Get ready everyone, Mr Motivator is back and better than ever! Now 56 years old, the nation's favourite fitness expert is fronting a new campaign for GMTV called Get Motivated. I caught up with the man himself to find out where he's been in all that time, and was given an unexpected grilling on my own lifestyle...
You've been away from our screens for 9 years. What have you been up to since then?
Everything. I’ve continued my lifestyle, obviously promoting health and fitness, doing a lot of talks for different companies. I’ve been running a business in Jamaica called Heaven Sent, where we get people to come down and say nice things about team-building and customer service work. Basically I’ve continued my job the same because there’s no difference between how I was then to now.
You’re back on GMTV fronting your Get Motivated campaign. Can you tell me a bit more about it?
When they contacted me in October last year and asked me if I’d consider coming back, I said tell me more. They then suggested we set up some sort of club which has a doctor and nutritionist, and I said, as long as I can come back and do more than exercise, like interviewing, those were the only reasons why I came back. It’s been great because in the 90s when I started I was like a voice in the wilderness. It was what people needed to hear but it had a fun element so they didn’t really take heed but now everyone is having to take heed because our lifestyles are so different today.
Where have you been so far for the campaign?
We’ve been all over the country, different areas. It’s interesting how you ask me where we’ve been because going around the whole country, we’ve noticed such a difference between each place. For example, I’ve got some research information in front of me from Glaceau VitaminWater and it's research about the sleeping habits of people in terms of the snoozing we do early in the morning when the alarm goes off. What do you do?
I tend to leave it 5 minutes and then I get up…
Do you? On average more than 60 per cent of us hit that snooze button at least twice in the morning. It goes off and we lie in bed for at least another 9 minutes and then we hit it again before we get up. A third of us dream that we’re on a tropical island, that’s interesting. It proves that we do just need to get away and that’s what I had to do - go off to Jamaica and enjoy what I felt I ought to be enjoying because otherwise if you’re out there just working, working, working there is no real joy in what you do.
You spoke to Gordon Brown about the campaign didn’t you? What did he have to say?
It was interesting talking to him because at the end of the day you wouldn’t have thought that he would be someone who is into fitness but he genuinely is. And he said to me that every morning between 6 and 7, he goes jogging so that’s one thing that’s important, him telling everybody that. And the other thing he said was ‘I always find time to play with my kids’; now how many parents out there do find time to play with their kids? They’d rather put their kids in front of a television and say, ‘look, watch tv or go on your computer’. The other thing he said was ‘I do watch what I eat’ and that’s something that we all need to do.
So that's why we've become fatter as a nation?
Yeh. It’s not about diets, it’s about sensible eating and leaving the table half-hungry. It’s about saying, look I won’t have that extra pie I’ll have half of this one. Another thing we don’t do enough of – we don’t stay hydrated. We don’t drink sufficient water and I think it’s critical that we do.
It’s definitely a big challenge you’ve set yourself. Do you think it will work?
I think it’s up to us to first of all, set our goals to a reasonable level. I think very often we set them too high. And then when we try to get to it, because we didn’t do them in small steps, we fail. While if you just say, well, I do intend to run a marathon, but what I want to do today is only run 100 yards, that is the way to do it. And when you’ve done 100 yards you reward yourself. Don’t feel that it’s a punishment. I say to people, at the end of the week, you’ve had a good week of watching what you eat, have a splash out. Have an evening where you actually go and spoil yourself. Whether you go and eat something that you really fancy or have a drink, go and do it. It’s all about moderation. Do you moderate?
Erm...I try to!
What about your vegetables? Do you push them to the side of your plate?
Definitely not Mr M (get in the good books, you know!)
Good, because I know that my eldest daughter, I had real problems getting her to eat her vegetables, and she soon found out when she had to have a minor operation to boost the iron levels she lost that if she doesn’t eat plenty of green vegetables, she’s going to have problems. I think parents are the answer to most of the health problems today.
So what do people have to do to get involved in the campaign?
In terms of the Get Motivated campaign, all people have to do is go on to gm.tv and they can register there. But what’s critical is that people make a change themselves and say, look, ok here is what I want to do. My target is that I want to start feeling good about myself. I’m going to get up in the morning and the first thing I’m going to do is look in the mirror and go “wow! I feel good.” The next thing you need to do is stop yourself hitting that snooze button, so you might as well get on with life. Then what you’ve got to do is put some essential vitamins into your body. That’s really quite critical, it’s definitely going to re-charge your body. The next thing you need to do is set yourself a realistic target of where you want to go. If you want to run, fine! Just set yourself small steps and you’ll get there. The final thing is make sure you have a buddy, you’re best having someone who will support you when you’re feeling down, and lift you up when you’re not feeling like doing much. All along I think we all need a support mechanism and, going back to the GMTV club, that’s what it is.
It’s all about thinking positively isn’t it?
Yes, I think positive aspirations are quite important. Talking about positive thinking, there’s a saying that if you gravitate what your dominant thoughts are, if you say to yourself I always seem to fail, that’s what you will do. So yes, positive thoughts are important. What’s your target for this year?
(thinking) Cut back on the booze?
Ahh, well when you say cut back, I think it’s important that you say to yourself, how much do I want to cut back? Because cut back is like saying something is lower in fat but how much lower than what? So I think you need to have a real figure in mind and you can be working towards that figure by saying ‘I’m going to have just one glass of wine a day because I’d usually have five.'
I wouldn’t go that far Mr M!
(laughs) I’m lecturing you now aren’t I? Tell you what, what we need to do is get all the gang in your office and make a plan. Are you all going to run this year, are you going to run a marathon or anything?
I’ve thought about doing the Race for Life…
Good on you! I should come and do the warm up and, that way we can get you guys fit and healthy!
Away from the desk?
Yes, off your fat butts!
Suppose you've got to be cruel to be kind! Anyway, I saw your good self on telly the other day and, you’re looking better than ever. What have you done to maintain your shape?
I’m on a maintenance programme. I’m not training to be a super-Olympic athlete as I’m only able to achieve a certain level of fitness. What I do everyday is get up at quarter to five and I do my exercises and by half past 5, it’s done. I do a combination of some cardio and weight training. I’m pretty sensible with what I eat and what I drink and that works for me. I’ve got plans to live until 112; at 110 I reckon my right arm is going to drop off!
Do you feel just as fit as you did 9 years ago?
Yeah. Certain things are different. I mean what I find nowadays is that I do need to train in the morning because it loosens me up. I do actually need to do more weight training. So as you get older you’ve got to change your routine to suit your lifestyle. I don’t do as many cartwheels as I used to. I do the same amount of press ups but yeh I’ve had to modify my routine but, it works for me.
I’ve noticed that your grandson, RJ has followed in your footsteps (Mini Mote!)…
Yes, and I’ve got a younger one who wants to do it as well, he’s only two at the moment, he’s called Daniel. I think that’s what we’ve got to take into account, get with your kids and have fun together. They’re the next generation and will keep you going but if you ignore it, they will become fat.
Before I let you go, I must ask you Mr M - where do you get your lycra outfits from?
I have a gentleman down in Brighton who, for years, has made them for me. I’ve got about 300 of them. You generally will not see the same one twice! But, if I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be Mr Motivator, I’d be just some guy in a black pair of shorts and you wouldn’t be talking to me now. Lycra is good!
After kindly informing me that they are in fact called unitards, the chat with Mr M came to an end. You can catch him back in action on GMTV most week days.
FemaleFirst: Fiona Haran.
Tagged in Mr Motivator