‘I’ve got more energy than 30 years ago!’
Julie Silver, 51, from Manchester, is a wellbeing therapist with one son. She weighs 7st 7lb and is 5ft 2in
When I tell people how old I am, the general reaction is, ‘No way!’ I was always slim and health-conscious, but used to get so bloated that I looked pregnant.
There was a point in my early forties where I really didn’t like the way I looked, how tight my clothes sometimes felt, or how sluggish I was. So, after years of dabbling in exercise, I took up yoga and got a rebounder – a mini trampoline.
I committed myself to rising earlier every morning and doing at least 30 minutes of exercise before work, following yoga tutorials on YouTube when I didn’t have time to go to a class.
I’ve also got a couple of kettlebells – cast iron balls – and I used them to do weighted sit-ups. As well as exercising, I began body brushing –
where you use a firm bristled brush all over the body – to improve the condition of my skin.
I also cut wheat from my diet. The bloating disappeared and I felt less tired. Inspired, I cut down on dairy and refined sugar. Whereas once I’d rush a main course in order to get to dessert, I stopped craving sweet things.
The result is that my shape and tone have improved and I’ve got more energy now than I had in my twenties and thirties, and I have a definition to my abs that had always eluded me.
Recently, I was in a bikini in a health club and a lady told me, ‘I’d love to have a figure and stomach like yours.’ I replied that, with just a little effort, she could.