Carol Alt does things her way.
This supermodel-turned-actress-turned-healthy-living-enthusiast enjoys "raw" ice cream for dinner, says there’s "nothing sexy about getting older," and conducted this interview as she tested out an infrared sauna.
The 52-year-old — who graced more than 700 magazine covers since she debuted as a model at age 19 — has honed her brand of healthy living for the past two decades. Now, she hopes to share what she’s learned (and is still learning) with an entirely new audience when she debuts "A Healthy You & Carol Alt" on the FOX News Channel this Saturday, September 7th at 4 p.m. ET (with an additional airing on Sunday, September 8th at 4 p.m. ET).
"I think everything in my life has been building up to this," she says of "A Healthy You."
And although she’s written three books about eating raw, she says she does not consider herself an expert. "There’s so much to learn," she admits, which is why her show will invite experts to weigh in on everything from raw eating to what chemicals are in your toothpaste.
For Alt, the road from model to television host was not direct. Alt recalls sitting at a photo shoot at age 32, realizing that the chronic health problems that plague many of us — sinus infections, allergies, colds, flus, stomach acid — were seriously impacting her career. "There I was, like a lump," she said of her low energy levels.
"This is a miserable existence," she recalls thinking. "What am I gonna be like at 50?"
It was then that she discovered eating raw, and credits the diet with improving her life both physically and professionally.
Take one look at Alt (who says she hasn’t been in a gym in years, except for practicing yoga several times a week), and it’s hard not to be intrigued.
While she says that she "absolutely" considers herself a role model for women who are getting older, she dismisses the idea that aging can be sexy.
"Getting older is not sexy," Alt says. "What’s sexy is getting healthy."
But Alt’s version of healthy living doesn’t mean she can’t have a little fun. "I had raw (vegan) ice cream for dinner last night," she says. "I have cookies and candies and cake that I can eat for lunch that are more nutritious than your ham sandwich."
She credits her raw food lifestyle — in which nothing she eats is cooked, processed or altered — with taking her career in a new direction. But ultimately, Alt claims she has God to thank for that. "He steered me into three raw books. Who wants to be known as the raw chick?" she says.
And while Alt carved out a career for herself doing things the way she wanted to (she famously produced and sold posters of herself when she was a young model — a game-changing move in the industry at the time), she isn’t without regrets.
"I regret eating the way I did when I was a kid," she says. "I regret getting married so young; I thought I knew everything." (Alt was married to NHL player Ron Greschner from 1983 to 1996.)
These days, Alt spends most of her time with her "fantastic" boyfriend of 14 years, ex-NHL player Alexei Yashin. Her mother, sister and close friend, Holly, make up the rest of her inner circle.
"I feel very at peace when I go home," Alt explains "I’m just me."
Still, there are so many projects on Alt’s plate that it’s easy to wonder if she has any free time. She insists that she does, and that she spends much of it doing internet research.
"I spend a lot of time online looking things up," she says. "I’m addicted."
These days, her hobby has taken on more significance as she prepares for the show with a bit of personal research: “I’m in that infrared sauna right now,” she reports.
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