Candace Cameron Bure, who recently turned 49, plans to be in the “best shape of my life” when she enters her 50s next year.
“That’s what I’m working towards,” the Great American Family star told Fox News Digital. “I’ve been filming a lot of movies, so I don’t feel like I’m at my top right now because my fitness has to take a back seat while I’m filming movies, but I turned 49 this year and I have really big goals for myself just keeping active and healthy, but going into 50, I wanna be in best shape that I can possibly be in.”
Bure said she’s been busy filming her Christmas movies for the network. She just wrapped a time-travel Christmas movie called “Timeless Tidings of Joy,” and is heading into production for another one next week. She also stars in the new “Ainsley McGregor Mysteries” series.
CANDACE CAMERON BURE ADMITS SHE ‘WHIPPED’ HERSELF FOR YEARS AS SHE STRUGGLED WITH BODY IMAGE
“So, my fitness game, once I finish this movie, at least in the gym, is gonna kick it up a notch,” she explained. “But honestly, I feel really great.”
Bure said she’s been working on her fitness since she was in her early 30s, “and I’m in a groove, and I just want to approach life and aging as someone with grace, but also enthusiasm.”
“And leaning into all the things that I can do as I get older and preparing my body so that I can continue to do those things as I older,” the actress told Fox News Digital. “Not so much from a vanity point of view, but like, you know, I wanna be able to open the peanut butter jar when I’m 80, and I need grip strength for that. But all that comes from using your muscles and lifting weights and just basic skills.”
She joked that she’s not trying to age fast, “but it’s the preparation of just being in the best shape that I can be as I get older.”
WATCH: CANDACE CAMERON BURE WANTS TO GET IN HER ‘BEST SHAPE’ AS SHE APPROACHES 50
As she’s gotten older, Bure said her reasons for staying in shape have become less about “vanity,” and more about wanting to be healthy for her family.
She asks herself: “Why is fitness so important to me? Is it because I’m trying to fit into a certain size or look a certain way? Or is it because I wanna be able to go on walks with my husband or my kids or my grandchildren and take hikes and be healthy and not have trouble getting out of a seat as I get older? And so that’s what I’ve learned about it, that I’m so appreciative that my body can move, and I can do all the things that I can.”
She continued, “I have so much more of a gratitude mindset for my body instead of nitpicking it like I have for many, many years.”
The “Full House” alum noted that fitness doesn’t always have to be in the gym.
“I do enjoy weightlifting, but it’s like, ‘Go out and do the things that are fun that get your body moving.’ That’s what fitness should be about: is body movement. So, go ride a bicycle, do handstands, do cartwheels, go skateboarding, go roller skating.”
She advised doing what you loved “when you were young, as a kid, and what made you happy. Did you love riding your bike? Then go ride a bike. Like, you don’t have to get on the stationary one. Go actually ride a bike.”
Her family loves a “good game of pickleball. It’s real competitive in the Bure house.”
Aside from her many Christmas movies, Bure is also excited about her new mystery series on Great American Family.
“I love the genre so much. The cozy mysteries are so much fun,” Bure said.
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
“So, of course, I had a very successful franchise, the “Aurora Teagarden Mysteries,” and I wanted to create another franchise of movies and one that felt fresh and new and new characters, new relationships,” she said of her new “Ainsley McGregor Mysteries,” which are about a criminologist-turned-crafter.
The first, “Ainsley McGregor Mysteries: A Case for the Winemaker,” came out last year.
“I’m so happy that the first one was really well-received, and we’ve got the newest Ainsley McGregor case, ‘A Case for the Yarn Maker,’ which is, you know, it’s just another mystery,” she said.
The mysteries are “fun” and “safe” to watch with the family, Bure added. “Nothing gory, nothing bloody, but it’s like this great whodunit. And the ‘Ainsley McGregors,’ as we continue to make these movies, they’re just getting elevated more and more with each one, and the dialogue is sharper, the dialogue is, you know, quick-witted, they’re funny, but they’re smart.”
“A Case for the Winemaker” brings back the main characters from the first film, which centers on McGregor’s craft shop Bless Your Arts, where she interacts with other artists and customers in the town.
WATCH: CANDACE CAMERON BURE SAYS HER NEW MYSTERY SERIES IS A GREAT FAMILY WATCH
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
“You’ll be familiar with them now, but you’re going to learn a little more about each of them in each installment, each movie,” she explained. “And in this one, you’re going to learn a little bit more about Mrs. Whedon. And we kind of focus the story on her and her granddaughter because this mystery has a lot of ties to who she is.”
She said the writer, Robin Dunne, also plays her brother, Sheriff Ryan McGregor, in the series.
The series is directed by Martin Wood, “who I’ve worked with for ages and directed many of the ‘Aurora Teagardens’ back in the day,” said Bure. “And so we’re excited. This is kind of a little dream team with the three of us producing these movies, writing them and working on them.”
“Stay glued,” she added when asked what viewers should expect from the second installment.
“Listen to the clues, listen to the dialogue because every little word, it’s a little hint as to who could have done it. But my hope is that you don’t figure it out in the first 10 minutes of the movie because you’ve got 90 more to go, and I hope you don’t figure it until the very end,” she said, adding that there are always a few red herrings.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Bure also co-stars with her daughter, Natasha Bure, in the holiday film “Timeless Tidings of Joy,” and shared some industry advice.
WATCH: CANDACE CAMERON BURE WANTS TO SHARE ‘WISDOM’ SHE’S GAINED FROM 40 YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY WITH ACTRESS DAUGHTER
“What’s most important for me as her mom and also someone that’s been in this entertainment industry for 40 years is that, you know, I have wisdom that I’m happy and want to share with from all aspects of it,” she said. “So, I do that often, and she’s 26 years old. So she’s at a place in her life where she very much respects it and asks me those questions. It’s not like having a teenager when your kids think, like, you’re dumb and you don’t know anything. Like, we’re past all of that. And so I have such a great relationship with all of my kids and I feel really blessed and honored that she comes to me and asks questions and wants advice, but she’s so talented and doing such a great job, but as long as she knows I’m here, and her dad, we’re here and we’re for her, that’s the most important thing for me.”
