TWO months have passed since Nuffield Health asked me to review their health and wellbeing membership and I have lost almost half a stone.

In return for a year’s contract, I am writing a monthly blog about my progress.

Last month I found out I was quite unfit from a Health MOT which tested things like cholesterol  and BMI. I have another month until my next assessment to see if anything has improved.

I don’t appear drastically slimmer but I think I have a slightly healthier glow, feel slightly fitter and I’ve only taken small steps so far.

A few weeks ago I had another meeting with my health mentor Richard Webb and we discussed how I was going to get fit. He showed me exercises in the gym for my priority areas (arms and stomach) and suggested I meet with the nutrionist next month.

Apparently you should go twice a week to get maximum benefit. I’ve been to the gym once or twice a week (except for last week when I didn’t go at all).

However I’m finding life is getting the way a bit at the moment in terms of going to the gym – the freezing weather makes the 20 minute walk from the train station to the gym seem longer, I've been planning a holiday and I've been house-hunting.

However when I do make the effort, I do feel so much better.

The weekend before last, I had a sluggish Saturday so decided to make an effort on Sunday despite the rain.

I went to the Nuffield Health centre in Covent Garden (you can use almost all of the branches with the health and wellbeing membership) and combined it with shopping and a massage at Neal’s Yard. I did yoga - the second session I’ve done with Nuffield, both very enjoyable - and went swimming and even did a bit in the gym.

I've also found the thing which encourages me to go the most is going with other people.

A few weeks ago I went to the gym with my sister and this meant neither could back out at the last minute and it felt like we lasted longer on the treadmill than if I'd been doing it solo.

There’s a lot of research to support this: apparently we are psychologically hard-wired to exercise harder when we’re with people (particularly fitter people) and two thirds of women would exercise more if they had a friend to be active with.

If you’re not a member of Nuffield, I recommend downloading a free day pass. I’ve told my friends and we’re going to have a gym session in a few weeks.

News Shopper: Health and fitness blog: month two

I’m also hoping to go along to a Meet the Experts evening soon at Nuffield Health which non-members can also attend.

I attended the Vitality Show last week and was impressed with how the organisers had teamed up with the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) to have a little pop-up stadium with different sporting activities.

The WSFF is a great organisation which promotes female fitness which continues to be under-represented despite the Olympics.

Research shows eighty per cent of women don’t do enough exercise and sponsorship of women’s sport in the UK amounts to only 0.5 per cent of the total market. 

I had a go with a power hoop at the show and it was a lot of fun – so much so, I’m considering buying one.

Having said that, my exercise ball and Pilates DVDs have been collecting dust but I’m hoping to remedy that very soon.

Last month I went along to a Piloxing class - a mixture of Pilates and boxing - to review the new fitness craze which has spread to Beckenham. It was amazing if exhausting.

One of the biggest changes I’ve made to my health is probably making my own lunches and bringing them in instead of eating in the various pubs of Petts Wood - this is as a result of the Health MOT when I discovered how high my cholesterol was.

Cooking my own lunches the day before means I have a chance to go for a walk in my lunch hour and I actually know what I’m eating (I’ve got so excited about my home-made dishes I’m considering creating a blog called Tupperware Tease).

I have been continuing with my walks round Jubilee Country Park in Petts Wood about twice or three times a week and I’m trying to make sure I do 30 minutes of walking most days because I've realised how sedentary my job can be.

Other healthy changes I’ve made include having porridge for breakfast with Greek yoghurt and fruit (porridge lowers cholesterol apparently), drinking green tea which reportedly aids weight loss and eating more walnuts to get an Omega-3 boost.

This all makes me look like a health zeolot and indeed I do feel smug when I request “posh tea” during the office tea-round however I’m still far from perfect in the fitness stakes.

My Achilles’ heel is eating out.

Last week I ate out four nights and had take-away another night.

Living in Brixton means there are a number of cheap and delicious restaurants which are doing nothing for my weight loss. However, the result is I now have no money so hopefully that will do something for my waist line.

Next month I will be meeting a nutritionist at the Bromley branch of Nuffield, grappling with Health Score (a social networking site run by Nuffield Health which allows you to track your progress) and having my next health MOT.

I’m also planning to attend a pop-style dance workout on April 9 at the Covent Garden branch.

I'll let you know how it all goes in next month's blog.

If anyone has any tips or suggestions, please contact me on @Saltounite or hwood@london.newsquest.co.uk

Nuffield Health fitness mentor Richard Webb shares his tips for sticking to a fitness regime:

Planning and setting goals is important – a simple way to ensure that you stick to any fitness regime is to set SMART goals:

Specific: make your exercise regime specific to your own personal needs and goals – these should be straightforward and emphasise what you want to happen.

Measurable: find ways that you can measure and track your progress (Nuffield HealthScore is an excellent tool to use to track your progress). If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

Achievable: a goal needs to stretch you slightly, but anything too far out of reach will probably result in a loss of commitment.

Realistic: is your goal do-able? Can you make the changes required to achieve these goals?

Time-sensitive: set a time frame for your goals. If it’s a long term goal, break it down into shorter term goals to keep motivation levels up.

For more information, visit nuffieldhealth.com