“After my very first workout with a physical trainer at the gym, I threw away my cigarettes because 20 years of smoking made a huge impact on how I could breathe. This was also the time when I gave up drinking every Saturday. By the way, I have not smoked since then and I don’t drink alcohol more than maybe once every 6 months.

It was really hard to do exercises with a trainer, even though I didn’t do a lot. But just 90 minutes of physical activity would make me completely sweat through my clothes and I could barely move. When I was young, I loved skiing and martial arts, but I had given these things up for 20 years.