Weight to go

Along with exercise, the key to losing weight has to be what we eat.
As statements go, that must go info the stating the bloomin' obvious section.

Please forgive my GCSE F grade intro but there was a time when I really didn't get that idea.

At school and college I was somewhat bigger than I am now. I was about 16st plus and clocked in at about 5ft9.

Granted it helped on the rugby field (former tight-head prop speaking here) but it just wasn't good for me.

To be frank, I ate a lot of crap food. Granted that crap food tasted fairly good, and it's amazing how bad food does that, but I think the key is I ate a lot of it.

Packets and packets of crisps, pies, pasties, bags of sweet treats - I could go on for ages. Especially when I started work in the newsroom, I ate a lot.

Drink may have also played a part. I had a lot of match practice at the noble art. What can I say? I love a drink.

So what changed?

I can remember bending down to pick up a skittle (the pin and not the sweet) at my local and losing my breath doing it. I caught myself losing my breath doing the smallest exercise.

That single action sparked shock in my head.

So I hit reverse on my diet. Out went the grease and in came the fruit, black coffee and low fat versions of everything.

Since then I've flipped and flopped between fads and foods. Thanks to the WTB I'm really enjoying the healthy foods and veg plays a big part in my diet. Save cauliflower and sprouts. They still belong in the wrong column. And beetroot.

I love food. I love trying new foods. I love watching cooking shows. I now love to cook. It's just now everything is in moderation.

Striking the balance has been hard. It's not always right, but I am getting there.