By Nordia Henry, Staff Reporter
Carol Reid looks stunning as she lounges at home in this gold outfit with headwrap. - Ricardo Makyn / Staff Photographer
SHE IS slender, chic, full of energy, enthusiasm and style. At first, when I saw her she appeared to be in her late 20s but I was wrong. When I showed her photo to a few people and asked how old she looked, two persons said "her 30s" but, they were wrong again.
Whenever she goes out and people ask her age and she tells them, some respond with comments such as, "You're lying," "I have to see your birth certificate or your driver's licence," "You're kidding, you look like you are in your late 20s."
While attending Excelsior High School, Physical Education (PE) was one of her favourite activities. Thus began her love for exercise. Born on December 27, 1953, 50-year-old Carol Reid is hot and looks real good for her age. This, she attributes to her genes, a vegetarian lifestyle, religion and having a pleasant disposition always smiling.
I start my routine every morning... which I follow continuously for six months but I travel a lot, so sometimes it is disrupted. However, I jog and walk two laps around Sundown Crescent on to Molynes Road, a distance of about a mile and a half daily.
What contributes most to my youthfulness... is my genes, my mother always looked young and even now she does not look her age, the same situation exists with my sisters, they don't look their age either.
I used to dance a lot for many years... I started dancing in 1969 and in the 70s I had a dance school called Black Image where we focused on theatre work, drama and piano lessons. In fact, we taught piano lessons from 1977-1986.
For the past 10 years though... I have been doing yoga but I'm a Buddhist for 18 years and this contributes to my looks because of the way we think. In our religion, we're always encouraged to have a youthful mind.
My eating lifestyle has also been a big plus, I am a vegetarian but I eat seafood occasionally. For me, a typical day's meal would be: for breakfast, callaloo, banana, codfish and peppermint tea. For lunch, chop suey because I love Chinese food. Then for dinner, it would either be seafood or gluten, lentils and plenty of beans.
I believe that exercise is vital... to every person's life because it helps your circulation and lessens the chance of you feeling stiff in the mornings. After exercising in the days, I feel energetic and fulfilled for the day. My knees are not cranky when I get up in the mornings, my back does not hurt, I am pain-free. As you all know, hot flashes comes with headaches and exercise lessen the headaches.
My sister, Marcia Reid and I operate... a home-based hair salon at Ascott Avenue, off Sundown Crescent, Molynes Road. As a creative artist/stylist whose job involves making locks, putting on make-up and doing natural hairstyles, I do a lot of standing but it does not affect me because exercise has always been a part of my life.
