It's never too late to change. You have to believe that as I have to believe that. if you don't then you're not going to ever start. Late Rising isn't just for those looking for change later in life, it's for those who just want change, perhaps after years on the couch or on medication, alcohol or drugs. Using exercise and diet to improve physical and mental health is hardly new., I'm breaking no boundaries here, All I'm trying to do is document my journey, provide ideas, inspiration and hope. Consider that there is always a spark that can fan a fire. It just needs you to find and trust in the spark. But you have to mean it. You have to want it. Deep down. No-one can make you do this,

So who is this for? Simply put everyone and anyone. Anyone who needs a kick in the right direction. Some sayings are prevalent because they are true. Just because they can sound like cute soundbites doesn't make them any less true. Two that spring to mind here are "The longest journey starts with a single step" and "Anything at all is better than zero" Put those two together and all you need is a single starting step - and you're already on your way. One step.

What are your goals? - So a single step but leading where? Do you want to just become fitter? That's fine. Walk the dog painfree? That's fine. Run a 5k? That's fine. Run a marathon. That's fine. Do a triathlon? Touch your toes? Do 10 pullups? Lift 50Kg? Lose weight? Climb a mountain? All of them? All fine. This is about becoming what you want to be, doing what you want to do. No-one else's goals just yours. Along the way you'll discover it's not just physical fitness that you'll be improving but mental strength and skills. Trust me when I say one won't come without the other.

Why do this? Thats a tricky one - Your motivation is yours, it's internal to you. But you can boil it down again to the physical and mental - remember you can't entirely untie them from each other. You want to improve either your physical or mental health or both. Perhaps anxiety or depression cripples your life. Perhaps you lack the confidence to run, join a gym or cycle in public. Just perhaps you can do these things, one step at a time though.

I'll cover how I overcame some of these issues in other sections of the site but for now it's enough to think about why you really want to do this - Do not fall into the trap of thinking your motivations are shallow - They are yours not anyone else. So you want to lose weight to look good at a wedding - Fine, absolutely fine. Perhaps you'll pick up other goals along the way. You want to prove you're not getting old (man this one hits home I'll admit) - fine perhaps you'll learn some new skills along the way that make the aging process easier - or if you've done nothing or little at all reverse that decline.

So where did I start? If you're interested head over to the Blue Green Gold Grey archives and look for the post called trials and tribulations that explains where i started from. If truth be told I never really knew I was starting something so big but as hopefully you will -I took a single step and never looked back.

At a guess - and stopping being self deprecating is hard I know - no-one is ever likely to read this site or become inspired or engaged enough to change themselves through it. And thats fine. It would be amazing to just have a small impact on one life through it but the real point of this site is to prove something to myself. You see as part of this whole process if I say I'm going to do something then I'm going to do it - that's part of the process and the deal I make with myself everyday. And part of the process was to document the whole of Late Rising. So whether it gets read or not - it got done. Just like weights or miles or stretching. It got done. If you do want to contact me for any reason feel free - even if it's just for moral support or to pass on criticism if that floats your boat - all welcome email withalittlemorefire@gmail.com

Where can it take you? In this case literally up mountains? But it doesn't have to be spectacular - it just has to be