My two daughters keep me fighting fit

For the past few months I’ve actually enjoying going to the gym. I know, odd isn’t it?

It’s not the first time I’ve caught the feel-good exercise bug. I’ve taken part in three 10-mile Great South Runs.

At first my training felt like I was running through a large puddle of thick treacle, with every bone in my body aching, but then I reached the stage where I started feeling fitter.

Before I knew it, I could run a few miles without getting out of breath.

My last Great South Run was in 2014 and I’ve been trying to keep my fitness level up ever since I crossed that finishing line near the Pyramids Centre.

I’ve done this by attending a gym in Portsmouth.

Yes, I could use the city’s pavements to run on, which wouldn’t cost a thing, but I feel that if I’m paying a monthly fee, it gives me that extra incentive to get off the sofa and actually do some exercise. With many low-cost gyms in the city, it can work out costing less than a pound per visit.

I feel the biggest benefit of a few workouts each week is the way it makes me feel. Helping to keep the weight off is a bonus.

But I do wonder if I actually get more exercise away from the gym and the treadmill with the help of my two daughters, aged four and six.

When we’re in the supermarket, they both want to help and they’ll ask me to pick them up so they can get an item off the shelf. I can tell you, they aren’t as light as they used to be.

Then there is the walk to their school. It’s only a short walk but every little bit helps and, of course, there is the walk home again.

Then, when they get back from school, they want to play. It might be a game of tag or hide and seek or even Twister. Sometimes it can feel like I’ve had a session at the gym in the comfort of my own home.

Now I’m in my thirties the good news is I feel fitter than I ever did in my twenties and I put this down to two things.

As well as the regular sessions at the gym, I feel you can’t be a parent and be lazy. It’s impossible.

Being a dad to two daughters keeps me fit, healthy and happy and it means when I’m called on to play a game of tag, involving many trips up and down the stairs, I can do it without taking regular breaks to catch my breath and wipe my brow.

SPACE RUNS LOW IN THE EGG FRIDGE

Easter is every chocolate lover’s dream and it’s a time full of temptation for me, a chocolate lover.

For me, chocolate is like kryptonite is to Superman. It makes me weak. A bar of the sugary sweet brown stuff doesn’t last long in my house as inevitably temptation will get the better of me.

There is one rule: all chocolate must be kept cold.

As soon as it enters the house it must make its way to the fridge or, if it’s a chocolate emergency and needs to be consumed soon, the freezer.

But at this time of the year, most of the chocolate doesn’t belong to me.

My daughters are lucky enough to have two granddads and one great-granddad, plus two nans and two great nans.

So this Easter Sunday, I’m sure I’ll have to find extra room in the house for all the Easter eggs.

In past years it has taken weeks and months to get through the chocolatey gifts, but of course, if my daughters need any help, they know exactly who to ask.