Get moving before it’s too late . . .

ODD to be on the brink of tears in the middle of a pleasant Pilates class, but I was.

At the end of May, I re-started workouts with a personal trainer, and two weeks ago I joined Pilates at the same gym.

Four months after my hip replacement (having done some physiotherapy along the way, of course), I need to get moving again. But it’s just so hard.

None of the others in the class are very young, but I’m probably the oldest and felt like a rusty old contraption, only fit for scrap. The realisation was deeply upsetting — so I suddenly wanted to howl.

Honestly, I can’t stand that Edith Piaf ‘Je ne regrette rien’ stuff. For I thoroughly regret a lifetime of arrogance where exercise was concerned.

I elevated laziness into a pose — proudly proclaiming I hated walks and that my only exercise was raising a wine glass.

Stupid woman! In 2005, I went to a gym for the first time, trying to turn back the clock at the age of 59.

But it was almost too late. Oh, I could make myself fitter (and did), but suppleness would never return to these limbs.

Reading this week’s terrific, inspiring Mail series by 75-year-old yoga guru Barbara Currie made me wistful. ‘Use it or lose it’ has never felt more true.

My job here is to give advice — and I take it very seriously. So I urge readers (both genders) not to be like me.

Whether you’re in your 20s, 30s, 40s or 50s, please get yourself going. In your 60s you’ll find it a tad harder, but you can still start, and if you’re older (like me), tell yourself it’s not too late.

Walk to the shops, use the stairs, dance whenever you hear a good song on the radio, wield a couple of weights, get those arms moving, stride out into the morning (even if you live in the city) and look up at the sky.

Love your one body, your one precious life. Please.

BEL answers readers’ questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT, or email bel.mooney@dailymail.co.uk. A pseudonym will be used if you wish. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence.