‘I thought I was just meant to be a bit overweight and have a dad bod. But in 2019, I decided to make a change’

Until he was 50, Jason Smith was sedentary and on medication for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and depression. He started exercising for just 20 minutes a day and now, at 55, the personal trainer and mid-life fitness influencer is 15kg lighter and no longer on medication.

Leading a sedentary lifestyle has been linked to a higher risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and early death, according to the NHS. But a 2023 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that increasing the amount of exercise you do by just 75 minutes a week (or 11 minutes a day) can decrease some of these risks – and then you might get the bug to start training harder, like Smith.

__

During my 40s, I just let myself go. In my 20s, I was decently fit, playing sports and training at the gym. But health and fitness became a very low, almost non-existent priority in my life as I got older because I had family and work commitments.

I was drinking too much and eating for convenience – I used to call my diet the “something and chips” diet. I was a chief marketing officer at the time, and my job involved long hours and lots of travel, which left me unmotivated to even go for a walk. The only exercise I was getting was kicking a football around in the garden with my son, and that used to tire me out far too quickly.

New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.

I hadn’t really noticed much change in myself on a day-to-day basis, but I was feeling fatigued all the time and down, mentally and physically. I was 98kg – obese on the BMI scale – and I had a very high body fat ratio of 27 per cent. I was also pre-diabetic, and taking drugs for hypertension, high cholesterol, and depression.

I thought that maybe I was just meant to be a bit overweight, have a “dad bod“, and feel lethargic, stressed, and demotivated at this age. I blamed myself for having let myself get to this point and had accepted that this was going to be how I felt for the rest of my life. But in January 2019, I decided to make a change.

It’s really weird – the thing that triggered this thought was seeing a picture of Bilbo Baggins, from the film The Hobbit, on Instagram. I wanted to feel the same joy, energy, and sense of adventure as Bilbo looked like he was feeling. I decided to improve my life and try to feel better.

By his 40s, Smith says health and fitness became a very low, almost non-existent priority in life

So, I put on my old trainers I used to use for gardening and went for a run. Such was my state of fitness that I couldn’t do much actual running, but it turned into a rather nice walk. It was one of those crisp, sunny, cold days and I really enjoyed it. I actually felt like I was Bilbo Baggins, in the Shire with the sun shining, and I was so happy because I was doing something for myself for the first time in a long time.

Going out for that walk made me want to do more, because I hadn’t felt that good for a while.

The more physical activity I did, the better I felt

My walks became a regular occurrence and then turned into runs. By the end of February 2019, I had joined a gym and started lifting weights, and began taking swimming lessons once a week.

Exercise creates these feel-good hormones which spurred me on. At first, it was just 20 minutes a day, but I found that the more physical activity I did, the better I felt. The regularity helped me form a habit and enjoy the effects of what I was doing much quicker.

I felt amazing – I found it much easier to get out of bed, and I had the energy to make the most of the day and play with my son.

I was never really chasing physical or aesthetic changes, but when I first saw some veins in my forearm around April 2019, it gave me more motivation because it showed that what I was doing was working.

I had also changed my diet. The biggest thing I did was quit alcohol, which made a big difference mentally as well as physically. I also stopped eating so many chips and oven foods, and started eating more vegetables. I would combine pre-prepared packs of stir-fry vegetables with lean proteins like chicken, turkey, and tuna. I used a calorie and macronutrient-tracking app at first, until I had built the habit and knew what I should be eating.

My wife, Catherine, was very supportive. We both became much more conscious of what we were eating, and she came for walks with me. We got dogs, too, which made walks a lot more enjoyable!

At my annual GP check-in, my doctor was amazed to see that my blood pressure and cholesterol levels had dropped down into the normal range, and I had lost about 15kg and reversed my pre-diabetes. She said that I didn’t need to take my medications any more – I just needed to keep doing what I was doing.

I didn’t foresee myself becoming an influencer

Smith started with just 20 minutes of exercise a day, but found the more physical activity he did, the better he felt (Photo: Toby Phillips Photography)

By 2020, I had decided I wanted to make changes to my work life, too, by getting out of the corporate world. I thought I could help people around my age get fit like I had, because I understood the pressures of their stage of life. So, in late 2020, I took all the qualifications to become a fitness coach and personal trainer in Surrey, where I live.

About 18 months later, I realised that there was a gap on social media for people my age getting fit. I started posting under the “Fit in Midlife” brand on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook in March 2022, and it took off really quickly.

Most other fitness content on social media is by and for younger people, whereas I wanted to help people my age to motivate themselves and to know that they could have the capability, energy, and fun that I was feeling, too.

Even though I stand out as someone who has a six-pack at 55, I don’t want to base my posts on showing off. I want to show how people can practically make changes – like doing squats while waiting for the kettle to boil.

I want to encourage people to just start doing something, because it’s amazing what can happen as a result of consistency.

The lifestyle I was living would have resulted in a shorter life with a much lower quality of life. But now I will probably be capable of playing with the grandkids and going on cruises post-retirement.

As we get older, our metabolisms slow down, we have a higher risk of muscle wastage (sarcopenia), and we get more frail. But by addressing your fitness now, building a little muscle and achieving a healthy weight, you can really improve your health and reduce the likelihood of needing years of care later on in life. That independence and good feeling will continue all throughout the rest of your life – if you are prepared to invest a bit of time and effort now.