Heidi Klum’s advice on aging: “Don’t be too thin, have some meat on your bones”

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Heidi Klum is the December cover girl for Self Magazine. I’m kind of meh on the cover – I like that Heidi still gets magazine covers, but she’s less of a high-fashion model these days, and more of a reality celebrity who is embraced by the masses – so no more high fashion for Heidi. Anyway, the interview is very interesting (to me at least) because Heidi talks a lot about aging and how she approaches things in her late 30s. Heidi says that for now, she’s not doing any Botox, and she says she doesn’t see herself doing it any time soon. But the most interesting part was this advice: “The ultimate beauty secret for a woman getting older is, Don’t be too thin! It is always better to have a little meat on your bones.” It’s like that old saying – you have to make a choice between the body or the face – do you want to look thin, or do you want your face to look good? By the way, I agree with Heidi – a little extra weight does help the face at a certain point.

When it comes to looking beautiful, Heidi Klum doesn’t believe you’re either thin or you’re out. In fact, the Project Runway star, 37, says that as women age, bigger is better.

“The ultimate beauty secret for a woman getting older is, Don’t be too thin! It is always better to have a little meat on your bones,” Klum tells Self in the December issue. “When you are just muscle, you end up being gaunt in the face, and that makes you look older by 5 or 10 years.”

The model, who recently ended her professional relationship with Victoria’s Secret, also says she doesn’t sweat growing older – or getting wrinkles. “I don’t have anxiety about it, so I’m not running to get Botox. Maybe that will change, but I don’t think so. I feel comfortable in my skin and comfortable with aging, so I think it’s okay that I get wrinkles.”

In the meantime, she says sleep keeps her looking fresh (“I go to bed at 8:30 most nights”), as does self-tanner. “I like how it looks,” she says, “but sometimes I leave gold shimmery marks all over!”

Of course, looking beautiful isn’t Klum’s only focus. In addition to working on her show and designing a line of active-wear for New Balance, she’s also raising four kids with her husband, Seal, 47. Klum admits it can be overwhelming when Leni, 6, Henry, 5, and Johan, 3, bombard her with questions at the dinner table, or when Lou, 13 months, cries for no apparent reason, but she’s found a means to stay calm.

“I take a deep breath and say, ‘This is my world,’ ” she tells the magazine. “It’s a roller coaster. Sometimes you’re on top and everything is fabulous, and sometimes it’s crazy. But it’s what I wanted, and in the end, I love it.”

Another sanity-saver? Making lists.

“I’m a big believer in to-do lists,” she says. “I make them before bed. I think of five things in the shower, and when I come out, I write them down or I can’t sleep. I have daily lists and big-picture lists. I set goals and get my work done, but I have to plan for fun things, too. I’m always thinking about what will make my family happier.”

[From People]

I’m a list maker too, so I can relate. I love a good list. Just the act of sitting down and writing out a grocery list or a shopping list or a HGF list calms me considerably. Heidi has some good advice all over, right? Maybe I’m just back “in like” with her ever since she fought for Mondo on the Project Runway finale. She got my respect for at least trying to talk some sense into Michael Kors and Nina Garcia. Viva la Klum!

Here are some more photos of Heidi wearing Mondo!

Header image via JustJared

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52 Responses to “Heidi Klum’s advice on aging: “Don’t be too thin, have some meat on your bones””

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  1. Michael says:

    i heart that mando dress! his collection in the finale was awful though it really did look ‘junior’ as nina called it. it seemed silly.

  2. Harmony says:

    i agree- sarah jessica parker, madonna…listen to this woman.

  3. mln says:

    I always thought the question (which is attributed to Catherine Denuvue) was ass or face. LOL.

  4. Newbie says:

    that polka-dot dress makes her look pregnant.

  5. GatsbyGal says:

    Totally agree – just look at Madonna, all bones and sinew.

  6. Diane says:

    Lovely lady. I am totally into lists, I have lists for everything. I’ve been known to write something on my list that I’ve already done just so I can get the satisfaction of crossing it off, that’s my OCD.

  7. Rosi says:

    i, she thought, however, will look young and be thin always, bitches!

  8. Arianna says:

    @ Diane

    me too dont worry!
    it’s amazingly satisfying ahhaha

  9. Ycnan says:

    @Diane, hahahahah. I just did that!

  10. gabs says:

    That is really good advice actually. I love that Mondo dress btw

  11. bee no. 2 says:

    XDD I’m glad I’m not the only one with a list obsession… I have notebooks full of lists, if anyone ever finds them I’ll go straight to the mental hospital…

  12. Roma says:

    @Diane: they say that to get started, you can make your first item “make a list”! It’s psychologically gratifying to cross things off.

