CAROL RESPONDS TO READERS OF THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

In November of 2008, just before the Playboy magazine featuring Carol Alt’s cover and layout was set to hit the newsstands, Carol provided an interview to the Ottowa Citizen – a newspaper that is close to her heart, thanks to her boyfriend, Alexei Yashin, having played hockey in Ottawa for several seasons.

With the kind permission of the Ottowa Citizen, we are going to share not only Carol’s interview with you, but also a couple of interesting responses from women who see things in a rather different light. Carol, of course, has her usual thoughtful and pertinent response. First, the article that triggered it all:

Reluctant Alt decides to go ‘raw’ for Playboy

Boyfriend Yashin ‘had no problems’ with photo spread
By Tony, The Ottawa Citizen – November 19, 2008

Playboy has finally got the “Most Beautiful Woman in the World” on its cover.

Carol Alt was given that burdensome moniker more than 20 years ago when she was at the height of her modelling career and appearing on dozens of top fashion magazine covers. But after being pursued by Playboy for just as long, she finally agreed to pose for the magazine’s December issue.

It was a decision that didn’t come easily, considering what was at stake, personally and professionally.

“I just never thought to do it,” says Ms. Alt, 47, in an interview this week from her New York apartment.

“There’s a saying I always remember when I started working: At 20, you have the face you’re born with, at 30 you have the face you work for and at 50 you have the face you deserve.”

Ms. Alt says posing nude at her age — she turns 48 in two weeks — “ain’t easy,” but she adds, “it’s only easy if you have an edge and my edge is raw food.” She has been on a strict raw food regimen for 14 years.

“The reason I showed my body is because my body would not have been like this if it hadn’t been for the fact that I had gone raw,” says Ms. Alt, adding that before she had a physical makeover with a raw food diet, she was overweight, bloated and always felt bad.

The decision to pose nude for Playboy came this past February after consulting with longtime boyfriend Alexei Yashin and her family, she says.

“When I talked to my mother, at first she thought I was kidding. Then she thought about it and then said ‘you know what, I can go to the museum and see that everywhere’ because she knew I wasn’t going to show the bottom front.”

She says Mr. Yashin responded with a definite yes after she told him about her decision to go ahead.

“He wanted me to do it eight years ago. He kept saying you should do Playboy. When I asked why he wanted me to do it, he said, ‘I just want everyone to see how beautiful you are.’ He had no problems with it.”

Ms. Alt says she also wanted to make a statement for those 40-plus women who think they can’t be beautiful when they hit their mid-40s.

“I want people to know that after 40, it’s not the end of your life. Life goes on. You can feel good, look good, be beautiful and sexy and that’s all an attitude which comes from health.”

The photo shoot was done in June over a three-day period in Ballast Key, a 26-acre private island estate off the coast of Florida.

She worked with Timothy White, a celebrated American celebrity photographer whose current book, The Hollywood Pinups, features movie stars such as Cindy Crawford, Kate Hudson and Susan Sarandon in sexy poses.

In the eight-page photo spread titled In the Raw, Ms. Alt is shown cavorting on the beach, sitting on a deck chair wearing a bright orange hat (her favourite shot) and several shots of her sprawled on a bed — Alexei’s favourite. She said while thousands of photos were taken, she was comfortable knowing that she had the final veto over which ones were chosen for the magazine.

“One of the big stipulations about me doing Playboy was that I didn’t want to be re-touched to death. I saw a photo they were retouching and I said no. I want my hips, I want my belly, I want my face there. I just didn’t want to show an unattainable body to the world. I want my body with all its flaws and problems.”

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

An Ottowa reader by the name of Lisa had her own thoughts on this subject:

Help us to look like Carol Alt
The Ottawa Citizen – November 22, 2008
Re: Reluctant Alt decides to go ‘raw’ for Playboy, Nov. 19.

Last night my partner felt comfortable enough in our relationship to share with me that he wanted to see the latest Playboy magazine as he had read in the Citizen that Carol Alt at age 47 had posed for the magazine and he was intrigued to look (I dare not say ogle) at a beautiful “older woman.”

Now being a 49-year-old woman, I felt a little troubled by this revelation and was inspired to read the original article in the Citizen myself.

Ms. Alt tells us that “after 40, it’s not the end of your life. You can feel good, look good, be beautiful and sexy and that’s all an attitude which comes from health.”

