Points lost as the going gets tough

DAWN ECKERSLEY — with our volunteers every step of the way — reports at the halfway point in the programme

WITH only a nine- point gap there’s still everything to play for in the race to be crowned Get Moving To Health champions.

The Heavy Mob — led by Maggie Hurley — are leading on 277 with Wide Load — captained by Nicola Melvin — on 268.

Star pupils this week are Big (soon to be Medium) Al, Bernard Stone, Chris Hamilton and Joan Hague who scored maximum points for weight loss.

Others either stayed the same weight or put a little back on — it’s not every week that it’s good news on the scales front as those who diet reguarly will tell you.

And I must mention Chaddy the Owl, whose efforts to step his game up this week have not gone unnoticed and led to a pleasing result when he stepped on the scales.

All 12 of our recruits are putting the hours in the gym and scoring maximum points for exercise session attendance.

And the gang are all religiously filling in their food diaries at the request of nutritionist Louise Brown.

Louise taught the group all about fats and sugars and what kinds of foods they should — and shouldn’t — be eating.

The Eatwell Plate shows us that meals should be made up of five portions of fruit and veg, three portions of meat or fish, three portions of food containing fat and sugar, three portions of dairy and eight portions of carbohydrates.

When it comes to fat we should be avoiding saturated fats — found in butter, cakes and biscuits — as they can increase cholesterol and blood pressure.

Polyunsaturated fats — found in seeds, oily fish and sunflower oil — can protect against heart disease while monounsaturated fats,found in avocado, nuts and olives, not only lower bad cholesterol but also increase good cholesterol.

We can reduce the bad fats in our diet by cutting down on pies, pastries and puddings, trimming fat off meat, grilling, baking and boiling rather than frying and watching portion size.

Next week our recruits will try their hand at a host of fitness tests on the Nintendo Wii. Find out how they get on in Wednesday’s Chronicle.




Chaddy hits the gym to score!



HE’S by far the naughtiest recruit we’ve ever seen on the Get Moving To Health programme and Chaddy the Owl is certainly revelling in his role as resident bad boy.

The cheeky 21-year-old is finally starting to buck his ideas up after weeks of disappointing results thanks to his love of cheeseburgers, Stella and curry.

The Wide Load member has already faced the wrath of team leader Nicola Melvin who has repeatedly had to put her foot down to keep him in line.

And it seems her hard-line tactics may be working as, slowly but surely, chubby Chaddy is cutting down on his favourite foods and hitting the gym in a bid to help his team triumph.

He said: “I am finding it really hard to not eat all the junk food that I used to eat and the changes to my diet are really hard but I am starting to see results which is helping me to carry on with the good work.

“My team are doing really well apart from me who is letting them down a bit but I will sort my act out and help us to earn more points to beat The Heavy Mob.

“I am really enjoying my time on the health programme and my team mates are very helpful and encouraging.”

When he’s not running around the pitch at Boundary Park, Chaddy likes nothing more than a few hours in the gym on the treadmill and cross trainer.

He said: “My family and friends are being very supportive of me while I am on the programme and I am really trying hard to lose my excess weight.

“When the 10 weeks are up I will definitely carry on with the exercise but the healthy eating habits may not last as long.

“I would advise anyone wanting to lose weight to make sure they are 100 per cent committed to the task ahead of them and keep their eyes on the prize.”