Wednesday Weigh-In - 9 April

Last week's scales leap didn't really come as a surprise. Eat more than your body needs and take away your regular source of exercise and that sort of thing will happen. Last Wednesday I was feeling seriously run down. Later that day little man was sent home poorly from nursery and prescribed antibiotics, meaning more interrupted nights and a day off work on Thursday while he was embargoed. Not exactly what I needed. By Friday morning I was feeling pretty rough myself and struggled through a meeting in London and tied up some loose ends at work before abandoning ship in search of a bed where I wanted to curl up and cry.

As it turned out, with a rare opportunity to go to the pub as a couple, my wife and I still made it out for a couple of hours rather than waste the use of a babysitter. I managed half a J2O before I started falling asleep at the table in mid conversation. Last of the hardcore drinkers is not a title I can associate with myself these days!

The last time I checked the scales was on Saturday and they read 14st 3lbs, a reflection that I'd been well off my food in the previous 24 hours rather than dieting like a boss since the last official weigh-in. My appetite hasn't really picked up much since then as I've continued to be under the weather. The little man has been a bit more co-operative over the last two nights, though on both occasions I've still ended up leaving my bed midway through the night and settled down with him.

Thoughts are already shifting towards my next fundraising challenge. I'm signed up for a half marathon in London in October, which hopefully gives me enough time to rehab my knee and get it ready for some serious mileage again. I'd been looking forward to participating without the pressure of doing so for a charity, but having spent the last couple of days at Brainwave Centre so my little man could be assessed, I get the feeling October's run will end up as a means to generate funds for his continuing involvement in the programme. In a nutshell, they help kids who have had a difficult start to life to achieve their potential. Over 2 days we sat through a number of physio sessions, joined in with hydrotherapy and came away with a tailored workout that will hopefully help with his physical and emotional development.

Back to me and the diet, I'm not overly worried about the waistline. I didn't want to get unwell but it was rather inevitable having been around a snotty toddler with very little escape. The one good thing about feeling so rough is it has put an end to the constant hand to mouth activity that had become habit in the past fortnight. Post Easter I'll assess the damage and take things from there. In the meantime, hopefully the germs clear up and the appetite will return. Just not too much!

Love your mother, loathe their cooking

A Sunday roast consisting of roast beef, roast potatoes, vegetables, and yorkshire pudding (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It has been a while since my last entry. Getting to grips to parenthood the second time around has been somewhat tricky, with the little one demonstrating nocturnal instincts. With time and energy diverted to getting through the day by any means necessary, both the diet and this blog have taken something of a backseat. I'm pleased to say though that my little nightowl appears to be warming to the idea of sleeping at a more respectable time for his daddy, and so I'm hoping to get things going again.

A restart after a week of Easter eating is not dissimilar to where things began in January after the excess of Christmas. I've enjoyed letting my hair down with a few drinks, inevitable chocolate and general unhealthy stuff and now I'm ready to focus on getting back to basics and get closer towards my target weightloss.

Over the past week, I've enjoyed the very best of comfort food. Nothing hits the mark better for me than a good old fashioned roast dinner. Given recent events and the preceding weeks of diet, I've not enjoyed a Sunday roast for some time, but then just like buses two came along at one. Last weekend I devoured my mother's very best roast lamb. It was always my favourite growing up and now that I get to taste it on fewer occasions, I really can't help myself when the opportunity presents itself. Needless to say, I finished my plate and went back for afters. Self-restraint just wasn't an option. I then went on to help myself to pudding. Lots of it. Not a good day for a diet but utterly satisfying.

On Easter Sunday, I was served another delicious roast lamb dinner, this time courtesy of my mother-in-law with a very similar outcome. My trousers are feeling a little tighter as a result! I've written before about the perils of social eating. Having exhibited utter failure to reign in my appetite in the face of Sunday roasts, I've come to the conclusion that to successfully diet, love your mother, but if you can't give in to temptation, loathe their cooking or at least avoid it!

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