Lost 12kgs and 40cm – and won the Ambassador Story of 2018 in the Healthy Women Awards

Change the way you age.

If you have retired or are in the age bracket of retirees, look around at the people your age and older. How many of them have round faces due to excess weight? How many of them have the ‘old age walk’ where they seem to roll from side to side as they walk because they have hip, knee or feet problems? How many seem to have difficulty getting out of a car, down from a bus, up from a chair or sofa?

I have found, since retiring, that I have the time to make choices about how I spend almost every day of the week. And one of the choices was to not rush headlong into ‘old age’.

I walked into Healthy Inspirations 6 years ago, aged 62 and made a choice to embrace this lifestyle. This was a choice that not only seemed to turn back my aging clock a little, but it has slowed its rate of progress.

I learnt how to eat the combinations of foods right for my body and metabolism and do it easily for the rest of my life. I love food preparation and eating it and I am able to make fantastic dishes for family and friends based around this knowledge I have gained.

I learnt about different exercises using cardio and/or weights and the importance of stretching. With the guidance of my physiotherapist I have overcome foot, knee and hip problems and now understand the combination of stretches I need to use to keep these issues in check.

I am nearly 69 and can do a Zumba class for an hour, dance with my husband for over 3 hours in an evening, can do planks and push ups and sit ups, can do lunges and squats and get up and down much more gracefully from the floor.

It took some time to achieve this level but the lovely thing about it is that I now feel that the more years I spend doing this, the fitter and stronger I will become. And that blows my mind at times! I used to think that the more years I spend living the less fit and strong I will become.

If you are a younger woman, start now! Imagine what you might be like at 70 or 80! Growing older isn’t about your body giving up on you, it’s about having the time to make your body sing for you.

Tips:

1. You can’t get slim or fit fast, so be patient.
2. When you least feel like going to the HI centre, do it!
3. Find an activity or class at the gym that you really like.