Just how does Cindy Crawford look so timelessly good?

Watch: Cindy Crawford appears in iconic 1992 Pepsi advert

The past 18 months haven’t exactly been a great time for our health. On top of a global pandemic, the gyms were shut and we spent a lot of time stuck at home, which means that many of us have not come out the other side in the best nick.

But Cindy Crawford is not like most of us. This week, the 55-year-old posted a series of pictures on Instagram of her recreating an iconic ad she made for Pepsi in 1992, to raise funds for a cancer hospital where her late brother Jeff was treated. In a pair of denim shorts, white vest top and stilettos, it was impossible to tell that these pictures were taken almost four decades into her modelling career.

Crawford has undeniably won the genetic lottery when it comes to her looks. But even she isn’t immune to ageing, she says. “You can’t fight the march of time”, she told Elle magazine. “To balance that out, each year you should develop one more good habit. It levels the playing field.”

So what are the habits that keep her looking so good?

Exercise

Crawford swears by an unfussy workout routine to keep her in shape, which she has been following for 30 years. First up, she tries to get 20 minutes of cardio three times a week, which could be anything from trampolining to running up and down the stairs at home, according to an interview she gave to The Cut. She listens to music or an audiobook while she does this to keep herself entertained.

After that, there’s weight training, which lasts from half an hour to an hour. She prefers “old school lunges, weights, squats, and bicep curls – it’s just stuff that I learned 30 years ago,” she told the magazine.

On top of those three weekly workouts, she also tries to go for a weekly long walk with a friend, to get her exercise and socialising done at once.

Beauty

While her workouts might be straightforward, her beauty regime is fit for a supermodel. Among the most unusual treatments she favours is mesotherapy, where antioxidants and vitamins are injected with tiny needles under the skin. She told Into the Gloss that it “irrigates your face”, and prefers someone called Dr Sebagh, who has an office on Harley Street.

She also told the magazine that she uses an infrared sauna in her own home to help her skin get a deep cleanse. Her husband takes the intense route and cycles on an exercise bike while he’s in there, but Crawford just sits there and relaxes.

She also follows the anti-ageing beauty basics, like protecting her skin from the sun. She lives in the bright sunshine of Malibu, so protects her skin with the highest SPF she can find, and then covers up with clothing on top. Top of her priorities is looking after her decolletage, where the skin is particularly thin and prone to sun damage, so she always lays something on top if she’s sitting by the pool.

She also told the publication that she pays attention to little details that could be ageing. For example, she makes sure her feet are always fully moisturised, as often they “start getting gross as you get older – even if you’re pedicured”. She uses a medical-grade foot moisturiser called Flexitol Heel Balm, originally designed for people with diabetes, to keep hers looking fresh.

Other than feet and face, she is also keen to fight signs of ageing in her hair. Her own line Meaningful Beauty sells products that not only cover up greys, but also claim to soften hair to make it look more supple and younger.

Diet

Her food principles can be summed up in four words: “I don’t eat c—”. She practises an “80 per cent rule”, where she is “80 per cent good 80 per cent of the time”, although what she considers to be 80 per cent good is what most of us would consider 110 per cent good.

For breakfast, she told the publication that she likes a protein shake for convenience. She has also posted on Instagram pictures of her eating salmon, eggs, avocado and raspberries for her breakfast. To wash it down, she has green tea, which she says is easier on her stomach than coffee.

Lunch is salad, which is “sometimes with chicken, sometimes without”, and for dinner, she makes meals like pasta with turkey meatballs and vegetables for her family. “I just don’t have the pasta, and the kids don’t have the vegetables or the salad,” she said.

Drinks are mostly water to avoid additional calories but she does enjoy the occasional drink and told the magazine that she sometimes enjoys a cocktail with her husband.

When she first became a model her diet included more white carbohydrates like pasta or bread than it does now, she told The Cut. “When I first moved to New York, for some reason everyone thought pasta was low fat. I actually thought that was diet food. I was never so happy”, she said. These days, she finds these foods “stick to me more than a salad with a piece of salmon or vegetables and protein”, but has pizza “once in a while”.

One habit she is very much against is mindless eating, as she told Elle magazine. “If you sit on the couch with a bag of chips, it could be gone very quickly. I’m not saying don’t have the chips – put however many you think is an appropriate serving in a bowl and eat that,” she said. “Mindless eating is not good. You're not even enjoying the food at that point.”

Watch: Cindy Crawford looks ‘absolutely gorgeous’ posing in one shoulder swimsuit