I was like you. I AM like you. I am not super fit but there again I have not totally disrespected my body over the years. However we could all do more right? But we don't. Our "inner pig" gets the final say on so many occasions... I'll cut to the chase:

I devised a plan for me. And over a year later I am still going strong. Believe me, I have given up on so many things in my life but not this! Go on then British guy, just tell us already!

My criteria were a) make it like a game or challenge that would hook me like a drug and b) don't make it too hard that I'll inevitably fail after two weeks. So in short, make it fun and make it easy (to begin with!).

I called it "The 100 Club" and I and a friend have been hooked ever since.

It is simple.

For every calendar month you have to "cross off" 100 boxes. So to begin with we printed off monthly charts with 100 boxes to check off.

Then, make your own "settings". And in the first couple of months, keep it easy! And then progressively make it harder. And you can be creative in how you do it.

Here is my example. In my first month I could cross off one box by doing any of the following:

1km walking or running

100 reps of anything (press ups, sit ups, dumb bells etc)

And that was it. Simple. I told myself I had to on average cross off 3 or 4 boxes every day to achieve it. Oh and by the way, did I mention that you are not allowed to fail? Failure is not an option, hence why I said keep it simple at first..... Keep the 100 boxes on your fridge to keep your focussed each day. Get your friends involved and it becomes more addictive.

Wind on nearly 2 years and now I do the following per cross off:

100 press ups

5km cycling

2km running or walking

5 mins planking

So as you can see, you can be as creative as you want.

Can I just say at this point, JUST TRY IT for one month. Set it up now. Make it achievable! And when you come to the end of the month you will feel great and perhaps ready to make your settings slightly harder. Don't make them too hard too quickly though. That can be fatal in terms of motivation.

And you may think "well if it is too easy, what's the point, it won't make me lose weight and get stronger etc". Well you are wrong. Just the mere fact that you have to get out in the fresh air or do 100 press up a day is perhaps something you never did before. And the beauty of it? If you miss a day due to sickness etc, no worries, just recalculate what you need to do before the end of the month to get it done!

In 18 months I have only failed twice and that was due to sickness....

Would be happy to hear back from anyone who read all of this and anyone who has just drawn a "february chart".

I would say good luck, but you won't need it. With the right preparation you are going to stick with this for life now.

It will retrain you psyche into a new way of thinking and respecting life's vehicle which is your body.

Here is a link to my first month. As you can see I incorporated how many times boozing I allowed myself in a month (10)....

https://imgur.com/gallery/isUxFZJ