How to Lose a Belly When You're 42 (part 10)

Monday
I woke feeling rough after a rather boozy weekend. I felt so ill that I let myself daydream about calling in sick and spending the day on the couch.
Anyway, that soon passed and an hour later I was riding my bike in to college.
Tonight, I cooked my usual protein-rich scrambled egg dinner and then did a weights session. I lifted the same weight as the last couple of weeks and it still left me aching but feeling good.
Early to bed.
No alcohol, no junkfood.

Exercise
Rode my bicycle to college and back (about 9.2 miles)
100 press ups
100 triceps dips
100 leg raises
Overhead press (29kg): 5 sets of 5 reps
Dumbell front raises (8kg): 5x5
Squats (36kg): 5x5
Curls (36kg): 5x5
Deadlift (54kg): 5x5
Shrugs (48kg): 5x5

Food
2 x peanut butter on wholemeal toast
Cup of redbush tea
Glass of orange juice
Left over homemade frittata
Handful of nuts
Banana
Mexican scrambled eggs (made with fresh eggs from Martha's work experience placement, peppers, spring onions, mushrooms, homegrown tomatoes, tortilla and served with homemade organic potato wedges [potatoes from Mom's allotment])

Alcohol
none


Tuesday
Weight: 10st 7lbs
I cycled in to work on the Specialized. The roads were wet but it wasn't raining. Still, I got a bit of a soggy bottom so I'll be glad when I find time to fix the Raleigh - I miss the mudguards!
I hardly ate anything at work and then cycled home with a a rumbling tummy. With no time to eat, I took Martha to our martial arts lesson. We did some kata work and then some very basic one step sparring. I didn't get to work up a sweat but it was still good to practise some techniques.
Back at home, I devoured my dinner and then had a lazy hour on the couch before bed.
No junkfood, no beer.

Exercise
Cycled to work and back
One hour of martial arts training

Food
2 x wholemeal toast with peanut butter.
2 x cup of redbush tea
Grape juice
Handful of nuts
Banana
Apple
2 x plaice fillets in breadcrumbs with savoury rice, green beans and broccoli.

Alcohol
None


Wednesday
Drove to work
Ate nothing
Drove home
Tonight, I scoffed a banana and then went for a run. The traffic was so thick that I didn't even bother trying to cross the roads, I simply ran around the side streets in a loop, two and a half times! It was a slow time and I only managed to cover 4.2 miles in 45 minutes. The legs were okay but the chest was a bit tight. How runner marathon runners do it is a complete mystery to me. I felt rubbish by the time I got home.
I spent the rest of the evening ironing, tidying the man cave and sprawled on the couch playing Minecraft!

Exercise
Run: 4.2 miles at 10m 34s pace

Food
2 x wholmeal toast with peanut buter
Glass of grape juice
Cup of redbush tea
Banana
Two huge beef burgers with stir fried vegetables and noodles.

Alcohol
None

Thursday
I had to drive in to work today because I was going to be in a rush to get home in the evening.
I had nothing to eat at work.
At home, it turned out that Lucy was in much the same position and hadn't had time to get any dinner ready. I did egg on toast and then got changed. I was going out!
I went with Debbie, Nigel and Penny to see a covers band called Voodoo Room. As you can probably guess from the name, the band performed a selection of Hendrix and Cream tunes. They did them rather well. The three chaps in the band didn't look anything like Hendrix or Cream - they didn't have anywhere near enough hair and the frontman was in the latter stages of pattern baldness (I feel your pain, brother) so he had what remained of his hair determinedly brushed forward into a high fringe!
They sounded great, however. All three of them were obviously very talented and the songs were faithful reproductions of the originals.

Voodoo Room

The difference, of course, was the modern setting. Solihull Arts Centre is a great venue due to the facilities, the sound, and how comfortable it is. However, it appears to be devoid of atmosphere. While I was sitting in my upholstered chair sipping a chilled ale with the band no more than 30 metres away, I found myself imagining Hendrix at Woodstock, tripping on acid, the smell of weed all around, naked people, dancing, maybe a guitar on fire...
When Nigel went for a wee during the second set, he watched the remainder of the show from the doorway, not wanting to walk in front of the audience on his way back to his seat. That's the 'atmosphere' of the Solihull Arts Centre!
After a great show, we went for one more ale and then fell into a taxi home.

Exercise
None

Food
2x wholemeal toast with peanut butter
Cup of tea
Grape juice
2x coffee
2 fried eggs on wholemeal toast

Alcohol
5 ales!

Friday
Woke up with a headache! I drove in to work because I was so tired I couldn't face the thought of cycling.
At work, I did a warm up for a football game but then left the kids to it. I was the ref and blew the whistle occasionally even though I don't really know the rules of 5-a-side.
I had a big sandwich and then drove home.
The karate lesson was kata-focused with Sensei Ronnie Christopher in charge. We went through Yondan, Godan, Jion and finally Empi - but we only went through by count, I didn't actually get to 'perform' a kata.
In the car on the way home, I bored Martha with tales of training in the 'old days' (about 15 years ago) when I'd go home bruised, sweating and sometimes bleeding. I miss those days.

Saturday
Cycling in the morning with Jonnie, Nigel and two riders I hadn't met before - Chris and Peter.
We set off on a cold misty morning but the roads were bone dry and there was barely a breath of wind. The day gradually warmed and so did we as the route took us through Snitterfield and then on to Wilmcote. Chris was obviously an experienced cyclist who rides just for fun. He wasn't using a bike computer or Strava, wasn't concerned about average times, and left us all for dead on every hill we encountered! Peter was new to the sport but was obviously already fit: he was steady on the flat, pedalled on the downhills and was faster than me on the climbs!
The tea stop was most welcome with two types of homemade cake on offer: ginger or chocolate. I did the only sensible thing and had a bit of both!

The Gatekeeper of Wilmcote (and chief cake-maker)

Chris and Jonnie, and their nutritionist.

The remaining 15 miles was uphill through Aston Cantlow, Ullenhall and Tanworth. My legs suffered and, although I was in no danger of encountering the man with the hammer, I found it hard to maintain a decent average and resigned myself to watching the average drop from 15.3mph to 14.7mph.
Back at base, Jonnie and I refreshed ourselves with hop-based energy drinks while the rest of the men were much more sensible and sipped tea and coffee. Later that day, Lucy and I returned to Jonnie and Sally's to sample Jonnie's cooking (great curry!) and drink a few ales. Needless to say, I found the walk home a little wobbly!

Sunday
Woke up with a monster headache. I was too tired to go to the dojo, too tired to ride or lift weights. I spent most of the day on the couch eating and drinking. What a waste of a day.


Summary. 
The all too familiar pattern: I started the week well and then weekend boozing destroyed all of my ambition and drained me of my remaining energy. 
Still, I'll give it another go next week!

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