Skipping the Weigh-In

Rather conveniently I will be skipping the Wednesday Weigh-In tomorrow. I've got a busy start of the day, getting my eldest to school before running to get on a train to get me to an industry conference. It is probably just as well that I'm not facing the scales in the morning as the results would have been pretty horrific. Any notion of dieting this week went out of the window very quickly and I've contrived to eat and drink in quantity. Toast and booze being the main offenders.

I'm packing my gym kit with me and hope to make use of the hotel leisure facilities at some point while I'm away. It was at the same event last year when I got onto a treadmill for the first time in several years, and so began my flirtation with running, culminating in my first half marathon in March. Given I've signed up for another in the autumn I really need to reverse the decline of the last two months before I find my fitness has totally drained.

I wrote last week that I would be annoyed with myself if I hadn't been for a light jog. I've not, and I feel very annoyed! That said, I did run across the university campus and back yesterday, which both the knee and my back survived intact. It doesn't really count as meaningful exercise, but I was pleased this sudden burst of activity didn't result in pain. Hopefully the knee has fully healed and I can start thinking about racking up the miles again.

I'm not going to pretend the next week is going be in any way disciplined. The conference plus bank holiday weekend does not provide the ideal scenario to watch what I'm eating. It is going to have to be a question of damage control and then pick up the pieces afterwards. If I can re-kindle my running love affair, that may be the springboard I need to get things back on track.

Wednesday Weigh- In - 14 May

I'm a bit late to write this but the weigh in went ahead yesterday as normal. After the 3lb loss in the previous week, I had great intentions for following up with another highly disciplined week. That all went to pot rather quickly as first I rediscovered my love of toast, and then following an already calorie-heavy curry night with friends, followed up with a couple of frankly unnecessary bottles of cider when I got home.

With exercise still off the agenda, though I'm running out of excuses for why, I approached the scales yesterday morning with a fair amount of trepidation. I anticipated a gain and was very pleasantly surprised at the result.

Consolidation, or luck?

I didn't really deserve that outcome but I'll gladly take it. I don't expect to be quite so fortunate next week as my love affair with toast shows no sign of waning, and I'm writing this tucking into a cake that I was presented with a short while ago by my friend's parents. Lovely cake. Not what the diet ordered mind.

Exercise has become a bit of a mute point. Nearly two months since my half marathon and still my trainers remain untouched. The knee feels fine. I've had no pain from the back for a couple of weeks. I really should have put myself through a little fitness test by now to assess if I've properly healed, but it hasn't quite happened yet. 

Earlier in the week I heard the very sad news that one of my wife's former colleagues had passed away. He was a couple of years younger than me, gone out for a run and suffered a heart attack. You hear stories like that and you just think to yourself how crap life can be sometimes. It briefly caused me to question whether I really want to start running again. This was the second person I've known (albeit not terribly well) who has died stretching their legs in the past few months and while I'm aware that in all probability it would not happen to me, you do start to think about your own mortality and how such a tragic outcome would affect those nearest to you.

But then something else happened. A very brave and courageous young man by the name of Stephen lost his battle with cancer. I'm sure you know who I'm talking about. Something who loved life and maximised the opportunities that were offered to him during his short time on this Earth. I was fortunate enough to spend some time with another young man who didn't live much beyond the age of Stephen. That experience taught me to make the most of life and while I've no intention of putting myself in unnecessary danger, to live life in fear of what might be is no way to live. Otherwise I'd stop driving the car, leaving the house etc.

So at some point in the next 7 days I'm making it my plan to go out for a light jog. Two months off plus a couple of injuries means my fitness levels will have dropped and I've no idea where I'm at. A short and easy run to dust off the cobwebs to break myself back in is the way forward. I will be incredibly annoyed with myself if come the next weigh-in I've got to fess up to not doing so.

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• Wednesday Weigh-In 7 May

Lord of the Rings?

5 years, 9 months and 2 days on, today has been the first day since before my wedding that my hand looks like this.

Yes, it is a hand

It is strange to think that I spent just over 28 years without a ring. My hand has felt totally naked and noticeably lighter without one. Now for those wondering why I've dropped the gold, the tale is far less interesting than the single ladies of the world would like it to be. I'm still very much married, and for as long as my other half will have me, that isn't going to change. Instead it is more a question of ring preservation.

