Jamie Lee Curtis Shows Skin, Talks About Weight Loss In AARP

NEW YORK — Jamie Lee Curtis went shirtless to pose for AARP The Magazine.

Curtis is shown sporting gray hair and wading in water up to her chest on the cover of the magazine's May/June issue, which will be available Monday.

The star of "True Lies," "A Fish Called Wanda" and other films becomes eligible for membership in AARP, the nonprofit organization for people 50 and over, when she celebrates her birthday Nov. 22.

"I want to be older," she tells the magazine. "I actually think there's an incredible amount of self-knowledge that comes with getting older. I feel way better now than I did when I was 20. I'm stronger, I'm smarter in every way, I'm so much less crazy than I was then."

Curtis, who is married to Christopher Guest and the mother of two children, says she reached a turning point two years ago when a tabloid published a photo of her and gave her weight as 161 pounds.

"I was like, `How dare you _ I'm not 161 pounds!' I was indignant. I got home and I went on a scale and I was 161 pounds. I was in denial about it," she says.

"So I started a really healthy way of eating, just avoiding things that I had been shoving in my mouth. Over the course of a year, I dropped about 20 pounds," Curtis says.

"Now, I get up at (5 a.m.) every day, filled with energy. I play tennis three times a week, and I do yoga."

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Curtis says growing older means paring down to an essential version of yourself.

"I've let my hair go gray. I wear only black and white. Every year I buy three or four black dresses that I just keep in rotation. I own one pair of blue jeans. I've given away all my jewelry, because I don't wear it," she says.

What about her life would she do over?

"I've been an inconsistent parent at times, and it's my greatest regret," she says. "When my daughter was small, I worked too much. I was replicating what my own mother (Janet Leigh) did."

___

On the Net:

AARP The Magazine:

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/

Comments

[Spender]

Ever gorgeous, ever intelligent, ever cool and someone you can imagine sitting down with and having a beer with.
THAT is sexy and Jamie Lee is all that and more.

[pithymaxim]

Please, this isn't the typical older woman. She has testicular feminization, so genetically has a greater muscle to fat ratio. She ages like a man, not a woman.

[editorjuno]

Show me a fifty year old man who's aged like that and I'll believe you. At least the rumor has evolved into something a tiny bit more credible than the one that been going around for 30+ years:

http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/jamie.asp

That said, unless you are a family member or a medical professional in breach of patient confidentiality, there's absolutely no way that the syndrome you've cited can be confirmed, so why post it here at all?

[pithymaxim]

Firstly, her case has been discussed in the medical literature (alluded to) for decades. Secondly, it is misleading to hold her up as an example of glowing female health as she is not a typical genetic female, however appealing she is phenotypically. But I accept the criticism that my initial comment was disparaging rather than purely informative and apologize. Too many women are influenced by images of celebrities, leading to body dysmorphic disorder and eating dis orders. My sole intention was to point out that her case is not typical. This does not diminish her considerable accomplishments, for which I have the highest regard.

[rini]

I don't think that people with that condition are known to have more muscle. They can't respond to androgens (male hormone), this is why they are female, despite being genetically male. They would likely have female muscle type, just like they don't have beards or male genitalia.

I am not specialized in that area, though, so I don't want to say I'm 100% certain. Also, she has never confirmed that she has this diagnosis. If she has this condition, it's sad that she can't talk about it.

[XCITIZEN]

Actually, I believe she HAS talked about it.

[kardwell]

Interesting comment. Your statement seriously clashes with what I notice on the street. Unlike men Curtis's age, she isn't balding, hunched over, paunchy and soft.

Although she probably does have "good" (not necessarily "male", as you state) genetics on her side, I am sure her diet, lifestyle, and exercise regime have a lot to do with her condition. Curtis does yoga regularly, and there isn't a physical activity out there that has as may benefits for the inside and out.
I see a lot of women her age attending yoga classes, but very few men.....

