Getting old might fill some people with dread. But with no magic fountain of youth to drink from, Tonia Buxton has made it her mission to hold back the signs of ageing - and looks and feels great in middle age.
The TV chef and nutritionist became a pro-ageing advisor when she sought to look for balance in her life as she got older - wanting to eat healthily and look after her body while also allowing herself to let go and indulge from time to time.
The mum of four says she wanted to stay vibrant and relevant, and made it her prerogative to maintain her youthful looks and sprightly energy.
The 55-year-old has mastered some age-defying secrets over the past few years, which she has incorporated into her daily routine - from her 'golden coffee' to cold showers.
She wants to invigorate others in their forties and fifties to make small changes in their lives and stands by the fact that it is never too late.
Tonia currently follows what she likes to call an 80/20 lifestyle, which is about "nurturing your body then blowing out."
"The whole point of life, especially after lockdown, is about finding joy - my whole life is dedicated to finding joy," she told the Mirror.
"It's finding that balance - I want to look nice, feel good, I don’t want aches and pains. I want to be full of energy, be youthful.
"I want to be vibrant and relevant, and a lot of women, especially as they get older, don't feel relevant anymore.
"To look after yourself, it's not massive things, not huge things you have to do to get great results. There are little techniques and then you can feel good about yourself."
Tonia started as a nutritionist and then became a TV chef with her award-winning show - My Cypriot Kitchen - which draws on her heritage and love of Mediterranean cuisine.
She starts each morning with 10 minutes of affirmation when she wakes up - reflecting on what she wants to achieve that day and what she is grateful for.
While meditation isn't for her, she finds this habit key to starting her day positively, as she admits she can often wake up in a foul mood.
"It can be hard when you have young children but I spend 10 minutes looking at the sun, getting my circadian rhythm in practice and thinking about what I'm happy with," she continued.
"The main thing about anti-ageing is about your mind. How we think affects us so dramatically.
"If your first thought is 'you're old ugly fat' - that is how you're telling it to behave.
"A trick I learnt from my psychologist friend told me to force a smile when you wake up. Try it for about half an hour. Subconsciously, your brain thinks this woman must be happy."
Moving to the bathroom, she will then carry out as many squats as she can whilst brushing her teeth.
"The most ageing thing you can have is an old lady bum," she added, mortified.
Next up, she'll dive into a cold shower and swears by its 'immense' benefits.
While the thought of stepping under freezing cold water won't appeal to most, Tonia suggests gradually changing the temperature from warm to cold or trying 20 seconds at a time.
To help her fall in love with cold showers, she bought herself some speakers and started dancing for the duration of a song in the shower.
She now has a five-minute cold shower each day, and even has an ice bath in her garden.
"Five-minute cold showers are my thing," Tonia said.
"I don't have hot showers anymore unless washing hair. Cold water therapy is good for your body, circulation, for your mind. It's the way to go.
"It is a form of hormesis - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
"It is so good for your skin, it keeps things elastic.
"Our bodies would have dealt with extreme temperatures before we had running hot water and heating. It keeps it youthful to keep dealing with that.
"On a mental level, if you put your body into an anxious space, it puts your mind into anxious space, and therefore enables it to deal with mental anxiety later on, it really helps with depression."
It is an issue close to home as her husband Paul, 58, has battled with depression. It was because of his research into looking for ways to overcome his bouts of low mood that Tonia came to learn about the benefits of cold therapy.
"You really see what it is like when you live with someone with it [depression]," Tonia admitted, adding: "Healthy living is definitely a family thing and we live by example."
If Tonia has time before work, she does a training session at home, using YouTube.
She will either do yoga or weight training - which she knows all about having competed as a professional bodybuilder in her late twenties and becoming Miss South East Britain in 1997.
The expert encourages other more mature men and women to join an exercise class - which will help with motivation and direction.
"The most important thing to think about is muscle. Your muscles are metabolic, they keep you moving and burn fat," she explained.
"Once you hit 60, it's much more important to keep muscles than to be slim.
"But on top of that, most importantly, you've got to eat protein and you don't metabolise protein in the same way.
