In Fatville, exercise always feels like exercise rather than play or activity. Every part of our movement can be quantified and analysed.
If it takes 27 minutes on the crosstrainer to burn off that Mars bar I ate earlier, then that’s exactly what I’ll do – and no more.
Rather than something which we incorporate into our lives without associating it with any kind of drudgery, exercise is increasingly seen as the medicine to combat the ills of a sedentary lifestyle. If exercise is our medicine, the gym becomes the hospital. And with a drop-out rate of 60% after 6 months, it is a hospital that patients voluntarily check themselves out of with great regularity.
Movement has become regimented and compartmentalised in Fatville. We have vacuum packed, manufactured and measured our movement to the point where we pretty much don’t feel like moving at all…