MIDLIFE F I TNESS F I LES
DR L OUISE WISEMAN, 4 7
Louise is a former GP turned medical writer and editor for netdoctor. co.uk. She lives in Hove with her husband Neil, their two children aged 12 and 16, and their cocker spaniel, Humphrey.
When my dad turned 40, he overhauled his fitness and I started running with him from the age of about 13. It was quality time together but was also hugely de-stressing for my GCSES and A-levels, and it made me discover early on the mental health effects of exercise. I wasn’t sporty at university; my medical training took up all my time. Still, I never had to worry about weight.
After my first pregnancy at 30, I put on four and a half stone. At the time, I lost the weight easily by doing half an hour on the cross-trainer or exercise bike at home a couple of times a week.
But post-45 everything changed. My body didn’t respond in the same way to exercise; even cycling fast didn’t work on the tummy I seemed to develop overnight. The gym has never really worked for me, so, as part of the research for my book I started investigating home fitness.
I began doing 20minute workouts using body weight exercises three times a week – things like planks, lunges, squats and press-ups
– and noticed a huge change in my body.
My workout week
Last year I was sitting for 16 hours a day writing my book. I knew that after just 30 minutes of sitting down, the biomarkers for all risk factors in our bodies increase. So
I started taking walks outside and managed to keep up with around 8,000 to 10,000 steps daily, taking walks as a family during lockdown. That, along with doing Joe Wicks’s workouts with my daughter a few times a week helped. Now, I still walk daily and do my own at-home body weight workouts regularly.
How I eat
I love chocolate – when I was younger I worked as an anaesthetist and used to eat a Kitkat chunky everyday. But at 38 I contracted severe pneumonia. Now I eat according to how the food will benefit me, instead of quick fixes.
I don’t think the 47-yearold body responds well to instant sugar; it affects insulin levels, thyroid hormones and other bodily processes. Trying to keep blood sugar level is key for perimenopausal women like me for hormone balance.