep doing what you're doing because something good will come from that,'" Susan, 77, told Fox News in an interview published Feb. 28.
Lucci focuses on incorporating "superfoods" into her daily meals. “Salmon, blueberries and kale,” the actress said of her clean diet. “It started with superfoods,” she explained. “A book about it came out, and my friend gave it to me. She was already eating that way and she looked great. And as I educated myself, I realized that’s how I ate.
Read also: Comprehensive Guide to the Suzanne Somers Diet
She is also mindful of foods that contain cholesterol. “I try to avoid foods that are full of cholesterol,” Lucci added. “I love cheese, but I don’t eat much of it, hardly ever. I love ice cream, but I moderate it. It’s all about moderation. For the most part, I avoid foods that can lead to cholesterol buildup. My husband was an executive chef trained in Europe. I remember I would eat everything that he was cooking. It was like monopoly food. And I did build up cholesterol. … It’s not about being trendy.
According to Cory Ruth, RDN, and CEO of The Women's Dietitian, “Research shows that this style of eating may be linked to a lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and dementia".
Lucci's Daily Menu: A Glimpse
Here's a peek into Susan Lucci's daily food choices:
- Breakfast: Lucci loves to start her day with a cup of coffee with organic sugar and whole milk, stating that she finds coffee "so personal" and that "everyone has to mix their own" to their liking. Breakfast needs to be "fuel she can run on," her go-to being Greek yogurt with organic pumpkin seeds and lingonberries. If it’s cheat day, she "wants it to be worth it," and will splurge on eggs or her husband's blueberry pancakes.
- Lunch: For lunch, she still wants to be "fit and feeling good," so will substitute bread with a base of beefsteak tomatoes. She then tops that off with slices of roasted turkey, avocado, salt & pepper, champagne vinegar, olive oil, and fresh mango.
- Dinner: Dinner is "date night" for her and husband, chef Helmut Huber. The couple cooks up a light salad to start, along with an entrée of salmon, broccoli, and steamed carrots.
Importance of Hydration
“Drinking water is not the only way to stay well-hydrated,” Mussatto states. “Certain foods are ‘watery’ with a high-water content. Almost every single food Susan used for making her salad had a high-water content - especially the cucumbers, which had the highest water content of any food at 96% water! Tomatoes are a very close second with a water content of 95%, Romaine lettuce comes in third with a water content of 94% and mangos are composed of about 80% water. Even avocados have a hefty amount of water of about 75%.” She adds, “The higher the water content, the fewer calories the food tends to have, and along with their abundance of water, they are also satiating foods that silence hunger pangs.
The Power of Antioxidants
“Many may know that chronic inflammation is linked to outcomes like an increased risk of certain cancers and hypertension,” Lauren Manaker, MS, RDN, LDN, CLEC, CPT, and Nutrition Advisor for Eat This, Not That!, told us back in 2020. “But they may not realize that it can also be associated with weight gain. Registered dietitian and certified personal trainer Jesse Feder with My Crohns and Colitis Team states, “The various vegetables as well as the mango and healthy fats, are loaded with antioxidants.
Read also: Weight Loss Journey: Susan Graver
Healthy Fats for Heart Health and Weight Loss
“Your body needs a regular intake of fat,” said Vasanti Malik, a research scientist with the Department of Nutrition at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Fat helps give your body energy, protects your organs, supports cell growth, keeps cholesterol and blood pressure under control, and helps your body absorb vital nutrients. According to Feder, “The avocado and walnuts in this salad provide a great amount of omega 3s as well as monounsaturated fatty acids. The type of fat you eat matters and healthy fats like avocado, which Lucci adds to her salad is encouraged to consume because they lower the risk of heart disease and reduce inflammation, but also healthy fats are good for weight loss.
