Better Lives with AIA Vitality: How Leah swapped smoking for running, one step at a time

Leah had been a smoker since high school. Looking back, she recognises it as a habit that consumed hours of her life, let alone the expense. “I didn’t realise it until I gave up,” says Leah.

She had, however, noticed the negative effects on her health. “I didn’t exercise,” she says, recalling how mowing the lawn would leave her out of breath. As she got older and these small bursts of physical activity became more difficult, Leah knew she needed to quit.

Ultimately, the decision to kick the habit came down to one choice. “The prompt was my first grandchild being born,” she says. At the time, her daughter lived in Perth, and she had warned Leah she wasn’t allowed to smoke during her visit. “I went to a hypnotist before I got on the plane, and I haven’t had a cigarette since,” says Leah, whose grandson is almost two years old now.

While there were many health benefits associated with quitting, Leah did notice one downside. She felt she had replaced smoking with snacking, and was starting to think it wasn’t a healthy long-term choice. “I couldn’t fit into my clothes anymore,” says Leah. “It was like, ‘No, I have to do something about this.’”

At 53 years old, Leah decided to take up exercising. “I started walking,” she says. “And I thought, ‘Hang on, I can do this.’” She began adding short bursts of running to her daily walk. Then, Leah started to ramp up the intensity, running a little further each day. “It was still hard,” says Leah. “But I felt better for it.”

Being a member of AIA Vitality helped her stay motivated, especially in those early weeks. “I would be one of those people that go, ‘Okay, I only need so many more points and then I can get Airpoints Dollars, or start donating to the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand,’” says Leah.

Life threw a spanner into Leah’s running routine in 2021, when she broke her toe. “I was gutted,” she says. But Leah is determined to use her injury as motivation to come back stronger than ever.

While she’s waiting to heal, Leah has switched to Pilates – but she’s eager to lace up her runners again. Her next goal is to reach Platinum Status within the AIA Vitality programme . “I think I'm only about 300 points away,” she says.

After that? First, Leah plans on building up to the half-marathon she missed. And once she’s ticked that goal – a full marathon isn’t off the cards. “I’d like to say to my grandkids, ‘I’ve done a marathon,’” says Leah. “If I can do it, you can do it.”