Once you've strayed off the path of healthy living and put on the odd stone or two, the prospect of returning to the shapely world of exercise can seem simply too daunting to contemplate. Better just to reach for the crisps and the remote control? Hardly. As our Times Health Club members of the month show, once you've made the decision to try again, the support and encouragement of fellow forum-posters can help to ensure that a regular regimen quickly starts to bear joyful fruit. So if by any chance you've been slacking, prepare to be inspired.

My fitness gave me a newfound confidence'

Member Christopher Smith

Prize £100 of Snow and Rock vouchers (www.snowandrock.com )

Christopher, 46, lives in Warrington, Cheshire, with his partner Debbie, and works as an HR manager at Royal Mail

“I used to be a serious athlete and ran all sorts of marathons all around Britain. Then in the late 1990s I started having problems with my back. Spondylosis (arthritis of the back) was eventually diagnosed, and it's not curable. So I stopped exercising and put on 5st over about seven years. Then late last year I read an article about someone who had really helped their back by doing Pilates, so I tried it, hated it and bought a yoga DVD. I stuck at it, and within a few weeks saw a tiny improvement. Desperate to stop the back pain, I did it more and more, and before I knew it my back pain had all but disappeared.

“After joining the Health Club I started reading fitness and nutrition articles by Amanda Ursell and Matt Roberts, which got my mind ticking over. I had an awful diet, and would eat nothing all day then eat all the wrong things, and too much of them. I weighed myself for the first time in years and realised I was 15st 3lb. I was shocked. So I gave up alcohol, cut out saturated fats and salt and started exercising again. On my first run, I could do only about 200 yards, and one sit-up exhausted me. Six months on, I'm running six to seven miles a day.

“I used the tracking tools on the Health Club from day one for both exercise and food, and seeing the graphs going the right way spurred me on. I had lost 3st by the middle of March. Now I weigh 11st and have drawn a line there.

“But my biggest achievement is learning how to swim. My success with the weight loss and my fitness gave me a newfound confidence. I went to a class and sat outside for 40 minutes because I was so terrified. But I persevered and by the fourth lesson I could swim a width. My goal is to do a triathlon.

“It's just been a huge chain of events. The Times Health Club instigated the whole thing, and I'm taking it farther than I ever dreamt. I have new goals now. I'm doing a parachute jump at the end of this month, plan to do the Three Peaks Challenge next year, and I've signed up to do the Marathon des Sables in 2011. It is a 150-mile run across the Sahara desert in five days, in 50C heat, described as the hardest foot race on Earth.”

You feel there's always somebody there for you'

Member Steph F

Prize Mid-week break for two at Champneys (www.champneys.com)

Steph, 51, lives in Sussex with her husband and 22-year-old twin son and daughter. She has lost 10lb on the Health Club since January

“I was never sporty at school and had a tendency to be a bit overweight. But when the children were at nursery, I started going to classes at the gym. I do four or five a week: high impact; steps; circuit training; and dance aerobics. I enjoy them very much and they fit really well into my timetable, which is the key to making it work. I can't bear the gym - so tedious. You can sneak off easily too; not with the classes, though!

“As you get older, you need to put more effort into maintaining a certain level of activity. When I stopped working and was socialising and eating out a lot more, the pounds began to creep on - only about 10lb but enough for me to notice. Coincidentally, around the same time I saw the Times Health Club advertised in Body&Soul. I'm very glad I did as I've now managed to lose that excess. And since meeting that goal, I've set a new one: I want to lose 3lb by September 1, so that I will weigh just under 10st.

“I joined the Health Club to lose weight, to motivate me to do the exercise, and just to keep me aware of what I'm doing and what I'm eating. That's hard when you're cooking for a family.

“I've changed my diet and eat a lot of vegetables now. My downfall is my sweet tooth but I'm trying to fill up on fruit so there's no room for puddings. My family aren't terribly enthusiastic about eating all these vegetables, but they're having to go along with it because I do the cooking!

“I track my exercise on the Health Club, which keeps me motivated, and I log in sometimes just to have a chat and see what's going on. A couple of months ago I saw a post from Sam R who was doing a half-marathon quite near me called A Night to Remember to raise money for St Barnabas Hospice in Worthing. So I decided to join her. I trained by continuing my gym classes and started walking to places where previously I'd have driven.

We did the half-marathon in June and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and as a result I've signed up for the London MoonWalk next year. I've heard on the forums about other people signing up too.

“I met up with a few members recently to give a pat on the back to Ron Strutt, who did the Dover to Durness cycle ride. It was lovely; it feels so friendly on the Health Club, sharing tips and advice.

“You feel there's always somebody there for you. I hope I give the same support that others do to me.”

The Health Club has helped me to reorganise my life and balance it out'

Member Thomas Simpson

Prize specially fitted Brasher walking boots and socks worth £120 (www.campcraft.co.uk )

Thomas, 71, a former social worker, lives with his wife in Fleetwood, Lancashire

“I love retirement. I have a very close-knit family (a son, daughter, and three granddaughters), who I spend a lot of time with, and I'm also a member of Gideon's International, so I'm involved with church work. There is a sea wall around Fleetwood and I walk around it facing the Lake District. It's so atmospheric, with the sound of the sea and the waves lapping, and the view out over the fells.

“I was a voluntary ranger for 19 years in my spare time, in the Lakes, which I adored, and used to do a lot of fell-running. My friends and I used to do the Lake District 3,000ft challenge (climbing four 3,000ft-high mountains within 24 hours) every year, but I had to give that up about 15 years ago when I tore something in my leg. Now walking is my main exercise. But in October 2006 I had a series of infections which led to shingles. I had just worn myself out and so I had to change my life radically. I put on a bit of weight when I was ill and lost my fitness. I remember, that December, I had been in the house for a long time, then went outside and felt the wind on my face. It just felt so wonderful.

“I gradually built my fitness up again and then, last December, decided to do something about my weight, so I joined the THC, as it came at just the right time for me. It has just worked wonders. I log my exercise daily and record everything I've eaten. Whoever designed the website should be applauded; it makes it so easy to keep on track. I try to hit a certain nutritional target every day and track all the leading food groups on the Health Club: fruit and vegetables, proteins, carbohydrates, pulses, fats and water. I didn't have a bad diet before; I was just eating too much. I find food very refreshing now.

“The structure of the Health Club has made it possible for me to reorganise my life and really balance it out, particularly with diet and nutrition. Since I joined, I have lost 2st and now weigh 13st 6lb. My goal is 12st 12lb, which would make my body mass index just right.

“I don't use the forums because I have some knowledgeable friends who give me all the advice I need. My goals are quite a personal thing and the Health Club has worked very well. Just because you think you're getting older, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't do all you can to keep well and ward off any future nasties. I've lost the extra weight, regained my fitness, and am delighted.”

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