How to make healthy choices: a conversation with Kim Alexis

The Dareful Project

Kim Alexis is one of the most recognized faces in the modeling industry. She’s been on the cover of over 500 magazines, appeared in six Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues and has walked the runway for top designers around the world. She’s written 11 books, both fiction and nonfiction, but is mainly known for her clean-living eBooks. Now in her 60s, Kim is a passionate advocate for the importance of making healthy choices in all stages of our lives--what we eat, how we take care of our bodies, what we put on our skin. In short, how we care for ourselves, mentally and physically. Look for Kim’s clean-living column in Men’s Journal.

How to find Kim and more on her clean-living research:

Her website

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

YouTube

A few helpful sites for figuring out what products are made of:

Think Dirty

EWG

Yuka

Transcript:

Debra Hotaling (00:04):

Hello and welcome to the Dareful Project. I'm Debra Hotaling. Our guest today, Kim Alexis, has appeared on the cover of over 500 magazines. She's one of the most recognized faces in the modeling industry. You've seen her on Mademoiselle, Vogue, Glamour… you name it, she's been on it. And as a teenager I was obsessed with all of those magazines. She's a passionate advocate now of being mindful about making healthy choices in how we exercise, what we're eating, the product that we're putting on our faces, how we're thinking about ourselves mentally and physically. And it isn't just for folks in our stage of life, it spans our lifetime. She's a passionate advocate for this, and she's going to tell us more about creating a lifestyle around clean living. Kim, welcome.

Kim Alexis (01:01):

Yes, thank you for having me.

Debra (01:03):

So you are a passionate advocate for healthy living and this came from your own journey. Tell us how you got to this place.

Kim (01:13):

It probably started when I was young because I thought I wanted to be a pharmacist. So I had that whole thing of cause and effect that everything affects something else. I was fascinated with how that worked. Probably in pharmacy school, if I'd gone that way instead of into the modeling business, I would've switched to the natural and naturopathic way of being. But that passion stayed with me, especially as my business was looking your best at all times. And it's hard to do that when you're constantly inundating yourself with bad choices, whether it's what you eat, what you wear, what you think about, who you hang out with, how late you stay up, all that had in effect. So I learned that it was important that I had to take care of the outer in order to also feel good on the inside.

Debra (02:06):

Well, I imagine being a model is like being like any other elite athlete, you really have to keep everything fine-tuned, right?

Kim (02:14):

Yes. And a preparation is very big. So the day of a shooting, you've already done it. If you're not ready the day of the shoot, it's too late.

Debra (02:23):

But clean living, that word gets bantered about so much. I don't even know what it means anymore. Can you ground us on what that means to you?

Kim (02:33):

To me it means making healthier alternatives in all aspects. Whether it's what you choose to use as an air freshener in your car, or do you even need one? And it's because I've been in the marketing business, I know what products do for you. We are in this society where we want things quicker, more comfortable, faster, better, softer, stronger, harder, whatever it is, but at what cost. So sometimes products that give you that quicker or better or softer, whatever it is, thing also could come with some extra toxins that we don't need anymore. Clean living is choosing healthier options. We have a lot of different options. We have a lot of different products that do numerous things for us and to us. So sometimes certain products might be beneficial because it's quicker, faster, stronger, softer, whatever, but it may be at the detriment to our health. So my theory is that I try and stay as simple and as clean and as close to nature as possible.

Debra (03:46):

So it's easy to get down a rabbit hole. One, because everybody labels everything as being clean. And two, once you start doing the research, I think it's easy for us to get paralyzed. There are so many choices and decisions that have to be made. Is there an easy way to get started?

Kim (04:09):

There are a couple of options. One that I enjoy because this is all a learning process and you can't just say in one day, I'm cleaning up everything and it's a slow peel away the onion. So there are apps that you can put on your phone. I know of three. Yuka is one that's good for foods, Y-U-K-A. And then there are two that are good for cleaning products, makeup, sunblock, skincare. One is called Think Dirty. The other one is EWG, environmental Working Group. So when you are at a grocery store, any product you're getting, you could use their scanning option and see where that product ranks.

Debra (05:01):

We're in the grocery store together. Do you have your phone out and you're going through and checking product before you purchase?

Kim (05:09):

Yes, because I'm always learning. Everyone has their basics of what they always use. Start slowly and do some research. Let's say you're thinking of a shampoo. There are certain companies that are completely proven. Every product that they have is fine. So if you pick it by the company, you can trust the company. Others are different depending on what the ingredients are. And it's not defined across all boards. But there are some products that you can get that you can be very, no reliability wise, that they will never put anything in there. So that's one of their big selling flames.