  13. Jenna says:

    i love her!!!!! she’s so REAL!

  14. Dominique says:

    @Diane I totally do that too! Does that mean I’m OCD too? I have always wondered if it’s normal to get as much satisfaction from that as I do, lol!

  15. brin says:

    I have the “to do list” gene, too (inherited from my mom). I’m lost without it. Love Heidi…she is the realest of the “super models”.

  16. normades says:

    I don’t care who made that dress, but it’s just god awful

  17. original kate says:

    i agree – the starved, gristled look is not cute. and i am a list maker as well. who knew there were so many of us?

  18. Ernestine says:

    YOOOO HOOOOO?

    Angelina? Are you listening? Heidi just gave you some GREAT advice.

  19. StPeteGirl says:

    I am another list maker!

  20. RHONYC says:

    cosign on the keeping some poundage to stave of looking aged thing.

    the best thing i did for my 30’s was gain 40lbs. i am 5’10” so i carried it well and now that it’s almost gone i don’t look like the crypt-keeper in the grill. lol 🙂

    great advise on the list thing, too.
    i do great grocery lists…i will start doing that bedtime lists, it sounds useful…especially with the holidays coming.

  21. Xx says:

    Mondo’s Dress!!! AWESOME!!

  22. Skye says:

    I don’t agree. I’m 34, with three kids, and I am a fabulous size two. I’ve been told to add on some weight, but why? I enjoy being slender, and I put a lot of work into being this thin, just like Madonna, SJP and Angelina. Sure, I could probably go up a few pounds, but I think once you allow yourself to add on five pounds, it’s just a matter of time before you get lazy and add on another twenty. Plus, it feels GREAT to still be able to shop in the juniors department. But to each his/her own!

  23. Praise St. Angie! says:

    hey hey, I’m a list-maker too!

    writing it down helps you to remember, to the point that sometimes you don’t even need to look at your list.

  24. happygirl says:

    @ Diane…me too!!! I have about 5 lists going right now, Haha! Grocery list, Christmas list, “to-do” on the weekend list, projects around the house list, you name it! People make fun of me for it, but it helps me…what can I say?

  25. Jaxx says:

    The ass or face comment was made by the great romance writer Barbara Cartland.

    And she is so right. Older women try to stay stick thin and it makes them look like gaunt hags.

  26. dj says:

    I love Heidi. It is nice to be validated about the older we get we need some lbs. in the face. So great to hear a super model with some common sense and not yet putting horse semen on her face at night LOL. I just made that one up! You get my drift though.

  27. Gabriela says:

    So says the woman whose body is considered a role model for everyone else. A THIN body, by the way.

    So meat on my bones shall do the job? No botox, at all?

    Oh, Heidi…

  28. Quixotic says:

    I think her advice is great and sooo true too. @Skye You sound obsessed with your weight. Shopping at the juniors department is an accomplishment to you?! Your post was borderline eating disorder-y. Sorry just my opinion. I’ma healthy weight but I don’t freak myself if I gain a few pounds.

  29. mln says:

    Heidi is thin but not unhealthy thin she looks like she works out alot but eats reasonably unlike someone Like Sarah Jessica Parker who went from having an attactive face with character (she was never a stunner) to now having a skeloton face. BTW although I am a big Angie fan I think she would look better if she gained 10 lbs. She is like Audrey Hepburn who was also way too thin she will never have an ugly face but she looks frail in the body.

  30. Scarlet Vixen says:

    I am addicted to making lists! I have always had a difficult time falling asleep (even as a little kid) because I can never shut my brain off. Making lists helps shut it down. 🙂

    And I’ve been saying older women need to add a few lbs for years–I started with Teri Hatcher, and my list of “Older Ladies Who Need to Add a Few” now includes SJP & Madonna among others.

  31. Orion says:

    Heidi doesn’t do Botox. You see it on here face. She has very natural wrinkles. She is aging, but this is the nature law. As she was young, like 18, she was really really pretty. I think people know her from her late twenties.
    Heidi is also no way a bean pole. Karl Lagerfeld calls her fat. I think her advice is very true. It is better to gain little bit weight by growing older.

  32. DrM says:

    GO Heidi! I am a big proponent of no dieting in your forties…eat well, get some exercise but LAY OFF THE DIETING. Cause it makes you look really bad…SJP is looking incredibly gaunt…and don’t get me started on Madonna.

    Might try the bedtime list idea

  33. Kiska says:

    I like Heidi! I had great respect for her standing up to queen kors and Meana Garcia.
    I’m glad she wore Mondo’s gown. Solidarity!

