Wednesday Weigh-In - 28 January

When this blog goes quiet it usually means I'm falling off the diet. My lack of activity this week does not reflected calorie loading on this occasion. True on Saturday night I devoured a large bag of jelly babies (and again on Sunday), but by and large things are still on track. I've been less prolific with my writing this week due to laptop issues and not wanting to type out on a tablet. So you'll have to trust me that things are still moving along.

The best thing I can do to demonstrate this is to show the results from my weigh-in this morning, which again produced a loss. 2lbs gone again this week, meaning that since 2 January the scales have dropped from the wrong side of 16st to under 15. 18lbs in total and I'm feeling a lot better about myself and looking in better nick.

Back into 14st territory. Rejoice

So it has been a very productive month to date, and done a lot to correct the damage I inflicted upon myself through the excesses on November and December.

At the moment I'm still finding my way back into running, and have been sticking to just the Saturday morning 5k. As my waistline has receded and my body has got used to the idea of exercise, it has become more comfortable as the month has progressed. I'm not immediately looking to set myself a challenge for this year, but there is talk of signing up for the Maidenhead half marathon in September, and I couldn't resist putting my name into the ballot for the Royal Parks Half in October. I've got unfinished business over the distance but not going to rush into an event I've not trained properly for.

January has been alcohol free since New Years Day, but I'm looking forward to enjoy a glass of something nice with my wife in early Feb when we celebrate her birthday. She has also been dieting in recent times and has been doing brilliantly, so I think we both deserve a night off from our respective plans.

Wednesday Weigh-In - 21 January

This morning was the third weigh-in of the year, and for the third week running the scales said something nice. While the rate of weightloss has reduced, I'm more than happy to have said goodbye to another 2lbs. Keep going steadily at that pace for the next few weeks and I'll be getting back to where I want to be. Fingers crossed I dip under 15st next week.

From 16:3 to 15:1 in 19 days

Tomorrow promises to be quite testing for the diet. I've been invited to a conference and awards do for the use of social media in graduate recruitment. Food will be served and I imagine there will be drinks on hand too. I'll have to be at my level best to not go overboard with the former, and keep up my January abstinence for the latter. To be honest, I'm expecting to have to write a confessional blog on Friday but we'll have to see.

With birthdays coming up in my household next month, it is important to finish January strongly. That way I can feel a little more relaxed about celebrating with my loved ones. Porridge and soup continue to work for breakfast and lunch, giving relative freedom for whatever I fancy for dinner. Monday I put together a little chicken and green peppers in oyster sauce with egg fried rice. Last night was Moroccan spiced pork with cous cous. Both were very nice and clearly not detrimental to my waistline.

Away from the dieting business, there are more reasons to be cheerful with my youngest's physical development. Last week I posted a little clip of him at a physio session having just received a walking frame. Today I've got a little vine from the weekend, when he decided that he wanted to be a footballer!  His future sporting achievements are more likely to veer towards the paralympics than the Santiago Bernabeu, but like any daddy my heart fills up watch his son kicking a football, even in his own unique style.

Moving on from a let down

Sunday represented my first let down day of the year. By this I meant I let myself down on the diet front. Little man had me awake most of the night and as I wearily made my way through the day, I couldn’t resist reaching for crisps and sugary badness. One bad day in three weeks is not going to hurt me, but I was a little disappointed with myself for breaking in those circumstances, not least as I was telling myself to stop but couldn’t quite bring myself to do so.

Despite that, I’ve been pretty consistent throughout the week and have reasonable expectations of a positive weigh in tomorrow. My wife cooked a smashing Slimming World Moussaka which I managed to extend to three meals due to leftovers. Vegetables and lentils were pretty yummy and I wouldn’t be averse to eating it again. Of the soups I’ve been eating for lunch, the lentil varieties have been my favourite as they have a nice chunky stew effect and help to fill me up until dinner time.

Last Saturday I felt I made progress on the running front. My third 5k of the year and easily my best, not that there was much competition. I shaved 80 seconds off my time from the previous two weeks and felt like I was getting into a decent rhythm. There is still plenty of scope for improvement given my PB is is still a long way off, but I’m pleased to be moving in the right direction by feeling both physically and mentally fitter. Hooking up with an old school friend for future Saturday morning runs ahead of his half marathon can only help to push on and I’d like to think I’ll be improving my time on a weekly basis henceforth.

The weigh-in comes tomorrow and though I don’t expect things to have changed dramatically, I am predicting a loss. The first two weeks of the year produced astounding numbers. Every lb lost from here on will be more of struggle, but any loss will be welcome.