What my sister said is , “ This is not our mission — it is our ministry .” That why you have to pray before you do anything — when I go up to the gym , before I work out . Prayer is so important to me .
had to be just right — my hair , my nails , my clothes . When my sister , Velvet , talked about exercising and sweating , I told her she was out of her mind . She looked out for me all of my life . I was a scary girl , I would bite my nails down to the nub . She would tell me you need to do something . Whatever she said do , I would do .
HimPower : Tell me about your faithwalk with God and how it has helped you in handling your celebrity ?
E . Shepherd : You know when my sister and I wanted to inspire others , I was going to call this our mission . What my sister said is , “ This is not our mission — it is our ministry .” That why you have to pray before you do anything — when I go up to the gym , before I work out . Prayer is so important to me .
HimPower : It ’ s exciting that you ’ ve chronicled your journey . Tell us about your book , Determined , Dedicated , Disciplined to Be Fit - The Ageless Journey of Ernestine Shepherd , and why you decided to write it ? E . Shepherd : Growing up , I looked toward my sister for everything that I did . I was a nervous child , a bad girl . At age of 6 , my sister and I were walking through this beautiful square with grass and flowers . I called to Dibbi ( Velvet ) and said , “ I am going to walk on that ( profanity ) grass .” She was only seven . She looked at me and
30 HimPower May 2018
What my sister said is , “ This is not our mission — it is our ministry .” That why you have to pray before you do anything — when I go up to the gym , before I work out . Prayer is so important to me .
asked where did you learn a word like that ? I told her , “ You have to promise you won ’ t tell Mom .” She said , “ I won ’ t tell .” That ’ s when we began pinky finger , if she told the seal was broken . I still enjoyed saying bad words . She said to me , “ Someday , something is going to change you , I don ’ t know what it is .” I said bad words for many days , it made me feel 10 feet tall . We had just started working out and she was working hard and her body changed . I wasn ’ t doing that much , I said , “ I don ’ t want to look like any man .” She said , “ We weren ’ t going to look like men we were just going to look good .” She got in the newspaper . I got angry . My sister came to my house and said , “ If you want this joy I ’ m having , you will have to do what I ’ m doing .” After I started working out , I felt better . I thought if it ’ s going to feel like this , I will continue . I have been doing it for the past 25 years . So I wrote the book because I wanted to tell people just what my sister and I had done . Some of the exercises that I have in there , it ’ s not about big muscles — women want to remain feminine .
HimPower : Tell us about your diet , what you eat and why .
E . Shepherd : I eat as natural as possible . I drink liquid egg whites because it gives protein , and I eat 4-5 small meals a day . It