Pilates: A Cornerstone of Lucci's Fitness Routine
Beyond her diet, Susan Lucci is a dedicated advocate for regular exercise. Susan shared that she does Pilates five to six times a week to help her heart. “I get up early every day just to accommodate it,” she says. In fact, Lucci credits Pilates with transforming her body and boosting her energy levels. She incorporates Pilates into her routine at least five days a week. “I do Pilates every day,” the star said. “The time depends on my schedule for the day and how early my day starts. But I get up early every day just to accommodate it. I do Pilates at least five days a week. Sometimes, it’s six days a week because it’s good to come at your muscles differently. I sometimes add weights for part of it or work out on a Pilates chair, which gives you a cardio workout as well. But I sometimes add light weights. I don’t want to bulk up. Everybody’s different, but that’s what works for me.
She swears is the ultimate secret to giving her "core strength, flexibility and energy." Susan upped her workout game even more while prepping to appear on Dancing With The Stars two years ago. "I knew I’d have to step up my program, to get an even stronger core to be dancing on the show," she says. Now, she says she's very proud of her flat abs.
Lucci does most of her workouts using a Pilates Pro Chair (as demonstrated in the video above), which is a workout tool designed to help you target certain body parts like your abs, thighs, and butt-using Pilates moves. She does 10 moves a day on this machine, for 30 to 100 reps each, once through.
“Pilates may look so easy, but it requires a lot of strength,” she said. “My good friend, who was my trainer for many years … her husband is a fitness buff. He would look at us, shake his head and go, ‘What are you doing?’ Because it does look easy. It does look like you’re not going to get any benefits from it at all.
Read also: The Powter Diet Plan
Other Workout Inspiration from Celebrities
Of course, the Devious Maids alum isn't the only celebrity to open up about her diet and fitness regimen.
- Becky G: After having a transformative year in 2023, Becky revealed how fitness played a major role. "I know at the end of the day who benefits from a healthier me the most-myself," she told E! News. "Eventually, if you dedicate yourself to it, you will have lived your life longer with this habit than you ever did without it. Her go-to workouts? "If it's a home work out, if it's stretch, if it's going outside for a walk-I try to be as consistent as I can be."
- Kelly Clarkson: The Grammy winner explained how moving to New York City helped kickstart her health and fitness journey. "Walking in the city is quite the workout," Kelly told People in an interview published Jan. 3. "And I'm really into infrared saunas right now. And I just got a cold plunge because everybody wore me down."
- Julianne Hough: Julianne told E! "I know that I can walk around the hills with my dog," the Dancing With the Stars said. "That's key because I have to get her out, too. And when she has more time to break a sweat, she added, "Whether it's a Kinrgy class or doing Pilates or yoga, the fact that we get to combine all of those modalities is my favorite because I love versatility."
- Kate Hudson: "I always move, even for a few minutes each day. Sometimes I'll go into a room, turn up the music and just dance. 20. "It's so much [more] pleasurable, meaning [being around] the nature, the sun. It cleanses me."
- Lana Condor: "Honestly, my favorite way to break a sweat right now is playing VR. We got a virtual reality headset right as everything was shutting down and it's been AMAZING during quarantine. There are so many games that make you work up a sweat and it's so awesome. I am genuinely so sore after I play."
- Padma Lakshmi: "Under normal circumstances it's going to the gym, but right now I'm taking online classes with my Pilates instructor Britni Lariviere. I'm also trying to jump rope-2,000 strokes each day."
- JoAnna Garcia Swisher: "Family bike rides are big for us right now and I always try to carve out thirty minutes for pilates with Andrea Rodgers and foam rolling with Lauren Roxburgh."
- Janel Parrish: "Running and listening to music. The best outlet I've found these last few months being stuck in the house! I feel so great and pumped up after."
- Dascha Polanco: "My favorite way to break a sweat is mix of sex, PRx Performance, hiking, biking."
- Brooke Burke: "By connecting with my audience and motivating them through my Brooke Burke Body fitness app! I've been live streaming on the app as well as on my Instagram since the beginning of quarantine in an effort to make fitness fun and innovative. I especially love walking my viewers through total body cardio parties, which is when I crank up the music, let them find their rhythm and let the booty burn. Cardio kicks up your heart rate, so if you're not sweating, you're not working out hard enough!"
- Whitney Port: "I have been doing a lot of Sculpt, Cardio Boxing and Yoga Classes on the obé Fitness App and virtual classes with Pilates By Amanda. If I don't have a lot of time, I will do Lauren Gores' express workouts on her Instagram."
