This is the story of Andrea, 53.

No. I got off to a bad start: this is my story and my rebirth, and if I decided to tell it, it is to put my face to it. And my heart. Andrea is me, 53 years old and a new life. Or, rather, I am myself again. Finally, after a difficult period, I have begun again to lead a full and satisfying existence in all respects: socially, professionally, emotionally and sexually. I say I started again because a few years ago, shortly before I turned 50, I felt that something in me had broken, I began to experience a sharp drop in energy and was constantly sluggish and fatigued and even a little anxious.

Added to this physical asthenia was a state of nervousness that made me impatient and easily irritable. I didn't realize it at the time, but looking back on it, I think it must have been difficult to be around me even for my family members, These were minor annoyances rather than serious health problems, yet I didn't want to realize that those were so many alarm bells or, rather, I didn't want to hear them. I had too much to do to stop and think about myself, to listen to the signals my body was sending me and try to understand what was really happening to me. My attention was on the projects I had going on, I was caught up in my plans for the future, and I was not realizing that by ignoring the call for help that my body itself was sending me, I was in danger of screwing everything up!

For some time I had been waking up every 3-4 hours due to stress, and on several occasions I had experienced severe heartburn. There, that was the cause of my fatigue and lack of concentration, I thought: bad sleep. To put a patch on it, I had tried adding more caffeine to my daily routine, but after an initial sprint, my energy levels were dropping again. Coffee had become a crutch to stay productive, but it was certainly not a healthy choice and the boost it gave me was momentary. Eventually, I would always find myself back where I started. In addition to energy, my muscle tone was also dropping, and I was beginning to put on that typical middle-aged belly that, for me who had always had a lean physique, was something absolutely new and embarrassing.

In short, I didn't feel like myself anymore. Worse! Now that I could finally reap the benefits of everything I had worked for, now that, after paying my career and family tributes, I could finally give myself time to enjoy life more, I didn't have the energy to do so.

It was when I finally realized that it was time to take matters into my own hands, that I felt the need to make a break with who I had been up to then, the need for a clean break with a set of habits that were clearly not giving me comfort. Here, it was time to lay the cornerstone of my rebirth.