I’ve now popped our Beat the Couch signs up along East Broadway and North Shore for a little marketing blitz.

I took great care to make sure they were perfectly aligned. I even drove past them again to double check they were smart and evenly spaced out.

However, Mother Nature had alternative plans and it has been blowing a gale out there. We’re almost at find-your-trampoline-in-your-neighbour’s-garden winds and I’ll be lucky if my signs stay in the ground.

If one ends up on your property, I apologise. Let me know and I’ll come and retrieve it. But if you do get one in your garden, perhaps it’s a sign that you should be joining us.

I could give you 100 reasons to take part in the Beat the Couch challenge.

I am so proud of our programme and what our participants have achieved.

There are the obvious weight and health benefits, but there are other things to think about, too.

This applies to lots of other fitness challenges, so I won’t pretend we are your only option. But I hope we are the ones who get to witness your progress.

I love the journey but watching people run over the finish line is the best feeling.

So without further ado, here are five reasons why you should get active and Beat the Couch:

• Show yourself what you are capable of

How many times have you set yourself a fitness goal and not achieved it? Did you beat yourself up about it? Did those negative comments (from yourself or others) start to influence other areas of your life?

Did you use phrases such as “I’m not good enough”, “I have no willpower”, “I’m so disgusting”? You are none of those things.

The problem is that we often set ourselves goals without having the support structure in place to really help us achieve them.

With Beat the Couch, we are your support structure and with your hard work, we will get you through. It takes just one success to show yourself what you can do and it is amazing how it translates to other areas of your life.

Newfound pride and confidence? Yes please.

• Show the world what you are capable of

Your fitness transformation is, and should be, all about you. But you never know who you are inspiring along the way.

Our children need healthy, active role models more now than ever before. How are they supposed to learn how to grow and prepare healthy food if we don’t show them?

How will they make physical activity part of their daily lives if it is not part of ours?

It is easier to maintain healthy habits learned young than to reluctantly change the unhealthy habits of a lifetime.

You can do this for yourself, but you can also be driven by the example you set for others.

• Reinforce a positive mental attitude

When my husband and I were engaged, people always asked me: “How are you feeling about your wedding day?”

I thought it sounded vain to say that I had been thinking about this since I was five years old and that I was beyond excited.

So my default response became: “I’m really nervous.” I said it over and over and over and over. You know what? By the time the big day came around I was terrified.

Running gives you time to think, and as you go through the physical paces, it’s a great opportunity to exercise some mental agility, too.

One of our previous participants used to tell herself, “I can, I shall, I will”. That was her mantra as she ran, and she totally rocked it.

• Earn your 20 per cent

You know the philosophy, “eat right 80 per cent of the time and the other 20 per cent doesn’t matter?”

I have a few issues with that. For a start, putting junk in your body always matters. Why work really hard to build yourself up, only to knock yourself down with chemicals and junk? That’s a confusing message for you and for the people around you.

But if your 20 per cent is still clean, whole and somewhat healthy (think organic dark chocolate or cookies made from scratch), that’s a philosophy I can embrace.

It feels so much better when you feel deserving of it rather than guilty. Keeping up with your fitness goals is going to make you feel pretty deserving.

• Stay one step ahead of your children

I was slim for a long time but I had never been fit until I set myself a five-kilometre target and stuck with it.

When I first started running it felt like every organ in my body was banging together — it was so uncomfortable.

Then one day little Belle shot off across the grass and before I knew it I was up and overtaking her without hesitating for a second.

Normally I would have groaned and begrudgingly stood up, before jogging stiffly after her. It was my first real sign that I was getting fit and I promised myself I would never go back to being the too-tired, puffed-out mummy.

What’s the upshot? You don’t have to run a marathon to get fit. Learning to run a 5k distance is a pretty perfect way to stay active, with very little equipment and the ultimate in flexibility.

Don’t be scared to join us as this is designed for complete beginners and we have people of all shapes and sizes taking part.

In the first week we run/jog for 60 seconds and walk for 90 seconds six times. That’s it.

We build you up from there and you will be running the full distance before you know it. Check out the details at www.natural.bm.

• The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION is the managing director of Natural Ltd and a fully qualified nutritional therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in the UK. Please note that she is not a registered dietitian. For details, visit www.natural.bm or call 236-7511. Join Catherine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda