A couple of weeks ago my passion for fitness wobbled. 

My best friend told me that she had cancer. We had met 38 years ago on our first day of nurse training. She had made a comment that suggested my Essex accent conflicted with my rather snooty appearance. Despite this we became good friends. I was her bridesmaid and she would have been mine except being she was reluctant to be wrapped in pink satin so close to her due date.

Hearing that a close friend or relative has a life threatening illness is always shocking but this news brought with   it a feeling of how unfair life can be.  My friend has never smoked, never taken drugs, eats healthily and loves exercise.  Her only vice, health wise, is a few drinks per week.

I wobbled.

I didn’t write my blog that weekend. It didn’t seem right to do so plus I spent most of the weekend close to tears. I questioned my commitment to what I was doing. If someone as healthy as my friend can end up with cancer what was the point.

Of course what I was feeling was understandable but irrational.

Eating well and exercising is never going to offer a 100% guarantee that you won’t become unwell but the evidence is unequivocal that it can lower the chances of developing a range of chronic illnesses such as type II diabetes, stroke, heart disease and some cancers. It also reduces the incidence of depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s. According to Dr Nick Cavill, a health promotion consultant,“if exercise were a pill, it would be one the most cost-effective drugs ever invented”.

Exercise for the older adult is also important in maintaining functionality. It enables us to keep working and then to enjoy our retirement (if this Government allows it).

I want to be able to run around with my grandchildren (but not for a few years! Charlotte and Alex please note), travel and grow old disgracefully.

For my friend  being healthy has given her an edge. I know it sounds contradictory but for my friend this may be lifesaving. She has been told by the doctors that her good health makes her far better prepared and more resilient for the arduous journey she has in front of her.  And while I may have wobbled she certainly didn’t. ‘If it hadn’t been for exercise I may not have had the symptoms as walking and cycling alerted me to the fact that I was short of breath and getting pain which wasn’t apparent when at rest’.

Wobble over.