Matthew McConaughey's Mom Kay, 93, Shares Her Secrets to Good Health and Longevity: Do Pilates and 'Don't Stress'

Mar. 15, 2025

(LEFT) Matthew McConaughey with his mother Kay; (RIGHT) Kay McConaughey shows off her Pilates moves.Photo:Gary Miller/FilmMagic; Jenna McElroy for Austin Lifestyle

Gary Miller/FilmMagic; Jenna McElroy for Austin Lifestyle

“The biggest thing for me isI don’t stress,”Kaysays in a recent issue ofAustin Lifestyle.“Like, if you and I were really good friends and, and you were talking to me and you had a situation, I would listen to you and I would give you advice and if you didn’t take it, then that’s it, I wouldn’t stress over it.”

The trick, she says, is to understand that she doesn’t “have to fix everything.” “For me, that’s a very positive,” she said. “Women think they always have to fix everything, and I don’t think that way. I will help you, but I’m not going to stress over fixing everything.”

Kay McConaughey shares her Pilates moves and outlook on life in “Austin Lifestyle”.Jenna McElroy for Austin Lifestyle

Jenna McElroy for Austin Lifestyle

When asked how she might handle a stressful situation, themother of threeexplained, “I don’t let myself get [into] them, trust me, I don’t. If I see that’s where I’m headed, I back off. I’m not going to let people do that to me.”

However, as she shares, a peaceful lifestyle is just part of it. Since 2020, Kay has been doing pilates virtually with trainer Nonna Gleyzer, who has worked withGisele BündchenandJennifer Garner.

As Gleyzer tells the outlet, she was at first hesitant to start training Kay, whom she met through Camila, due to her age. But these days, she says Kay is “kicking my butt, and I’m a former gymnast from the Ukraine.”

Kay McConaughey shoes off her Pilates moves in “Austin Lifestyle.".Jenna McElroy for Austin Lifestyle

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“She’s made so much progress and challenges me more than I’m challenging her. Her abs are like a rock. Each session, we do 80-100 different ab exercises. Young people can’t handle it,” Gleyzer says of Kay’s prowess, which she showed off in the magazine.

Kay also tries to eat healthily. “We never have any sweets in our house, ever,” she tells the outlet, with her only indulgence being wine — specifically, wine from Kendall Jackson: “I have a glass at 5 o’clock and then I have a glass when I go to bed.”

She only eats seafood and chicken, sharing that she also loves her daughter-in-law Camila’s coleslaw, and will only have red meat when visiting her son and his family.

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Kay McConaughey shows off her Pilates moves in “Austin Lifestyle.".Jenna McElroy for Austin Lifestyle

“So, I have always thought I am what I think,” she explains, “and that’s why I think positive.”

source: people.com