Jennifer Aniston Says Late Parents Inspired Her Health Journey, Jokes 'My Friends Call Me Dr. Aniston'
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; Michael Kovac/Getty; Paul Harris/Online USA
Jennifer Aniston attributes her parents, the late Nancy Dow and John Aniston, for sparking her dedication to health and fitness.
The 54-year-old actress recently spoke to USA Today and admitted that her parents had a few unhealthy habits. Aniston announced that her father died at age 89 on Nov. 11, 2022. Her mother died in 2016 at the age of 79.
"God bless my parents who are no longer with us, but they were not the specimens of health," she told the outlet. "My dad still lived to be 89 years old, shockingly, but that's probably stubborn, Greek genes."
Aniston explained that after watching the decline of her parents' health, she realized she needed to prioritize taking care of her body.
"My friends call me Dr. Aniston," she joked. "Just because I'm always up on the newest technology and [wondering] how can we improve our health in any way we can?"
Steve Granitz/WireImage Jennifer Aniston
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The Murder Mystery star added that lately she's been staying on top of her health by exercising often, doing yoga and pilates, meditating, and keeping a proper sleep schedule. However, the actress said her fans tend to fixate on her youthful appearance.
"To hear people say, 'You look like you did on Friends!' Listen, lovely compliment. But that's a TV set they're looking at," she quipped.
For Aniston, the point of focusing on health and wellness is to feel good from the inside out and embrace aging rather than achieve a "quick fix" to looking younger.
"If I tried to look the way I looked at 20, I would not really actually want to do that. It's absolutely impossible," Aniston told the outlet.
"I want my body to get strong, because as I get older, I want my body to thrive," she continued. "We're all going to get older. We're all headed to that exact same spot. But we can take care of our skin. We can have a healthy diet. We can drink lots of water."
