How to maintain health and vitality into your golden years of life? Can the young at heart lead an active and productive life? Welcome, energetic viewers, to Vegetarian Elite. Today on our show, we’ll be meeting Mimi Kirk, a septuagenarian who proves that advanced age does not need to correlate with deteriorated health. Winner of a contest titled “Sexiest Vegetarian over 50,” organized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or more commonly known as PETA, Mimi was the oldest contestant at age 71 and won hands down with her youthful looks and radiant smile. Mimi shows that there is nothing more appealing than a person who exudes compassion and respect for oneself as well as other beings.

Every day I get tons of email and people telling me I’ve inspired them to change their diet – hundreds and hundreds every week. Really, that many people ask me questions, and I tell them what I do. I let them know I’m not a doctor. I’m just a regular person who’s found a way to be healthy. Everybody has to find their own path, but I do recommend certain things. And it delights me to know that I’ve actually changed families. The email I get of people thanking me, I’m not doing anything; they’re doing it. They’re seeing me and something in them wanted to do this to begin with, to get healthier. And I think that’s what’s happened. They’re the ones doing it. I just turned the light switch on for them, that’s all. So, it’s quite exciting.

Turning 72 years young on September 23, the mother of four and grandmother of seven has lead a rich and full life. For over two decades, Mimi was involved in the entertainment industry in various occupations from actress to clothing designer to charity events coordinator. As an actress, Mimi has appeared on “Star Trek” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” She designed the famous “scarf” look for Valerie Harper on “Rhoda.”

Mimi has also found herself as a successful entrepreneur with a jewelry design company and four board games released worldwide. With respect and concern for our planet, in 1989, she founded, published, and edited the environmental newspaper “The City Planet,” with editions in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, USA. Currently enjoying gardening and hiking in beautiful San Diego, California, Mimi is happy and finds fulfillment in her latest venture in life with spreading the benefits of a more compassionate and healthier lifestyle to the general public.

So, what was the original reason that you went on an animal-free diet?

I used to be Mary Tyler Moore’s stand-in, and I’d go out every day and pick up her lunch and some for myself. And I was eating on the way back to the studio in the car and just reached over, some deli slice stuff and I thought I was eating the back of my hand! I had to look down and see. Something made me realize, I don’t know where it came from, that it was flesh. It was astounding to me. And of course I put that down, and it really did something to me. And I came home and I was cooking my kids’ dinner that night, and I could smell that meat cooking and I knew that was it.

So the next night I said, “I’m not cooking meat anymore; we’re going to be vegetarian,” and I explained to them why I thought we should. And they said “Fine.” And then I started to educate myself. So, that changed everything for me at that moment. I was a widowed mom, raised my kids myself, so I didn’t have to worry about anybody else but my kids, but they thought that was fine. They were onboard with it. And I told them if they wanted to eat meat when they went out, they could. But they didn’t. They really stuck with it all the time. One is a raw vegan. The other one is almost all vegetarian. I got my girls in that direction. I have a nephew who’s a vegetarian, and a niece. A lot of people in my family are.

On her website, www.youngonrawfood.com, Mimi writes: “If we can all realize that animals should be off our plates and wandering around alive, enjoying life – that would be fantastic. Just think how peaceful it would be to know you personally have nothing to do with killing to eat. Eating animals is a habit like smoking or drinking sodas, and once you give yourself a chance to stop, you can’t imagine ever having done it.” Mimi had come to this loving realization over 40 years ago.

I had a hard time giving up cheese and eggs, and then finally, I started to understand what that meant from vegetarian to vegan. And about three years ago, I became a raw food vegan. I think that will be for the rest of my life. I’ll be a vegan. I really understand it now. What that means to be a vegan. Not only for the animals, which is the key thing for me, but for health. You can be a vegetarian and still eat junk food. You know, it’s easy to go buy some processed food, but when you’re raw, you got nothing processed, it all has to be live food. (Right.) I think it’s a much healthier way to go, and the most compassionate way to go.

