Ali Vincent shed 112lb on her way to becoming the first female winner of the US show, The Biggest Loser.
This is someone who knows how to lose weight – lots of it – and so anything she has to say about the subject deserves respect. However, then we read a quote attributed to her in which she recommends that people with little time for exercise do lunges and squats in checkout queues.
Honestly, I’d rather have kept the extra 8 stone. I’m no shrinking violet, but nor do I believe in openly advertising for public ridicule.
And anyway, I’m usually far too busy in supermarket queues taking random items out of the trolley that I didn’t notice the children adding, and hiding them (the products, not the children) on the confectionery stand before reaching the front of the queue.
Life does not naturally set aside moments for enhancing health and wellness. They need to be carved into an appointment book, though only people who have time on their hands have the time to make a time-management schedule.
I suspect the struggle to make space in everyday life for exercise is a real one for many people.
And I’ve been struggling recently.
It’s been of no help reading the seemingly endless number of patronising articles questioning people’s motives for not exercising.
You know the type: "Think you are too busy to work out? You're just using it as an excuse: why not spend less time lying on the couch watching Modern Family?"
And when they’re not sneering at apparently pitiful excuses, they’re trying to fit exercise into our regular day. And not just at the supermarket.
It’s really amazing how many fitness gurus recommend arriving at the workplace stinking of sweat: surely, and thankfully, not an option for the majority of the population. And how strange would anyone look if they decided to stand up from their seat every five minutes for absolutely no apparent reason: though our favourite recommendation for people struggling to find time to hit the gym was to “switch your desk chair for a stability ball”. I can’t think why that wouldn’t be a runner.
To be fair, a few suggestions I came across were a little more realistic and rational – I might even think about taking the stairs rather than the lift.
Finding time
Finding time for exercising is relatively simple. It’s doing it again a couple of days later that’s difficult. And again a couple of days after that – and on it goes. It’s like taking on another job, and I mean one where the payment will not come at the end of the month; this is more of a long-term investment.
It's nearly two months since I started this latest fitness venture (like Mark Twain was with smoking, I've found giving up my bad habits easy, because I've done it thousands of times).
The realisation, though, that this occasion might not be as dependably short term as before has amplified the voice searching for reasons to skip the workout routine.
In the search for motivation, the cold hard numbers help to warm me to the idea of leaving the house in shorts and runners.
The reduction in BMI and fat percentage may be modest, but at least they are heading in the right direction (for the first time in years). And, more significantly surely, the weighing scales is not displaying its traditional look of terror.
While the numbers – BMI minus 1, fat percentage minus 1, weight minus a stone – seem suspiciously round (like the author), I promise they're correct. Unless I'm part of some Truman Show-style deception. And, anyway, they're not particularly impressive (almost 100lb shy of Ms Vincent).
It’s slow, but it’s steady. Everyday commitments cannot be shoved to one side, no matter what the dividend. I’m attempting to gradually increase the speed on the treadmill, rather than of life itself. I’m going there quickly enough already, thanks.
Damian’s stats
Age: 39
Height: 6ft
Weight: 15st 7lb (-1 stone)
BMI: 29.4 (-1.0)
Fat: 28.6% (-1.0)
Figures in brackets indicate change since March 10th, 2015, when Damian started to change his diet and exercise habits, and to write this column.
