Weigh In (2)

Oh my giddy aunt; has it REALLY been six weeks since the first weigh in?!

It is a strange feeling getting back into 'the routine' of my dose of Tuesday night truth. I call it truth as that is precisely what the scales tell. You don't get a result followed by 'but you're big-boned' or 'it will take a while for your efforts to pay off'; you are just told how heavy you are. I'm not as scared of it as I used to be (intensely apprehensive yes; but not scared), but that may well be because miraculously I am now weighing in at 17 stone 3.4 pounds; and oh YES I am rounding down to a flat 17st 3. Three pounds off; blummin' marvellous!!

I say marvellous, but it is even more marvellouser as this comes after a period of minimal exercising - particularly this week. All the original plans of early morning swims have not quite come off; well, when I say not quite.....I mean not at all. I have however managed to steer clear of fat food; I mean fast food....or maybe I was right in the first place!

I could chastise myself for not hitting the exercise schedule - annoying, not least because I have to push the whole schedule back, as it hasn't started when I should have started - but there is a lot to do to reach the goal that currently dances far on the horizon. I need to realise from previous experience that there are a lot of things to do; over a large amount of time. Whilst it would be nice to start everything at once, it is neither practical, nor realistic, nor sustainable (can you use a 'neither' and two 'nor's in a sentence? I can hear my English GCSE teacher turning in his strait-jacket). For now I am just going to give myself a pat on my slightly less fatty back, and take great comfort in the fact that for the moment I have cracked the hoodoo that is pizza, KFC, McDonald's, Fish and Chips, Chinese and Curry (one more and I have one for each day of the week....no NO NO stop thinking like that...!); and I have lost three pounds.

So it's positive for now. Well, I say positive but......can I be honest with you? I am very VERY worried that this time I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew. I'll talk more about it later, but there are indeed a lot of things to do; and looking from where I am to where I am hoping to get I am honestly not sure I'm going to do this. I guess it's typical of any long journey (metaphorical or not) when the entire road stretches out in front of you; uncertain and more than a little daunted. One thing I know though, is that I should be spending approximately 1% of my time looking that far ahead, and the remaining 99% looking at what I am doing now. Well, of course not right now as typing a blog doesn't help me lose weight (mind you, if I typed non stop I wouldn't be able to eat........hey, I've seen the range of mad-cap suicide diets out there; this isn't that different); just got to focus on eating well and for now let the future take care of itself.

Tricky weekend as I am up north. Afternoon tea at the Midland Hotel (Manchester) tomorrow before going to see Sarah Millican; then off to Mum's for a couple of days. Not looking forward to next Tuesday's weigh in already....!!

Finally.......I think....

After four visits from a British Telecom engineer, about fifteen phone calls to the useless operatives at Sky TV, about three months with internet access ranging from rubbish to non-existent, and a partridge in a pear tree; I can confirm that I am now officially.....

.....fanfare please.....

.....back online!!

It's been a nightmare. Not only have I had a severely limited chance of chatting to (or should that be talking at?) you lovely people, there have also been those many other practical things (paying bills, checking bank account) which I have been unable to do. It's true; I am now officially a man of 'the net' and would struggle to survive without it. Fortunately, it's now back; and so am I!

Plenty to talk about over what I suspect will be the next two years plus, so I'll break you in gently. For now I will just say that I have already run in to the first of many challenges along the way when going for a swim this evening. The pool was heaving, leaving no room for my pathetic version of front crawl (in every sense of the last word). All I need is a straight line to follow, but it was a total mess of people swimming like Ian stuffing Thorpe (that is his middle name), people floating and hoping for the current of the pool to 'waft' them to the other end, and my own personal favourites, the people who stand in the pool to have a chat!; are a couple of chairs in the bar not conventional enough or do they just enjoy getting in the way??!

Yes, there may have been - as some newly-wet swimmers proved - the possibility of weaving in amongst the flotsam and jetsam, but one of the issues with my current level of front crawl prevents me from seeing where I am going; and even if I could I think I would struggle to change direction.

I am sure I will get better, but I am currently trying to squeeze in 4-5 swimming sessions a week and need to schedule them so it is not too busy in the pool. SO, tomorrow morning will be the first (and possibly last) 6am session. Yes, 6am; in the morning. I used to do the early gym start thing a long time ago and once I got used to it, it was fine and even enjoyable.......

