Arnold Schwarzenegger has been busy since he left the California governor's office in January.
Among other things, he's traveled to South America with director pal James Cameron; attended a Scorpions concert in Moscow with former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev; and been immortalized as a comic book superhero known as The Governator.
But while his life seems pretty great from the outside, Schwarzenegger confesses in the latest Newsweek that he has trouble looking at himself in the mirror these days--though it's not because of the sorry fiscal shape in which he left California. Rather, it seems the 63-year-old ex-governor is having trouble coming to terms with the fact he's getting old.
"I feel terrific about where I am in my life, when I look back at what I've accomplished," the former governor tells Lloyd Grove. "But I feel so sh*tty when I look at myself in the mirror."
Indeed, Schwarzenegger is a long way from his days as Conan the Barbarian. He's heavier, and his perpetually spray-tanned face is accentuated with crow's feet. But he's still in decent shape for a guy his age--not that Schwarzenegger sees that.
"I'm not competing, I'm not ripping off my shirt and trying to sell the body," the former governor frets. "But when I stand in front of the mirror and really look, I wonder: What the f*ck happened here? Jesus Christ. What a beating!"
Ironically, Schwarzenegger's comments come just a few months after his oldest daughter, Katherine, authored a book aimed at helping young women deal with body-image issues. In her book, Katherine Schwarzenegger, who is 20, admitted that she had been "self-conscious" about her weight and other issues during high school, but, with the help of her parents, had come to embrace both her inner and outer beauty.
It's a favor she might have to repay to her father, who is apparently coming to grips with his own body issues.
