The Programme, week 1: Rachel Macgregor

The main reasons I'm doing the Programme are to get fit, tone up, and find out how to work muscle groups properly. I also hope it will inject some discipline into my fitness regime and give me a basis for a workable fitness regime in the future. In terms of the figures, I'd like to drop from 8st 5lb to 8st. I'd also like to lose about 6 per cent in body fat.

At the moment I'd say I'm in an average state of fitness. I do regular exercise but I think it's fairly relaxed compared to the Programme. I usually exercise two or three times a week, be it swimming, jogging or cycling. I'm not sure about my nutritional state and I've never dieted properly. Just the thought of a diet makes me want to eat more. I hope the nutritionist will be able to offer some alternatives to my diet because at the moment I tend to fill up on bread, pastas and quick meals. I think I need to cut back on my alcohol intake as well, and certainly cut out binge drinking at weekends.

I'm looking forward to doing the Programme and feeling the end results but I think getting started will be a bit of a slog. It will be interesting to see how motivated I'll be once winter starts setting in. It's easy to get out in the summer but far easier to stay by a fire once the weather gets cooler.

I'm not sure if Simon and I will provide each other with encouragement or competition; I certainly think it's going to verge on competition. Right now, for example, he's out on a run and I'm not. I really don't like that.