Melissa Wood-Tepperberg on posing for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit at 40: ‘I’m ready’
Melissa Wood-Tepperberg has imagined turning into a Games Delineated Bathing suit model since she was a youngster.
Wood-Tepperberg stated on “Good Morning America” that “it was so much more than just the pictures for me.” The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit] recently exuded this sense of female empowerment.”Wood-Tepperberg modeled in her early 20s. She said she moved to New York City with a Sports Illustrated planner in hand. At that time she was led to believe that modeling opportunities only lasted while you were young.
The “old version of Melissa … thought everything was impossible,” she noted.
Now, Wood-Tepperberg, 40 years old and a mother of two, told Sports Illustrated : “It really is true that when you align yourself and your actions with the things that you want to bring into your life, you can do anything.” “I have found the more that I embody this belief within myself, it’s truly been this becoming in my life,” she tells “GMA,” adding that despite life’s obstacles, she learned to never lose sight of her goals.
On set with Sports Illustrated
Days short of her 40th birthday, Wood-Tepperberg found herself behind the camera for the 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. “I envisioned this. To the point where I never lost sight of it,” she said. “It was just the most uplifting shoot that I have ever done. [Photographer] Yu Tsai brought me to life in a way I didn’t even know I had in me.”
Wood-Tepperberg, who once struggled with an eating disorder, said that becoming a Sports Illustrated Rookie symbolizes all of the love and acceptance she now has for herself.
On turning 40
Wood-Tepperberg explained that there are misconceptions surrounding turning 40. She used to think “it was all downhill from here.” But in actuality, she said she has never felt better. “It’s really this magnificent feeling of knowing who you are,” she explained. “And no longer trying to be anything but you. There is nothing more fulfilling than walking around as you are. And not trying to embody anyone but you. It’s exhilarating, it’s freeing. You really live in this surrender of welcoming all of the things that are unfolding right before your eyes.”
On physical and mental health
Wood-Tepperberg is the founder of Melissa Wood Health (MWH), a health, wellness and lifestyle platform with a fitness app that launched in 2019. The platform includes Wood-Tepperberg-led meditations, yoga and pilates low-impact workouts, pre-and post-natal classes and more. Wood-Tepperberg has also brought on other creators and instructors to lead dance flows and sculpting classes.
