How to Feel Young Forever When You Reach 50
I’m in my mid 50s, but am repeatedly told I look 40. More importantly, I feel 35. Through discipline and willpower, I have the same body as I had in my early 20s. I have a supermodel partner half my age and two children under 3 years old. I’m choosing to live, not evaporate, in the second half of my life.
I’ve decided not to get old
Only now, as I see my peer group fester in a decaying mix of regular hospital visits and medicine, do I appreciate my self work. I’ve actually been barred from my doctors surgery for never using it. I’ve visited A&E once in 45 years — a sardine tin sliced my thumb. I was in and out in 15 minutes.
Yes, I’m getting wrinkles, no I won’t do Botox. Yes, I’m getting a little grey, no I won’t dye my hair. Both add to my character and life experience. That’s about it in the getting old stakes. The rest is all up-to me.
An old school friend who is 30kgs overweight, same job for 21 years and unhappily married to a partner he knows cheats on him, accused me of having a late midlife crisis. I paused before painting the obvious picture of comparisons in our lives. I know where I’d rather be.
Nothing in life is worth sacrificing your health for
I used to get up at 5am, run to my car in the bitter cold with a load of boxes and equipment for my day, drive for an hour in deadlocked traffic, unpack deliveries for my business, serve around 80 people in an hour, every hour, forget to eat, have six coffees with double espressos and return home to eat a tub of ice cream and shortbread.
I developed a hacking cough, constantly red, tired eyes and a feeling of emptiness in my mind. I knew something wasn’t right. Something had to give.
My routine these days is a good one, gym everyday before 11:00am on an empty stomach. Lemon juice water on rising and two strong coffees see me through until lunchtime. My version of intermittent fasting combined with chemical free food allows me a six pack, bright eyes and great skin.
Trust me, it could have gone completely the other way. My business was driving me into an early grave. And my body type (mesomorph/endomorph) could easily have seen me pile on fat. All the men in my family are as round as they are tall.
Eat clean food
I drink good red wine once in a while and I occasionally eat an organic burger but 97% of what I eat is as natural as the current food producers will allow.
The relationship between the food and drink we consume and our physical and mental health is clear. This is the one thing, and the most important of all, I’ve been in control of for most of my life. I have never compromised on the quality of my food.
I can’t emphasise enough the need to eat simple and nutritious food. You simply need to avoid all food that comes in boxes or is a pre-packed meal. Wash your vegetables thoroughly, eat a variety of wholemeal grains and eliminate all non organic meat and poultry. You need to look at food as energy. The simpler the food and the less chemicals it has running through it, the better.
Additionally, reduce portion size to the size of two cupped hands. Chew your food thoroughly. This will help with digestion. Eat your last meal before 18:00. This will allow your body to completely digest before sleep time and will give your digestive system a break of 14 hours or more to reset and cleanse itself.
Visualise your life and create it
It all started when I was 15. As 1980 ticked over, I stood in a friends garage reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s weight training book. It was a time when The Incredible Hulk was peak viewing on a Saturday night. Mainstream muscles were the new must have for men.
A paragraph in the book talked about imagining how you want to look, visualising the new you. Fast forward 35 years and the philosophy of letting the universe know your intention and creating a powerful and successful way of life is the chosen path for many and has proven highly effective for me.
I remember drawing a self portrait of my future perfect body, it was a toned down and smaller version of my musclebound superhero’s body. It seemed a long way off. I kept the small pencil drawing in a copy of the Hobbit on my bookshelf.
Every week, I compared the drawing to my reflection in the mirror. And thanks to great guidance at the spit and sawdust gym I joined at 17, a self imposed military routine and the maximum amount of hormones available to a young man, the reflection become a reality.
It took 4 years. I even entered an U21 natural body building show, placing 8th out of 39 competitors, which I was proud of at the time.
No one is invincible
I shifted through the decades, a normal and at times troubled life. By the age of 32, I’d experienced being homeless, penniless, rich, parentless, global travel, the red carpet in Cannes, a massive house in the country with acres to enjoy and my spiritual self.
If you add 2 children, a severe bout of depression, TV appearances and time in Hollywood, life was colourful. The decades rushed by. Self-discipline never wavered.
That is until recently. I had a massive burnout after the collapse of a life long business project, which I spoke of earlier. During this time (52 -54 years of age) I put my wellness routine low on my list of priorities, in fact it disappeared completely. I thought I was invincible. I was wrong. It took me a year to recover.
Workout with free weights
Working out with weights will improve bone density, physical strength, stimulate growth hormone release and help maintain good posture too. How many old people stoop and have a shuffle going on? Too many is the answer.
Start small, think big. Get a trainer and make a routine. It is never too late to start, however the sooner the better. Once you can move yourself and your bodyweight around, you can evolve into more bodyweight style routines. Bodyweight routines are less rigid in their movement and less equipment is needed. Either way, get on with it.
Exercise will never let you down. Throughout life’s ups and downs, you always have yourself to answer to. For example, it became obvious in my early 20’s that a run along the beachfront in the wind and rain at 1.00am sorted all my problems out. Exercise never let me down, ever, it has been the constant positive in my life journey.
