Under the microscope
CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?
AT 76, you don’t! But I don’t have any difficulty walking up the stairs of my three-storey home in Lucerne. I attend a cardio-fitness class three times a week which helps keep me in reasonable shape.
GET YOUR FIVE A DAY?
PROBABLY. My wife and I eat a lot of greens, such as kale. I also have three or four pieces of fruit a day.
EVER DIETED?
YES. Last year my weight reached over 13st and I’m 5ft 4in tall. Tests showed the arteries around my heart had clogged up. I had a couple of stents inserted in April to prop them open, but was told to lose weight for my health. The one thing that worked for me was visiting a nutritionist in New York called Dr Stephen Gullo. I had to cut out pasta, rice and potatoes. It was a wrench for an Irishman! Now I’m just over 11st and trying to get under it.
ANY VICES?
I GAVE up cigarettes in 1972 but then smoked cigars. I still have the odd one. I also like a whiskey from time to time, and the odd glass of red or white wine.
ANY FAMILY AILMENTS?
MY MOTHER had a stroke in her mid-60s, and my father died of cancer of the intestine at 72. But there’s nothing genetic I particularly have to worry about.
WORST ILLNESS OR INJURY?
IN 1977, I suffered two broken legs and a broken left arm after being hit by a motorbike which mounted the pavement. I spent seven months in hospital. The bones in the lower part of my legs wouldn’t knit so they took part of my hip and grafted it into my legs. It was a big operation, but I made a full recovery.
POP ANY PILLS?
I TAKE a lot of vitamin pills (D, B and C) as well as cod liver oil. I also take magnesium pills which I think help with the cramps I get in my hands and feet.
HAD ANYTHING REMOVED?
NOTHING apart from the odd tooth.
EVER HAVE PLASTIC SURGERY?
NO, BECAUSE I think I’m OK as I am.
HEALTH BOOK THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE?
STEPHEN GULLO’S The Thin Commandments Diet: The Ten No-Fail Strategies For Permanent Weight Loss. It forces you to keep a diary of your food intake and it helps you identify what’s responsible for piling on the pounds.
IS SEX IMPORTANT?
WELL, it was!
EVER BEEN DEPRESSED?
NOT REALLY. If I feel a bit down, it’s usually because I’m tired.
HANGOVER CURE?
DON’T get one, in the first place. If you abuse your body, you’ll have one.
WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT?
NOTHING. I usually get six to seven hours a night, plus a one-hour afternoon nap, when possible.
LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?
NO, I think a renewal of everything is good. But I’d like to come back and do it all over again, albeit better!
Sir james will be giving a speech at Westminster abbey on November 23 for Help musicians UK (jamesgalway.com).