Life Begins at Whatever Age You Decide

I've been reflecting lately on my age. I'm 56. In my 20s and 30s I thought I'd feel old and tired by now. I thought I'd be a bit washed-up and washed-out.

I was almost right.

I grew up in Rochdale, in a working class home where the only fruit we ate came out of a tin, and cheap processed meals (boil-in-a-bag curry anyone?) were the norm. I come from a long line of men and women with a pathological hatred of cooking, so no guidance there. Once I left school I also left behind any hope of (and time for) exercise. In my 40s I started to earn more, so could afford to drink more, whilst my jobs became more senior and more stressful (a dangerous combination).

A relentless work schedule and no hope of a reasonable work/life balance saw my diet sink even further into a convenience food slump as the time (and inclination) to plan and make healthy food evaporated. Then came the menopause. Which ended up being one challenging symptom after another. So I self medicated with more wine and more chocolate to cope. Throw in a couple of aging, highly dependent parents and more stress and you have a perfect storm.

By the age of 50 I was, inadvertently heading towards a disastrous mix of bad food and bad choices. It would inevitably lead to bad health. If I'm honest, it already had.

Then something happened. I was working with a client in Edinburgh and I took a few hours before heading back to the airport to walk up the hill to the castle. It was hard. Really hard. I just about made it. I was 54, overweight and unfit. It was a turning point for me. I realised that I was playing straight into the narrative of an inevitable downward spiral into the aging process. Except it isn't inevitable. But in my case, I was nailing myself into a miserable decline in my physical and mental health. The aging process wasn't looking or feeling all that great.

Fast forward to this morning. I was up at 6:00am and off to the gym for some strength training designed by my lovely personal trainer Rachel. She's helping me to look after my body and mind so that I can do my best to age well. Two years ago I joined the Dorset NHS Integrated Care Board and I have learned lots during that time about how to try to live a healthy life after the age of 50. 18-months ago I gave up refined sugar and processed food because I read some books about how bad both are for my health.

My point is that I really only started to make choices about how I live my life and what I do to my body very recently. I wish I had done it sooner, but it's better late than never. And, if I'm honest, I feel healthier and stronger now than I did 10 years ago. I like to tell myself that I've turned back time on my body clock.

I'm pretty sure that the Royal Mile in Edinburgh would be a lot easier these days. Yesterday at one of the NHS Board Development Days we met with the brilliant people from Livewell Dorset, who make your health their business, and provide amazing free help and support for people like me who need to turn their health around. You might have something similar in your area too. If you're like me you might need them, because reversing decades of bad habits was hard. It still is. Getting up this morning was hard. Not buying chocolate is hard. Giving up wine is hard. Exercising every day is hard. I still hate cooking with a passion. And finding excuses not to do this stuff is very very easy.

My point here is that we get to choose when our life begins. But first we have to make a conscious decision about when we start taking care of ourselves. And we have to make a decision about which profit-focused, sugar-dealing companies we allow to dictate what we put into our bodies. Some people figure this stuff out early in life. But if you're like me it might take a lot longer. As I said earlier .... better late than never.

Now I know what taking care of myself feels like, I'm not going back to the alternative, no matter how hard it gets. I'm worth more than that. We all are.