Why Dyan Cannon Exercises, for Goodness Sake
Dyan Cannon’s two cats, Puppy and Kitty, were snoozing in cushy chairs while we sat on her living room floor, talking, laughing and snacking on fruit.
The actress, whose latest movie, “Out to Sea,” with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, opens next week, slowly peeled the skin from a tangerine.
“Look at that,” Cannon, 60, observed. The tangerine spray had caught inside a sunbeam and that made her smile.
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Question: You’re really enjoying life, aren’t you?
Answer: Lately I’ve been so satisfied just realizing my own wholeness, my own completeness. Thank you, God, you know? And it’s really nice wanting to stay fit for yourself. The motives for working out are different now.
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Q: How so?
A: I’m not doing it to please anybody else--it’s not meant to flaunt or to seduce. I’m doing it because it gives me good feelings about myself.
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Q: What exactly are you doing for yourself?
A: If I’m filming, during lunch I’ll get down on the floor and do some sit-ups, leg-ups and push-ups. Then here at home--see the spinning bike over there? I want to have that long, lean look, so I keep the tension light--but it’s a good cardio workout. Also, I put on my spiritual tapes and do weights. Nice, quiet time.
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Q: Quiet time is a must.
A: You know, I went away by myself and stayed in a friend’s cabin. No television. No phones. I talked to no one. I couldn’t believe that I was just dwelling on building a fire. And I love to walk, so I’d get up at 5:30 every morning and hike about five miles in the mountains. I cannot tell you what a mental cleansing that was.
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Q: Any other exercise?
A: A technique I’ve done for years where you stand at a barre, tush tucked, pelvis pushed forward and you go down--like a modified squat--on your toes and come back up. And before I go to sleep, I do about 10 minutes on my trampoline. I just have to do something every day, even if it’s 15 or 20 minutes. If I’m buzzed up on the inside, then I want to do all that crazy eating, you know?
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Q: There is no fat on you, Dyan. Do you diet?
A: I eat a lot. I just don’t eat big quantities. In the morning, oat bran and a lot of fruit. Lunch and dinner--salad, fish, chicken, veggies. I drink water, herbal tea and coffee. Then, little treats I give myself--Tofutti bars, frozen yogurt and chips when I want that crunch. When I go to Laker games--you know I’m always there--popcorn’s a mainstay.
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Q: How much do you weigh?
A: You know, the last time I weighed--it’s been awhile--about 109. I don’t weigh myself anymore. I can’t judge myself by other peoples’ standards anymore. Oh, that’s freedom.
* Guest Workout runs Wednesdays in Life & Style.
* LIKE MOM, LIKE DAUGHTER?
Keeping it in the family, next week’s guest will be Jennifer Grant, daughter of Dyan Cannon and Cary Grant.