[jerrypenguin]

"...Unlike men Curtis's age, she isn't balding, hunched over, paunchy and soft....".
This may be the stereotype for men and women over the age of fifty. However, the situation is not true for all men and women. A lot of "elderly" can swim, hike, climb, bicycle, work heavy labor, and more. By this, I mean intense physical exertion. This is physical exertion where one sweats buckets and loses three or more pounds in one day. As an example consider real mountain climbing or double century cycling. It is possible to identify a lot of these people by their physical attributes. These attributes are their posture, walk, legs, complexion, etc.

[dartagnan]

"Unlike men Curtis's age, she isn't balding, hunched over, paunchy and soft. "

That description does not fit all men of 50 and probably does not even fit most of them.

[PDXTransplant]

PITHY - As only someone who has seen the movie "True Lies" can say, if that's not all woman, then maybe we need to rethink what is.

Watch this and then you make up your own mind whether it's true or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LInnwrSGLJU

[kardwell]

Jamie Lee Curtis is still a gorgeous and vibrant woman. Recently, while traveling, I saw her at a health food store and I was stunned by how beautiful she still is. No, they didn't airbrush the photo -- she has the skin of a 30'something and the body to match....w­ithout a trace plastic surgery either. She is positively radiant. Beyond that, she has the simple, elegant, cool style of a woman who knows herself and isn't trying to impress he world. I hope to god I look (and feel!) as good as she does when I reach her age.

[NoSillyName]

kardwell, you just might. Take a look at your parents. How are they aging? I'm several years older than JLC yet I have no gray hair and look very young without really trying. People think I'm still in my 30s or early 40s. My mother has very little gray hair and my father didn't go gray until his 70s. He's over 90 now and looks & acts like he's in his 70s. He still climbs ladders, paints houses, etc. There are few things I thank my parents for; looking youthful is a one of them.

[MissingAmerica]

What a beautiful, inspirational woman!

[vandegrasse]

I like her, but beautiful she ain't.

[SKonnery]

That's is simply your opinion but obviously not everyone's.

[jneems]

Looks like they airbrushed away her wrinkles. LOL

[Boadicea]

Wow, what a gorgeous woman!

Jamie, you're my inspiration on so many levels. Love the way you have always defined your own life, at each stage. You've made every season bloom. And now you're set to celebrate again. I sense that our host here, Arianna, has a lot of respect for you - no wonder!

Congratulations on joining us over-fifites!

[sdtea]

I think i love you, Jamie Lee...

[TucsonEd]

Why only black or white and only ONE pair of Jeans??? WHY no jewelry?

[grisgris]

I'm approaching 50 and have found myself simplifying in much the same way. I don't wear nearly as much jewelry, have fewer clothes (by choice) and am much less materialistic. I don't know why I have been moving in this direction, but I definitely find myself in great company with Jamie Lee. I have always liked her very much.

[plages]

What a beautiful heart throb . . .

[NoSillyName]

She's spoken about this topic in the past. How plastic Hollywood is; how aging is viewed as worse than death. She was caught up in it for a while earlier, but has decided to start showing herself as she is. I admire her honesty. She is a role model for the rest of us AARP members. Let's take as good care of ourselves as possible and grow older gracefully. If younger people don't like it, too bad. Don't look! You'll get there in a shorter time than you realize. Then your bodies will start showing the inevitable signs of aging, too. As the saying goes, "I don't want to get old, but it sure beats the alternative".

Good luck to everyone!

[barriosbabe]

It is so sad that we even have to have the discussion, you know, is it okay to go gray, have one pair of jeans, let's de-construct whether she is (whatever, typical, sincere, ugly, beautiful) etc. I really am starting to think that America has gone mad. There's nothing wrong with a little gossip and fluff, but to the exclusion of all else.

[JMEB]

To the exclusion of all else?

Ummm...wha­t reality are you living? Do you live in a nail salon or something?