Thanks, Jo, for the compliments and for sharing your history. You are indeed one of the lucky ones.

There are some parallels in our lives. I also smoked, but only for about 15 years. Gave it up the day my wife and I moved together. That's now 35 years ago. But that's where the parallels end (except for a very similar age). I have to monitor my food intake (every-day weighing) because every gram of carbs has a firm affinity to my fat cells.

So, with your constitution you should be just fine, particularly if you keep up the exercise.