About

Hi, I’m Colin and I’ve spent my life learning how to achieve maximal health while living the life I want to live. That means combining happiness and health and I call it Fit2Thrive.

I find that everything is easier with play including weightloss and improving your fitness and overall health. Join me on my journey exploring the funnest health advantures I can find.

Fit2thrive is a methodology where you use the challenges of each day to become healthier. The idea is that:

You put your happiness (play) first,
then comes your life (compete). It is what it is so don’t apologise for it.
Finally you take steps (create) by using each day as a step to get from where you are to where you want to be.

Click here to learn more

Know yourself

This site is basically about holistic health. From the nutrients you are made of to the environment you compete in. The trouble is the size and complexity this covers so I’m exploring how to break it down and make it manageable and achievable. Knowing yourself better is a perfect summary of what I am trying to facilitate.

Nurturing human performance

Fit2Thrive is focused on Nurturing human performance with the core principle that

You are human, you are good enough.

My degree covered physical education (teaching), sports science (engineering) and recreation management (business) and gave me a very broad introduction to these fields. So broad that I didn’t quite know how to put all this knowledge into a career or business but what I did know is that most businesses started by those under 30 fail.

So I earned a wage while I learnt how other people built great businesses. and developed my skills in turning other peoples dreams into reality. This is what I have been doing as a software developer for over a decade now, working with clients from the initial idea to the finished product and support phase..

Conquering my own health

Now I am ready to start my own business and really chase my dreams and this past is what I will build on. I have spent 15 years in jobs that don’t promote health yet I have good health. I say that because over time I have noticed how many pills everyone else seems to take and how many limps and pains they get which won’t go away. Yet I don’t take pills because I can make limps and pains and other things go away through in depth knowledge of how I work and experience in applying it.

You are stronger than you realise

When I worked in gyms I worked alongside good people but they didn’t know much about how the body worked. They read magazines and had completed a few weekend courses but they hadn’t devoted 25 years of their lives to understanding how to optimise a human body. I have and I want to share with you the patterns that I use to make each day I live something that makes me stronger and more able to have fun.

The underlying culture of health and fitness is designed to convince you that you and your body are weak and need help for optimal health through pills and expensive machines and trainers but the truth is that you are inherently strong and you can achieve anything you put your mind to. The trouble is simply that the information that tells you how to do this is lost in all the myths and gossip. Though if you know where to look then the puzzle of health begins to unravel right in front of you.

Steps

I won’t teach you how to lose the weight of a cow in 1 month because that is for other people 🙂 What I will do is teach you how you work, which takes time. As you learn you will realise just how easy it is to be happy and healthy through living life to the full simply because that is how we are made.

You first step is to sign up to get my free pdf listing the 7 workout items I use to workout anywhere which will start you on your journey.

The next step is to check out the 3 simple steps you can take each day to ensure that each day is a step toward the life you want to live. Whether you are doing a parent workout, considering your retirement or simply pacing yourself, You will always be taking a step towards a better life and better health.

My Background

My journey to this point has taken around 25 years from the point I lifted my first weight on an improvised weight bench.

Since then I have gained:

BSc Hons Physical Education, Sports Science and Recreation Management from Loughborough University.

4 A levels covering human development

Physical Education
Biology
Psychology
Sociology

Some fitness specific qualifications

British Amateur Weight Lifting Association (BAWLA)
YMCA Exercise to music

And experience in various gyms.

Along the way I also wanted experience of real life so I have worked in IT for many years in different sectors which has given me real experience of the modern sit down culture.

The way I see my career so far is that I have spent the last 15 years learning how to turn other peoples dreams into reality. Delivering high quality projects, products and features. Now I am using that experience to turn my vision into a reality. The vision is:

everyone can get happy and healthy living the life they want to live.

Mission

I have used my health and fitness training and experience as my background and my sedentary jobs as my challenge and developed the Fit2Thrive methodology. Something that is easy to apply at work, at home or anywhere else to build health and fitness right into your day no matter what you are doing.

Site Focus

On this site you will:

learn how to create more free time in your day by using your commitments like work. Home and family as your workout.
learn how to use the time and pressure in your life to make the changes you need fir the lifestyle you want.
learn how to make the process of building your health an enjoyable experience
learn how you work.
not be locked in to one style of health.
be opened up to the infinite opportunities life presents for a healthy life.

If you want a simple introduction to the basic concepts then checkout 3 simple steps to become Fit2Thrive.

The inspiration behind this site is that I want my son to thrive which means chasing and achieving his dreams. To do this I feel he needs to learn three main things:

This is the story of that journey

The idea is to create a life worth living following the principle

Learn from the past so you can live in the present while building a future

It is perfectly summed up with:

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion. some humour and some style” – maya angelou

Living the dream

Several years ago I published an article Living the dream which explores many of the ideas and goals that drive me. It is still an excellent insight into what drives me today.

Finally, just a quick word on what I am NOT.

I am not a doctor, a dietician, or a psychologist. a have a sports scientist degree but am not a registered sports scientist, I have been exploring food, movement and recovery for 25 years with the view to getting all I need by having fun on a daily basis, without the need for supplements like pills and gyms.

This has been a tough road and I don’t claim to have perfect health or and I certainly suffer setbacks. I just feel that it’s better to live a fun life while putting the offs of good health in your favour

The content provided on this website is based on my personal experiences and all techniques
are offered as suggestions of techniques that have worked for me. Not all exercises, nutrition options or meditations are suitable for everyone.

The information supplied is:

a means to support but not replace your relationship with your medical team;
no way intended to be a substitute for medical, physical or physiological counselling/therapy;
not meant to be a treatment, diagnosis, prescription or cure for your condition.

Before undertaking any of the health improvement techniques suggested on this site, you
should seek advice from your own medical practitioners.

I found this explanation about what I am not on takeholdofpain.com and repurposed it for my own because it is brilliant. Friendly, clear and supportive and also about switching pain for fun which is something I like to support.