Debra (05:55):

But really you have to do the research yourself, not just rely on a slogan on a piece of packaging, right?

Kim (06:02):

Yes. And it's sad because the word natural or natural fragrance or whatever it is, fragrance is a term that can hold thousands and thousands of different things. And another sad thing is that our FDA does not identify very many or ban very many ingredients and allows them in, whereas in Europe, they are much more particular about what they allow in products.

Debra (06:26):

I wanted to ask you about that. So when I travel to Europe, I take an extra bag and I'm going to the drug stores and picking up all the goodies there. Maybe it's just because I love all of those things and they smell nice, but I also feel like I'm getting more natural, fewer ingredients in those products. What do you think about that?

Kim (06:48):

Well, let's keep in the states for right now. I was using this hand soap forever, and I just love the smell. I did the scan on that and I'm like, oh my gosh, it's a six now. A zero is good, 10 is awful. And it was like a six. And so I'm like, oh no. I thought I was doing a good thing. I thought it smelled good and natural, but it was not. So you may have to get your little scanner out and see, but products we buy again for that emotional thing or it brings back a memory of being in Europe and you had such good time. And so at what cost do you change your lifestyle? If you really love the smell and it's that important to you, go for it. Just stay healthier somewhere else in another area.

Debra (07:37):

How do you do it for recipes? Let's talk about food now for a little bit. How do you do this without it costing a million dollars, without having to throw everything out that you have already in your kitchen and starting over again? Are there steps that people can take?

Kim (07:55):

Probably with what you feel is most important or what you use most. If you're baking, flour is probably your basic ingredient. And there are many alternatives to flour. Some are very, very expensive. Others are just a matter of tweaking one small thing. But again, what's at what cost? Do you want to spend more money down the road in the hospital or are you going to feel better and live longer and have a better quality of life now? And I do believe that our food does make a difference.

Debra (08:29):

Do you have a garden?

Kim (08:32):

I have a garden, but it doesn't do very well. It's too far away from the house. I forget that it's there. So the poor thing struggles along.

Debra (08:43):

I like to think about gardens, but I bet you I spend a gazillion dollars on a garden that I could just go to a nice grocery store and get just as nice of things.

Kim (08:54):

Yes, yes. So again, where do you want to spend your time? Where do you want to spend your money? I buy beautiful tomato plants and then the tomato plant, let's say is $15. I get three tomatoes off of it, the ones that I catch before they get eaten. And I'm like, okay, those are pretty expensive tomatoes here to go to the store.

Debra (09:15):

Exactly. But tomatoes, that's sort of a pastime. I sort of regard them like pets rather than things you eat because they take such care in feeding.

Before we got on air today, you and I were talking about hair. We were talking about gray hair because coloring is something that many of us do and you just have to decide. So tell me more.

Kim (09:43):

Let me preface: back when I worked--now we're talking 45 years--I don't mean to date you, but I started working 45 years ago. We didn't color our hair. I don't believe there were very many salons. All of the girls, we all were kind of just natural. So that was my hair back in the day. And as I've gotten older, when covid hit, I stopped coloring and I used Sun In

Debra (10:10):

Sun In!

Kim (10:12):

So that's what this part is now. This new stuff coming in is gray. And so one woman on Instagram was like, honey, I can't even listen and focus on you because all I'm doing is stare at your roots. And I sent back this video and I'm like, listen here. If that's all you can focus on, go follow someone else. I want to stay natural. The coloring gives me a massive headache for like 24 hours. It won't go away. It's not worth it to me. So I am going gray. That's part of the reason I cut my hair off. My hair was 17 inches longer. I had it braided at my salon and my girl cut it off and we're giving it to children with hair loss.

Debra (10:56):

I love that. Besides the cranky person who came after you, what has surprised you about going gray? Did you know that it was going to be kind of this flaming … I don't know … It's just such a hot potato.

Kim (11:12):

It's a really touchy subject in a way. And some women are like, girlfriend, I love you, but I'm never, I'm going to fight it until the day I die. That's fine. And I'm not pointing my finger at anyone else. Anyone can do whatever they want to do. I'm just telling you what I'm doing. So to me, gray hair is not a big deal, but some of the young girls are dying their hair gray.

Debra (11:38):

It's true, right?

Kim (11:41):

The hard part for me is the transition. So that's why I cut a lot of it off. Number one, to give to the children, they want the longer hair. So I wanted them to have as much of my hair as possible. But the other part was just I want to hack off all the old stuff because the news growing in and for some reason lately it's getting much grayer.

Debra (12:03):

Okay, we're looking at you. How far along can we, you have about a year before you're going to be full in, right?