  34. J says:

    @Skye, I think you miss the point. As you age you lose fat in your face. The only way for many/most women to remain youthful looking in the face is to gain a few pounds. Obviously this isn’t the case for every woman, only most.

    @Gabriella, she said gain a few pounds, not get fat. They aren’t necessarily the same thing and Heidi isn’t as thin as the really thin celebrities nowadays.

  35. Obvious says:

    still not a fan of the dress, but the win belong to mondo or andy.

    i generally don’t post requests on posts other than HGF posts, but i’m dying for some Craig Horner or Joseph Levitt Gordon again. =)

  36. Jayna says:

    She’s right. She’s not saying be heavy, because she is, obviously, thin. She doesn’t look any heavier than when she was a model as she was always heavier than the average stick-thin model and curvy. She’s lost some of her bust from having children. I had a co-worker at 40 look great losing weight, and she went too far. And her face looked gaunt and old. But she wouldn’t listen to anyone. Five more pounds she add finally and her body looked great but her face looked so much softer.

    Madonna needs to read this. She looked better in the Confessions tour than the Sweet& Sticky Tour. Too sinewy and muscley in the S&S tour.

  37. benny says:

    I never liked her ever since she became one of those “women” (I’d like to say ho) who gets pregnant by her billionaire boyfriend against his wishes. Ok, it’s not fair for the man to leave birth control entirely up to the woman, but it’s ESPECIALLY not fair for a woman to get pregnant knowing the father will resent the kids, because it’s not fair to the kid. I feel the same way about Elizabeth Hurley and other women of that ilk.

    But I do agree with her about the weight – I think most women look better by gaining a few pounds as they age.

  38. The Hamm is My Dream Man says:

    I agree with her. Don’t get fat, just don’t lose a ton of weight hoping to look younger because all you’ll do is look like a skeleton. As we age, we lose elasticity in our skin and we lose water and natural oils in the skin which give us that soft look. If you exercise too much and deprive yourself of necessary nutrients by dieting too heavily, you’ll look like a collection of bones in a skin sack (SJP, Angelina Jolie) or like your shrunken muscles are barely attached to the bone (Madonna).

    A little (emphasis on LITTLE) amount a fat goes a long way for an older woman.

  39. Cleo says:

    One: don’t listen to her. Avoirdupois is never preferable over pristineness. Never. A mean face will emanate from a mean person over time and no amount of photoshopping will hide it. Give it time.

  40. LittleDeadGirl says:

    Having watched her in a few interviews I have to say I’ve always loved her, she seemed very down to earth, bubbly but real smart too. I’m also happy I’m not the only list maker too. I always sleep much better after I’ve written down a list for tomorrow.

  41. Trish says:

    I detest this woman.

  42. Mizz Tickles says:

    What a gorgeous cover, Heidi has a warm smile. I adore the dress. Perfect for this time of year.

  43. jemshoes says:

    Good advice! Ironic, though, that she graces the cover of the magazine with the headline, “Lose weight without trying.” 🙂

  44. Diane says:

    Wow, what great company with all these list makers. Gotta start the weekend list LOL.

  45. Nj says:

    This is true. Nothing screams youth more than a full face. I hated my chubby face growing up. It was embarrassing to be 18 but look 14. Now at 36, I still get proofed- Even for lottery tickets. My husband has been mistaken for my dad- and he’s 3 years older than me.

    I’m no size two, but I’ll take the tradeoff.

  46. Mimi says:

    I’m sorry but that dress looks awful! And it doesn’t fit her well.

  47. slymm27 says:

    oh madonna, sjp and angelina…..look so awfull. They should be cast for a horror movie. How do men find that sort of figure attractive? I say more meat on the bones, in your teens, 20’s, 30’s and as you age is always better.

  48. Amy says:

    Like most virgoans I too make lists. I write everything down, that helps me follow-through exactly. Yea I agree with Klum that mature women look better plumper.

  49. K says:

    Skye, 34 is hardly old. I feel kinda bad for you if you are already associating 34 with being “older”. Shit, you’re in your prime. Yes, to each her own, but the context refers to extremes in thinness. If you are naturally petite and small boned, a size 2 is probably not that big a deal to you. However, the juniors department is for pre teens. Cut and everything. I don’t understand why grown women shop there when the cut and styles are more fashion forward in the misses department. Just my two cents.

  50. cubesque says:

    I googled and googled but hit a wall so I have to ask … What the heck is an HGF list????

  51. Cleo says:

    The older they get, the more people are going to think that Heidi Klum and Leni Klum look like sisters. How do you like them apples?

  52. Cleo says:

    I think Leni has Gunther Klum’s nose. She doesn’t look much like Flavio Briatore. Check out this photo of grosspapa Klum: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article2370009.ece