How to Lose a Belly When You're 43 (part 11)

Monday
Weight: 10st 0lbs
Snow Day! The college was shut for the day.
Thick snow everywhere. Mouse and I took the dogs for a walk around the park and we met the rest of the family there. Mouse took great delight in pelting me with snow balls for the entire 3 mile stroll.
At home, I did a fast and light weights session (although it was slightly heavier than last week.)
In the evening, I managed to resist junkfood and beer.
No junkfood, no alcohol, weight training

Tuesday
Another unexpected snow day! I received an email on my phone while still in bed - the college was closed today too! Today, I walked the dogs by myself after dropping Martha and Lucy off in Solihull. I picked them up and then, after a healthy lunch, set about tidying the man cave.

Walking the dogs in a Winter Wonderland.

This evening's karate session was run by Sensei Mark. He was preparing everyone for the new grading date (17th Dec) which I can't make because I'm attending the Christmas party at Mom and Dad's allotment. After the session, I did a little bit of extra training with Sensei Jodi.
At home, I opened a beer because I'd promised myself one after the session. Strangely, I didn't really want it and kept forgetting about it. How very weird!
No junkfood, karate, alcohol

Wednesday
Weight: 10st 0lbs
Back to work. The roads were terribly icy. Lucy didn't fancy driving on the ice and I didn't like the idea of riding on the ice, especially as cousin Harry has my mountain bike at the moment. I drove Mouse to school, Martha to college and Lucy to work.
Tonight, I cooked a healthy vegetable and chicken stir fry and introduced Tilly and Martha to the anime series Afro Samurai - they seemed to love it although Martha was embarrassed when the characters were snogging!
Later on, I did a fast and light weights session and then settled back to watch the first act of Ip Man. I forced myself to bed at midnight.
No junkfood, no booze, weight training

Thursday
Weight: 10st 1lbs
Bit of a fitness disaster today: I did a great martial-arts based warm up with the sports group with a bit of pad work thrown in. I was feeling good until after my last lesson when, reaching for a pile of folders, I felt my back twinge. It was like an electric shock in the muscles. I gave myself a good stretch and then carried on. 5 minutes later, another jolt and this time it didn't go away. I barely managed to drive home. I got myself in the cave and poured myself a glass of muscle relaxant.
Then another.
Then another.
By the time I had opened my fourth beer, I was stretched out on the couch with Lucy watching Peaky Blinders. My back had gone from electric sharpness to warm and fuzzy. In fact, the rest of me was distinctly fuzzy, including my head!
I stayed up late watching Donnie Brasco.
No junkfood, 4 beers, no exercise

Friday
My back was fine in the morning but got steadily worse as the day went on. By the time I left work, it was painful to get out of a chair...
I spent the evening eating biscuits and feeling sorry for myself (I did, however, watch The Walking Dead season 3 with Mouse which was ace fun.) I stayed up far too late with Lucy and Debbie after I collected them from the staff party in Digbeth.
Bed at 5:15am...
Junkfood, booze, no exercise

Saturday
Woke up feeling crap after 4 hours sleep. Made a fry up for Lucy and me and then retired to the man cave to play records. My back was hurting every time I stood up. Lucy made me feel better with pizza and a beer. Later on, I cooked a homemade curry for the pair of us.
No exercise today, I didn't even set foot outside of the house!
Junkfood, 3 beers, no exercise

Sunday
I woke up with an ache in my back so I definitely wasn't grading today.
I went along to the Walsall Road Allotments Christmas Party and met up with old buddies of Mom and Dad's - Billy, Christine, Clare, Ivan, Kenny, Betty, Rita and Colin were there. We had some quality food and drink and shared a few stories. 
Later, I went shopping around Solihull before Jane and I popped in to see Nigel and Penny at their Christmas party.
Back at home - an amazing homemade pie and a few good beers.
Junkfood, booze, no exercise.

