Springing back

Confession time. I've rejoined the gym.

While this could create a horrifying image of me in shorts and a vest, rest easy. I'm always sensibly presented when working out.
Arms are more or less covered. Shorts are of regulation length (not below knees, not too high above the thigh). Trainers are suitably subtle.

I also swear I'm not a gym 'grunter'. While there's nothing wrong with showing effort and enthusiasm, I'm not a big fan of the loud shouts of strength that you hear. See also clapping, strutting and repeating slogans: 'Feel the burn. Be the muscle. Master the grunt.'

Today's sunshine has certainly brought a sense of spring to my outlook. I feel full of energy again. We've cracked a couple of wedding things and spent the evening looking at honeymoon bits.

It has been a productive day. In fact I've been a bit of a kitchen wonder today. Dinners for the week done. A couple of evening meals sorted.

While this may not sound much, I was the bloke who was fairly dangerous to be around, only in the kitchen you understand.

I would go into more details here but, I fear, my dad is reading this. Ah well.

Still more to do. Time is ticking on.

Eating tri-umph

The last few days have been a bit of a blur.

Early starts at work combined with packed evenings after left us both a little tired.
And, to be honest, my diet has taken a hit.
Take Thursday night's tea.
It was made up of:
A triangle of Toblerone
An apple
One and a half chicken fillets
I'm pretty sure that's all the major food groups covered.
Aren't you meant to have at least three triangle shaped foods* a day?

I've also had a bike riding carrot dangled in front of me. Yesterday, I was given a tour of our new cycling store at work.

It's the biking Batcave.

OK, it's a normal store but it's like a secret base for all the cycling superheroes.

It even has a SHOWER.

Monty must take her place there.

Today, I get to meet up with my best man and my best woman. I haven't seen either in quite a while so to say I'm a tad excited is an understatement.



*Other triangle food: tortilla chips, Dairylea/Laughing Cow, grapefruit bit, two halves of a
Muller Corner eaten at different times, slice of cake viewed from above, samosa, bought packaged sandwiches, slice of pizza.

No pain, no gain

There comes a time when you have a dining experience that blows everything else out of the water.

When the finest ingredients work in harmony with each other.

When the chef is at the top of their game.

When the ambiance and experience of your venue blends seamlessly with your state of mind.


Tonight I had baked beans and fish fingers for tea.


While it goes completely against what I should be eating, and while there was nothing fresh in sight, it was bloody good.
The tasty breadcrumbed fish worked beautifully with the tomatoey beans. The chef had cooked the meal perfectly. And, with an old episode of The Simpsons on, it was a nice time to relax.

So, while the WTB was enjoying a double zumba spectacular, I was tucking into the best that Cpt Birdseye and Mr Heinz had to offer. Pure comfort food.

Saturday. That's my next bike lesson. I spoke to my eldest brother Rich and he recommended the gel pad I fitted to the saddle on Sunday. "You'll get callouses in place you didn't know existed," he said, chuckling down the phone.
He's right you know. I'm pretty sure I've got a normal body but once I start riding properly (see, positive thinking) there will be aches and pains in my shacklegribbler.
And, while I'm laughing here at the Carry On-esque sentence I've just written, give me a few weeks and I'll look back at those words and curse that innuendo-laden sentence.

As I'm working Sunday I've got Tuesday off. Yet another day of avoiding the pub and I'm planning to do some riding on my own.

Bravery, don't fail me now.

Fighting temptation

Like any workplace, the office usually offers up a realm of temptation when it comes to food.

There are the obligatory biscuits and packets of crisps, the occasional plate of sandwiches and, on special occasions, trays of tasty pastry snacks for us to feast on.

In the past I've indulged with the rest of the newsroom and happily demolished the food, grabbing the grub as quickly as I can.

But, and you're no doubt ahead of the game here, I've stuck to my own food since the start of 2012. And I think it has been one of the reasons I've kept the weight off.

I've obviously anger the god of gluttony though as this week we've had:
Biscuits
Cookies
Shortbread
Chocolate snacks
McDonald's breakfast items
and boxes of chocolates

Yeah, it has been a challenge.

