In all honesty two years of University could have treated me better; standing in front of a mirror reveals the first signs of a gut, not dissimilar to the one which not too long ago I mocked my father for possessing. Whatever happened to that fine muscular rugby playing physique I had during the latter days of my school career? It must have snuck slyly away at some point of particular drunkenness or maybe when my back was turned ordering one of many late night kebabs.

It has got to the point where I have to face up to facts, I am essentially overweight, not too much mind, only a stone or so... well actually a stone and a half. This in itself is not a drastic situation at first glance; I am after all barely 20. However, the fact that my father, who is now quite a portly chap, at my age had a physique comparable to a thread of cotton doesn't bode to well for me in the future. I could of course entertain the thought that I might be more genetically akin to my mother, who is to this day stick thin, but alas unlike her I am unable to sustain myself on rabbit food. I shudder at daydreams where I see myself as a single 40 year old Jabba the Hut type character living in a slum because I have spent all my money on kebabs and drink. These visions have been pushing me towards the idea of becoming involved in some kind of regular exercise (or as I like to call it, self-inflicted torture).

I have also been single now for 5 months, and although I am not shallow enough to think that attraction is determined solely on physical appearance I do firmly believe that I am more attractive with one chin rather than two. Indeed better physical appearance might be beneficial not only in making members of the opposite sex look more fondly upon me, but also in terms of my own self-confidence.

It took a skiing holiday for me to realise the extent of my fitness, or rather the extent of its decline. The experience of being hot and sweaty when skiing barely being able to catch my breath after some runs shocked me into action; essentially it represented the tiny straw that broke the camels back. The rest of my holiday was spent skiing as hard as I could pushing myself to what I was tempted to believe was the edge of cardiac arrest in order to try and get some fitness back before I hit the gym.

Upon returning to the UK I browsed health, fitness and dieting sites on the internet and came to the following conclusion; I was not going to follow some strict dieting regime, I wouldn't stick to it, and everything looked too much hassle. Most of the meals I encountered in these dieting plans included ridiculously exotic foods and various types of Nuts and Berries that I'd never even heard of, let alone expected to be able to find with ease in the supermarket. What I was going to do however was replace most (not all) of my snacking foods with fruit and try and steer clear of those late night drunken kebabs.

The wealth of information on exercise programmes, muscle building and weight-loss on the internet is truly astounding and quite daunting. I decided to steer clear of all programmes involving ridiculously complex exercises that only work if you have the flexibility of an elastic band. Instead I opted for the rowing machine and the exercise bike, doing simple varied programmes four times a week on the rowing machine and then the odd session on the bike as a warm-down or when I wanted to do some exercise on one of my days off from rowing. I considered running, but I have bad knees and am prone to shin splints and of all manners in which you can perform cardiovascular exercise running appears, from what I have read, to have the most potential for injury.

I chose a personalised exercise programme off of a rowing website which when I filled in my details and desires with regard to weightless claimed it would trim off around 8kg (1.25 stone or approximately 18 pounds) over ten weeks. Realistically, following it religiously, I hope to trim off between 5 and 7kg. I have just finished the first week of the programme and have consolidated the 5 pounds I lost during my ski holiday with the loss of a further two pounds. I would describe my mood as buoyantly optimistic, Baywatch body here I come....

As I get fitter / slimmer I may well post some photos up illustrating my progress but at this stage in time I wouldn’t want to put anyone off their supper.
:D