This week was a total failure - the bad back meant I couldn't train. However, I don't see why it means I have to indulge in all the junkfood and booze?! If I can't train next week, at least I'm going to try to keep the naughty food and alcohol to a minimum.

How to Lose a Belly When You're 43 (part 10)

Monday
After two weeks off, I'm back on track.
I jumped on the bike and cycled into work. I managed to eat healthily all day but forgot to eat my sandwiches! Then I cycled home again. On the ride home I was cut up by a rude cyclist clad in Lycra who didn't even say sorry or hello. I coaxed my 1974 Raleigh Compton Grand Prix into a higher gear and gave chase. I didn't have a hope of catching him...
In the evening, I did a fast and light weight lifting session before cooking a protein-packed dinner for Lucy and myself.
Tonight was the first time in two weeks that I haven't opened a beer after my evening meal. Tonight was also the best night's sleep I've had for two weeks. It's not a coincidence is it?
No junkfood, no alcohol.

Tuesday
Cycled in to work. Another day of healthy eating, Cycled home again. Today, I cycled in the larger gear that I'd used last night. The only difference I noticed was an ache in my right knee.
It was a great session in the dojo tonight, with Sensei Mark pushing the higher grades hard. We started off with some fast-paced basics and then quickly moved on to fighting. Sensei Jodi kindly agreed to partner me and I knew I was in for a challenging evening! He landed a fantastic mae geri just above my left hip which really woke me up. After lots more attacks and counter attacks were we put into a line-up where I went up against all of the black belts and 1st kyu fighters. Needless to say, I ended up being rather bruised and battered with at least two of my opponents hitting hard into my guts! I left the dojo aching but happy.
When I got home, I found a message from one of the black belts asking if I was okay and explaining to me that I'm better than I think I am and that I have the potential to be good. This made me feel a lot better about my kumite.
No junkfood, no alcohol.

Wednesday
Uncle Jonnie's birthday!
I cycled into work and back. On the return home, I was cycling into a 20mph headwind so I dropped back down into my usual commuting gear.
After a couple of ales at Jonnie's house, we went down to the local curry house. Obviously, there was no healthy lifestyle in evidence tonight!
Junkfood, alcohol, no exercise!

Thursday
Weight: 10st 1lbs
I cycled in to work in the rain, managed to eat healthily all day, then cycled home. Tonight's 10K run wore me out but I managed to get home in an acceptable time of 63m 40s. Unfortunately, while I was doing some ironing about half an hour later, I experienced a series of sharp chest pains. They stopped after about 20 minutes.
After a healthy dinner, Lucy, Martha, Martha's friend Toni and I went along to the pub for a drink. The girls didn't seem very comfortable with us there so Lucy and I left them to it after I'd finished my Guinness. Back at home, I relaxed on the couch and enjoyed a bottle of local ale from Purity.
No junkfood. 2 beers

Friday
Snow. It was quite heavy and, at the time, the forecast said it would continue all day. My mountain bike has been borrowed by cousin Harry. I didn't fancy risking the skinny wheels in these conditions so I drove in to work in the car. It was Funday Friday in my classroom so I rewarded the students who braved the journey to college with some chocolates. I managed to resist the chocolates  - a fact of which I'm rather proud!
After a day of healthy eating I drove home to get ready for dojo.
I dropped Martha off at work and arrived at dojo half an hour early for the advanced class. Happily, Sensei Mark was kind enough to let me join in with the all-comers lesson. After using that as a warm up, I was ready for the real tough stuff to begin in the advanced session. Surprisingly, Sensei Mark took things down a gear. He put all the emphasis on staying relaxed before the grading. Tonight, we performed slow kata, light sparring and even some new kata at the end! We did 10 minutes of warming down and before we bowed out to go home, Sensei Mark recommended lying in the bath listening to Bob Marley before the gradings this weekend! Chill out indeed!
Later, I picked Martha up from work and had a drink with Nigel. I had an orange juice while he sipped his third pint of ale. I went home to drink tea.
No junkfood, no alcohol.

