1. Start as you mean to go on set your goals short and long term. Think about entering a race or event that you can train towards later in the year.
2. If you haven't eaten all of your christmas goodies by now you have bought far to many so throw them out or give them away.
3. Start slowly listen to your body, you don't want to give yourself an injury which will set you back.
4. It's not all about the exercise it's approximately 70% food intake, so start keeping a food diary so you can see what areas need addressing.
5. Get out some of your favorite clothes that no longer fit and aim to fit into them this year.
6. Increase your water intake and decrease your coffee and tea intake.
7. Cut back on alcohol by only drinking in moderation at the weekends or even better none at all.
8. Aim to exercise at least 3 times a week. You don't have to go to the gym to do this, anything that will raise your heart rate for 20-30mins and make you sweat. Start with a brisk walk up hill is better, running, cycling, swimming, wii fit, ice skating, rock climbing fitness dvd's, dancing. I could go on and on but I think you get the idea.
9. Increse your fresh fruit and vegetable intake aim for a combined 5 a day.
10. Make time for relaxation 10 mins a day where you switch off from everything and everyone around you.

I will be going into detail on all of these areas through out the month. Good Luck!

1. Always Have Breakfast, this will kick start your metabolism, you have been fasting for at least 8 hours and need fuel asap, especially if you are going to the gym. Choose whole grain cereals, or oat based as these will keep your energy levels up for longer, avoid sugary cereals. Add fruit to make it more interesting and this will go towards your 5 a day.

2. Try to have at least 5 portions of fruit and veg a day, which is in total not 5 of each.

3. Aim to drink 2 litres of water a day we can survive for days without food but with out water we would not. Water is needed for the metabolisation of fat, if you don’t drink enough you will find it harder to lose weight.

4. Aim to eat 5-6 small meals a day that basically means breakfast lunch and dinner with small healthy snack between meals, i.e. snack on fruit and veg, dried fruit and unsalted nuts, seeds, Herbalife protein bars, ryvita, low fat cottage cheese, low fat hummus, half and avocado, plain popcorn, rice cakes, olive oil based oat cakes. So little and often will help to keep your metabolic rate higher.

5. Introduce whole grain sources of food into your diet i.e.; brown pasta, rice, bread, and cereal.

6. Watch your portion size try using a smaller plate to eat your dinner from. Or use a takeaway container you can fit plenty of food in one of those.

7. Never allow yourself to feel hungry this is when you are likely to reach for unhealthy choices, especially at mid afternoon.

8. Plan your food, know what you are going to have to snack on during the day and when you are going to have lunch and what you wish to have, this applies to dinner as well.

9. Never go shopping when you are hungry, you will make unhealthy choices and often buy too much.

10. Aim for an intake of 25% Fat, 55 – 60% Carbohydrate, and 10-12 % Protein intake.

A common question that is asked, people often think they know it all, or they believe that they are too unfit to have a Personal Trainer and need to improve their fitness first before they can contemplate having any one to one training. The reason you choose to have a trainer is to help you reach your fitness goals more effectively. One of my colleagues put it in a nutshell, he said "Even David Beckham needs a trainer" one of the top footballers in the world a British icon, needs to be pushed to reach his full potential. David Beckham is not alone even Personal Trainers have trainers, which includes me, I know how important it is too push yourself that little bit further to make that improvement and believe me the fitter you get the harder you need to train to keep improving yourself and maintain that motivation.

That’s what it boils down to, do you wish to plod along thinking that you know what you are doing, without getting the results you desire because you have hit a plateau, eventually getting bored of doing the same thing over and over that you begin the come to the gym less and less and before you know it you are back to square one.

Personal Training is not just about someone counting how many reps you have done, or showing you how to use a 'Lat Pull Down'. It's tailored to the individual, based on a full health and fitness assessment, postural analysis as well as lifestyle assessment and personal goal setting.

Personal training is a partnership between the trainer and client, my aim is too advise on nutrition by looking at your food diaries, lifestyle adjustments and stress management. All of these areas are addressed before we even start to talk about exercise. Really you need to view it as a lifestyle change not a quick fix, and really we are lifestyle coach’s. Personal training is about pushing yourself that extra mile that you may not believe you can reach or even contemplate reaching on your own, its about enjoying exercise, learning about your body and what it is capable of, with guidance and encouragement to spur you on.