Before cancer, it was like I was being chased by a tiger all day

TV PRESENTER JULIA BRADBURY TELLS LISA SALMON SHE'S NOW LIVING A MUCH HEALTHIER AND RELAXED LIFE SINCE HER DIAGNOSIS FOUR YEARS AGO

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JULIA Bradbury's stress hormones used to be so high that a doctor told her it was like she was being chased by a tiger all day.

And then she got cancer.

Now, four years since she found a lump in her breast and had a mastectomy, the TV presenter, 54, has turned her life around and has finally got the balance right.

"I didn’t have a very balanced life before cancer," she admits. "Now, I really do feel grateful for every day - balance is very, very important."

Julia, who presented Countryfile and a number of other TV documentaries, many of them about walking, says: "I’ve had my cortisol [stress hormone] measured, and historically it's been through the roof. As one doctor described it, I appeared to be being chased by a tiger all day.

"It’s something for everybody to be mindful of - we are human beings, not human doings. Even lions and tigers don’t hunt all day, they rest a lot, and that’s a good metaphor for us - you can’t be in hunting mode or being chased all the time.

"You have to find some time to rest and be calm, and find a little bit of security and peace somewhere where you're not being chased."