Year of the Diet: Wednesday Weigh-In 21 August

A relatively quiet week on the blog front means this is my first post since the last weigh-in. What has been happening in the meantime? Well, I had what I'd call my most 'relaxed' weekend in a while. After a family picnic at Ruislip Lido, where I ventured back towards bread and consumed a couple of pork pies to boot, we ate out in the evening. Now, try as you might to make things better for yourself, you know before you step foot in a Toby Carvery that you will be leaving somewhat less healthy. Even with only opting for 2 roast potatoes and filling my plate with cabbage and cauliflower, I could see my Saturday morning run being scrubbed from history at the food counter. Worse still, because we had vouchers for free ice cream and not everybody wanted one, I ended up eating about two and a half portions. Not great behaviour from somebody wanting to lose weight!

Having let my guard down somewhat on Saturday, I found Sunday a struggle and couldn't help but eat a bit more than I needed to have done. A Cornetto from the freezer. A couple of cake bars. A packet of my 4yr old's 'Animal Biscuits'. I was feeling tired from the day before and adding sugar seemed liked a good idea at the time. Except that it never is as you then struggle with the rest of the day as your body pines for more sugar when levels go down. It filtered into my Monday as well and I felt pretty awful at work. I did manage to keep to my diet and just about survived a trip to the gym, but in the evening I surrendered to a large vanilla Onken Biopot which didn't last very long. There are worse things that can be eaten admittedly, but even so, I've come to expect a little bit better of myself.

The Saturday morning run didn't quite go according to plan either. It was always going to happen that I would stop setting PBs and my little run of success came to an end this weekend. After a somewhat slow start in which I got rather boxed in at the start, I used up a bit too much energy getting past people and making up for lost time. RunKeeper clocked my second km at 4m45s which is sub-24 minute pace. Subsequently I struggled during the middle stages of the race, ran out of puff and laboured to a finishing time of 27.04. This was only 13 seconds slower than my best time on the course so strictly speaking not bad, but I was disappointed with how the run went and know there is plenty of room for improvement.

I rather proved my point with that in the gym yesterday. Having been annoyed with myself for my eating over the weekend, and for a pretty pointless session on the treadmill on Monday, I focused on my job at hand and decided it was time I ran 5k in 25 minutes. Barring the first minute when I'm walking at 7kph pace to get the machine up to speed and enter numbers into the computer, I ran the distance at a consistent 12kph for the first 4k, stepping up to 13k and sprinting at 17k to round of the last km. 5k covered in a shade under 25 minutes. If I could replicate that outdoors, I'd be a very happy bunny.

So where am I today with the weigh-in? Well in spite of my weekend excess, I've managed to drop 2lbs. 16st1lb last week, 15st13lb today. Two and a half stone lost since January 2nd and just 6lbs to shed before I reach my target of 15st 7lb. It is taking a while but I'm getting there!

Great to see 15 at the start - been a while!

Finally, I received a pat on the back from an unexpected source at the weekend. My sister and I like all siblings prefer to engage in banter rather that directly offer one another praise. So to receive a public commendation on Saturday night as I did came as a bit of a surprise. True it was delivered as a back-handed compliment, but I'd expect nothing less. Thanks Sis!

Ok so he's a total running and diet bore these days but fair's fair Little Brother looking shit hot! www.yearofthediet.com

As the paragraphs above evidence, I'm guilty as sin of being a running and diet bore. But I'll let you judge for yourself on whether I'm looking as good as she says