Felicity Kendal is now in her mid 60’s, but if you saw her on Strictly Come Dancing you would think that she was in her 40’s. She is in amazing shape, fit and flexible.
For those of you less familiar with her, she was most famous during the 1970’s for her role on the BBC production The Good Life, which was a story about how the suburban couple Tom and Barbara Good decided to “return to nature” by growing their own food and keeping some animals in their garden, while still living in their suburban semi-detached house. In the USA it was called Good Neighbors on PBS.
So how has Felicity Kendal managed to stay in such great shape all these years? For over 30 years she has been a slim woman and is proof that even in our obesogenic environment today it is possible to remain fit and healthy. The answer is simple really – she just follows a healthy lifestyle, the type of lifestyle that we should all adopt. You could say that she just knows how to love the “Good Life”.
Felicity Kendal’s Prefered Exercise
In 2006 she was interviewed by The Times (UK) newspaper. She said then that she loved exercise and worked out in the gym 3 times a week with weights. She also talked about her love of Hatha yoga. The yoga explains her flexibility and excellent posture and the weight training explains how she is so strong for such a small and slender lady.
Fortunately for Felicity exercise comes easy to her. She says that if she does not exercise on a regular basis she feels herself ceasing up and she never needs to force herself to exercise as it comes naturally. She is very lucky in this respect.
Some people do just want to exercise more than others. We do not know why this is the case, it could be genetic or it could be programed from early childhood. Either way, people that enjoy exercising are far more likely to stay fit and healthy all their lives.
Felicity Kendal’s Diet
As for her diet, she avoids junk food and eats a rich variety of healthy food with influence from both Italian and Indian cuisine. She does not have a sweet tooth which makes life easier for her. Really this just means that she is not addicted to sugar like so many people are today.
Italian and Indian food is often very high in calories and is never included in any diet plans. It is likely that she is simply very good at controlling the size of the portions that she eats and never eats more than she needs to satisfy her hunger. Again, this is s skill that is developed in childhood, and unfortunately often also lost in childhood. Many people overeat out of habits that were developed as children.
So if you wish to live the good life like Felicity Kendal you need to change your lifestyle, put exercise first and eating second, and learn to control portion size while still eating a balanced and healthy diet.