So Suzi, tell us why you started writing
your blog in 2014. Well I was sort of gainfully unemployed, retired. I was very
happy, I was lucky enough to be able to afford not to work anymore. I'd written
three books, I'd done a master's degree, I had tried script writing for films, I
tried to write a novel, nothing really gave me that "oh I can't
wait to get up in the morning and tackle this" feeling, that I'd had in television
and radio most of my working life and writing books to a certain degree, but I
didn't want to write another book, I didn't really have it in me and I
went to see 'Advanced Style' the documentary and I was completely blown
away by Ari Seth Cohen's photography and stopping women in the streets of New York and I thought 'God I would love that'! My passion is photography, always has
been since the 70s so I thought "hmm it'd be really nice to combine photography with
writing, maybe I could do another book that way" and then completely
independently my two God children, both separately, said "why don't you go into
blogging? It would really suit you" and that's how it started and now they're
both absolutely gobsmacked that I'm Queen of the Instagram and they have to
ask me for help and lessons, so it was a wonderful new challenge. And how would you describe your own personal style? I think it's
become quite vintage and I don't know how I arrived at that but I've always had a slightly quirky style, I was known at
TVAM, where I spent many years reporting, as "Oh Suzi, she's the one with that fake
fur bright pink floor-length coat." But obviously on television I couldn't
wear things like that and I did obviously do quite serious stuff and I
did a lot of media training and I've done a lot of public speaking so it was
only when I started writing books and moved to Brighton and started dying my
hair red that I came into my own self and started experimenting. I'd had my
colours done so I knew what suited me colour wise but style wise you know you
get to 50 and you think "can't really wear a miniskirt anymore, although Sigourney
Weaver does it beautifully, as long as you wear the thick tights. Can't wear
this anymore, can wear that maybe I shouldn't wear this, maybe I should wear
that", so I started styling for myself, styling
for the blog, styling for the readers, styling with friends and I think it's
just something that I passionately adore doing and the reason that I've
homed in on on vintage, is that I want my own personal style, I don't want to go to
a high street shop and buy something that everyone else is wearing. I like the
fact that I'm recycling, I like the fact that I'm buying pre-loved.
Some people hate it but I like it, I like the way vintage clothes are made,
the fabric and the care and the buttons and all those little individual things.
Some people say, I have a Feng Shui friend and she says: "it's
other people's energy, you're picking up other people's energy." Somebody quite
rightly said the other day, "then what about the energy in those poor folk in
India and China in the sweatshops? That's where most of high street comes". And I'm not a designer label Mabel person at all, so I think that's why I homed in on
vintage, I love it, I love vintage fairs, I love vintage shops and I love coming
home with something that nobody else will have! So Suzi, that's all about the
outside clearly, the external appearance. Do you think the inside is just as
important as we get older? For me it is paramount, every single thing you read on
my Twitter page, Instagram, Facebook wherever you are, it's all about helping
women and men over 50 look good and feel great and
that's where nutrition and health comes into it, I'm not just about the fashion,
I'm very much about the health on the inside. You can put all the most
beautiful makeup and clothes on a body in the world but if you're not putting
the right stuff into your body the right fuel, then you won't live a long and
happy life and I want to live a long and happy life. And what would you say your
three best tips are to women particularly around food and you know
what they consume? As a nutritionist and because of all the research that is out
there, things that I was taught 20 years ago and now being produced by the
scientific community as "Uh this is a good idea!", the first one is obviously
water. I enjoy coffee as you know, I enjoy
prosecco, I enjoy champagne, I enjoy all those things in moderation. I do drink a
fair amount of water, listen to your body, but my top tip is: drink a small glass of
water every hour on the hour, unless you're traveling, but a small
glass every hour on the hour. You know we're 70% water,
we're like plant. I used to say to my patients: "You don't give your
dogs 'zero' whatever it's called, that brand, that soft drinks, what's it
called 'zero sugar'. You don't give your animals soft drinks from the fridge, you give them water, that's what we need, you give your plants water, so that's my first top tip, if you want beautiful skin, plump skin, drink water. The second one is obviously masses
of vegetables, more than fruit, lots and lots of green vegetables, think of the
rainbow: yellow, orange, red and green, full of every vitamin you need, every mineral
you need and your body will thank you for it. Eat natural, try not to eat
processed ready-made meals and food and don't worry about eating all the time, we
eat far too much and there is wonderful research now finally out there. Professors have spent decades working out why rats on a restricted calorie diet live longer. Well
they're now proving it with humans. I was taught that 20 years ago, one day of
fasting a week, so give yourself permission not to eat, if you're not
hungry don't eat, eat when you're hungry. You don't need to eat every three
or four hours but listen to your body and if you're into fasting, do that
regularly, it's really good for your health, let alone your weight, but really
good for longevity, long-term health. And what about reducing diets if you're
older and you really would like to lose a stone or a couple of stones? I would
say fasting. Go online, I've written blogs about it, you can certainly find it
on my blog but intermittent fasting is the way to go and it is now proven, even
my own GP recommends it to her clients or her patients. It is the one
thing that works for losing weight. For me what is more important is the health
benefits: it brings cholesterol down, blood pressure down, people have reversed diabetes, I mean all sorts of wonderful health benefits but it certainly works
for weight loss big time. You know the 5:2 diet that Dr. Michael Mosley
brought over to England after interviewing professor Longo who I
really rate, he's the one who's done the the amazing research in the States. So
the 5:2 diet, Longo's now brought out a program that's five days fasting, two
three times a year. I've just done one five days and oh I was the same weight
at the end of it that I was when I was 21, without any efforts, so I would say
look into fasting big time. And finally we've done a makeover on you today so
what have you loved about your Look Fabulous Forever makeup? Actually I'm amazed because it felt like it was hours of makeup going on for the video and I
thought "Oh I'm going to look all wrinkled and you know how when you get
older all the foundation sits in the creases, I'm absolutely thrilled Tricia I can actually say hand on heart my skin
looks so smooth, I mean I go naked skin a lot, I won't be now because you've just
made, I don't look overly made up, I don't think, do I? I don't think I do. I mean you look absolutely lovely. Radiant, you've made me look radiant, so I'm really happy, because
it's light, it's not caked on, it's light and I'm really happy with it!
Thank you. Brilliant I'm so delighted to hear that,
it's really good, so thank you so much Suzi, it has been brilliant talking to you
and lovely to hear your story. Absolute pleasure and thank you for inviting me!
