Ross move it challenge steps up gear
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
ROSS-SHIRE folk determined to shape up for a new year are being challenged to get moving and accept a fresh challenge.
As life gets back to normal after the festive celebrations, Highland residents keen to shed those post-Christmas pounds are being invited to Move It To Lose It at High Life Highland leisure centres across the region.
Well over a thousand people signed up for the first program in the run-up to Christmas - and lost a total of almost two metric tons in weight.
That's about equivalent to two Minis!
A new six-week program gets launched next week with a host of Ross-shire centres in on the action.
Move It To Lose It is a six-week fitness program kicking off on Monday, January 9 in all participating High Life leisure centres across the Highlands.
The program runs until the end of the second week in February and offers participants an easy, affordable and accessible way to get fitter and healthier in 2012.
With the help of professional High Life Highland staff, weekly weigh-ins, personalised programmes, and the added attraction of great prizes the scheme aims to offer motivation to those needing a little help to get moving.
The winner of the first six-week Move It To Lose It campaign, which ended just before Christmas, was 47-year old Chris Reid from Nairn who took so he could fit his kilt again.
At the end of the six weeks, Chris had more than exceeded his weight loss target – shedding almost 2 stones, and knocking six years of his ‘metabolic age’.
Chris said ’Move It To Lose It has been great for me, the guys at the leisure centre have been super, and have encouraged me all the way. I got into my kilt before Christmas – this is the lightest I’ve been in 25 years, and I feel great. I’d recommend to Move It To Lose It to anyone who wants to lose weight and feel better”.
His prize of a year’s family High Life Membership should go some way to making sure he doesn’t pop those pounds back on.
Emma Thomson, area facilities officer for High Life Highland, who looks after Nairn Leisure, said of Chris’ achievement; “I am really proud of Chris for achieving his goals and getting that waistline down. He’s a brilliant example of just what can be achieved if you set your mind to it and have the help and motivation of friends and of course, the staff at Nairn Leisure!”
Sutherland Swimming Pool won the Team Challenge as the centre with the overall highest percentage weight loss. Gym-goers in Sutherland will soon see their prize of £1000 worth of new fitness kit on their gym floor.
Full details of participating sites can be found at www.highlifehighland.com/leisure-facilities
Inside this week's Ross-shire Journal, Hector Mackenzie talks to personal trainer David Buchanan who has been fronting the Move It to Lose It programme in Dingwall. Read his top tips - only inside this week's edition.
