FIGHTING FIT AT 50

After going through an incredibly difficult period and approaching 50, Françoise Salameh believed her future looked bleak. She ultimately got herself fighting fit, both physically and mentally, and sat down with Kristian Harrison to discuss her journey.

In 2017, Françoise moved to Bahrain and reinvented herself. Using her background in communications, public relations and journalism, the native Lebanese created an interview platform on Instagram which attracted global icons including Grammy Award winners, National Geographic photographers, Netflix documentary personalities and more. The page, @unspoken.untoldstories, was thriving, and Françoise was enjoying her life in the Kingdom. Then, in October 2020, tragedy struck. She lost her father, Hadi, to a sudden illness. Seemingly completely healthy except for a small ulcer, it suddenly burst and within 48 hours he was gone.

Françoise pinpoints this as the moment her depression began as the grief overwhelmed her, but it was soon to become worse. In the summer of that year, her sister, Florence, was diagnosed with lung cancer and within six months, she also passed away too in January 2022.

“I was stuck in a dark hole of depression,” Françoise remembers. “I was sinking deeper and deeper with seemingly no way out.

“I felt like there wasn’t much in the way of support in Bahrain, an outlet where I could express and process my grief, and I gradually got worse. I would wake up in the morning and barely feel like I could get out of bed to go to the bathroom or take my two children to school. I gained a lot of weight, was barely able to climb the stairs without gasping for breath, and I was disgusted with myself on the chance I caught myself in the mirror. I was nearly 50, with a slowing metabolism, and I just thought that was it in life.”

Ultimately, in one lucky moment, something clicked and Françoise decided she needed to change. To this day, she still cannot pinpoint exactly what it was, but it felt powerful.

“I looked at myself and just realised things had to change,” she explains. “I’d just lost my father and sister, and I just wanted to disappear. I also didn’t want to go to a doctor and be dependent on pills for the rest of my life.

“Therefore, I chose healthy eating and fitness to emerge from it. I joined the gym at the Bahrain Rugby Football Club, which is an amazing facility with great equipment and a supportive atmosphere.

“Every day without fail, I wake up and the first thing I do is think positive thoughts and say a prayer of gratitude for where I am. I then go straight to the gym. It’s all about consistency, as is the nutrition side of things. Manage your portions and try to minimise sugar in your diet.

“I lost eight kilos in a year and now people approach me and ask if I’ve had plastic surgery to look how I do, but I promise I haven’t! It’s the greatest compliment I can receive. I feel energised and much healthier both physically and mentally.”

Françoise now hopes to use her experience to help those of a similar age, both men and women, who are struggling with grief and depression and feel they are ‘past it’ agewise.

“When I was at my worst, I felt like I didn’t have a support group,” she explains. “So I want my story to inspire others and help them become healthier and enter the next great chapter of their life.”