Will word for food

I had an idea the other day and I’m going to follow through with it. It’s an ambitious idea and probably pretty silly. It’s not particularly well defined, either, which I think is a good thing for me – it could get quite tricky if I define it too much.

Basically, I’m going to live my life by Men’s Health for a year.

Not completely, of course. I’m not going to take up – forever – every exercise regime in the magazine. I’m not only going to eat from recipes in the magazine. I’m not going to buy all the gadgets. If you’re not familiar with Men’s Health, it’s like many other high-end sub-grot magazines: lots of pictures of gadgets and ladies in pants (often holding gadgets) but also quite a few men in pants. It’s like posh smut for everyone; whatever your gender or orientation you’ll find someone to ogle and quite a bit of body dysmorphia inducing photography.

What I am going to do, though, is buy it every month and try as much stuff from it as I can, especially the “get an xxxx in six weeks” things. Get a six-pack in a month? Well, let’s see. I’d love to be able to try all the gadgets, too, but unless someone sends them to me to double-check the Men’s Health reviews, I doubt that’ll be possible. As for the sex tips… well, I may ask female friends what they think about them as concepts.

Why am I doing this? I don’t want to be muscle-bound. I’m not even that bothered about getting to Men’s Health cover-model standard. I want to look a little better, feel a little better, and see if it’s all actually possible. Especially when I have a full-time job and not a massive income. Above all, I think it’ll be an interesting thing to blog about. A challenge.

Some background

This time last year I was reasonably fit. I’d run a couple of 10k races in respectable times, and was preparing for my first half marathon, which I ran in March. After that, though, I returned to freelance writing as a job, and all of a sudden my time just disappeared, along with my motivation. I ran a bit after that and kept going to the gym a bit, but less and less, until I completely stopped.

I don’t have any excuses. I could say I was spending all my time with my girlfriend (which I was); I could blame work. But, when it comes down to it, I was lazy. I’ve always had that aspect to my personality, especially where exercise is concerned. I’ve been blessed with decent genes and stayed pretty skinny until now, but age (I’m only 32, but still) is overtaking me. This year I’ve gone up to a 34″ waist in my jeans for the first time ever. I have a bit of a belly and something of a bottom.

I’ve never really had pecs or a six-pack to speak of. I’ve always been quite shy of showing my arms and much prefer long sleeves, even in the summer. I used to bike a lot, and then fence, and then run, and had a decent pair of legs. If I had to pick a best bit of myself, it’d be my pins.

Now, I’d describe myself as tired-looking and saggy; my face is certainly starting to show this year’s late nights and long working hours. I’m aware of my belly as I sit anywhere, and the shirts I used to love wearing now reveal a bit of a gut. Time to do something about it. I’ll post some “before” images soon. They will be horrific. I might be in my pants. Sorry.

The structure

Each month, I’ll take a look through the magazine, tell you a bit about it and pick the articles to write about over the month. I’m not going to do everything, and I’m certainly not going to be reproducing any content. If you want to follow along, a subscription is less than £30 for the year, which is pretty impressive, especially at a cover price of £3.99 per issue.

Other than that, no rules. Let’s see how it goes. You can see all the posts here.

Disclaimer

I have nothing to do with Men’s Health magazine. I’m getting nothing from them, yet, or from anyone else I may write about. If I do, I’ll tell you, but let’s be honest here: I’m a freelance writer. I work hard. I earn little. If there’s anything going free, I’m taking it.