Starting a keep-fit regime

Presenter - That's all well and good, but a lot of people who may be watching today have never exercised before, they've got a lot of weight on, you know, may be a size 14 or 16, might be more, they want to start but they're very self-conscious, they don't want to spend a fortune, they don't want to go down the gym in front of other people. How can they start a basic get-fit regime?

Lucy - Anyone can get fit and if they do something they'll definitely see results. I'm such a big fan of walking because it's just such a simple exercise and they will get results, definitely. I think you're right because a lot of people, if they're overweight and they're unfit, they find gyms terribly intimidating, because you go in there and everyone's super fit and it puts people off.

Lucy - So I would say just make a little plan yourself and just sort of say, right, as of today that's it, I'm going to go out, I'm going to do like a 20-minute walk, do that three times a week. And within three weeks they should start to notice a difference. As I say, walking is one of the most natural exercises, and once you start exercising it's a positive spiral because you feel fitter, you look better, you have more energy. It's just starting, really.

Presenter - That's interesting, because you say there is that feel-good factor. I mean, I belong to a gym and I go two or three times a week, and you come away from a gym and you do feel more active, you feel better because you've done something with your body – making it feel trimmer if you like.

Lucy - Yes, you feel strong, you feel positive, you feel like you've done the right thing, and also when you exercise you release endorphins, which is a hormone that makes you feel better. And let's face it, a lot of us live under an awful lot of stress these days, so it's a really good way to combat stress.

Lucy - I say to my personal training clients, after I've trained them for about five or six weeks, I'll then turn up and say to them, "As of now, I want you to do no exercise, go back to all your bad habits", and they'll be like, "Oh no, there's no way I'm doing that." Because they've started to really feel fantastic and they know that's it for life, they will always have fitness as a way of living, and all it takes is a little bit of discipline.

Lucy - And so for those people out there who are slightly overweight and who are too scared to go to a gym, it's literally just something as simple as walking three times a week and they'll start to feel fitter and then they're motivation is naturally higher anyway.

Presenter - As you say, when you start seeing those results coming in, that's when you want to keep it up. But for people who start off with good intentions... New Year's resolutions are a good thing here – gym memberships in January shoot off the scale, don't they? I talk to my gym manager March, April time, those memberships are dropping off again, those people that came regularly are not going – how can you keep the interest going, how can you keep that momentum up?