Challenge: Part 1 of 3 in Drop the gym and loose ten pounds in a month

It’s already March. Not sure about you, but I’m ready to admit that my new year resolution of spending more time in the gym hasn’t quite worked out… it’s just not going to happen. Not sure if it’s just that my will power is lacking - or the simple fact that a gym membership can get costly very fast!

(Photo from Flickr by ibm4381)

The best gyms are often more than £50 - 80 a month if you can’t make the off peak times. I’m also sick and tired of calling around looking for the cheaper memberships only to be told by the gyms that you’ve got to come in so that an instructor can “show you around” and “assess” your needs before they’ll be able to give you a price. Why! It’s obvious that this is just a way for them to sell you more than you need. Then there are the activation fees - £25-40 just to join? Of course there is always a way around these - but if they’re so easy to wave, isn’t that a major reason to question why they’re even there in the first place? I don’t like being a member of a gym that’s trying to take advantage of me. And worse, to get the best deals, you have to commit for a long term plan. I’m sure we all have our own horror stories of signing up to one of these - only to end up shedding wallet pounds and nothing else… Did you know that only 27% of members use their gym every month…!

So, I’ve spent my last three months looking for a gym looking for a deal that suits my budget. If I’m honest, I’m just wasting my time. Do we really need the gym to get fit?

I’m taking on this challenge: Without spending a single pound on a gym membership, I’m going to drop five pounds during the next month and have fun at the same time!
I’ll be posting all my tips and tricks in this series of blog post and keep you updated via twitter - so follow me there!

Want to join me? Got any advice or ideas on how to exercise without the gym? Leave me a comment below and let’s get started!