Health scan

Mary McEvoy, actor

Do you think you have a healthy lifestyle?

I think I have two lifestyles – an extremely healthy lifestyle and then an extremely unhealthy one. They exist side by side.

How often do you exercise?

Because I live on a farm, I’m quite active. I also run about four times a week, though I’m not a very good runner. When I’m on the farm I’m working, but when I’m in a show, all you have time for is the show. I’ve quite a lot of leaping around to do in this play, Box of Frogs.

Do you get your five a day?

I get them some days, if I have a regular day, but that practically never happens. I always have a terrific breakfast and then it falls apart during the day. If I’m not running around doing three things at once, I have a lot of fruit and veg. I don’t do carbs when I’m being healthy – I actually feel better without them.

Do you worry?

Yes, constantly, about everything, absolutely everything. I do think there is a difference between worrying and fretting. I fret more than I worry. I’ll be thinking, “Is the cat okay?” I worry disproportionately. I do try to cop myself on but it’s not always easy.

What do you do to relax?

I do yoga, I read and I love something good on television.

I love to get into a good thriller with an intelligent plot that’s not all car crashes, like The Killing. Or I like to go for a coffee with my friends.

What’s your unhealthiest habit?

Eating sweets. I’m a comfort eater and if I have a bad day, I’ll be into the shop looking for a packet of something, knowing that I shouldn’t be doing it. There is diabetes in my family. I eat very well; my meals will be good and then I’ll blow it all on a packet of sweets.

Box of Frogs, a play in which Mary McEvoy and others bring their own mental health experiences to the stage, goes nationwide after Christmas.

In conversation with Joanne Hunt