Vegetarian Elite will be right back with our feature on the ever youthful Mimi Kirk after these brief messages. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Vegetarian Elite on Supreme Master Television. Today’s show features the beautiful septuagenarian, Mimi Kirk. Despite being the oldest contestant at 71 years of age, she was voted the winner of PETA’s contest for attractive vegetarians over 50. Afterwards, Mimi was invited to be a speaker at many events, such as the Women’s International Summit for Health, and interviewed by numerous media such as NBC, Fox, KUSI-TV, US national television show “The Doctors,” and ARIA TV in Bulgaria regarding her secrets for staying so youthful, radiant, and healthy.

Do you actively try to stay young and beautiful in your diet choices?

Well, everybody wants to look good, but I really want to feel good. And I mean it’s great, I obviously care; I color my hair because I’ve got salt and pepper hair, and I like the blonde hair. My boyfriend’s almost 20 years younger than I am, and so it feels appropriate for me to feel like a young woman, but that’s how I feel inside. I actually feel like I’m in my 20s. When I wake up in the morning and get out of the bed, if I didn’t look in the mirror, I wouldn’t get it. If I just went on how I felt, (I would think I’m in my 20s. So I know for sure my diet, definitely my vegetarian diet has done a lot for me.

Do you exercise a lot?

Well, not a lot. Maybe I should do more, but I believe for any age, moderate exercise. I have to be realistic for myself. There were times when I belonged to a gym and I exercised a lot. I always liked yoga. I have a treadmill at my home, and I try to spend about 40 minutes. I love Qigong. If the doctor tells you you have osteoporosis, the drug for that is exercise. If they tell you you have high blood pressure, the drug for that is exercise. So I think everything the doctor wants to give you in a pill, I think, if you exercise, you can combat that. I think it’s very, very important. I wish I had an exercise buddy. I’d probably do better, but I have to motivate myself, so at least by 10 o’clock I’m on the treadmill. I try to do that every day.

A self-described foodie who thoroughly enjoyed her vegan meals, Mimi decided to try out the raw diet after having some arthritic pains in her hands. The raw diet consists of consuming unprocessed and uncooked foods. Sustaining oneself on living foods has been credited with numerous health benefits including increased energy, improved immune system, and overall greater well-being. Mimi credits this way of eating, as well as meditation and a positive outlook on life, for her sustained beauty inside and out.

I decided to try the raw diet. I’d heard about it. I didn’t think it would be for me because I’m too much of a foodie, and I thought, “I’m not sure that’s going to allow me enough good food.” How wrong I was because I can fix anything, it’s delicious food, the best I’ve ever had. Really. And so I tried the raw food diet, and within two weeks all those things changed. Not an ache and pain in my body, my blood pressure’s normal. I really feel amazing. So we all want to look good, and I have laugh lines in my face and I like them. I like the way I look. I don’t believe in any surgery. I think we should embrace ourselves as we get older, but we don’t have to be old

So what are some of the health tips?

Well, anybody can do one thing and that’s to fix a green drink every morning. You can use your blender, if you have a high powered blender that’s the best or a juicer. And a basic recipe I use are 2 apples, 4 stalks of celery, half a cucumber, 3 handfuls of spinach, some kale leaves from the garden, and I juice all of that or I throw it in the blender. And I might add a banana or some blueberries with some antioxidants. Once you get the nutrients in your body and you start to feel healthy, you crave more of those things.

So all of a sudden, you want a salad for lunch instead of your usual fast food burger or something. So the green drinks can change anybody’s life. And I think that’s a good place to start. But I really do think there’s a lot of things that keep me youthful. I think I have a great attitude, a good outlook on life, a spiritual side, which I think is important. I have lots of love around me; I think that’s very important. And I’m a very passionate person. And I think when you have those things, along with your diet, that really helps you have a happy, youthful life. I know I want to keep my memory and my mobility as I age, and I think that this way of eating is very, very important.

Thank you for your company today for Vegetarian Elite. Be sure to join us again next Saturday for part 2 of our 2-part program on the inspiring and timeless beauty Mimi Kirk. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Between Master and Disciples. May we all find health, vitality, and happiness in the compassionate vegan lifestyle.

Visit the fantastic and forever young Ms. Mimi Kirk online at YoungonRawFood.com or search “Mimi Kirk” on Facebook.com