Still On the Road

            I made a bacon pie yesterday. It started life as a chicken and asparagus pie but I was feeling a bit down and had bacon available. I had also skipped breakfast so didn’t have to feel guilty about it. It was glorious and wonderful and I will probably make another before the end of the week.

            Apart from making people want to eat bacon, I say this to demonstrate that dieting does not mean you have to cut out all of your vices and favourite foods. To be fair bacon isn’t that many calories in and of itself but I know people who think they can’t eat chocolate or cake or a list of other things that they love and would miss terribly. This makes the idea of dieting repugnant to them and so they don’t enjoy doing it, and probably stop doing it. However, I eat whatever I want as long as I can work it off later, or I can go without eating other stuff for awhile. Having said this I have a massive tube of Lindt Lindor on my desk at home that I don’t think I’ll ever finish as I can only have one a week – not because they are individually calorific but because it takes a great deal of willpower to stop at one rather than eating the entire tube in frenzy of gluttonous glee. I’d wake up after the sugar black-out surrounded by red Lindt wrappers the morning after the chocolate massacre and might breakdown in tears because of what I’d done/sugar-come-down.

         So while I know I keep saying ‘you can eat what you want’ there is a certain measure of control involved. If you slaughter your way through packets of chocolate continuously you will probably have to do so while using a treadmill. While I accept not everyone believes in a zero-point economy, I think most diets work on a zero- or negative-point system, in that you have to balance or under-pay the calorie side to make progress. This can entail quite a lot of work as you have to eat to live (obviously) and want to eat a satisfying amount. I have noticed I can no longer eat as much as I used to – although I gave it a good go at pizza hut on Friday – which is great because I have less of a desire to eat more and that helps a lot.

On the down side my stomach has apparently not communicated this effectively to my brain and as such I still order quite a lot, usually resulting in wasted money rather than me eating too much. Once I learn to master this balance I’ll be a lot better off health, weight and money wise but in the mean time I guess I’ll just have to keep learning. But that’s okay – I knew when I signed up for this that it would be a continuing mission to explore strange new ways of eating so I’m aware I need to be in it for the long run.

I’m now a spritely 228.5lbs as of this morning, meaning I’ve lost just under 30lbs in four months. Four months ago I would have said ‘yeah, I could do that’ but I wouldn’t have believed I would. I’m glad I have done, and more so that I’ve kept it off rather than slipped back into old habits. My goal is still 182lbs but that might change to more like 190 depending on how much I get into the gym. Either way, I won’t be so upset when people park badly in parking bays as I’ll be much more able to squeeze through the door with greater ease and grace. I already feel less like a geriatric elephant when I have to try, so that’s got to be a good sign.

Here's One I Left Out Earlier!

Hello! I am aware I have been rather lax over the last two weeks about this blog, but work started heating up and I had to do a bit more to stay on top of things and then I went to Barcelona for a long weekend. I had a fantastic time and didn’t worry too much about the diet – not just because I was on holiday but also because I walked about 6-8 miles a day due to underestimating distances. I blame the map not having a scale but hey. My weight currently sits at 233lbs, so I only put on two. While a little disappointed I’m also pretty happy I didn’t just bloat back out – I really did eat just about anything I wanted to out there so I got away fairly lightly, all things considered.

            I plan to be going back to the gym a lot more now. I used to go with a couple of friends but one of them had to focus on her thesis and the other didn’t really need to go as much as me, so didn’t. However, the first has finished her thesis and the second will probably come along if we’re going anyway so hoorah! Failing that, I’ll just gym by myself. I’ve decided to pack in more rowing and a little less treadmill-work as it’s better for my stomach muscles and upper body – nothing to do with the boating adventure I had in Barcelona whereby I and two friends set about trying to sink the other British tourists rowing around the lake – while also still being some cardio work. It burns less calories, apparently, and I know building muscle increases weight rather than decreases it but I’m primarily focused on losing shape more than anything so I’m okay with that. I’ll also be doing normal cardio as well, so that’s fine.

            My big dieting tip this post is be like Nike: Just do it. Over ate? Go exercise. Don’t make time – just do it. Walk instead of driving somewhere, a 10-20 minute jog around the block or jumping up and down to your favourite music continuously for a good ten minutes – knee jumps or jacks, whatever works. Just. Do. It. Otherwise you’ll never get it done and there is literally no time like the present.

            I know inertia is a massive force to have to counter act – both in the psychological sense and in the physics of the action – but it’s got to be done. That’s about 30% if the work right there. I was going to lie and say ‘half the work’ but that’s not really true. It’s an additional 60% physical exercise and 10% bloody-minded persistence. Kind of like a lot of things in life really. But I assure you doing things is the way the get things done. I also find it’s more fun which is always a bonus.

            So next time you’re walking back and think, “Man, I wish I could cover this last couple of hundred metres faster,” just do it. Break into a jog or a run. If anyone looks at you funny ignore them and just keep going. You’ll be past them soon enough and they’re rarely important enough to worry about anyway.