There comes a time in most peoples lives when they decide they need to get back into shape. This is usually after the excesses of Christmas or before going on holiday when you have tried on that swimsuit or pair of shorts. The temptation is to rush off to your local health club and sign up straight away. This is not a good idea.

There I nothing wrong with joining a health club but there are some steps you can take to ensure that the get value for your money. In these stricken financial times health clubs are going through a tough time just like everyone else. This you can use to your advantage. In an attempt to attract members many clubs have scrapped the joining fee requirement. If the club you are interested has not tell them that you do not want to pay this fee. If they insist tell them you will go elsewhere, this usually works.

Ask for a week or twos trial membership to see if you like the facilities. Before you sign anything also check that you can cancel your membership at any time. You do not want to get trapped into a contract which means you have to pay for 12 or 18 months even if you have stopped using the club.

You should also find out at what times the club is busy, does this coincide with the times that you would want to use the facility? If so is there enough equipment to cater for the demand? You do not want to be hanging around waiting for a treadmill or bench to become free.

Some clubs have extra facilities such as exercise classes, personal fitness training and yoga. Before joining you should find out which of these are included in …

Are you healthy? I’m not talking about how much you weigh or what size you are because health goes way beyond that. Yes, it’s true that our weight plays an important role in determining our health. For instance, if we happen to weigh a great deal above what our weight for height and age should be, then we are putting undue strain on our joints and organs. In saying that, you can be mildly overweight but still be healthy. The same goes for fitness. I have several friends that are fit, but they are not healthy! The sooner we realise this, the better.

We need to have good health because without it, we are more vulnerable to dis-ease. Diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol, depression, ADD and cancer are becoming more prevalent in our world and they can affect anyone. Just because someone looks healthy, doesn’t mean they are. From the moment we are born, we are slowly dying! Doesn’t it make sense to look after our bodies and our minds so we can make the most of the time we have?

We all know that to have health we need to consume good food and water, do some physical activities, get enough sleep, have a balanced work life and be able to relax. Yes, we all know what we need to do, but we just don’t do it. Why? Because we haven’t programmed our mind to do it. The human mind is more powerful than any health program or diet. Dieticians and doctors can tell us what to eat but unless we include our mind, you will not achieve lasting results to get healthy. Our mind needs to be trained to send proper signal so that we automatically reach for the right food or perform the required …