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Summary
On episode 588 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Gillian Lockitch, a retired medical specialist, professor, and author of Growing Older, Living Younger: The Science of Aging Gracefully and the Art of Retiring Comfortably.
Gillian explains her “corporate factory” analogy for epigenetics, why she believes we do not have to age the way our parents and grandparents did, and how a catastrophic back injury and a family history of heart disease and skin cancer pushed her to rebuild her health well into her 60s.
She and Allan cover nutrition, sleep, a ketogenic lifestyle, sun protection, and the mindset she used to recover from major spinal surgery and get back on the dance floor.
Links
- https://gillianlockitch.com
Key Takeaways
- Genes work like dimmer switches, not on-off switches. Gillian describes epigenetics as a spectrum rather than binary, meaning your daily choices (exercise, food, sleep, stress, and social connection) shift how your genes express themselves.
- Weight gain can happen gradually without you noticing. Gillian was conscious about diet and exercise, but her weight still crept up over years until a period of forced inactivity after a spinal injury pushed her 40 pounds over her ideal weight.
- A health crisis can become the turning point. After emergency spinal surgery, Gillian’s determination to go on a ballroom dance cruise 10 months later became the goal that pulled her out of depression and inactivity.
- Cutting carbs solved problems she didn’t expect. Moving to a low carb, eventually ketogenic, way of eating removed her brain fog and the mid-morning hunger and irritability she used to blame on just being busy.
- Activity, not rest, is what heals. A physiotherapist had Gillian walking the day after 7-hour spinal surgery, and she credits gradually increasing short walks, plus a walking pole for support, with getting her back to dancing.
- Family history shaped her prevention choices. Watching her mother die of a heart attack and survive a melanoma pushed Gillian to focus on nutrition, weight, activity, and sun protection rather than waiting for a diagnosis.
- It is never too late to start. Gillian made her major changes well into her 60s, and Allan pushes back on the idea that women over 50 or people already retired can’t still lose weight and get fit.
- Gillian’s 3 strategies to get and stay well: know your genetic risks and what you can actually change, get sleep and nutrition and activity right for the body, and connect to something larger through service, challenge, and community.
“Instead of going on a steady downhill to old age, we actually keep healthy, active, vibrant, right until the end, and then just go clunk.”
Gillian Lockitch
Another Episode You May Enjoy
Episode 680 – Look younger, live longer with Dr. Michael Aziz
Episode Notes
Podcast: 40+ Fitness
Episode: 588
Published: 2023-05-02
Host: Allan Misner (aka Coach Allan), author of The Wellness Roadmap
Guest(s): Gillian Lockitch, our co-host, Coach Rachel, Growing Older
Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube (audio only)