.....once I got used to it.

Well, that's the plan anyway; but when I am woken up by the clock radio and have to get up before Chris Evans is anywhere near the studio, it is not going to be pleasant.

Never mind; at least I have the weigh-in to look forward to tomorrow......

......CRAP!!!!!

My Friends......My Friends.......!

Well this is what they most sarcastically term a 'blummin' good start'. Bet you thought I was never coming back did you? Hope you haven't given up on me.

Yes, yes; I know. I am a very bad person for rewarding such loyalty and continued interest with....well....nothing. I do however have a reasonable excuse in that I have been without internet access - or indeed phone line -  at home for most of 2014. It is not a story which at the moment I have either the time or inclination to go through; suffice it to say that I will as soon as possible be changing my internet provider and kicking Sky and all its wonderfully expensive channels into touch. I am not a violent person but if I could have reached through my mobile and grabbed the throat of the guy I was talking to........have you ever seen Road House??

It is a strange feeling of disconnection to be disconnected. Not pleasant; especially for me who manages a lot of things - not just this blog - on the net. Yep; it's true that you don't realise the value of something until you are without it. I am having to squeeze the basics (paying bills, balancing the bank accounts, checking e-mails) in my lunch half-hour and the odd Costa Coffee. I sincerely regret that that doesn't leave a lot of time for us. It may be good for us both if we went and saw other blogs......

Just kidding; I don't want you to go, but at the same time it is going to get pretty tedious if you keep popping in to the same two (now three) blog posts aren't you?

I promise you I will be back, and hopefully soon. I have been assured that 'they' (whoever 'they' are) are on the case and it is only now a matter of days (not encouraging; it could be 365 days!) before I am back online; in the meantime I will update what I can when I can. There are certainly things to be said; good job really.

Oh and if you're worried that you might be missing out on my spectacular weight loss; don't. It's spectacular, it involves a weight change.....but it ain't a loss........

Weigh In (1)

Towards the beginning of this adventure you and I are embarking on (oh yes; there’s a you and me now, too late to avoid it!) there will be a few bits and bobs to establish; the first of which will be what is known as 'the official weigh in'.

A big part of what I am trying to do is to lose weight; whether directly or indirectly. I want to exercise more (which should result in me losing weight, which will make exercising easier), I want to eat better (which should result in me losing weight); I want more energy and to feel better (which should come from losing weight, are you seeing a pattern emerging here?), I want to be healthier with no joint pains, staving off medical problems associated with being fat (losing weight making a big difference), and of course I want to complete an Olympic-distance triathlon (losing weight therefore and absolute must!....and no, not just because I will have to wear a figure-hugging wetsuit that leaves NOTHING to the imagination.....okay partly because of that!!).

Nerve-wracking it may be, but regular and regimented weighing in is an absolute must. A few pounds off will motivate me to push on and lose more weight, whereas a few pounds on will make me reflect on what I've done in the last week and pinpoint exactly where I have gone wrong. (Both of these you will also get a special insight on through the miracle known as the written word; lucky you!!). If I get on the scales either nilly or indeed willy, I will(y) never know what works, and what doesn't.

So, as of now (or actually as of yesterday); Tuesday night will be weigh-in night. Put it in your diaries now. In fact if you're trying to lose weight too, let's strike a collective fear in scales everywhere; join me in a worldwide weigh in!

At my thinnest in recent-ish memory I have been at about 15 stone 8 pounds. Still a big fella but in my defence I managed to run a pain-free marathon at that weight so it can't be that bad. I knew I had put on weight - quite a bit - before I got on the scales last night, so a weight of 17 stone 6 pounds came as nothing of a surprise (1 stone 12 pounds on; yikes with a double scoop of aye caramba!!). Considering the distinct lack of exercise coupled with the distinctly large number of pizza boxes in my recycle bin, I think - if you will pardon the pun - I got away lightly. I can't say I'm ecstatic about it all, but every journey has a beginning (unless you're George Lucas, in which case every journey has a middle, then a beginning, then an end!!) and this particular journey will hopefully be a positive one. The only tricky bit is that for this journey to begin, I need to know where I am; and where I am is 17 stone 6. Hopefully the heaviest I will be!

Target weight? Good question. Not sure yet, but I'll let you know!!