Most of us women were not fortunate enough to have been called the “most beautiful woman in the world” in our 20s; we do not have the financial resources or the time to spend maintaining the looks we might have, nor do we have the will power to eat only raw food.

I for one would have been happier if my partner had told me that he wanted to purchase a calendar of real women who might be comfortable enough to bare their bodies, bravely displaying stretch marks, sagging breasts and flabby thighs.

So for all you middle-aged men out there who might share my partner’s feelings, please do not be surprised if the women in your lives are more reluctant than usual to be undressed in front of you, support us when we decide to turn the basement into a gym, hire a personal trainer five days a week, undergo liposuction, breast augmentation, botox injections and join us every evening as we forfeit those succulent lamb chops in favour of grated carrots, diced tomatoes and sliced peppers (What example are we giving to our teenaged daughters?).

And to you younger men, please be supportive when your partner informs you that she intends to have a surrogate woman bear your children, a wet-nurse suckle your young.

After all, don’t we all have the right to look like Carol Alt in our late 40s.

Lisa, Ottawa
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Here is Carol’s response:

We need to work hard at becoming the best ‘me’
The Ottawa Citizen – December 7, 2008
Re: Help us to look like Carol Alt, Nov. 22.

I find Lisa Fischer’s letter symptomatic of the view held by women the world over. I find it sad that women want to hide behind the gene pool theory about how they cannot “look like Carol Alt” to keep from bettering themselves.

Even being called the “most beautiful woman in the world” at age 20 does not mean at 48 I would even have been in the running.

At 34, I was hardly the supermodel I had once been. Weight gain, dry skin, wrinkles, moodiness, general malaise and sickness had set in. Everyone told me I was just getting older and to deal with it. I could have accepted that they were right. I could have decided my career was over and I could have given up.

Why did Playboy magazine put me on the cover at 48? Because I was successful at changing myself into the best “me” I could be — better not only at 34 or 48 but better than I was at 25. I wanted to show other women that there is another way that worked. And that it is so easy to do. Playboy supported that.

But Ms. Fischer missed the point. And unfortunately, she may not be the only one. But then it is easier to say that I had it so easy and look good naturally, that I am blessed or rich or something.

At 48, it’s not easy to look good and be healthy but it is possible. Maintenance is not optional. It is mandatory. Eating raw is part of that maintenance. But it will not make a short woman tall. It will, however, make the sick feel better, and the moody happier. It will help the fat to be thinner, it will definitely give you energy. It will change your mind about everything.

The idea is not to look like “Carol Alt” but to look like you, just a healthier, well-kept and more in shape, sexier, funnier and happier you. I do all this to look and be the best “me.” I do it for me and for Alexei (Yashin).

The point of the Playboy photos was not to say “don’t I look great, I am a model.” Even if I were genetically blessed, I would not or could not look like this if I had not done something to save my life and limb. I would have been a fat, bloated, old lady, depressed and out of shape with scars from hip-to-hip from the surgeries that the doctors wanted to do.

I chose a better life. And I offer that way to other women. The life and career I have now was made possible only because I switched to a raw food regimen.

So I feel sorry for all the women who have given up hope and who think that making the changes are just silly or stupid and that these things are just for the rich and famous. It just shows me I have so much more work to do.

Carol Alt, New York City© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Carol and Lisa’s exchange was followed by this letter from another Ottawa Citizen reader:

Having kids
The Ottawa Citizen, Sunday, December 14, 2008
Re: We need to work hard at becoming the best ‘me,’ Dec. 7.

Carol Alt is well meaning in explaining in her letter to the editor what she is doingwith her eating raw food campaign. I commend her efforts to educate women on the merits of proper nutrition. But her choices reflect those of a woman who has never had children. I am not judging Ms. Alt on this circumstance (which was perhaps out of her control). She must realize that she is not representative of most women whose bodies have gone through the rigours of pregnancy and child birth. Further, add in the years of sleepless nights that it takes to raise children as well as the reality of family meal planning.

After 48 years of looking after herself, I am happy that Ms. Alt has found her answer to good health and nutrition. But for most women raising a family, there is a reason why we won’t look like her at this age and it has nothing to do with diet — it’s called “having kids.”

