Hank Greenberg, 84, says gets steam from veggie diet

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Veteran insurance executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg bristles ever so slightly when asked about his upcoming 85th birthday.

"There are two types of birthdays -- chronological and biological. Doctors tell me biologically I am 25 years younger," the former AIG chief executive, who is now the insurer's biggest private shareholder, says with a smile.

Greenberg, who turns 85 in May, said a daily lunch of salad and a strict no-meat, no-dairy diet at home (his wife Corinne is a vegan) keep him fighting fit.

He also works out pretty much daily in his home gym, and makes a weekly visit to New York gym "Serious Strength", where he follows a regimen of weight-bearing exercises.

During an interview in his Park Avenue office this week, Greenberg, who ran AIG for four decades, expressed eagerness to move forward with what could be a marathon project -- lobbying the government to take steps to eliminate much of the debt AIG incurred when it took a $180 billion bailout.

"I'm doing all the things that I have always done," said Greenberg. "You can interpret that in many ways," he laughs.

(Reporting by Lilla Zuill; Editing by Ted Kerr)