‘How old do you think I am?’ Joyce Kibe asks after the pleasantries, when we meet at Standard Chartered’s headquarters in Nairobi. She is the bank’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing for Africa.
’45, I think,’ I reply. She laughs heartily, takes it as a compliment and tells me she has just turned 50.
Her youthful appearance and energy might be put down to good genes, but Ms Kibe traces them to her 30s, when she lived in London and weighed 104 kilos.
That experience made fitness a permanent part of her life, despite the demands of a senior corporate job. Even business trips do not interrupt it. Her running shoes are among the first things she packs.
‘Everybody in the organisation knows I am never available between 6:30 am and 7:30 am, because that is my gym time,’ she says. ‘I block my calendar, and most of the time I switch off my phone.’
Ms Kibe joined Standard Chartered in 2021 and helps organise the bank’s annual Standard Chartered Marathon.
She was active in her youth and took part in sports at school. During school holidays, she asked her parents for money to attend aerobics classes or go to the gym. At the time, she says, she did not fully understand why fitness mattered, only that it seemed cool.
Over the years, however, she abandoned that active lifestyle. By her 30s, her weight had climbed to 104 kilos, and her confidence suffered.
‘I was not happy with how I looked,’ she says. ‘I was eating everything, and my weight shot up. It bothered me a great deal. It was so bad that even fastening an aeroplane seat belt was uncomfortable.’
Frequent work travel added to the frustration. Shops abroad often stocked few options in larger sizes, which left her feeling overlooked.
‘It hurt my self-esteem and confidence,’ she says. ‘I told myself there had to be something I could do about it. So I began to walk a lot.’
Her son was born in 2008, and her weight became a more pressing concern.
‘I kept asking myself how I was going to chase after him with all this weight,’ she says. ‘You know how active children are. That pushed me to work out in earnest. I walked every day, even before he was born. Unlike many women, who gain weight during pregnancy, I lost about nine kilos.’
She credits her London commute for getting her started. Walking from the train station to the office was her only option, and the distance was considerable.
‘From walking, I began to run,’ she says. ‘I started with six kilometres, three times a week, and built from there. These days I average 24 kilometres a week.’
She also bought exercise DVDs and followed them at home, since free online workouts and YouTube did not yet exist.
She then overhauled her diet, which she considers the most important change. She cut out carbohydrates, especially wheat, and still avoids it as much as possible. She has not given up all carbohydrates, though.
‘There are healthy carbs that you can eat, and you should not be afraid of them,’ she says. ‘I come from the mountains, so I cannot give up my potatoes. I love them.’ She has, however, given up red meat, which she says makes her feel heavy. She eats plenty of eggs instead.
When she travels, she fits in what she calls ‘city discovery runs’. She uses the fitness app Strava to plan a route of five or ten kilometres, then explores the city on foot and takes photographs.
‘It is the first thing I do in the morning,’ she says. ‘Colleagues ask me when I found the time.’
Exercise is also her remedy for jet lag. After trips to far-off places such as Singapore, which is five hours ahead of Kenya, she says even 30 minutes on a hotel treadmill is enough to reset her body clock.
‘What matters most to me is the positive energy and the endorphins,’ she says. ‘That is what I bring every morning.’
Her week is built around morning workouts, running, strength training and deliberate recovery. She exercises from Monday to Saturday: three days of running, two of strength training and one of yoga. She prioritises strength training, she explains, because bone density and muscle strength decline with age.
Her running programme is based on time rather than distance. An easy run lasts 60 to 75 minutes. On Wednesdays she does speed work, running six 100-metre or 30-second strides with rest in between. Her long run, usually on Saturdays, lasts 90 to 120 minutes.
Training this often at 50 makes recovery a challenge, because the body repairs itself more slowly with age. Ms Kibe says she has learnt how to speed up the process so that she has enough strength for the next session.
‘Warming up and cooling down are essential,’ she says. ‘I also tell people to stretch before and after exercise, not just after, as most people do. Stretching beforehand releases tension, and stretching afterwards relaxes the muscles. If you skip them, you will be sore the next day.’
Supplements and sleep schedule
She sees a physiotherapist every week and occasionally uses a sauna. Her supplements include creatine monohydrate, which she says has noticeably improved her recovery; vitamin C; and magnesium glycinate at bedtime. She has heard about ashwagandha, an herbal supplement, and may try it.
She also keeps a strict sleep schedule. ‘I am always in bed by 10 pm,’ she says.
Ms Kibe has little patience for the argument that a busy schedule rules out exercise.
‘You can be very busy, but you cannot pour from an empty cup. You need energy. And if you can find time to rest, you can find time to follow the free exercise videos on YouTube from the comfort of your home.’
She recently took up golf lessons. When she is low on energy or her body is not cooperating, she says, she substitutes a gentler activity she enjoys. ‘Listen to your body,’ she says.
Her approach has shifted further as she navigates perimenopause. She has become more deliberate about strength training and medical check-ups.
‘Women go through a lot, including frozen shoulder, hot flashes and insomnia. My doctor ordered blood work so that I would know exactly what I was dealing with. The most significant finding was about bone density.’
That is why strength training is central to her routine. Muscle loss accelerates during perimenopause, she says, and bone density can drop if it is not addressed.