My Approach

Losing weight comes down to simple maths.. calories burnt by the body needs to be greater than calories taken into the body.. sounds so simple!

Getting fit comes down to pushing the body, mind and spirit to exceed itself through aerobic and mental exercises... You can have a very muscled body but still be unfit...

My approach is to tackle both of these..

Increasing the calories my body burns. This will be achieved through:

• specific exercises (i.e. the gym, cycling etc!)
• considering my day-to-day life (taking stairs instead of elevators, ensuring I get off my chair in the office and stroll around every hour etc)
  
• physiological changes (increasing my muscle mass, drinking more cold water etc)

Calories being taken in. I'll moderate and be aware of the calories I put into my body (i.e. food and drink).. I won't use the word 'diet' as that has negative connotations and people may relate this to starving, giving up all the fun stuff etc... although there will be some tough decisions being made just to get me moving in the right direction quickly.

Getting fit. Through a mix of exercises that will change as I begin to expand our home gym. There are a couple of commercial gyms near me however I've decided this time around to take a different approach and set up a gym at home.. Why.... well a few reasons.

The gym is near the office, so many office people will be there... For me gymming is a personal commitment and personal time. I like the gym environment and there will be some challenges at home due to more limited equipment and the different environment. However I'd rather not be pushing myself hard in a gym and find myself surrounded by colleagues..

Our set up at home means I can watch whatever TV, movies, music I like and I can tie my regime into watching programs I enjoy rather than having to share a few TVs with many people and end up watching programs that do not encourage or motivate me.

I would like my wife to share this journey, and it will be easier for us to do this from home.

So my decisions are made.. there will need to be some additional money spent on equipment to provide me some of the tools and equipment I need, however the cost is minimal compared to the benefits... How much money does the average person spend on eating out, drinking, smoking a year... I don't know but my budget for exercising will be less than $5000.