Turning 80 is not a reason for Joanna Lumley to slow down. She remains extremely active as she is currently in between shooting two huge blockbusters, and she single-handedly credits her consistent nutrition habits.

The actress is currently filming Netflix's supernatural comedy Wednesday while reprising her role as Amanda's mother in Amandaland.

Talking to The Telegraph, she said how being an actress has shaped her lifestyle. Lumley said that she has followed a strict vegetarian diet for 45 years.

"I love animals. I don't want to kill them, so I never eat meat or fish."

Furthermore, as per the Telegraph, the secret to her healthy lifestyle is balance.

"As an actress, you keep a middling line: don't get too fat, don't get too thin, don't get too anything, don't be too extreme," said Joanna.

The 80-year-old was not always a vegetarian. Back in the 1970s, she expressed the shortcomings of becoming a vegetarian.

 "It was awful to begin with. They'd panic and try to make you eight eggs and sort of lasagnes which just turned into huge slabs of concrete with something horrifying in between," Lumley said on the Waitrose Dish podcast.

Well, beyond diet, Lumley moves daily, gardens, does household work, and uses stairs instead of elevators. At this age, she also gets in a moderate amount of movement every day. Her everyday work includes gardening and household work, and she also uses the stairs instead of the elevator to stay fit.

Lumley said that although she doesn't go to the gym, she does everything with 'vigor'. At 80, she is not chasing the extremes to stay fit. Her ways are simple, and they work.

How vegetarianism shaped her anti-aging philosophy

The 80-year-old Joanna Lumley is as busy as a bee, and she has no time for old-age troubles. Speaking on the Waitrose-sponsored Dish Podcast with Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, the actress credited her decades-long vegetarianism with slowing down time itself.

"I do believe that not eating meat holds back the aging process," Lumley said.

However, she was quick to acknowledge she "can't stop time" altogether. Her diet includes fresh and simple cooked meals these days. "I like raw things very much, like salads and stuff," she told the hosts.

After Lumley made the switch to vegetarianism in the late 1970s, she has stayed committed ever since despite the fact that her husband, Stephen, still eats meat.

"If vegetarianism is not for you, so be it," she said. "My husband Stephen isn't a veggie, and he's wonderful."

Given her stance on being a vegetarian, she will most likely continue with her choice of food products.

Would you give up meat if it meant aging more slowly?

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Written by

Proma Chatterjee

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi