So here it is, Merry Christmas

           And another delayed post! Although a lot of people won't be surprised - some may even be impressed I managed two in ten days. This time my excuse is Christmas and my brother coming home for it as a surprise. Lots of business, no time to blog. Time for diet? Time for gym? Time to Drogo? Yes, yes and yes.

            I managed to hit the gym today after being generously offered a half day at work. As the tail end of a challenge I've taken part in I (with more blasé and confidence than I truly felt) recently boasted to a fellow gym goer that I could run further than her in an hour, or something to that affect. I can't remember exactly what I said, but my intention was to imply I could run further than she could in the same space of time. This morning was full of trepidation and doubt, culminating in my confidence nearly breaking upon mounting the treadmill.

            Fortunately it didn't. The challenge was five miles (8km) in an hour. A fifty-five minute run and a five minute cool-down later I had achieved my goal.

            Just. BUT I truly, honestly felt I could have kept running. I hit my second wind around 20 minutes and after that I think my body gave up complaining. I really felt I could have run and run and run. And I almost did; thankfully I called it there. I was a little off balance as I walked to the weight machines but that passed after my legs had a rest.

           

            I won't lie, I was tired but not exhausted. I was pretty damn impressed with myself for managing it - my normal runs are at a slightly faster pace but only for 20-25 minutes - and from now on I am approaching the gym with a new challenge: Never plateau. This wasn't a direct challenge (although nor was the last one, I just took it as one) since I've never met the man who put forward that exercise philosophy. He's also dead, so sadly I won't. However, Bruce Lee was an incredible person and the perfect inspiration for any work out.

            Now, I know some of you are going to be laughing at the idea that I want to reach his level of fitness. If you are one of them you have failed to read my intention correctly. Of course I don't plan to be the next Bruce Lee; by the age of 25 he had already made a name for himself. While I would like to be that incredible, he did die in his forties because he went beyond the level of fitness his body could sustain - not the goal. He is my inspiration and his attitude and technique can be applied to anyone's situation:

• As you think, so shall you become.

• A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.

• Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential.

• Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.
  
  
• If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.

           

            Nothing in the above says you can not achieve great things. Everything there tells me that I can reach new levels and gain new strengths. When someone says something is beyond their reach I can now say, "Not out of mine." If I truly want something I can pursue it; even if a goal is not reached I will have gained knowledge and experience from the pursuit.

            Except flight. Having made the boast to my youngest brother that I taught Clark Kent everything he knew about being Superman I will have to admit that unaided flight is perhaps outside my current or future capabilities.

            Having said that, staying standing proved too much while stretching and having the reaper horn (first couple of seconds) blare into my headphones while my eyes were closed. Anyone who has played Mass Effect will understand why the flight-or-fight mechanism panicked and I say giant red lasers in my minds eyes. I fell over onto someone else and I'm not sure I hid my expression of confusion that well. Fortunately she just assumed I'd collapsed from (hopefully manly) exhaustion and made sure I was all right while laughing it off. I can't say I was at my most eloquent but it was as embarrassing as it could have been. I think it was more a conditioned response to the sound effect rather than actual exhaustion but explaining it could have been difficult....

            And lastly, Merry Christmas! Or Happy Channukah! Or an enjoyable whatever you celebrate - and if you don't, enjoy the time off. If you don't get any of that I hope the festive season treats you well. Regardless of what you do, have fun! Otherwise it's really not worth it, is it?

Once More Dieting for the Beach!

            So it's been nearly a month! Three weeks? Ish? I should have lost another six pounds. Man, being 190lbs would be great - that's only 10lbs from goal. That'd be pretty good going, right?

            Yes, is the answer. As you may have guessed from my wording I have sadly not achieved this progress. I am in fact now 197lbs - that's correct, I've put on one whole pound! In actual fact I put on four and lost three, which sounds a lot better. This was not due to a failing at Drogo'ing (Yes, that's totally a verb amongst my friends and I now - although it doesn't mean we pour molten gold on each other) but rather a spree of comfort eating and celebratory binge-ing.

            I suffered a couple of knocks to my confidence in the time since I last wrote, as well as dealing with the stress of starting a new job while leaving another - by Christmas I will have worked thirty of the thirty five days leading up to it. This combination of emotionally draining factors explains the comfort eating.

            The binges were a combination of celebrations and indulging in the restaurant at my new work place, which is superb but not too caring of diets - I'm pretty sure the chef is from somewhere where the idea of not eating heartily is punishable by becoming a yak and he would only laugh me down if I dared ask about calorie content. I expect roughly 100% less sympathy for these reasons.

            The lesson I'm taking from this is that I can relax the diet - quite a lot - and still recover from it. I didn't give up on the gym. Quite the opposite; I'm being accused of being an addict and fear it may be true. A week without three gym visits leaves me feeling like a failure now. I can also fit into 34" jeans now for the first time in about six years, so I'm going to put some of the weight gain down to muscle development and ignore people who argue otherwise until it's true.

            I did enjoy eating whatever I wanted again but I definitely overate on several occasions & felt pretty bad for it. Which is a good sign - I just have to heed it in the future. I also definitely enjoyed drinking freely again but after half a litre ish of vodka and a two-day hangover I've decided to give that up until New Year. Which can only help the diet :)

            How did I give up excess and return to a self-inflicted, grueling regime of restraint and self-denial? Firstly, my goal has not been achieved. This was foremost in my mind & I knew it would remain incomplete unless I put the effort back into working for it. Secondly I found it unrewarding once I'd gone too far. It just wasn't worth it to continue eating after a certain point. So I put it aside and got back on with working towards what I really wanted - a faster, stronger, better me.

            In one sense I gave up overeating for the same reason a lot of people give up dieting a short while after starting; habit and familiarity. This makes me happy - a warm glow under my aching muscles and occasionally grumbling stomach that let's me know I'm getting towards the level of fitness and the attitude which accompanies it that I want to have. While the last three weeks have been a set back they have demonstrated to me that I want to continue dieting and the exercise on both a conscious and subconscious level. Which is golden.

            So why haven't I blogged in three weeks? Social life, new work, old work sign off, family, gaming and more social stuff. Basically this part isn't habitual yet. I'll work on it - but thank you & sorry to everyone who has chased me up about this blog. I'll try to keep up with your interest in the future! Keep commenting/messaging/telling me your thoughts and I'll try to keep responding to them!

NB: I know England has a tiny beach season and few enough beaches that accommodate it comfortably but if I prepare now I'll be ready for it come July.