Julie
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

There is nothing new or unique in what women such as Lisa and Julie feel when confronted with the “possibilities” of how their own lives could have turned out, had they chosen different paths, or had different strokes of luck, or different genes. Common sense, however, tells us that even the wealthiest, the most beautiful, or the most talented people have their own crosses to bear. With a little concentrated effort, as Carol points out, anyone can improve, or even just maintain, those qualities (especially health and a positive attitude) which can, with luck and some diligent work (!) be a lifelong asset.

Carol wrote the following in response to these comments, which, by the way, certainly weren’t the first such reactions she has encountered:

Sometimes a cry for help can be found in the strangest places! If, at first, I saw that in this letter the “messenger” was being picked apart again and the message ignored, upon further contemplation, I realized that a call for help was actually the inspiration.

Of course, I have not had kids, but that makes no difference. If something is important to you and it stresses you, the body doesn’t know if it is “kid” stress or “work” stress. Stress is stress. Period.

The fact is, for thirty years I HAVE gotten up in the middle of the night – for my career! I have traveled to far-off distant lands, slept in different hotels and strange beds, and worked 18 hours a day for 7 days a week and that is just as stressful to me as waking with a child in the middle of the night is for some (not all) mothers.

As I said before, the body does not judge what you wake for or what you stress over, it just knows stress…!

But to answer the more demanding question, if a person with children can eat healthy, I turn to my best friend Holly. Holly not only has two beautiful daughters who eat raw (one is 10 years old and one is 6), but she runs her own successful business, as does her husband.

Holly is only 5’2” and weighs a whopping 95 pounds, but she blew up to 187 pounds during one of her pregnancies, when she went off raw. She went back to her raw diet as soon as she could and quickly dropped the extra weight. So you see, being small and/or having kids does not interfere in the ability to maintain a healthy weight and keep yourself in shape.

Holly told me that going raw was as easy as a little education on label reading, food preparation and sometimes mixing her own dressings and sauces. To her, it was just a matter of what is important! Holly’s kids are the healthiest in their classrooms, so she doesn’t mind making some of her own food – it’s better than waking up in the middle of the night with sick children! This was important to her!

She doesn’t mind having to take a minute to educate herself – it has saved a lot of time at doctors offices! Again, it was important to her that her kids be healthy and if it costs a few pennies more, so what? Better to spend money for healthier food than on children’s over-the-counter medicines.

Holly is not the only example I can cite: Donny Goode, whom I wrote about in my book “The RAW 50”, has two children under the age of 5 and when I last spoke to him, neither had EVER eaten cooked food!

Hard for people with kids? Nah! What is hard is to read that heart problems, diabetes and cancer are all on the rise in children. That, to me, is harder than
taking the time to educate yourself on healthy foods.

In terms of the complaint that RAW FOODS is expensive, no story can tell it so eloquently as that of a woman who wrote me from San Francisco (I think is was) who was confined to a wheelchair for the last 15 years with MS – or MS symptoms. She was told she had MS and took every kind of new Medicine out there. She only got worse and was in deep pain.

One day she saw me on TV. She did not say, “Oh, she is healthy. I can’t do that. I have no money; I have no way around; I am in a wheel chair. Carol Alt does not know what it is like for me!” No! She said, “I need something different. Perhaps I should CHECK THIS OUT!”

Having limited funds and resources, she went to the library, got my book (the only book on the subject of raw that the library had, by the way) and read it! She educated herself, FIRST! Then, when she “got it”, she prepared the easy recipes, shopped using the book’s shopping list and even with her limited funds, she was able to go RAW and to eat healthier.

This woman today is writing a book about her experience! She is up and out of her wheelchair (as she had MS symptoms apparently brought on by malnutrition and chemicals in her food). She felt better almost immediately- it took longer for her to ultimately get out of her chair, but she managed that too! She found a therapist to help with the physical rehabilitation of her muscles and such.

The point here is: Imagine if she just sat there and picked ME apart instead of listening to what my MESSAGE was? Imagine if she hadn’t EDUCATED herself first, but just decided she “couldn’t”?

Please, please understand that this is a simple thing to do – just a little education and a bit of label reading. If you cook dinner now, you can make dinner healthier.

By the way, I don’t mind someone who is educated on RAW Nutritional Foods to taking me to task if they disagree with something I’ve stated. That makes for stimulating discussion! But someone who has not even taken the time to do a little self-education – that is another story! I know that obviously intelligent, thinking women such as Lisa and Julie may not be educated on RAW, because, if they were, they would all too readily see how easy this really is, kids or no!