Last month I lost it. During a meal with family, I suddenly noticed the ring was no longer on my finger. Moments before my little one had been sick, mostly into my hand. I spent the next few grisly minutes going through the bag containing the contents thinking it may have slipped off during the clean up process. It wasn't there, and a few more frantic moments later it was found in my son's change bag. It must have self-detached whilst I was rummaging shortly before the vomit episode. Reunited with my ring, I vowed to do something about it, to ensure I didn't lose it again. And then did nothing at all.

Yesterday, whilst pushing my eldest on a swing, the ring flew off my finger and into the chip/bark covering of the playground floor. The proverbial searching for a needle in a haystack followed, not particularly aided by two 5 year olds boys who dearly wanted to help but their efforts of kicking the bark only served to disturb the ground, risking covering the ring. Fortunately it caught the sight of another parent before I had to consider acquiring a metal detector. My ring has remained off my finger since to ensure no repeat.

So what has happened to cause jewellery to want to remove itself from my person? Well, it would seem that my weightloss over the past year has resulted in a thinning of my fingers, making the ring a little too loose to wear safely. I was looking a resizing back in January but rather baulked at the quote I was given. Unless I want to start heavy food consumption, it looks like a price worth paying to ensure that I'm not third time unlucky.

Wednesday Weigh-In 7 May

Bank Holiday Weekends. I'm about as far removed from the stereotypical DIY enthusiast as you can get, so I was never likely to be found doing odd jobs around the house over the long weekend or eyeing up bargains at Homebase. With no projects to sink my teeth into, I was a little worried how three days at home would negate my good work whereby I resurrected the diet and kept to it during the working week. I needn't have worried however, as rather than spend my time thinking about food, I had three Fs to occupy my time, namely Family, Friends and Football.

Saturday was spent primarily with my boys, with a spot of gardening and lots of laundry thrown in. Sunday was a time to catch up with old friends. I'm very fortunate to still have a very large close knit group of friends from secondary school. Even though it is 16 years since we sat our A-Levels, get the group together and it is like time stood still. Five girls and guy went wild at Bekonscot Model Village, well, as wild as our spouses and children would allow! We don't see each other as often as we should, but on the occasions that we do it is so lovely. Now we all have kids or bumps in production, it is less of a boozy affair than in yesteryear. Bearing in mind these guys can remember just how big I used to be, it is always nice to hear complimentary comments about how I'm looking these days. 

I'd promised myself not to have a drink throughout the weekend, but Sunday night I caved in to the bottles of cider in the fridge. And why not frankly. 7 days of being very disciplined merited reward, and basking in the afterglow of time spent with old acquaintances, I very much enjoyed a glass of something nice with my wife.

Bank Holiday Monday presented a different challenge. As a lapsed supporter of Slough Town Football Club, I made the journey to Burton Latimer to watch the Rebels face Kettering Town in a play off final for the right to earn promotion to the Southern League Premier Division. Well aware that the majority of my readers are unlikely to give two hoots about a non-league football match, I'll skip all the drama of Slough overturning a two-nil deficit to win 3-2, and instead report that I did remarkably well in terms of food and drink control. Rather than visit the obligatory burger bar, I endured my 99p tuna sandwich acquired from Londis pre-match. It was priced at 99p for good reason too and not an experience I'll be looking to repeat again in a hurry, but the net result was an improvement on the greasefest I would have bought at the ground. Only one pint of Guinness pre-match and none in the celebrations that followed. I did permit a celebratory take out Monday night instead of cooking when I got home, but even that was a better option that join the players and supporters in the Herschel Arms.

Cider and pizza perhaps cost me a little on the weigh in this morning but overall I am very pleased with the outcome of an otherwise very disciplined week. Last week the scales had nudged up to 14st 8lb. Today I'm showing a 3lb loss. That'll do nicely!

Better than last week!

My plan for the week ahead is to build upon the success of the last 7 days. Today has not been a great start, adding a savoury snack to my salad at lunch, but after a couple of interrupted nights thanks to the nocturnal child, I knew I required something a little extra to make it through the afternoon. So long as I don't make a habit of doing so, I'd like to think the scales will be favourable again next week.