Saturday 18 July 2009

Z perseveres

It has struck me, in the past couple of weeks, that I'm finally getting a bit fitter. By the way I cycle, mainly. My bike only has 3 gears, which is quite complicated enough. But now I go up most hills in 2nd gear because 1st doesn't give enough resistance and I feel stronger generally. Still don't want to think about the bulging calf muscles, though at least I suppose muscles are better than fat.

Anyway, it's taken long enough. But it shows perseverance, don't you think?

Monday 13 July 2009

35

Well, this might be the mid-point of life for me, if I'm lucky. Or the first third. Who knows? But 35 feels quite grown up in a way no birthday previously has before. And with it, the desire to change sweeps back through me, reminding me that it's very easy to get fatter and fatter.

I must start relying on my wonderful wife more – she doesn't need me to cook every meal for her, and I can sit and eat my own food with her and my lovely stepdaughter. Or I can go to the gym, then come back and eat and spend time with them.

Swimming is a recent discovery for me, and a great early-morning exercise. Combining that with a good diet, loads of veg, and evening exercise will be good for me. Because, let's face it, since I started contributing to this I've lost a total of about 6 kilos, which I then put back on in about ten days.

I duscussed this with WonderWife recently, and said to her that she must have noticed how quickly weight falls from me, and how quickly it can go back on. The 6 kilos came off and went back on in a total of about three weeks. It went back on because of beer, mainly.

Beer, as Alistair MacLean once said, is the key*. I know all this, yet I get nowhere. How I wish I had more time.



*I believe this was also made into a movie in the early 1970s.

Monday 6 July 2009

Statistics

Much the same eaten today as yesterday so far - we can't be bothered with the details can we? I mean, how many pots of plain yoghurt and slices of dry bread can one read or write about.

Feeling that I'm a little neater around the waist, I measured it, but there's not any difference from the last time, when I weighed several pounds more. Just to see, I measured the rest of me - 35 1/2, 27, 37 1/2. The same as at the end of last year, but I have lost weight, so that means that the bits between must have gone down a bit. Such as the muffin-top area. Which, above all, is what I'd love to lose. Indeed, I'd say that I wouldn't mind at all if my bust/waist/hip measurements remain exactly the same, if I had thinner thighs, arms and midriff.

Certainly, I'd say that the cycling helps the bum and thighs. I don't want to think about the possible Girton calves I'm gaining.

I read back some way to find out my measurements last time I used a tape measure - I must say, Badge and I have talked some sound good sense on occasion. I should read our own archives more often, for inspiration.

Sunday 5 July 2009

Z diets

So, here we go again. So far today, I've had

Breakfast - 1 slice dry multi-grain bread, 1 small pot (150g) plain yoghurt and 4 strawberries
Lunch - 1 slice dry multi-grain bread, a helping of cottage cheese - about 100 calories-worth - a tomato and a chunk of cucumber. When they're cooked, I'll dissect a couple of globe artichokes, which I'll have with a squeeze of lemon juice rather than butter or vinaigrette.

Later in the day, the family have invited us to go crabbing with them. No doubt we'll have ice-creams - the Mr Whippy sort in a cone, which I suspect are fairly low fat and high sugar.

This evening, I'll have a salad, then a pork chop with various vegetables from the garden, more strawberries and a couple of glasses of wine.

To drink otherwise, I'll have water and milkless tea.

Saturday 4 July 2009

Z starts again

One of the good things about this time of the year is that it's too hot to cook much, so I'm eating very simply - a lot of raw vegetables and salad and a great deal of fruit. I'm even remembering to drink a lot of water. That is, a lot by my standards. I think this is helping to ensure that the heat has no effect on me at all, except to make me cheerful. Well, I'm always cheerful of course *cough*.

So, assuming I haven't put anything on in the last two or three weeks, I've just about met the original target; that is, the doctor suggested I lose a couple of stone. But since my hip is getting slightly worse and there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it, the only way I can place less strain on it is to weigh less.

So, now I seem to have talked myself back into dieting again. I always used to feel most comfortable at about 8 stone 4 lbs (116 pounds, about 53 kilos) - I'm not sure if that's quite realistic for me, but how will I know if I don't try?