Saturday
10st 0lbs
During a Whatsapp discussion with the other Weekend Warriors (Nigel and Jonnie) we decided the roads were too treacherous to ride on. Instead, I had a lie in until 8am and then, after brekkie, Lucy and I went shopping.
After taking Martha to work, I went along to this afternoon's karate session.
I was pleased to find that the session was taken by Sensei Gary. He had a completely different approach regarding pre-grading training to that favoured by Sensei Mark. He had us blasting through kata at full pace and then fighting freestyle with mitts, head guards and gum shields! It was certainly a full-on sweaty work out, just the kind I enjoy! I even got to do a little bit of teaching for a couple of minutes which I like doing.
In the evening, I was horribly sober and didn't touch any junkfood. I was in bed just before midnight after a relaxing night of good TV followed by Minecraft!
No junkfood, no alcohol.

Sunday
SNOW! Heavy snow. Everywhere. Mostly on Facebook!
After a lovely breakfast with Lucy, I found out that today's grading had been cancelled. I was very disappointed because I feel I'm in pretty decent shape at the moment, both physically and mentally, and would have had a good chance today. Oh well, there's always next time.
This morning, my one and only job was too clear the snow from the greenhouse roof (snow weighs a lot and we worried about the pressure on the glass.) Unfortunately, I also found out the at the greenhouse door was loose. I was out there with my spanners for half an hour. After I lost all feeling in my hands, I came back in the house. The door was back on but still not running smoothly.

Clearing snow off the greenhouse with my faithful hound supervising.

At lunch time, Lucy, Martha and I walked the dogs out to the park. We had a good laugh at BMW drivers trying to coax their beloved cars along the roads. We even saw one car slide into a kerb on a corner! Silly sods.
The walk to the park was like a winter grotto. The world really can be a beautiful place...
We met Tilly in the park and I quickly discovered that the girls are completely crap at snowball fights: they hardly throw any back and then, when you think the game is over, Martha will wander up alongside and smash you in the face with a rock hard iceball.
At home, I did a quick, light weights session and then had a vegetable pizza for lunch. In the afternoon, Lucy and I watched ALIEN:Covenant.
The start of the film was awesome! Enough hard sci-fi to satisfy my inner geek and scary enough to get the heart pumping. However, as soon as it was obvious that David was the baddie I became a bit disappointed. I couldn't make the connection between the David of the first film and the evil Frankenstein David of this new film. Still, it was exciting enough to entertain us for the afternoon. I'm glad I didn't go to see it in the cinema, however.
We ended the day with a wonderful homemade lamb dinner and, safe in the knowledge that it was a snow-day for teachers tomorrow, enjoyed a few drinks!
junkfood, alcohol

How to Lose a Belly When You're 43 (part 9)

I've had two weeks off.

Sometimes, a beer when I get home is too much to resist. Sometimes, the chocolate biscuit in the staff room cannot be ignored.
I make no excuses for this, it's just part of who I am. My willpower isn't strong enough and I give up too easily. I thoroughly enjoy being a hopeless glutton but, at the same time, look forward to getting back into training even while sipping an ale and eating some ice cream!
Over these two weeks I've had an ale or two every day and have allowed myself all sorts of treats including crisps, white bread and biscuits. However, I've still enjoyed exercise:

• I continued to cycle to work.
• I completed two weight lifting sessions.
• I attended three Karate sessions.
• I completed two 10K runs (64m 6s and 61m 35s)
• Jonnie and I rode 36 miles in the rain at 13.6 mph.

Jonnie and I also jumped on a train to London to visit Carl and my brother. I made the mistake of trying to keep up with those hardened drinkers and almost gave myself alcohol poisoning in the process. I didn't feel like myself again until 4 days later...

Uncle Jonnie in London Town.

As from tomorrow morning, I'll be back in training. I have a grading to pass in a week's time and I'm determined to put on a good show.