Roger Black MBE motivating people to keep fit and healthy

If you have struggled with weight gain over lockdown, then you are not alone. With our daily routines disrupted and so many of our freedoms temporarily taken away, millions of people in the UK have found their weight has crept up.

A quarter of us have put on at least five pounds during the past few months and 3.3 million people have put on more than a stone during this period, according to new research by The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan.Northern Ireland is the area of the UK that has experienced the greatest weight increase, with 14 per cent of people there putting on more than a stone – including 10 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds, more than any other age category.

With 79 per cent of UK adults saying they want to lose weight now that COVID-19 restrictions have eased, 23 per cent say they’re motivated by wanting to drop the weight they have put on over lockdown. Half of us (49%) just want to get fitter and healthier, with just under a quarter (22%) of us admitting we’ve become more aware of the health risks of being overweight since the beginning of the pandemic.

Aston spoke to Roger Black MBE, former Olympic athlete who won two silver medals at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and Mark Gilbert, nutrionist to talk about how we can find the motivation to get fit and stay healthy.

Photo by Sporlab on Unsplash