Creating an active lifestyle that is right for you  - By Chris Eastham

As you can probably tell, I genuinely believe that you are never to old to learn to enjoy a more active lifestyle and I have plenty of evidence and research to back my beliefs up. I also believe that the best way to add more physical activity and movement into your life is not by trying to force yourself to do something you know you won’t like or won’t stick with.   

I experienced my own lifestyle change at the age of 21 when after hopping off the scales at 115kg I finally decided something needed to be done. Over the next 6 months I drastically changed my life, including the way I thought about things, the way I was acting & how I felt about myself. As a result I was able to lower my weight to a stable 90kg. So I do understand what its like to be obese, and to make a big lifestyle change but I also understand that your life is probably different to mine so rather than telling you what I think you should do,

my goal is to give you the opportunity to create your own healthy lifestyle.  

After 10 years of helping many people of all ages, sizes, and all walks of life to move and exercise more, I am convinced that by taking some time to understand how good your life can be once you are more fit and active, by learning about what motivates you and what is important to you about the activity you do and by carefully addressing the barriers that have got in your way in the past you will be able start moving and exercising in a way that you are more likely to enjoy and continue with long term.

Many people believe that exercise is hard work but I have been fortunate to have met many hundred of wonderful people who have successfully changed their lifestyles in New Zealand, England, and Australia and when questioned on their thoughts about exercise and physical activity they have all agreed that more physical activity helps them to actually feel fitter and more energetic, is good fun and has improved their lives.

One big factor is fun. Children are really good at turning learning activities into games! They make things fun and easy, just like people who are young at heart. These people always seem to be having fun dealing with the changes in their lives. They seem to make living in this world look incredibly easy….Maybe it can be?

So when we meet to talk about exercise and improving the way you move, my aim will be to help you make the process easier and more enjoyable than it may have been in the past.

I will ask you questions about your hopes and dreams for the future & will give you the opportunity to tell me what you don’t like the idea of as well as what you are interested in and what does motivate you.

I over the past 10 years I have become quite good at helping people to solve wellbeing problems and to think about exercise and activity in new and different ways. With this in mind, we will consider new and different ways to get around the barriers that have got in your way in the past. I also have access to many different practical tools and ideas around activity and exercise that we can utilise if necessary and that you can decide if they are useful for you.

Once you are motivated and interested, together we’ll formulate a plan that provides a simple but powerful guide and that takes into account the unforseen surprises that does happen in life. And we can even add in goals and checkpoints if you want to maintain commitment and accountability.

In conclusion, all I ask is to be prepared to enjoy yourself and to be prepared to discover that lifestyle change can be easier and more interesting and more enjoyable than you may have once thought.