Kim (12:10):

Probably, yeah, probably. If I keep this length, which I probably will. I'm going to have to, maybe I'll shave it. Oh my god.

Debra (12:19):

Alright, well keep us posted on that woman, whoever she was. She just went pale right now. She doesn't even know why.

Kim (12:27):

No, she stopped following me a long time ago, so she's not listening to me. I mean basically what my feedback was from women all over the country was, God bless you. Thank you that you are giving me permission to age gracefully myself. And I didn't realize it was that big of a deal, but it is. And women want to feel good about themselves and what's wrong with having beautiful gray hair?

Debra (12:56):

Amen. I was surprised how many people had really strong opinions about Dolly Parton being gorgeous and being up there in that Dallas cheerleaders costume…

Kim (13:09):

Exactly. And I think women who are secure in their own hearts and minds or who have wonderful mates and partners are fine supporting other women. Sometimes it's the ones who've been beaten down or whatever feel like they need to lash back. I think so I feel bad when I see somebody ripping me apart or trying to rip me apart. Number one, I let it roll off my back for the most part. But our business was one that was critical all the time, and we were always either justifying or it was an opinion one day and then someone else would have a different opinion the next and Oh, Darlene, this is the only way to do your eyebrows, or this is the only way to put your mascara on. Then the next day someone would tell you something totally different. So we got almost confused in a way, and then almost callous where it's like, yeah, right, just do your own thing.

Debra (14:05):

What's the worst advice, either in your career or as you've gone down the journey of clean living? What's the worst advice or the biggest misconception?

Kim (14:16):

I would say it is that you can't have any fun anymore. You're so busy with identifying everything and that you've got to stay so pure. But to me, I like the word simple and it's simplifying my life. My recipes are simple and I try to just stay as close to how God made things as possible because he also designed our bodies. So if he gave us and designed the food and he designed our bodies, our bodies recognize what it's being put in it. I think that we have a better chance down the road of living longer and better lives.

Debra (14:59):

You have a series of books that talk about a lot of these topics. You have one on cooking, you have on beauty. Talk to us a little bit about what motivated you to write those and what we should look for as we're looking at these books.

Kim (15:16):

So I think as I got older, I started looking around and trying to see how am I relevant? Because truly at 25 I was kind of looking for a new career. I had finished my Revlon contract and I had been paid to not work by being exclusive to Revlon. I wasn't working in other areas. So I came to a screeching halt and had to look around and decide what I wanted to do. And that's how I got into broadcasting. Then I got into speaking and I realized that I liked having a voice and that I had something to say. And so when I wrote my Amazon books, I started writing them as a term paper and I would quote at the bottom where I sourced all my information from an Amazon's like, Nope, that's a copyright infringement and I just want to hear your personal story. And so I kept getting denied, denied, denied. So I learned on the Amazon eBooks, I feel this is what I've been through, this is how I've learned. Now I'm writing for Men's Journal and I can go back to citing sources. And so when I make a statement on something, I source it and put a link in the article itself.

Debra (16:43):

Tell us about your work with Men's Journal. What kind of topics do you cover? What are you passionate about?

Kim (16:48):

What we've been talking about it. Anything to do with clean living. I've got 15 articles up already, but they go from using new fabrics made out of bamboo, which is a type of rayon, believe it or not. And so just describing a little bit of the history of that. I just try to identify a cleaner way or a cleaner version or a healthier alternative in how we live.

Debra (17:23):

Are people surprised what changes in their life when they decide to live healthy this way?

Kim (17:31):

I don't have feedback yet from people, and I think because it's a slow process of going towards disease, it's also a slow process of healing. But we do every single moment of our lives, we are either going towards or away from health, every choice we make

Debra (17:52):

Truly, and our whole medical system is based on you already being sick and people trying to fix you rather than coming from a point of wellness.

Kim (18:03):

Yes. The medical business treats symptoms and it's better to treat the underlying causes. So I don't feel great today so I've been slamming vitamin C and zinc and a bunch of different things. Herbs. I’m taking care of strengthening my immune system versus just treating the symptoms.

Debra (18:30):

What's your feeling about supplements and vitamins?

Kim (18:36):

You should see my cupboard! I'm always trying something new. I'm always researching, and that's what some of my men's journal is. I just wrote one on Indian gooseberry, which people don't know about. So there's just so much in my mind to learn, and that's where my happy place is just going online and finding out new things about a product or why I should try something new. I mean, I'm like squirrel, squirrel. I mean, if I'm in the health food store, don't talk to me. I'm busy.

Debra (19:09):

So tell me about Indian Gooseberry. We don't know about it. What should we know?

