January
 Do you have a healthy diet and fitness regime and have you any plans to change this for 2009?
 I have to confess that my fitness regime, if you can call it that, is in part driven by a desire to combat the finger buffet circuit associated with my job at the Chamber. An expanding waistline is almost inevitable so regular exercise seemed necessary for that alone but I have to say I am totally addicted and enjoy it for wider reasons too. I have been a regular cyclist for a number of years, although I am not one of the svelte lycra clad athletes you see powering along in droves on our main roads, more the well built singleton struggling up hill and dale on the back roads of the Shire.
I plan to continue to cycle and perhaps my changed circumstances in 2009 will allow me to do a little more as I have much of the Shire still to explore. I also want to reacquaint myself with my golf clubs and perhaps take a break from the dinner and finger buffet commitments a little so that I can prolong my life after the Chamber!
Geoff Runcie, Chief Executive, Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce
 I suppose I shouldn't have eaten that apple crumble before answering this question.
"No, I don't follow a fit and healthy regime and to be honest I don't get much chance.
"I have in the past joined a gym and then didn't have time to attend which negated my effort. Because my time schedule is so unpredictable it doesn't help in terms of taking regular exercise but I know there is a lot I could be doing in terms of walking and eating more healthily and yet again I will start the New Year with those intentions.
"I tend to eat chocolate in times of stress and I have been eating a lot of chocolate this last little while and again. That is something I need to look at but being aware of what I need to do doesn't make it any easier to do it. I will just have to find the determination to get on and make the changes this year.
Kate Dean, Leader of Aberdeen City Council
 My first thought was ‘I don't have time for a fitness regime' but then I thought about the miles of corridors I march down each day, travelling from meeting to meeting and was reminded that I'm not exactly sedentary. I ought to wear a pedometer to work but I'm pretty confident that I'm well on my way to the recommended 10,000 steps per day.
"However my New Year's resolution is to make an effort to focus on a healthier lifestyle, eating healthy meals at regular times instead of grabbing a sandwich on the run, and making sure I have some time for myself
to relax, enjoy our beautiful countryside and spend more time with my
family. A healthy lifestyle is one where you've got a good work/life
balance and that's important to me.
Anne Robertson, Leader, Aberdeenshire Council
 Regular exercise has been a constant routine throughout my life. Playing competitive football from the age of eight until my late 30s meant that I was training regularly all that time and I have continued to train since hanging up my boots through gym membership and my passion for golf.
" I find exercise is as important to my mental wellbeing as my physical wellbeing and if I've missed training for a while for any reason it does affect my mood. I feel I need to set myself goals in the gym to maintain my motivation and currently my first objective in the gym is to run 5k in 27 minutes.
"I also watch what I eat which for me means rarely eating cakes, biscuits, pies, fizzy drinks etc. I'm a bit of a wine buff so wine is probably the biggest challenge to my waistline along with chocolate. I'm 50 this month but can honestly say I think and feel as though I'm thirtysomething which above all I put down to maintaining a good level of fitness through playing sports I enjoy.
Richard Carey, Chief Executive, NHS Grampian
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