Julia Bradbury says she's she's currently in "good shape" as she remains in remission from her breast cancer battle and that while there's "no sign of disease," she is "very proactive" when it comes to her health.
The TV presenter, 53, revealed in 2021 that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and later underwent a mastectomy during which her breast plus two lymph glands were removed before reconstruction took place.
Speaking to The Standard in association with Virgin Media O2's National Databank, the former Countryfile star said: "I’m in good shape as they say. No sign of disease but I’m very proactive, I’m getting my bloods taken regularly and I’m doing everything I can to reduce my risk of reoccurrence.
"I really take the exercise and my lifestyle choices very, very seriously now, as in they are I think essential to me moving forward to maintaining the healthiest life that I can and that means eating well, eating good nutritious food and eating at the right time," Bradbury, who recently the book Walk Yourself Happy, explained.
"I'm exercising to a proper routine, making sure I’m doing enough resistance training for my age, getting enough calories for my age and making sure that every day I’m spending time on my mental health, whether that’s meditating, breath work, or mindful walking.
"These things are every day parts of my life now and have become good habits that I want to maintain for the rest of my life.
"Self-care isn’t selfish," the mum-of-three added. "I think it’s very easy to get caught up in the business of life and actually, there isn’t anybody who doesn’t need time for mental health, good nourishment and exercise."
The Dublin-born personality is also being more protective with what she gives her time and energy over to. One cause that remains close to her heart however is helping raise awareness of the ever increasing problem of homelessness.
She experienced the realities of being out on the street for a week first-hand when taking part in social experiment Famous, Rich and Homeless as part of Sport Relief 2016.
Since then, she has been vocal and unwavering in her support to shine a light on this very real and important issue that is getting worse.
Bradbury has now teamed up with Virgin Media O2 and the UK’s leading digital inclusion charity, Good Things Foundation to roll out the National Databank to all O2-owned stores and two major homelessness charities – Crisis and Driving for Change.
It's like a foodbank for data, providing free O2 mobile data, texts and calls. Virgin Media O2 has committed more than 61 million GB of O2 data to the initiative by the end of 2025.
From December 7, more than 240 O2 stores across the UK will start to become National Databank Digital Inclusion Hubs, providing free O2 data to anyone experiencing data poverty - regardless of their mobile provider.
This follows a successful pilot of the National Databank in 10 O2 stores last Christmas.
Speaking about the importance of the campaign, she said: "We often hear the statistics that we’re all just two or three paychecks away from being homeless.
"Being able to consistently stay in touch with your family when you’re in such a critical position is really, really vital. Not to mention what do you do about accessing essential services like doctors appointments, work appointments, essential services where you can try and get yourself registered into a hostel, mental health services – all of these things can not be done if you don’t have consistent data.
"It has become an essential part of our lives and this is how we communicate in the modern world so just having a phone is as useful as having a brick in your pocket if you haven’t got the data."
