right that's it, time to get fit and lose the moobs.

I know there's the PH fat fighters thread running, which I posted on many moons ago but never kept upto speed with.

Basically I've decided enough is enough, I'm too fat, too unfit and too unhealthy. I don't drink, but I smoke 20 a day, weigh the best part of 18.5 stone (6'3 tall) and despite being pretty strong and devistatingly handsome I'm miles away from where I want to be.

I've been on a diet for a few months now which has gone great thus far. I've narrowly avoided having my own gravitational pull and the tides seem to have returned to normal thanks to shedding around a stone and a half.

It's a new week, I'm awake remarkably early, and I'm motivated. The last time this happened I started a new business which so far seems to be going well, so I'm hoping I'm on a roll, as opposed to eating one. I've got 3 ciggies left, as far as I'm aware it's my last packet in the house, I'm just about to light one, and refuse to buy anymore. P'raps one of those leccy cigarettes I've read about on here if the temptation to pull someone's head off becomes too much, but I'm more keen on just plain stopping, in light of today's theme of lifestyle revolution, for me at least.

I'm making the diet more strict, smaller portions, same food as it's working well and is reasonably balanced but low in carbs and sugars. Chicken and salad (sans dressing) is about the crux of it. No pop, crisps, booze, sweets or take-aways.

I can't do weights or anything just yet, nor impact sports etc, thanks to having a bit of a nasty smash in the car leaving my shoulder a tad injured. I hate going to gyms, not because I'm embarrassed or any of that guff, suffice to say they're not for me.

So, what I need is some fitness tips, and ideas of what exercise / activities I might want to try that will really help ramp up my fitness as quickly as possible.

To give you an idea of where I'm at, my fitness is non-existent. Until recently I played squash several times a week, and walk a good few miles with the dog. I seem to run out of breath very easily, which I guess is down to 13 years of smoking murdering my lung capacity, but I can cope with 2 hours of solid squash fairly well, so I'm hoping all is not lost.

What's the best way of getting fit avoiding the gym? Consider me a blank canvas when it comes to exercise, the only things I like are mountain bikes, squash and rugby, only bikes are an option at the minute, and I'd like to mix things up a bit and try some other stuff. The only thing I'm certain of is it's not going to be a quick few weeks of frantic exercise then reverting to sofa based activity only, I'm going to stick at it. My main reason for doing it is my health, the other reason is I'd like to do some bike racing in 2010 (the engined variety) and I can't do it looking like a tellytubby, I really want to improve on a bike.

I'm happy to get a few exercise machines for the house to tide me over until I finally crack and join up at a gym, as much as I hate Gyms I know fine well I'm going to have to join at some point fairly soon, but I'm holding off doing it until at least 1st may. I'd far rather exercise at home, as I work predominantly from home. My house is currently being renovated so I'm eager to make a completely fresh start.

I've never much fancied running, but I'm keen to start, being a heavy fellow, I know my joints are going to take a beating, so if any of you runners have any tips for someone starting I'd love to hear them.

So, how does a man lose a few stone and massively improve his fitness? Any help regarding exercise / diet would be ace, other than 'lay off the pies fatty'

I'm not really sure what the point of posting this thread was, but if nothing else it gives me something to refer back to, and makes it all official, like, so I've got to do it now. So, there we have it. If anyone else feels the urge to quit smoking, exercising as much as possible and dieting like their life depends on it feel free to chip in Apologies for the random, repeated sporadic questions

Cheers,
Stu

Cheers for the reply Dave, rowing is definitely something I'd like to try. I'm constantly told how good it is by my 16 year old nephew who's been bitten by the rowing bug hard and looks like he could go very far with it. I'll give them a shot but it could be a bit too shoulder intensive at the minute, certainly one to bear in mind

I'll have a look at rowing machines this morning before the builders arrive and stop me getting on the internet, guessing the water rowers are excellent but pricey?

Again thanks for the replies. Very much into bikes, used to be seriously into them as a teenager doing some competative riding, unfortunately I passed my driving test and forgot they existed.

I've got 2 nice mountain bikes, haven't used them in the last month or two all that much but still keen as mustard as I only recently bought one (felt compulsion 2 mint sauce). Wouldn't mind replacing my DH bike which rarely sees the light of day (and was only bought to do a mate a favour) with something cheaper and hardtail flavoured, see what happens but I'm happy with the Felt.

I'd like a bit of variety though, hence the questions.

As for my daily commute, it's about 20 feet as I work primarily from home

Loving the water rowers at John Lewis, they're eye wateringly expensive but I might just have to push the boat out (no pun intended). I worked out that I'll be saving around 2.5k a year if I manage to stay of the ciggies


P'raps a rowing machine, the bikes and a few miles on foot a week will be sufficient, but I'd like to do as much as I can.

I like the sound of the turbo trainer, forgive my ignorance but why the spare wheel?
Don't suppose you've got any links / suggestions as to which to go for as I've never looked at them.

I'm oh so close to getting one of those wooden water rowers from John Lewis, and maybe a treadmill or something similar too. This fitness lark isn't half expensive though, I could buy loads of pies and ciggies with what I'm set to spend