98-Year-Old Dick Van Dyke Eats This Every Night After Dinner

No wonder the actor and comedian still considers himself a child looking for his inner adult!

Actor and comedian Dick Van Dyke is living proof that age is just a number. On April 19, 2024, the 98-year-young star became the oldest person to score a Daytime Emmy nomination (he was a guest star on “Days of Our Lives” earlier this year). Van Dyke’s resume proves that he’s still far from retirement. In fact, in addition to his potentially trophy-worthy turn on the daytime drama, he appeared on “The Masked Singer” and “The Simpsons” this year as well.

Van Dyke’s career has spanned more than seven decades. Fans have devoured his work on TV (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”), on the big screen (“Mary Poppins”), on bookshelves (2010’s My Life in and Out of Show Business: A Memoir was a New York Times bestseller), and on stage (“Bye Bye Birdie”).

So what’s the secret to his charisma, zest, and sharpness as he approaches 100?

On the heels of the release of his 2015 book Keep Moving and Other Tips and Truths About Aging, Van Dyke told the “Chicago Tribune” that a major factor is staying active. He wakes up at 6 a.m. every morning, drinks a cup of coffee, and heads “to the gym before I talk myself out of it,” he says in his signature humorous style. “If you get exercise, get moving, get the blood moving, you walk out of the gym feeling better…Get that circulation going, and it changes you. I can go to the gym feeling pretty lousy, but I walk out of there with a bounce in my step and feeling pretty good.”

While at the gym, Van Dyke swears by the treadmill and weights (yes, he still lifts in his 90s!). After his sweat session and with feel-good vibes in full effect, he typically swings by the market, runs errands, and heads back home for a quick nap before dinner. Then before bed, he always indulges his inner child.

Dick Van Dyke’s Favorite Dessert

Throughout the day, Van Dyke explained to the “Chicago Tribune” team, he prefers to steer clear of overly processed and fast-foods, and instead leans into “light and fresh” fare. “I watch what I eat. I’m not much on meat; maybe once a week. I have blueberries every morning. I watch my sugar level,” he said.

When Van Dyke was a kid, he always dreamed of growing up and being able to eat candy every night. That inner child is still alive and well, he added: “There’s the biblical admonition about putting aside the things of your childhood. But I take that to mean self-centeredness, willfulness; not creativity and wonder,” Van Dyke continued in his chat with the “Tribune.” “Walt Disney and I always said we were children looking for our inner adults.”

So to indulge his inner child, Van Dyke gleefully admitted, “I do eat ice cream every night.”

His go-to combo: Two scoops of Häagen-Dazs vanilla topped with a generous drizzle of chocolate syrup.

Keep Moving and Other Tips and Truths About Aging is all about how to stay vital and make the most of your 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond, Van Dyke summarized, and it sounds like balance—and dessert—is definitely part of that magical formula.

We’ll have what he’s having.

Read the original article on All Recipes.