We need a more fitness friendly environment – but how do we get one? And would we respond?.

For instance – if you’re in a big shopping mall, do you take the stairs or the escalators? A group of university researchers recently chose a big department store to check. They put a sign at the foot of both, saying: “it’s much healthier for you if you take the stairs!” and then they filmed the reaction.
Surges of shoppers, making their way towards the escalators, changed their minds and trudged up the steps. It clearly tweaked their consciences and they took the healthier option. This continued for several weeks – and still the shoppers took the stairs instead of the escalator – they didn’t tire of the message.
Then they took the sign away – and immediately everyone reverted to the escalator. A week later, they put the sign back, and again it had the original effect – a return to the stairs.
So we are like sheep! We have the healthy message inside our heads, but our bodies will take the easy option unless constantly reminded.
Now advertisers know this – otherwise they’d just pay for one advert to tell us that chocolate is a wonderful luxury we all deserve, or that pot noodles are incredibly quick and convenient. They know we need telling again and again, or we’ll forget!
So the healthy message needs to be reinforced with the same sort of vigour – and it must be made easy for us to get fit and eat well. At the moment, our problem is gigantic because we’ve got our fitness and eating habits  out of proportion.
This week I met a top nutritionist from The Fat Panel, an independent body of obesity experts, who reckon we’re all shockingly ignorant about saturated fats and how to avoid them. (In fact there’s been a lot of shocking news about obesity just lately. Did you hear the report that half of all British women cannot do up their own bras?) Sian Porter says we should be taught “easy to remember” guidelines for portion sizes – the absolute key to getting us back on track. And the “buy one get one free” culture is one of the biggest evils in the fight against fat, she says. If you think it’s a bargain, you should ask – what price on your health?
I reckon, in every ad break on the TV, there should be little quickie reminders like these:
“If it’s not in the house you can’t eat it”
“Keep the fruit bowl full and the biscuit tin empty!”
Feel smug by going for a parking space far away from the front – instead of waiting for one that’s near!
If you want a biscuit, put it off for 20 minutes, the craving often goes away…
Always have a piece of fruit in your bag or desk or car.
If you are going to have an alcoholic drink, drink some water first to slake your thirst.
Always have a jug of water at the meal table
Eat more fish
And just in case you think you know what a “portion” is:
A portion of fruit or vegetables should be the size of your clenched fist
A portion of fish should be about the size of a cheque book
Red meat about the size of a deck of cards
Poultry – what you could cup in your hand
Potatoes – one, about the size of a light bulb
Cheese – about the size of a small matchbox
Oil or salad dressing – no more than two teaspoons!
Meanwhile, I’ve just started wearing a pedometer (again!). You know how we are all meant to do at least 10,000 steps a day? Well, last Friday I got up early to cook breakfast for the kids and took them to school. Then I dashed down the motorway to Heathrow airport, and caught the early flight to Belfast. I did five interviews with the Irish media and then spoke at a lunch for Breast Cancer Care. I then went to a TV studio and did another interview, then caught the afternoon flight back, and arrived in time to go and see my youngest son in a school concert. When I got home that evening, utterly exhausted, helped with the homework, did my emails and then fell into bed, I found I’d done 213 (that’s just two hundred and 13) steps.
That’s what I mean by a sedentary lifestyle. It’s certainly not a lazy one – but that’s why I am still fighting the flab.  Energy in is not equalling energy out. Which is why I recommend this little technogadget on my waistband – like Jiminy Cricket, it’s my conscience! But not as loveable.