Susan Lucci is thankful to her mother for instilling in her the value of health and fitness.
“She was a registered nurse who believed in prevention,” the actress recently said of Jeanette, the matriarch who died last summer at the age of 104. “[She encouraged everyone to do] the best with what you’ve got. Get up off the couch, take it day by day and do what works for you.”
The “All My Children”star, who turned 75 on December 23, told the publication that exercising Pilates six days a week and eating a Mediterranean diet that is rich in seafood, fruits, and fresh vegetables had contributed to her young appearance.
“Over the past few years, I’ve gotten more in touch with my spiritual side,” she shared. “I think keeping an open heart and open mind has been very helpful to me.”
Susan Lucci is particularly concerned about her health following a significant scare. She had surgery in 2018 after a big blockage in her major artery almost caused a catastrophic heart attack.
“I learned with my heart incident that stress plays a very real role in our health,” said Lucci. “Physical exercise, in addition to keeping you physically healthier, is a great way to de-stress.”
Lucci has publicly praised her body throughout the years.
Lucci wore a plunging black one-piece, as well as a cut-out bathing suit, for the editorial spread in Harper’s BAZAAR in 2018. The photographs were praised for being entirely unretouched.
“I feel as good now as I ever did in my 20s and 30s, maybe even better physically,” she stated to the outlet.
Lucci praised Pilates, which she has been doing for almost twenty years, for keeping Luccy in camera-ready condition all year. It has also radically transformed Lucci’s eating habits.
“Once I started doing Pilates, I lost my taste for things like cheeseburgers and French fries,” she explained. “I rarely eat dessert, never snack, and I don’t eat a lot of bread and pasta. I’ll have one glass of champagne when we go out to dinner, but I don’t drink at home.”
Lucci does indulge when she visits Europe, consuming “more carbs in three weeks than I normally do in six months.” “If I really want something, I’ll just have one or two bites,” she says of sweets.
After nineteen nominations for her depiction of Erica Kane, the actress notably earned her first Emmy in 1999. From 1970 through 2011, Lucci featured in “All My Children.”
While life has been good for Lucci these days, she misses portraying her legendary role.
“Erica was so much fun to play,” she stated to Fox News in 2020. “I used to say to [creator] Agnes [Nixon], ‘Don’t you think Erica needs to lie down sometimes? Don’t you think she’s exhausted a little bit?’ Because she was very active. She had a lot of husbands and a lot of shenanigans going on, but such a wonderful part.”
