Author: Gracefully – Looking & Being Your Best at Any Age
with Heather Hummel
To quote the incomparable George Burns who lived to see his 100th birthday… “We can’t help getting older, but we can help getting old.”
It’s simply not true that we have to look at advancing birthdays with a sense of dread. We can and should continue to explore life, challenge ourselves, and look around the corner to see what’s next. Some of us are climbing mountains, some are starting new businesses, and some are raising grandchildren or even starting a second family.
To age gracefully means three things to me:
It has everything to do with our inner attitude and gratitude toward life. It means having curiosity and an inquisitive mind, and it means living a life filled with joy and vitality. It has as much to do with our spiritual and intellectual beings as it does our physical bodies. Living an enriched life is the essence of living life to the fullest, and if you can do so with grace, all the better.
Aging gracefully means so many things – not the least of which is loving yourself by taking care of yourself. Looking and feeling your very best takes some effort and discipline, but the rewards are extraordinary. A healthy diet, proper exercise, and sleep are all key ingredients. So is a good skin regimen to keep that beautiful glow in your cheeks and the wrinkles at bay.
In short, aging gracefully means being your most natural, healthy, well cared for self.
I don’t want to end it there, however… Because if we are to age with joy and vitality, we certainly need to have our fill of all of life’s pleasures… A wonderful meal with friends that includes a bottle of wine and an outrageously decadent dessert, unforgettable evenings where we have lingered on much too late and totally abandoned the seven hours of sleep idea, and days where we skip the gym and go wherever the spirit moves us. Life is meant to be relished and enjoyed to the fullest, creating magnificently happy memories along the way. It means, too, giving of ourselves and sharing the best of what we are with others.
As we go through life, if we can learn to navigate the peaks and valleys with a positive attitude, not allowing negative thoughts and undue stress to get the better of us, we will have gone a long way towards aging with grace.
In conclusion, aging gracefully means arriving at the summit, full of joy and laughter, with love in our hearts, gratitude for all of life’s gifts, and rich with the wisdom we have acquired along the way. It means having a wealth of happy memories to draw upon and looking forward with eager anticipation to more to come. In other words... To looking around that corner to see what’s next.
What People Are Saying
“Beautiful and accomplished, Valerie Ramsey has gone from happy stay-at-home mom of six to older career woman and runway model in her 60s. But while few women have her genes, or her success, they may benefit from Ramsey's frank advice and beauty tips... Gracefully is heartfelt and admirably health conscious.”
— Publisher’s Weekly
“GRACEFULLY is simply wonderful. Valerie Ramsey is living proof that being older than 50 can be exciting, healthy, and sexy.”
— Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of Mother-Daughter Wisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause, and Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom
“Valerie Ramsey is the new face, style and attitude of aging. In GRACEFULLY, she inspires us to bring out the best in ourselves—physically, mentally, and spiritually—in order to make the 50+ years the best years of our lives. A terrific, uplifting and informative book.”
— Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., President and CEO of Age Wave and author of BODYMIND, Healthy Aging, Age Wave, The Power Years: A User’s Guide to the Rest of Your Life
“I like the snappy way this gal thinks. She sends out a powerful message!”
— Rue McClanahan, Emmy Award-winning actress and author of My First Five Husbands . . . and The Ones Who Got Away
Discover the Art of Aging Gracefully
At age sixty-eight, cover model Valerie Ramsey is the new face of beauty. She has appeared in magazines and ad campaigns and on runways and television. Now, in her wonderfully inspiring book, Valerie shares a lifetime of hard-earned wisdom, insider secrets, and practical advice on how to look and feel your best — inside and out — at any age. A life-affirming message from a wise and welcoming expert, Valerie Ramsey’s GRACEFULLY is sure to inspire women to lead their best lives.
Gracefully includes:
Proven nutrition secrets for staying slim and healthy
Professional beauty tips for looking your best
Personal visualizations for living your dreams
Positive workouts for your body, mind, and soul
“I went from baby bottles in my thirties, to a Blackberry in my fifties, to modeling a catwalk in my sixties,” says Valerie Ramsey, world renowned model, successful corporate executive, and author of GRACEFULLY: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age (McGraw Hill; May 3, 2008; $24.95 hardcover), co-written with her daughter Heather Hummel, and featuring a Foreword by ABC-TV All My Children actress Susan Lucci.
