Author Allen Carr tells Patricia Weston about feeling incredibly fit and healthy for a 70-year-old by playing lawn bowls and swimming
Do you exercise?
Yes. I'm a great believer in regular exercise. Lawn bowls is my main active hobby and I play about four times a week. If time permits, I spend a half an hour each morning doing simple exercises like touching my toes, knee-bends, press-ups and sit-ups followed by 80 lengths in the pool. It sounds impressive but a length of the pool is only 10 yards and I don't use weights or equipment with the exercises.
Would you consider yourself fit?
For a 70-year-old, I feel incredibly fit and healthy.
Do you worry about your appearance?
I stopped worrying about my appearance during my late teens when it dawned on me that character and personality are far more important.
Is there anything about your body you'd like to change?
Oh yes! I'd like my body to be 50 years younger, six inches taller and I'd like to be more handsome, or less ugly, with wider shoulders and I'd like to contain a brain that functions better than the present one.
Would you ever consider plastic surgery?
No way would I ever consider plastic surgery to achieve any of these changes. There are so many examples of so-called celebrities who cannot appreciate the gifts, the beauty and the intelligence that Mother Nature has endowed them with.
I've no doubt that their time would be better spent improving their minds rather than fretting about what they perceive to be their physical inadequacies.
Do you eat a balanced diet?
I believe the expression "balanced diet" to be completely meaningless. Koala bears eat only eucalyptus leaves; anything else would be poison to them!
What would you eat in a typical day?
After I discovered the Easy Way to Stop Smoking, I applied my easy way principles to my own weight problems. I effortlessly lost two stone in six months without using willpower or feeling hungry and actually enjoyed the process.
For breakfast I eat fresh fruit and only fresh fruit. For the rest of the day I eat exactly what I want to, whenever I want to! I've published the principles in The Easyweigh to Lose Weight.
What's your attitude towards exercise?
I exercise to increase the pleasure of life. It gets the blood circulating, sets me up for the day and gives me a holier-than-thou feeling. It's essential to the quality of life and I love it!
Patricia Weston says:
Lawn bowls has long been perceived as an activity for the elderly.
It's a game played on a large manicured lawn where players roll wooden balls with the aim of getting them as close to the target ball as possible.
It's a moderate intensity activity and older adults can gain huge health benefits from daily moderate exercise.
Keeping fit as you get older helps reduce the risk of injury and bone fractures and increases your ability to perform daily tasks.
It also makes you more agile and independent and provides a sense of wellbeing.
Team activities are also a great way to get out, socialise and meet people.
Patricia Weston is an NCEHS fitness instructor, personal trainer and Pilates teacher.
pweston@eircom.net
Consult a physician or qualified healthcare provider before embarking on any exercise regime and stop exercising if you feel nauseous or dizzy.