Bitter Diet Secrets Revealed: Christie Brinkley Confesses to Years of 'Self-Imposed Starvation' in Pursuit of the 'Impossible' Runway Dream — ‘I Wasn’t Eating, I Was Surviving'
Christie Brinkley admitted she would go through 'self-imposed starvation' during the peak of her modeling career.
May 2 2025, Published 1:45 p.m. ET
Christie Brinkley's dreams were bigger than her stomach.
The CoverGirl, who shot to fame in the late '70s and '80s, opens up in her bombshell new memoir about how she often "starved" herself at the height of her modeling days to stay runway ready, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
In her new memoir, the supermodel laid out her incredibly strict diet of 0% fat yogurt and a 'bite of cheese' in the '70s.
For Uptown Girl, the 71-year-old model unearthed 1970s diary entries detailing diets that read like a "registry of self-imposed starvation."
An entry from her Oct. 14, 1975 diary listed a stark daily menu: a "sugar-free digestive cookie" for breakfast, a 0% fat yogurt cup, an orange, and a small portion of brown rice for lunch.
This was followed by "one bite of Gruyère cheese and one 0% fat yogurt" for dinner.
Brinkley has admitted she can't believe she 'thought she was healthy' while participating in 'fad diets.'
Delving into the "fad diets" that surrounded the modeling industry at the time, Brinkley admitted: "I can’t believe that this was my idea of healthy."
She added: "But at the time, I was so desperate to fit into designer clothes, which came in only one size when I was a young model: runway size, which was impossibly small.
"The thinner I was, the more likely I would be able to metamorphose into a dress or pantsuit – and the less embarrassed I would likely feel at work.
"Even so, I did a lot of modeling with the zippers open in the back and with photographers asking me to turn this way or that so the camera wouldn’t reveal my jerry-rigged outfit."
She revealed Eileen Ford, a former model and top executive at Ford Models, once told her to eat "only fish" – a tough order for the vegetarian model to follow.
Despite "starving herself" at the peak of her career, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model continues to stun fans with her ageless beauty and toned figure at the age of 71.
The model has consistently banked on clean eating and exercise to maintain a healthy figure.
Last month, she made waves while flaunting her physique in a tiny red bikini while lounging in the sun on a lavish boat outing.
Over the years, Brinkley has been refreshingly open about how she stays in shape – relying on a healthy diet and regular workouts to keep her figure trim.
In 2018, Brinkley revealed she puts a strong emphasis on clean eating, cutting back on sugar and steering clear of meat.
She's also followed a vegetarian lifestyle since she was about 13 and has long embraced her vibrant "rainbow diet" as a daily staple.
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In 2022, the model said while losing weight was challenging, eliminating sugar made a significant impact. She also voiced her strong dislike for dieting, stressing how cultivating a healthy mindset around food and eating habits is key.
Brinkley explained: "We have to stop thinking of healthy eating as a "diet," which I call deny-eating. It's like you are denying something you should be having.
"Instead, you need to have a paradigm shift and be like, 'I have the opportunity to gift myself.'"
Elsewhere in her memoir, Brinkley delved into her second marriage to rocker Billy Joel.
In her personal life, Brinkley has been married four times – and delves deep into her relationships in her new memoir.
Her highest profile marriage was to singer Billy Joel from 1985 to 1994. The two also share daughter Alexa Ray Joel, now 39.
Prior to Joel, Brinkley was married to Jean-François Allaux, and later tied the knot with Richard Taubman and Peter Cook. Her relationship with Cook ended in 2008 after learning of his infidelity.
