Name: Peter Kelsey | Age: 52
Tell us a little about yourself:
I am 52, a Financial Adviser, married with two teenage daughters. I enjoy most sports but over the years I have competed in ski racing, karting and then later in triathlon & cycling, with overseas cycling events as my main fitness goal now.
Describe your health and beauty philosophy?
Eat healthily most of the time, exercise regularly and enter events to provide a ‘training goal’. Everyone works more effectively to a deadline!
Have you made any big changes to yourself to help you feel good?
Laser eye surgery in January 2017, should have done it years ago as I hate wearing glasses for sport.
Do you find any part of maturing tough?
No.
Is there anything you wish you had done or not done in the past, that impacts how you feel today?
I wish I had not got badly injured in 2010. The resulting hamstring avulsion (re-attachment) surgery and post-op complications meant we missed out on family ski trips at a crucial age for the girls, one of whom is not really interested in skiing, and might have been had we done more with her friends & their families when she was younger.
Is there any area of your beauty and well-being you would like to improve?
I would prefer to have full flowing locks of hair, but having lost my hair over 20 years ago I am not bothered enough to do anything about it.
Who is your pro ageing icon?
Gary Player. Now aged 81 but still doing 1,300 sit ups a day and has always practiced more and worked harder than others in his peer group. As you might expect his mind is as sharp as a razor and he is fit as a flea.
How do you feel about your age now vs. your youth?
Fine, still plenty of things on a long ‘bucket list’ that I intend to tick off.
What’s your favourite beauty product on your bathroom shelf?
Molton Brown soaps – black pepper for me (or my Wife’s Molton Brown pink pepper pod when she is not looking!)
What lifestyle habits are most important to you?
Regular exercise and getting to sleep by 10.30 to get 7.5-8 hours a night.
What are the biggest health/beauty routines you follow?
Dental floss everynight, rigorous teeth cleaning, 6 monthly dental hygienist visits & stealing my wife’s Clarins face cream in the evening.
What’s the best piece of ageing well advice you’ve heard/you follow?
Exercise regularly and train for a reason to get better results.
What’s your must-have product/surgery/treatment/activity?
Wahl hair clippers – I now trim my own hair (what is left of it) weekly on a ‘zero’ setting.
What is your approach to diet and exercise?
Total immersion. Eat healthily, don’t drink excessively, & cut down on (or cut out) carbs in the evening, eating more veg & protein instead. Also no ’low fat’ products – where you see ‘low fat’ you should read: chemical sh*tstorm!
What advice would you give your younger self?
Learn important life skills & get professional tuition if needed. Even in later life, these things can be mastered with patience and tuition, so never quit! For example: confident front crawl, riding a bike, skiing, etc. They will help you enjoy an active life for many years and all the social fun & peer group acceptance that goes with it. You get one body, but if you look after it, you will be rewarded with the ability to do anything you want well into later life.
The alternative?
Don’t. Instead, you can ‘enjoy’ being sat in baggy clothes on your sun lounger watching your healthy friends and relatives have fun with their children, wishing you had a bit more self-control, and beating yourself up about what a shambles you are.
What a tragedy that would be.
Where’s your go-to place to relax?
My bike
What’s your best tip for ageing well?
Exercise regularly.