Let others inspire you
Why would I not run a 10k under 45 minutes? Why would I not squat, pull and push my 80kg body weight? Why would I not stretch and meditate every day? I’d be a fool not to and so would you.
Recently, I saw the incredible Joanna Quass of 95 years complete a parallel bar routine. The moment she holds her full body weight and balances in the air is so inspiring. Then there’s the world record holder for a plank, 8 hours 15 minutes and 15 seconds held by George Hood who is 62 years old and equally inspiring. I could go on. In 2015, 92 year old Harriet Thompson completed the San Diego marathon in a sprightly 7hours 24 minutes and 36 seconds.
You are what you think you are
I remember being 37 and out with old school friends. We went to our old favourite bar. Throughout our late teens we had frequented it every weekend. It was split into four, as you got older you moved into to a different section.
Our section was now The Foghorn Bar. It was rammed with older (40 +), overweight, pale-faced, desperate people, all attempting to grab onto their youth and whoever would have them that night. And all failing miserably.
I hated it. So, I made my excuses and left my friends for an hour or so. I found the only 5* hotel bar in town and ordered the only glass of Bordeaux for miles around. The crowd was younger, better dressed and less desperate. One hour became two and new acquaintances were formed.
I called my friends to join me. They sheepishly sat at the table I’d secured on the busy night. A friend of 25 years leaned over and said, “we are invisible to this lot.”
I replied, “Only if you think you are.”
Meditate everyday
Pound for pound, meditation is the best use of your time while you are awake. Hook into basic breath awareness and breath observation practice. Meditation will allow you to process your thoughts, lower stress levels and help you connect with your inner self.
It has saved me from what would have been a lifetime of anxiety, overthinking and insomnia.
Cherish your sleep
Nothing good is done when you’re exhausted. Sleep can make or break your whole existence. 26 to 65 year olds need to get 7–9 hours sleep a night. This amount of sleep has been proven to improve concentration and lower stress levels.
Less sleep denies the hippocampus in the centre of the brain the ability to take on new information. You will literally be overloaded mentally and on a downward mental and energetic spiral. So, create a bedtime routine. This is essential for a successful night’s sleep.
A paper published in 2015 in the Sleep Health Journal tells us,
“It has been demonstrated unequivocally that the duration, timing, and quality of sleep critically affect physical health, mental health, performance, and safety.”
These five things will help you get the quality and duration of sleep you need:
1. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
2. Make sure your room temperature is 17–18 degrees and ventilated
3. No tech or screen time for at least one before bed
4. Do a deep breathing exercise before bed
5. Exercise every day, even if it’s just a brisk walk
Be ready to make a change
I remember my 40th birthday, I had a beautiful detached house just outside London. It had a white gravel driveway, automatic gates, two kids, a dog and an orchard, and an increasingly unhappy relationship.
My overriding thought was “is that it?”
I wasn’t prepared to let my next 40–60 years be unhappy or without purpose. So instead, I made a choice. I changed my situation. It was the most challenging, but ultimately the most rewarding decision I have ever made.
Instead of being unhappy, I have zipped through the years. A foundation of living the moment, eating chemical free food, working out and meditation have apparently kept me looking 40. Just last year, a guy I was interviewing thought I was 34, regardless of his motive, I’ll take it.
Laugh everyday
Life is literally too short. Laughter has been proven to improve health dramatically. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body.
Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress.
All old people say the same thing
I work intimately with people in their 60s, 70s and 80s and they ALL say the same thing, “they feel young in their head but their body lets them down.” They say, “they wish they’d looked after themselves better and sooner in life.” So, although there is never a bad time to make changes, don’t leave it too late.
The fact is, you no longer have to wither into retirement once you get past 50. You don’t need to do anything of the sort. You actually don’t need to retire. That model for life is beyond dated and dare I say it, dead.
The only reason you will become old is because you are unable to do the most basic physical tasks to get through life. This in turn, will impact on your mental and emotional health. Before you know it, you’ll be jumping on the inevitable fast train to illness, disease and death.
Keeping healthy and young is down to your daily routine and choices.
No one has the right to live to be 100 or beyond
Nobody knows when their final breath will be taken. However, money gives you relative freedom, and good health and a positive attitude will give you so much more.
This year I’ve known two friends in their early 40s to pass away. With that in mind, I’m glad I stopped counting the years. I’m getting on with being the best version of myself. Sun comes up, sun goes down. What you do with the time in-between is entirely up to you.
Takeaway
Age is and will always be a number, so if you want to stop feeling old, it’s all down to you. Never before has there been as many resources available to become fitter and stronger, physically and mentally. Don’t be afraid of change and from experience, there is never a bad time to start.
Finally, lets be clear. I don’t fear death, quite the opposite. I fear not living life to the full and not doing all I can to be happy and healthy. So, in a nutshell, get onboard with changing your life now. Life is short. You don’t want to become the same as my clients who say, “they wish they’d looked after themselves better and sooner in life.”
Make the changes now. Workout with weights, meditate, eat clean food, laugh everyday and focus on getting excellent quality sleep. It’s never too late to start, but the earlier you begin, the better and longer your life will be. And remember you too could look 35 (I’m gonna run with that one).
Photography by Nojan Namdar on Unsplash