Kim (19:12):

[added: Indian gooseberry, also know as Amla extract, is a nutritional supplement/superfood that contains essential vitamins like C and A. Studies have shown that this powerhouse extract can potentially improve digestion, reduce cholesterol levels and support healthy heart function.]

Kim (19:36):

I’ve also been writing about honey, which in addition to being a food is also antibacterial, antiviral, you can put it on cuts. I’ve written about Manuka honey, why do you spend so much more on Manuka honey and what do those ratings mean? So there's a UML or UMF rating, and so all that stuff is fun for me.

Debra (20:01):

My mother-in-Law was born on the small island of Iria Icarus, which is one of the blue zones, and they're very serious about their honey. It goes through the seasons. They have spring, winter, fall, they have honeys that go through the whole seasons and they're used as medicine very seriously as medicine, not just for all the other great things that you eat on the island.

Kim (20:27):

Right, interesting. I know honey's very good and it doesn't spoil.

Debra (20:36):

I'm excited to see what the feedback is on your Men's Journal journey because I think that that's reaching a whole new audience.

Kim (20:47):

So I think it's about 70% men. They've got 40 million viewers, and they also own a couple other publications including Sports Illustrated and Parade Magazine. It's a good group of people, and I'm still learning. I mean, there's just so much to learn when you start a new business. So I'm a little overwhelmed.

Debra (21:12):

Have you changed your eating habits or the way that you approach clean as you've gotten older? Are there things that you do differently now?

Kim (21:25):

When I was working, I was pretty aware of things that I thought were good, but I know one choice that I made, I used to buy cold pressed oils and I would use them to cook. And I thought because it was cold pressed, it was better. But then as I got older and researched and learned more, I realized cold pressed oil should just be used raw in salads and dressings or things like that and not heat it up. And so I was like, oh, I used to be so proud of myself, like use it and put it in my stir fry and heat it up and it doesn't have as high of a smoke point. So I want to get into that with Men’s Journal too. And the barbecuing, there's certain ways to barbecue. They're healthier than others. You don't want that black on the outside, the acrylamides. So there's just so much to learn and I try to make it easy and give you the history of why and then some healthier alternatives to see if you want to make that change. If you don't, then you don't.

Debra (22:26):

So how do we begin? What's one very small step we could do today that would put us towards this path?

Kim (22:35):

For me, it's looking at what you do the most. What product do you utilize the most? For some people it might be skincare or sunblock for others. Well, for all of us, what we wear every day, our clothing, what we wash, our clothes and sleep in with our sheets is something pretty much touching our skin 24 hours a day, unless you're taking a shower. So if you have too many toxins that are sitting on your skin from your laundry detergent, that may cause a problem. Some people feel like they have to throw those beads in to make your laundry smell fresh. That's not normal. What is that doing to your system? Or they don’t want static cling, so they're using dryer sheets that could disrupt your hormones. So I use those little wool balls.

Kim (23:31):

So there's just little things you can tweak. Cleaning products. Air fresheners, they put those little things on the vents. Those are not natural either. And you are breathing that in every day. So there are small things to become aware of. You start looking at products and you're like, ah, what's in that? As I said, it's peeling away an onion. You can't do it all at once. And as I'm still learning and I'm not perfect, but I find that I feel better if I do as well as I can and stay as clean as possible for my household.

Debra (24:13):

I love that. And in addition to your work with Men's Journal, that folks can start following and they can check out all of your eBooks on Amazon. Are there other places that folks can go to learn more?

Kim (24:28):

Well, my website's got a lot of the history. You'd go down reminiscing lane there with a lot of the photos and covers that we uploaded, all the ads, all the stuff that I used to do, write for two other magazines also. So I'm just trying to expand. I'm also developing a jail ministry, working with Dress for Success, and also St. Vincent de Paul, which handles homeless people and trying to help empower these women who are coming out of the jail system that want to learn and want to get a job, and what new things do they need to do and what mindset and adjustments do they need to make in their lifestyle and how they think about themselves and others to get ahead and be successful.

Debra (25:18):

I love that. We will make sure that all of this is listed in the notes. Kim, you have been really generous with your knowledge and information. I so appreciate you.

Kim (25:28):

Oh, well thank you. Thanks for asking.

Debra (25:30):

Thanks for listening to The Dareful Project. Please follow, like and leave a review. It really helps. We're on all your favorite platforms, Spotify, apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, audible, tune in Amazon Music, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and YouTube. And to connect, you can email me at [e-mail]. That's Debra, D-E-B-R-A at Dareful one. That's with the number one.com. Thanks for listening.