ANY initiative to encourage healthy habits is a good thing.

There are two running this month. One I’m all for, while the other winds me up.

Stoptober is a national campaign aimed at getting people off the fags for a month.

Apparently, you are five times more likely to stay smoke-free if you can keep it up for 28 days.

Signing up is easy and can be completed online in just a few minutes. There are lots of free resources available including tips, phone apps and text support to help you on your way.

Go Sober for October raises money for charity via abstinence from alcohol.

Fifty thousand are expected to sign up this year, all promising to stay away from the pub and not let so much as a chocolate liqueur pass their lips.

The downside: 50,000 people, all banging on about how hard it is not to get smashed four days of the week. Diddums.

Is it a challenge warranting sponsorship, or a chance to tidy up the liver and drop a few pounds before Christmas?

Unless you are an alcoholic, there is nothing heroic about abstaining from alcohol for a few weeks, and I couldn’t bring myself to sponsor an individual for not having a drink.

Perhaps over Christmas and New Year, but who would be willing to do that?

Stoptober, on the other hand, represents a true chance to increase health, fitness and life expectancy by overcoming real addiction.

No sponsorship, just help and encouragement.

Throw all the money you can at a charity, but remember, you can’t earn hero status or change your life with a few nights off the pop, but you may live longer if you can quit the smokes. Bring on Movember.

Ronny Terry is a Swindon-based personal trainer and fitness writer.
Sign up for FREE weight loss and fitness tips at www.switchfituk.co.uk.