Elizabeth’s story: I think you have to be able to live and find the joy in life, but with moderation

A lot has changed in Elizabeth’s life in recent years, but the way she eats isn’t one of them.

In the book I used her story as an example of the habit of Going Mediterranean, by which I meant ‘eating well’. Elizabeth set out to improve her diet to reduce her blood pressure and succeeded by using the CSIRO’s online app.

As she explained, growing up on a farm meant she’d been used to big meals, and the app helped her to rethink portion sizes.

“I used that app for a long time,” she says, “but eventually I knew what it was going to tell me each week: moderation, portion sizes, eating protein at each meal, and so on.

“Initially it was valuable because it gave me structure, but after I while I knew what that looked like and I could manage it myself.”

Elizabeth is now 67. Since our initial conversation she’s lost her mum and her father-in-law, acquired two granddaughters, and moved house to a different part of the city just as covid entered our lives.

But through the ups and downs, the structure she learned from the app has stayed with her.

As she says, “On Instagram at the moment there’s something going around about the Mediterranean diet, and I realise it’s pretty much what I do.”

“I’ve basically kept the same things going. I think you have to be able to live and find the joy in life, but with moderation.

“And you can’t compare yourself to other people.”

She’s combined healthy eating with regular exercise that includes walking, weight training, and online Pilates. As a result, she’s made another health improvement in that she’s increased her bone density.

Her walking led her to create a women’s walking group.

When we spoke in 2016, she’d started training for a 35 km walk aptly called The Bloody Long Walk. It raises funds to support people with mitochondrial disease.

Then came another charity walk, this time 10kms on International Women’s Day 2018. She posted about it on Facebook, asking if anyone wanted to join her. Eight women put up their hands. For some, walking one kilometre was a challenge, much less ten.

“We did that 10km and I was going to leave it at that, but a few women asked if we could still meet up. So we ended up walking every Saturday and once a month I’d organise something longer. After the walks we’d have breakfast at a café,” Elizabeth says.

“Sometimes we’ve had as many as 14 women, and they range in age from early 40s to mid-70s.

“At the end of each year we’d have a dinner and they were always keen to do it again next year.

“The great part about walking is that you can talk at the same time. A couple of the women have lost their partners; others have had issues with their children.

“This is a safe space, where they can open up about what’s happening in their lives.”

Another attraction of Elizabeth’s walks is that they take the participants to places they’ve never been to before. A favourite walk takes in public art works around the Brisbane CBD.

“When we moved, I said I wouldn’t keep it up,” she says, “but we had breakfast the other day after a break of six or seven months, and eight women came. They all want to do the public art walk again.

“So we’ll do one a month in the cooler part of the year.”

As well as overseeing the walking group, Elizabeth has completed some serious walks since our first conversation.

These include a tough seven hours in the Blue Mountains that started and ended in snow, parts of the overland track in Tasmania, the Milford Track in New Zealand, and a three-day walk in the Gold Coast hinterland carrying tents.

The photo was taken after she’d completed a rocky circuit on top of Table Mountain in Cape Town earlier this year.

All were done with her husband and at least one of their three adventurous sons, all of whom are avid walkers.

Reflecting on those efforts, she says she’s had to confront what she can and can’t do.

“I think that link between the body and the mind is interesting as we get older,” she says.

“You can do challenging physical things, but you have to prepare well. At the same time, you have to know when to say no, that’s too much, and I have nothing to prove.

“But sometimes there’s that little voice asking whether I’m being a bit lazy. So getting the balance right isn’t always easy. When that happens, I need to ask the people closest to me for advice.”

Photo Source: Elizabeth