- Maggie Q: "During lockdown it's yoga under my own direction. I can go onto so many different tangents and by the time I am done it is often two hours."
- Merle Dandridge: "My trainer, Amoila Cesar, gets lots of results out of me by appealing to my 'no quit,' competitive side. He yells and I love it. During quarantine, I got my fix by doing his 6 Weeks of THE WORK on Beachbody on Demand. I also love a rigorous barre class and need daily yoga."
- Rachel Naomi Hilson: "I've been doing a lot of dancing in my apartment. I'll turn on some music and just go. Sometimes it's more structured, sometimes it's interpretive, sometimes I twerk. Also hiking!"
- Paige DeSorbo: "My go-to work out is P.Volve, I've gone to their classes for years and now I stream them at home. I try and workout at least 3 to 4 times a week even if its for 30 minutes. Its all about strengthening and elongating your muscles.
Prioritizing Self-Care and Awareness
Susan Lucci's journey underscores the significance of self-care and proactive health management. Lucci has a good reason to be a big-time health advocate. She experienced cardiac trauma in 2018 when she began experiencing intense chest pains.
“I remember my husband and I were waiting to be seated at a restaurant in October,” she recalled. “The waiter was coming to see us when I felt a little bit of pressure on my chest, which I had never felt before. It was very mild, so I thought, ‘It must be because the holidays are upon us. How many presents do I need to buy?’ I just thought it was holiday stress. So I ignored it, as many of us do as women.
“I felt this pressure on my chest, only this time it was radiating around my rib cage to my back,” said Lucci. “I had never experienced that either. I’ve never had any kind of medical issue. So, again, I thought, ‘My bra is on too tight.’ I knew it wasn’t. I went home, I checked and it wasn’t that. Susan Lucci initially ignored the symptoms she was experiencing, including pressure on her chest that eventually intensified.
A week later, Lucci went to shop for a pal at a boutique. As the salesperson gathered her things, Lucci felt a sharp pressure on her chest. “I remember many years ago reading a story of a woman who spoke about her symptoms of a heart attack and how they can be different from men,” said Lucci. “I remember she said something about the feeling of an elephant pressing on her chest.
“I sat down on a little bench in the boutique,” said Lucci. “The manager came over and asked me if I was OK. She knew I wasn’t OK. She then said, ‘Susan, my car is right outside. … I could get you to the hospital faster than an ambulance can arrive.’ … I didn’t even have a cardiologist.
A scan revealed that Lucci had a 90% blockage in her main artery to her heart. According to her medical team, had she not acted on her symptoms, she would have succumbed to “the widowmaker,” a fatal heart attack. Lucci could have gone to bed that evening and not woken up.
“I was totally in shock,” she said. “I didn’t have pain. It was just pressure. Everyone was surprised. You think with my lifestyle, how could this happen? Well, it could. And, in my case, it was family history. At the time, my mother was 100 years old. We all thought that I had my mother’s genes. Like her, I never had a health issue or anything. But it turned out that I had my dad’s genes. I didn’t know.
“The doctor said to me, ‘You keep on doing what you’re doing because it really is hereditary.
A couple of years later, Lucci began experiencing a sharp pain in her jaw. This time, she didn’t think twice and called her cardiologist. “I felt so ashamed,” Lucci admitted. “Here I was telling women to be aware of their symptoms, and I was starting to slip back into my old behavior, not wanting to believe it was anything significant. But it turned out that jaw pain can be another symptom for women.
Susan Lucci attends the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Red Dress Collection Concert 2024 at Jazz at Lincoln Center Jan. 31, 2024, in New York City.
“My message for women is to listen to your body,” she said. “Always put yourself on your to-do list. We don’t even put ourselves on the list.
Lucci's Enduring Wisdom: Key Takeaways
- Know Your Family History: It’s important for everyone to know their family history.
- Embrace Moderation: “It’s all about moderation.”
- Listen to Your Body: “Listen to your body".
- Prioritize Self-Care: “Always put yourself on your to-do list. We don’t even put ourselves on the list.