Was a bit in my book. Randomly written decades ago about natural proclivities; our appetites and aversions, what makes us tick. With a sly side swipe at expert health and efficiency advisors who ignore those obvious homespun homilies; they keep with the program, to stay in regular overpaid work. That nothing in nature moves unless it has to; whether spirogyra, great blue whale, giant redwood or suburban teen; movement expends precious energy so must be abstained under every circumstance. Means the human being will sensibly shun repetitive recreational exercise – as movement in its rarest form – and is kind of silly, crazy even.
  I read a piece about hospital staff treating morbidly obese patients while calling them, ‘crabs’ and when challenged explained, ‘Because they all walk sideways.’ So orthopaedic technicians investigated and sure enough when you are extremely fat the easiest way to perambulate is sideways. Even when lack of action is killing us we find ways to avoid excess motion, cunningly, determinedly.
  There’s a reactionary angle – wantonly bastardized from Nietzsche and Darwin – how Nature never makes mistakes; EVERY action is causally correct – what direction trees grow, as all fish have teeth, how viruses move, who invented sex? Are each explained by inherited activities to guarantee survival of your self and species. As the best excuse for staying on the sofa but if you want to stay thin and live forever you’ve got to move about.
  And I hate those ‘back-to-basics’ reactionary arseholes. I am not one, despite appearances. That crazy distortion of ‘survival of the fittest’ – from survival of the best adapted, was Darwin’s actual point – to survival of the strongest creature, as the American way, a classic alt-right misconception. As any intelligent socialist knows; most effective actions are necessarily complex, and seldom easy to perform. An aggregated, structured system is essential for adept administration; with taxes collected, problems prioritised, solutions scheduled, information provided, elections run. Partaking daily of agreeable exercise is a rare exception to this red-tape rule.
  My best advice for old new runners is: Don’t do anything that causes discomfort. I mean psychologically; the reason we stop partaking exercise is that it hurts – our bodies relaying what damage is done through our nervous systems. Yet, in order to lose weight one must accept a portion of discomfort – as our bodies tell our ids to tell our egos it’s best to just eat and lie around – is the TRUTH; but in order to burn off surfeit fat we must make our energy-out exceed the protein-intake. Another realpolitik – and like most others is hard to accept, despite the solid logic contained. So, we have to trick ourselves into not hating exercise – is my personal device. A LITTLE A LOT! Is plain common sense – as soon as it hurts stop doing it! And start again tomorrow. Before you know it’ll come without effort, then you can either speed up or go further – if you want to shed more of that unwanted weight. I didn’t lose one kilo until I started running every day, which doesn’t make sense to a scientific mind but sure adds up when you step on those scales – unable to reduce for eighteen hard months and there goes a stone in seven sweet weeks!

My dos and don’ts:
 DO – jog EVERY day – even for a few minutes. I am not sure why this is so important, but it is.
 DO – always run on an empty stomach. They say at least three hours after food. Means best times are 12 or 6 o’clock. I cannot run first thing in the morning.
 DON’T – get any fancy kit from lifestyle lists of latest techno-paraphernalia. Shorts, trainers, two-bit T-shirt and off you go.
 DON’T – worry about times or distances; get out every day, the performance will improve as your breathing gets better.

Stuff I’ve stolen from the telly:
 - Running is a billion times better for you than walking – those jazz, vegan, mountain marching, exotic procedures are nowhere near as efficacious as jolly old jogging – something to do with heartrates and lung function… and who really cares… if it works.
 - Running does not damage your soft tissue tendon/ligament whatevers – our bodies recognise and respond to the action – in fact these parts enjoy the stress and strain of impact, gets them working, motivated.
 - Once you have your breathing sorted most people will increase the intensity of their sessions rather than extend the period worked – time management is all the rage, and if it keeps you happy keep it up.

  To reiterate; running EVERY day was a ‘golden bullet’ for me, as I suspect it will be for everyone else. I became lighter, brighter, sharper, set; two long inches off the belly; no gastric dramas and sleeping like a lamb. If you want to stay toned and easily active while indulging a contemporary sedentary regime, get up off your arse and go for a run.