Fit and fashionable

Health officials recommend that we all get in at least 150 minutes of exercise every week.

As if trying to fit two-and-a-half hours of exercise around going to work, looking after the children and doing the housework wasn't daunting enough, there's also the issue that it's simply not as much fun to go for a jog as it is to sit down with a glass of a red and watch a Brad Pitt flick.

However, staring at Brad Pitt is not going to ward off the threat of obesity and diabetes, so there's only one thing for it: to at least make the effort to work up a sweat every now and then.

So you muster up the energy, lace up your trainers and start running. Then you realise there's another perfectly good reason why the sofa seems more appealing: street cred.

Nothing quite destroys your image than the sight of you with ruddy cheeks and sweaty back, wearing an over-sized jumper and tracksuit bottoms.

But do fashion and fitness have to be so incompatible?

Well, as for turning beetroot red and puffing like an asthmatic ant, there's only one thing to cure that. More exercise. The fitter you get, the more effortless you will be able to make your exertions look and soon you'll simply be dabbing away the odd bead of sweat, rather than needing a towel to dry yourself. 

As for your clothing, rather than simply grabbing some old misshapen clothes from the back of the wardrobe each time you do some exercise, why not invest in some proper sports gear?

Not only will the financial outlay act as an incentive to actually do some exercise, you will also look much more stylish and confident.

Get a proper sports bra for support, some comfortable, well-fitted trainers and some leggings, and suddenly you'll feel less like a couch potato and more like Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis.

The only thing I can't promise is that you'll end up with washboard abs like the Sheffield star.

Are you in the mood for getting fit?

Posted by Mandy Jones