"A 25-year-old eating a steak will absorb 80 per cent more than I do."
Moving onto food for the day, the chef is no stranger in the kitchen and will cook up delicious Mediterranean recipes for her and her family.
But the most important ingredient and an essential for the cupboards are spices, Tonia says, who even has a book about them - The Secret of Spice.
"I love spices. It's all about how you can add spice to your food - there are no calories, they add flavour, and add huge amounts of micronutrients," she advised.
Listing some of her favourites, she says cinnamon is great to add to something sweet as it regulates natural blood sugar levels.
Meanwhile, rosemary is the best spice for your brain, the pro says, which has long been linked to memory, with proven studies.
"It helps prevent a buildup of a protein called beta-amyloid, which forms sticky plaques on the brain and can cause brain cells to die, which causes Alzheimer's," she added.
For an anxious tummy, Tonia recommends adding mint to your diet while she claims sumac can assist with weight loss as it helps prevent the body from absorbing fat.
"Spices have a massive effect and all spices have holistic benefits, which are incredible," Tonia stated.
"Fresh spices are not as dense in micronutrients but make sure your dried spices are still fresh by checking the expiry dates."
A must-have for Tonia in promoting anti-ageing involves adding spice to her coffee, creating her special 'golden coffee'.
She adds one teaspoon of turmeric along with a pinch of pepper, and makes sure to use full-fat milk.
"The goddess, rockstar spice is turmeric - it is anti-inflammatory - all roots of ageing and disease are inflammation," she said.
"It's so easy to chuck it into soups and stews.
"In a latte, it absorbs better in the presence of piperine, so I add black pepper, and in the presence of fat, which it gets from the milk.
"In order to be absorbed it needs to be heated."
Another of her superfoods is the pricey organic high-phenolic extra virgin olive oil - which she will consume straight from a spoon.
"It works on the gut biome and ageing comes from the gut," Tonia continued.
"I used to have awful psoriasis and it just went.
"Good oil is also good for the hair.
"But everyone should take a vitamin D supplement, which will affect your hair greatly.
"If you can afford it, bespoke supplements are always a good idea."
When Tonia tells people her age, they're left in disbelief.
It's a confidence boost for the presenter, who can be told she looks like Love Island star Antigoni Buxton's sister rather than her mum.
But despite what people might think, she hasn't had cosmetic surgery.
"I love telling people my age," Tonia added. "The comments I usually get are 'wow you don't look your age.'
"I'm trying out some unusual facials at the moment but I've never been under the knife, no surgery. I'm too scared to do that and fillers aren't for me.
"You only dread telling people your age and getting older if you've allowed yourself to fall into old age."
But Tonia hasn't always been this comfortable with her body image, and was conscious of her figure in her teens and early twenties.
She grew up thinking she had to be skinny and only started showing off her legs when she reached 40, with the encouragement of Paul and her children.
"I'm so annoyed with my younger self," she admitted.
"I grew up in the 80s - long thin legs - that was the figure.
"I was not that. I was a Greek girl with a big a*se and thighs.
"I tried to cover them up, I tried to lose weight, and I look back now like 'you silly thing'.
"It took me until my mid-thirties to accept myself.
"And one of the things about getting older, you do not give a s**t anymore. I'm lucky I can do the things I do. I don't care anymore."
The pro-ageing advisor recently shared her words of wisdom at the Anything Is Possible personal development event in Manchester on March 25, founded by entrepreneur Holly Moore.
She went on stage alongside TV presenter Andrea McLean, her husband Nick Feeney, wellness superstar Roxie Nafousi, Game of Thrones actress Laura Pradelska, comedian Fats Timbo, Hello! Magazine Editor Rosie Nixon.
One of the takeaways she learned from the "empowering" day echoes her mantra for those looking to live younger.
"At the event, someone spoke about the proverb of 'the best time to plant a tree for its benefits' - one is 10 years ago and one is right now," Tonia recalled.
"It's never too late to start.
"You will always see benefits if you change your mindset and how you live and preventative action is always better than the cure.
"You could be getting old and not be looking great but you can reverse it."
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