I believe everyone deserves to live the best live they can, for as long as they can. The basis for achieving this is enjoying good health. Sometimes bad habits get the better of us as we age and those habits can have long lasting effects. I practise what I preach, mainly because I’ve learned from experience where I went wrong! I hope this helps you to look more vital by, for example, just standing up straight – it will take years off you.
In 2016 I turned 60 and, apart from the occasional “how did THAT happen?” I feel good. For me “feeling good” means I can get dressed knowing that nothing in my wardrobe is too snug; “feeling good” means I can walk uphill and carry on a conversation without getting breathless; “feeling good” means eating dessert and drinking wine guilt-free. Now just in case you think I’m smug, out-of-touch or plain clueless about what it’s like to feel bad about yourself, I need to turn the clock back to 2004 when I was fat, frumpy and nearly fifty. I’d had enough of being disappointed in my lack of willpower and decided, once and for all, to take control. What I did wasn’t painful or expensive, didn’t involve hunger pangs or make me feel like giving up; it was practical, logical and very doable and helped me create a regime that I still follow today.
By the way, I’m not a health and fitness expert, nor am I a nutritionist, but these 10 steps have had a profound and lasting effect on my physical and mental wellbeing.
1 If you hate exercise, find a friend and exercise together
Exercise is important. We all need to do it and the sooner you start the better. Speaking as a child who loved reading and watching TV and regarded the school sports day as the purest form of torture, exercise wasn’t my thing. It was no surprise at primary school that I was growing out as fast as I was growing up. Being called “Bessie Bunter” only drove me to seek solace in more food. This vicious circle led to years of feeling bad about my body until I finally took control and got a personal trainer.
My trainer was (still is) Claudine Bensted, whose aerobics classes I attended years earlier; she was a 45-year-old marathon runner who looked at least 20 years younger. I’d bumped into her by chance and, without even stopping to think, I asked her if she could help me get fitter and lose weight. We agreed an initial schedule of three one-hour sessions a week. She’d come to my house at 6.00am so that I had time to get the children off to school and make it to my office by 9.00am. Initially we walked fast, then walked and jogged, then jogged, gradually building up the distance. After four weeks the weight was coming off and although I’ve always had bags of energy, I now had even more. 12 years on Claudine and I are still jogging together and use our one-hour sessions to set the world to rights and time flies. It’s important to find something that works for you though; if jogging puts too much pressure on your joints, try walking, but the exercise needs to be weight bearing as you get older to maintain bone density. And it’s equally important that you keep it up; once it’s a routine, it will be second nature.
2 You won’t get vitamin D by staying indoors
We all need ultra violet B (UVB) rays for our bodies to make vitamin D, essential for healthy bones and teeth. So even if you prefer going to classes or the gym, rather than jogging in the street, try to get outside for at least 10-15 minutes every day. You can also get vitamin D from oily fish, meat and eggsbut, during the darker winter months of October – March, when UVB rays aren’t strong enough, you should take a Vitamin D supplement.
3 Keep drinking the liquids
Every cell in our bodies needs water to operate; without it we wouldn’t survive. Poor hydration can lead to constipation, dry and itchy skin, nose bleeds and repeated urinary tract infections; it also sets off a signal that you’re hungry and instead of reaching for a no-calorie glass of water – you eat. If your job involves sitting down for most of the day, getting up to make regular cups of tea and go to the loo helps to avoid a stiff back too.
4 Stand tall – it takes years off you
Modern day living means we’re all staring at computer and TV screens and mobile devices. If we’re sitting there’s a tendency to slump, if we’re standing there’s a tendency to stick out our necks. The physical evidence of poor posture is a rounded back or a stoop, which apart from putting additional pressure on your heart and lungs, is an incredibly ageing look. There are many exercises you can do while sitting and standing to correct poor posture, but I do two almost without thinking: when walking I always try to pinch my shoulder blades together; this keeps my shoulders back and down and opens up the chest area. I also push my chin into my neck while keeping my spine straight; this strengthens the neck muscles. When you walk taller and sit straighter you feel more energetic and you’ll look younger.
5 We’re not as elastic as we used to be
Everyone needs to stretch their bodies to remain flexible and reduce the chance of injury. As we get older, it’s harder to maintain the suppleness of our youth. I always stretch with Claudine, but yoga and Pilates are the best ways of gently regaining or maintaining flexibility. You’ll strengthen your core too while having a thoroughly relaxing experience.
6 Get the 80:20 rule engrained in your psyche
Did you know that 80% of how good you look is down to diet and 20% exercise? Horrifying isn’t it? I didn’t know this but, once I did, it made me change my eating habits for good. Eating clean isn’t new or groundbreaking, many of us have been doing it for years, but what made a huge difference to me was cutting right down on sugar. I’ve never had a sweet tooth, but I love carbohydrates like bread, rice, pasta and potatoes which, sadly, turn into sugar to provide energy. I don’t need energy to sleep, so I haven’t eaten a carbohydrate after lunch since the late 90s and that helped me lose weight without effort.
7 Sleep is one of the best beauty treatments
And it’s free. The more sleep you get, the better you feel, look and heal. You’re mentally sharper, more productive and are less likely to feel fatigued or depressed. There’s also a link between lack of sleep and weight gain. It’s important to understand that sleep isn’t a luxury but a very necessary part of life. I’ve been a terrible sleeper for most of my life (not just adult life!) and, if I get five hours at a stretch I count myself very lucky, but I’m trying to go to bed earlier and I never take a laptop with me. There’s nothing wrong with a 10-minute power nap either; this can be energizing, beneficial and easy to take during the lunch break.
8 Don’t “dress dowdy”
Kristen Scott Thomas recently criticised the way English women dress. To be fair, I thought she had a point… being sexy shouldn’t mean adopting the wardrobe of a hooker, and why do so many of us wear clothes that don’t flatter our figures? But what I regard as a far greater faux pas is “dressing dowdy”. Clothes should be an extension of our personalities and we should celebrate that, not hide behind dull and boring exteriors. It takes a little more effort to put a look together, but why not make that effort? Even if you love black, you can occasionally change to navy or use a statement necklace to make, well, a statement.
9 The eyes may be the mirror of the soul, but your face is the starting point
Some people are lucky and have that fresh-faced looked without the aid of make-up. But just as we look after our bodies, we need to do the same for our faces. When I’m not wearing make-up people want to bury me, so I’m a make-up advocate. I’ve learned over the years how to accentuate certain features and camouflage others. Our smile is important too, so we need to take good care of our teeth. I want to keep mine for a long as humanly possible – providing they don’t look like Freddy Kruger’s – and see my dentist for regular check-ups. Then there’s the whole hair issue. Good hair makes you feel great; it can be expensive to achieve, but if the end result is an amazing frame for your face, you can economise elsewhere.
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Exercise made me feel better, and it helped the weight come off.
The Dalai Lama says: “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” Life moves so fast we often don’t know when we’re inadvertently hurting someone or just giving out all the wrong signals. By making time to really think about how we affect others we become more mindful. Being kind takes as much effort as being indifferent to someone’s needs, so why not choose “kind”?
