Photo: Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty

Martha Stewart

Martha Stewarthas lots to say to those criticizing her groundbreakingSports Illustrated Swimsuitcover.

The lifestyle icon recently opened up toVarietyand onThe Martha Stewart Podcastabout how she prepped for the now-iconic photo shoot, whether or not she’s had fillers and the use of Photoshop.

The 81-year-old toldVarietythat “every now and then, there are certain fillers that I can do for a little line here or there, but I hate Botox. It’s a weird thing for me. I really and truly don’t do a lot.”

When asked, Stewart added, “I’ve had absolutely no plastic surgery whatsoever.”

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martha stewart

Stewart, who jetted to the Dominican Republic to take her cover image and several other photos featured in her spread, toldVarietythat naysayers are suggesting “the pictures are over-retouched. But they’re not. They are incredibly accurate pictures. I was really pleased that there was not much airbrushing.”

The domestic doyenne spent two months preparing for the monumental moment. As she toldSports Illustrated Swimsuiteditor-in-chief MJ Day, when she got the call to do the shoot, she started asking herself, “What do I have to do to make sure I look good? I mean, there’s a little flab here and a little wrinkle there; you have to make sure you take care of all that.”

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Stewart continued, “I really had to get on the exercise. I always exercise, but I really went to Pilates three or four times a week. I ate a lot of salads, a lot of green juice for two months, no drinks at all, no wine, no drinks, nothing. I had my regular facials, I even got a spray tan which I never do … I waxed my whole body.” She also continued her sun care regimen, using hats and sunblock on the regular.

“What I’m proud, of” she added, “is [that] I’ve taken care of myself, I actually pay attention to my good health.”

That’s her mantra, she added to Day. “I think if you look good, you feel good … you’re healthy, and it shows. It shows in the glistening skin, in the pink cheeks, in the nice hair, everything. You can’t be like that unless you’ve worked at it, at least in terms of diet and exercise and seeing the right doctors, making sure you’re a healthy person.”

On her podcast, Steward said she hopes her shoot is an inspiration for women of all generations to age confidently, and encourages “other women who are getting on, you know, getting older … you start getting old the day you’re born but you don’t have to show it.”

source: people.com