Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

For me leading a continued healthy, active and energetic lifestyle has been a major priority. It's been my whole life, a habit and it’s still my passion. Plus the fact I know the benefits exercising has on my body and mind. It makes feel ‘alive’ and stimulated. So my diet is, like it’s always been, balanced and healthy (never eaten chips and no butter for me thanks!)  And I’ve continued to exercise and although my running days are over now I get my adrenalin rush in other ways and from different activities. In my early 40’s I took up cycling and regularly joined in 100 mile sportives. 

Now I’m well into my 50’s and my days are filled with stretching exercises to maintain that suppleness, cycling, walking and gym work – It would be easy to give up, stop altogether and ‘put the slippers on’ and with that put the weight on but in my world  doing nothing is simply not an option!

I’ll will always search for ways to remain active and that’s why I’m supporting the Age UK Norwich Age Healthy Campaign because it encourages people of my age and older to engage in physical exercise with a goal of maintaining good physical and mental health and wellbeing.

The Age UK Norwich ActiveAge 50 Challenge is an excellent self-motivating platform which will help increase your hours of weekly exercise. The challenge doesn’t need to be excessive or too difficult. Being more active and more health conscious is the message here. 

Having said that, my ActiveAge 50 Challenge is called the “500 in 5 Press-Up challenge” I’ll attempt to complete 500 press up’s each day for 5 days! I tough task but a great goal to go for. Press up’s is all about recovery so I’ll be sure not to overdo the sets. Keeping clear of quick muscle fatigue is important so my aim is to conquer 17 sets of 30 press-up’s each day. 

Did you know that one in four people in the UK aged 55-64 are physically inactive, meaning they do less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week? This can lead to all sorts of long-term health problems and even life-threatening conditions.

Our Age Healthy campaign is aimed at helping those over 50 be healthy and active - both physically and mentally – and raise awareness of how this helps us to age better. As we age, we can be become less active, and this can lead to an increased risk of many diseases and conditions that affect us in later life such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, stroke and some types of cancer, as well as mental health problems.

But being physically active physically active and socially connected can help to prevent these problems, and can extend the number of years we spend living in good health - maximising our enjoyment of later life with friends and loved ones.

Small Changes. Big Difference.

We understand that it can be difficult to get yourself moving again and out with others. Sometimes it can be intimidating and scary – especially if you’ve been inactive and away from people for a while.

The key is to start small and to find something that works for you – and we’re here to help.

• We can support people out of poverty and through conditions that affect their health and their future
• We offer organised groups and activities to help people stay active and healthy
• We are connecting older people in a city who experience loneliness and isolation
• We are giving those living with dementia help to live full and active lives
• We are creating awareness and opportunities for those wanting to improve their health and wellbeing

Find out more about what our Age Healthy Campaign is all about and visit our campaign website 

www.agehealthynorwich.org.uk