Christie Brinkley reflects on health before upcoming 67th birthday

Bridgehampton supermodel Christie Brinkley, looking much younger than her years, posed in aqua leggings and a midriff-baring tank top Monday on Instagram, alongside a soliloquy of her upcoming 67th birthday.

"In 8 days, it's going to be Groundhogs [sic] Day! And I'll be turning 50 for the 17th time! lol!" she wrote, adding an emoji of a winking face with tongue sticking out, which per Emojipedia "conveys a sense of fun, excitement, wackiness, buffoonery, or joking."

"I love birthdays!" Brinkley continued. "I just don't like the numbers so I pretty much ignore them, I never felt as old as the number anyway … until this year," she said, and recounted breaking her arm in 2019 while rehearsing to compete on "Dancing with the Stars," and a longtime hip injury suffered in a helicopter crash in 1994.

"After my very nasty break of my right arm and the frozen shoulder it gave me I couldn't do downward dogs, planks, push ups," she wrote, "and at the other end my hip was getting worse with each passing year and long bike rides left me limping … I started to feel limited! Restricted! Dare I say … old!"

Without "enough vigorous exercise, and with quarantine came banana breads," she said, she gained "the inevitable extra pounds. I must add I felt overwhelmed by the number of injuries I was dealing with (I've been very adventurous! Ouch!) but I realized I just needed to start with one thing and keep moving forward … ."

Referencing the hip-replacement surgery she had revealed on Instagram on Jan. 5, Brinkley said, "I took action, fixed my hip, got the total replacement, and I am overjoyed to be able to move my body again. I am getting stronger every day, and I like to think I'm ready for anything … a hike, swim dive, paddle, ride, ski, and even a big piece of birthday cake! Hey I can work it off!"

Two days earlier, Brinkley had posted a photo of herself in a black one-piece swimsuit, sitting on a rock at the beach. "I found swimming to be great rehab for my hip!" she wrote. "Def the most fun too! I kept the scar covered from the sun for better healing, but one of the Band-Aids fell off. I wish I could start everyday with a snorkel! Hope you are all diving into a beautiful day!"