In moments like this (as Leona Lewis sang, pop fans), I take a sip of my lovely black coffee or a glug of water, look at the space where my fruit sat (as it's already gone by this stage) and plough on with my work.
I think of the wedding, of staying healthy and how well the WTB and I are doing.
I think of my calorie targets, how fit I want to be and what I should look like on the wedding day.
I also think of saying balls to it all and tucking in to the array* of food.

It seems that every day until September will offer some sort of foodie challenge. Don't get me wrong, it's a great challenge to have.

I've just got to keep going, make sure the big day is always in my mind and, perhaps, take in a vat of apples to munch my way through.




*Using that word as my old editor hated it. I'm not a fan but it's good to give words an airing now and again, just to remind you why you don't use them.

It's about time

I think it's getting to the stage where I need to make time for exercise.

It's really annoying when people say: "The more time you put in the more time you find you have."
That's wrong for many reasons, the main one being we only have 24 hours in one day. This does not change.

OK, I'm taking things to literally but it's getting to me.


Tonight, I had planned to take Monty out for a quick breather in the cold evening air. I know, bikes can't actually breathe but she's locked up all day. The least I can do is give her a change of scenery. And yes, I know it's freezing outside but after a day at the desk it's nice to have a bit of time outside.
Yet I just can't seem to squeeze it in.
After cooking tea, washing up, taking down the washing, hanging out the washing, prepping and cooking lunch for the week, Monty is still tucked away and it's now gone 10pm.

I know I'm in some strange middle ground at the moment. Once I've learnt to a decent level I can take Monty to work and go on a longer jaunt on the way home. At the moment tho, I need time to get myself to that level.

Call this a mild panic. Label this as a temper tantrum. I'm just a tad frustrated.

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.

Nice and spicy

I've come to realisation there's one simple way of making food better; spice.

That's it. It's so simple, it's amazing it has taken me this long to crack the code.

While this may sound like a sweeping statement, stick with me and for a second think about all that bland food you've ever eaten.
Remember how boring a cottage pie can taste? Think about that watery cooked veg that you've had to endure. Think about all those tasteless piles of food 'things' you had to eat. Think about how much better they would have tasted with something spicy added.


Everything, I now believe, can be made better with spice. It can bring your bog standard dish into something amazing. It can transform boring veg into something with zing and zazzle.

I've just spent the evening with the future in-laws at a restaurant chain owned by a celeb chef (he's pukka). Each dish, bar the puddings, must have had some sort of chilli in.
Battered squid? Chilli.
Chicken? Chilli.
Even the greens were laced with chilli.

What backs this theory up? Three words. Cabbage. Soup. Diet.
There's no way I could have managed that week if the soup didn't have some sort of kick in that potentially bland meal. Cayenne pepper was made for this plan.
So there we have it. How to transform your meal. Spice.



Or booze. Booze can work too. Beer and wine with stews. Champagne with oysters. Whisky or whiskey with cream.

So booze and spice. Two ways of making food better.

Or chocolate. OK, three ways.


As you may have guessed, the diet has taken a back seat today. Enjoying life surely has to mean having a rest, now and again, from our everyday routine. We've had family with us this weekend. The WTB has had 'wedding' appointments. We've enjoyed time with those close to us and made the most of the time.
Healthy eating will be back, but all work and no play makes me a very bored eater. It would make me more likely to cheat and so I'm glad we've done it.
The weight has stayed off (I've only gained 1lb) so I know I can push on from here.

I know, come Monday morning, we'll be back on our rations. But today, we've drunk a lot of tea, eaten some cake and had some wine.

And I've loved it.

The start

Tomorrow I start on the Cabbage Soup Diet. Seven days of soup-based joy with the added bonus of steak later in the week.
The reason? I'm getting married in September. My lady (from here on known as the WTB) and I have decided to cut the crap from our diets for a week to try and kick-start weight-loss.
The best part? Before we cut the crap, we have to eat the crap. So tonight, our meal has consisted of yoghurt raisins, chocolate, wine, pasta, bacon, wine, ice cream and a wee bit more wine.

Thankfully, I'm allowed coffee. The caffeine-packed wonder drink is still one of my favourites. I can drink as much of it as I like during the week. Without it, I would have gone a tad mad.

Wish me luck...