“It was during a routine check-up that I heard the nurse call out that my height was five eight and a half and I said that she had got that wrong, I’m five ten and a half and could she check it again. Of course she was right and I had shrunk a couple of inches, and that was the first indication that I had osteopenia.”
An iconic figure from the 80s known for her popular exercise routines on BBC’s Breakfast Time, Diana Moran, otherwise known to many as the Green Goddess, is coming to the Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival.
The fitness guru is now in her 80th year, having celebrated her birthday in June, but shows no signs of stopping her campaign to help people stay active and mobile, whatever their age. She was due to appear at the Literary Festival last year talking about the book she co-wrote called Sod Sitting, Get Moving, but unfortunately couldn’t make it. This time she is speaking about Beating Osteoporosis, published in association with the Royal Osteoporosis Society of which she has been an ambassador for several years.
“When I was in my early 50s I took a bit of a tumble whilst ice-skating and landed heavily on my wrist resulting in a Colles’ fracture – a type of break common in people with osteoporosis, a condition that weakens bones, making them fragile and more likely to break,” she tells me. “However at the time I had no idea this was typical of an osteoporotic fracture.” It wasn’t until 2013 that she was diagnosed with osteopenia, the term applied to those whose bone density is slightly below the average.
“It was during a routine check-up that I heard the nurse call out that my height was five eight and a half and I said that she had got that wrong, I’m five ten and a half and could she check it again. Of course she was right and I had shrunk a couple of inches, and that was the first indication that I had osteopenia.”
“I have had a few ups and downs with my health over the years but, most recently, I’ve been concerned about my bones,” she explains. Those few ups and downs include two bouts of cancer: firstly breast cancer in 1987which led to her having a double mastectomy, and then skin cancer 10 years later.
“I was working on Pebble Mill at the time and I didn’t tell anybody about my cancer diagnosis at the beginning. Nobody talked about The Big C back then,” she says. Does she think there’s still a taboo about talking about cancer, or has it changed for the better changed? “Absolutely changed for the better,” Diana exclaims, “and I work with cancer charities and know it’s openly talked about now, perhaps not quite so much with the men, but we’re getting there. Now the interesting thing is that osteoporosis isn’t talked about very much nowadays, so we need to change that.”
So what can we do to tackle osteoporosis? Diana is a strong advocate for exercise, early diagnosis, weight bearing exercise, and Vitamin D. “We need Vitamin D to keep us healthy but too much sun, as I know, is bad for us. 15 minutes a day is adequate, but in the northern hemisphere we don’t get enough sun, so taking supplements such as Vitamin D and calcium is the way to do it. They are the bone builders.”
There are no signs of Diana slowing down as she gets older. One thing that emanates from chatting with her is her positivity. “One of my mantras is that age is mind over matter – if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter,” she says. Where does that positive attitude come from? “My father was very strict and I had to abide by his rules, but when I came home from school one day at the age of sixteen, I found my mother, whom I adored, dead from a cerebral haemorrhage and I grew up overnight,” she states.
Diana became a model in her early 20s but life changed when she was asked to do a regular fitness segment for breakfast television in the 1980s, going on to become a household name and recognised everywhere because of the vivid green leotard she wore.
Married twice, the first time at nineteen, she has two sons and four grandchildren who affectionately call her GG, short for Granny Goddess. As we speak the doorbell rings. “Someone’s just brought me some pansies from the market,” Diana says, going on to explain that it’s Robin, a widower who lives nearby. “I’ve been on my own for 25 years and although I’m very independent, it’s also nice to have a companion who’s on the same wavelength.”
Keeping the brain active is all part of keeping fit and Diana’s hobbies including painting. “I got a scholarship to the West of England College of Art, but my father didn’t allow me to follow art as a career.” Now she likes to paint landscapes, seascapes, animals and flowers. “I’ve told my agent that I would love to take part in one of those painting programmes on TV.” With Diana’s determination there is a huge probability that her wish will come to fruition.
Diana will be appearing at The Convent on Sunday, 17th November at 2.00 pm.
Gibraltar Insight Magazine is proud to be a sponsor of the Gibunco Gibraltar International Literary Festival 2019.
The speakers mentioned above are just a small selection from a full programme. More information about all the speakers and booking online for The Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival can be found on www.gibraltarliteraryfestival.com
