Suzi Grant personifies the art of growing old with purpose and a huge sense of fun. At 68 she is an Instagram star, a successful blogger and poster girl for healthy aging. A formerly hard-drinking, chain-smoking radio and TV journalist, Suzi traded her unhealthy habits for an alternative way of living, following the sudden death of her mother, at the age of 63. It was a wake-up call that saw Suzi reinvent herself, through education and lifestyle changes. She embarked on a successful, second career as a nutritionist and became a role model for older women. Suzi, based in Brighton in the UK, blogs at Alternative Ageing and is the author of several books, including Alternative Aging: The Natural Way to Hold Back the Years. In this LLAMA podcast interview with Peter Bowes, she explains the inspiration behind her new career; her passion for taking part in Instagram Lives and creating YouTube videos; how she believes her memory has improved through regular blogging, and the lifestyle secrets behind living each day with vigor and vitality. Suzi and Peter also share stories about their shared love of broadcasting, fasting, exercise and purposeful aging.

NOTES AND QUOTES

Connect with Suzi: Blog: Alternative Ageing, Instagram, Twitter, Book: Alternative Aging

In this interview we learn about:

• Suzy’s first career in British TV and radio.  Boozy lunches, jet-setting and interviewing A-list celebrities.
• The wake-up call. How the sudden death of Suzi’s mother set her on a new course towards health and longevity.
• How the hours and hours of re-education and nutritionist training paid off with a new career.
• Suzi’s core values and the rules she lives by to live life to its full.

“Most people my age are on up to five prescription drugs today. I am on none. And I really want to keep it that way, which is why I’ll carry on exercising and fasting.”

• Why Suzi believes eating nutritional foods is important for your overall happiness.
• How to find time for regular exercise, every day, even while on vacation.

“I’ve managed to work, and travel and sightsee…and still do my 10,000 steps a day. It’s just a matter of deciding that I will.”

• How Suzi’s passion for fashion and nutrition morphed into her second successful career.
• Why the fashion enthusiast is happy to pare down and simplify her clothes selection.

“I don’t want a wardrobe full of clothes I can’t choose in the morning. It’s actually very, very freeing living out of two suitcases and not having that much choice.”

• What makes Suzi excited to get up in the morning.
• Why Suzi believes dieting shouldn’t take over your life. Indulging in a favorite food or drink occasionally is good for you.

“If going out for a meal with your family and friends and having a glass or two of wine makes you happy… it isn’t going to do you any harm.”

• Why Suzi does intermittent fasting – and believes that it isn’t about weight loss
• Why the term anti-aging is negative, and why Suzi considers herself the “keeper of positive aging.”
• How clean and decluttered surroundings can be good for your physical health.
• Suzi’s health goals. She’d like to become a centenarian, on one condition.

“I’d love to get to 100, wouldn’t you? As long as I’m fit. I want quality of life.”