In her book, Valerie shares her empowering message — that women of all ages can adopt the mindset and know-how to age with wisdom and grace. She provides her secrets to aging gracefully — inside and out. From beauty and fashion, to career and family, to exercise, journaling and meditation, Valerie bestows her tips and secrets, as well as her unique life experiences, to inspire women.
Every woman wants to have it all — a successful career, loving marriage, and beautiful children — yet most women put their careers first and personal aspirations follow — if time permits. Valerie’s life has followed a much different, untraditional path that challenges the notion that there is one set formula to be followed at different stages in our lives. She proves that life is a gift and as long as you are living it to the fullest, you are always in your “prime.”
A loving wife for close to fifty years, a mother of six, and a grandmother of eight, Valerie did not enter the workforce until she was in her fifties. At 53, she took a sales position in the golf shop at the renowned Pebble Beach Resort, where she worked her way up to heading the public relations office. Through this high-profile position and at the age of 63, she was “discovered” by a Hollywood producer who knew that her statuesque beauty and shiny platinum hair would make her an ideal model. This exciting turn of events happened soon after Valerie was diagnosed with both uterine cancer and cardiomyopathy, a condition that weakens the heart. Valerie went on to brave surgery and later the runway, displaying a look and inner spirit that exemplifies the adage that age truly does equal beauty.
As her story proves, Valerie is a role model on how to embrace being alive, seize opportunity, and create not just a “second act” in life, but a third, a fourth, and many more as her own life adventures continue. Now a published author at the age of 68, Valerie shares her advice and the lessons she has learned on the three areas for creating a healthy and happy life — body, mind, and soul.
Gracefully covers a multitude of topics, such as how to:
Enhance your look, as well as your outlook on life
Take a great photo and convey positive body language
Put together a basic wardrobe with clothes that fit well and express who you are
Look and feel great with her 45-minute daily workout routine
Learn better nutrition and incorporate her healthy meal staples into your diet
Keep sexuality alive at any age
Adopt healthy skin and hair care routines
Nourish family relationships and cultivate friendships with people of all ages
Foster a positive attitude through your thoughts, words and actions
Keep a journal and record your dreams to help you move forward
Use visualization to manifest wonderful experiences in your life
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Valerie Ramsey is a highly sought-after Ford Model who has graced runways, print ads, and television. She has appeared on the Today Show and Extra, among other programs, and has modeled for Lexus and St. John’s Knits. She is the media and public relations manager for Pebble Beach Resorts, the mother of six and the grandmother of eight.
Heather Hummel, Valerie’s daughter, is a writer whose work has appeared in Blue Ridge Anthology (along with David Baldacci and Rita Dove) and Messages of Hope and Healing. Heather is a graduate of the University of Virginia and an active member of the International Women’s Writing Guild.
GRACEFULLY:
Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age
By Valerie Ramsey, with Heather Hummel
McGraw Hill
Publication date: May 3, 2008
$24.95 Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-154623-2
Creating What’s Next, Gracefully
Valerie Ramsey with Heather Hummel
“Above all, this book radiates Optimism and Joy and serves as one of those blueprints for those of us women who keep reinventing ourselves..." - Ali MacGraw.
In her first book, Gracefully - Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age, cover model, author and speaker, Valerie Ramsey shared her secrets on nutrition, beauty, and positive workouts for body, mind, and soul. Now in the sequel, Creating What's Next - Gracefully, Valerie gives valuable advice and information on how to create your own “What's Next.”
Using examples from her own life and with entertaining, behind-the-scenes stories, Valerie shares her secrets for overcoming challenges and winning in the second half of life – and tells you how you can too. Valerie Ramsey has appeared on numerous TV shows including the TODAY Show, Fox News, and many others. She is represented by Wilhelmina Models, and agencies in Toronto and Paris, as well as Premiere Speakers Bureau. Previously Valerie was public relations and media manager for Pebble Beach Resorts. She and her husband, Wally, live in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
