I think I am one of the few people this time of year who is still exercising and working out, going by the numbers at the Body Combat class I was in last night. This time of year it seems that everyone’s routines go to the wall, gym classes are missed, social do’s and gatherings are abundant, there is more Christmas food and treats than we know how to handle and then consequently, come January, the gym I go to is packed and heaving with people all desperate to get the weight off that they have gained over the festive season!

As a qualified Diet and Nutritional Therapist (another of the many strings to my bow), I am aware of the importance of eating well and healthily, exercising regularly and taking time out to relax and unwind. I try to carry this regime on through the festive period as far as possible, as well as going to the gym, I also take my two dogs on long regular walks and hikes up the Malvern Hills.

I am a member of Life of Leisure which is just off the Bromyard Road and I have been going there since 2000 now. I had a break for a while when I got glandular fever and I was ill for quite a few months afterwards, so my fitness regime went to the wall not because of laziness or a feeling of “I can’t be bothered”, but because it literally took everything I had in me just to get out of bed some mornings I felt so ill! Inevitably I put on some weight and I thought I had lost a great deal of my fitness.

On returning to the gym a couple of months ago I was told that I would probably find it very tough to start with, but as I had been very fit in the past I would suddenly just feel like I’d got a lot of my fitness back. It was tough, I went to classes and the gym and used the cross-trainer, treadmill, exercise bike and weights and then suddenly, just as predicted, a lot of my fitness suddenly came back.

Oh and I’ve lost some of the weight I put on while I was ill too, which is a bonus :)

I really do recommend Life of Leisure, they already have fantastic classes and are launching a new timetable in January which is even better. I love their Body Sculpt, Body Combat and Aerobic Salsa classes and Stella, Sally and Glyn are brilliant at what they do. I can’t wait for the new timetable to start in the New Year.

I plan to train to run the Race for Life next year in memory of my Grandmother who died of Breast Cancer. Then who knows, I may even enter for and train for the London Marathon in 2008.

Actually that is a very good idea and fitness goal to go for!