2013 Phase Three

Posted: Mon 9 September, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2012/13, Domestic, Health, Weigh Less | Leave a comment »

This time last week I wrote about starting the final third of 2013, and what I wanted to be working on with that. Part of that project/phase is to be healthier, and ideally weigh less too.

Because of the change in working location, I’ve had to stop my membership of the gym in Luton, where I was working before. There’s no point in my having a gym that’s 30 minutes away in the wrong direction, and that thus I now wouldn’t be using at all.

I may sign up for a gym in Milton Keynes, as I’m there a lot more often, but I don’t know yet, and I don’t need to decide right now.

What I am doing right now is

  1. Cutting out bread for a while, to see what happens.  I’ve never really done this before, so it’ll be interesting regardless.
  2. Related to one, changing some of the stuff I have while at work, lunches and the like.
  3. Getting out and walking/cycling more.  I went out for a short cycle ride yesterday for the first time in *cough* years, 3 miles in 20 minutes, and I’m hoping that’ll improve pretty quickly.

All told, it can be summed up as “Eat less/better/differently, exercise more.” Whether things will change or not remains to be seen – after all, things only really started yesterday, so there’s some time to be taken yet.

The plan is just to get into a routine on this stuff for the moment, see how it all goes.  I’ve got the plan in my head, but we’ll see how things work out when the real world gets its ass involved.

You Shall Know Him By His Scent

Posted: Fri 6 September, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Charm School, Health, People, Thoughts, Work-related | Leave a comment »

At the new workplace, there’s one particular individual who – to be blunt – stinks.  It’s so bad that you can tell when he’s been somewhere, the smell lingers for a good ten minutes or more once he’s been in a room.

Personally I’m just thankful that I’m not sharing any space with him, and at the same time feeling true pity for anyone who does have to.

But what blows my mind is this : if you smell that damn bad, then

  1. Surely you can smell yourself, or at least be aware of that odour issue?  and
  2. Surely someone else has mentioned it to him?

With Option Two in particular, I really hope they have – I’d hate to have to be the one that breaks it to him. After all, I’m not the most tactful of people…

Diet and Health

Posted: Tue 3 September, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Food, Health, Thoughts | Leave a comment »

Over the last six weeks, the quality of my food intake dropped quite significantly.  It wasn’t a descent into Junk Food Hell or anything like, but I did eat more junk-type stuff than usual, for one reason or another.

The primary reason was related to doing idiot hours on the short-term contract. It wasn’t unknown to leave the house at 6am and not get back ’til 10pm or later. And honestly once it got to that point in time, I couldn’t then be chuffed to cook something vaguely decent. Hell, half the time I had to persuade myself to eat anything at all, which is never a good state to be in.

As a result, I did have more takeaways and so on than usual. not to excess, but definitely more than I usually do.

It hasn’t affected me particularly – I haven’t gained weight etc. – but it’s another of those slopes I don’t really want to get on. I’m aware of it, and I think that’s a good thing – it means it’s not yet the norm, and I don’t want it to be. It’s incredibly easy to be lazy, and it’s harder work to not be, so I don’t want to start heading down the easy route too much. With the new job being (so far) a lot saner, I think I’ll be OK on cutting it all back, and that’s certainly the plan now, getting back into cooking properly and not just taking the easy option.

Mind you, there is a small matter of going to Meatopia this weekend – but I don’t think that really qualifies as junk food anyway!

2013 : Final Third

Posted: Mon 2 September, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 2012/13, Creativity, Domestic, Finances, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Health, Own Business, Web Development, Weigh Less, Weight Loss, Work-related, Write More, Writing | Leave a comment »

So here we are, the start of September. Which means we’re two-thirds of the way through the year. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun?

For me, the first two thirds of the year have been more about staying stable, getting stuff done, getting things in place and ready for whatever comes next. It’s been pretty successful: I’ve got through the bankruptcy period,, I’m pretty settled on location and house for the moment, and  I’ve changed jobs, with all the fun that entails. (Oh, and got some pretty good contacts and future opportunities from people within ex-employer)  It’s looking pretty positive.

But now it’s time to step things up a bit. There are things I want to do, or at least want to start, and see how they work out. The plans and ideas are there, but now it’s implementation time.  (Yeah, I know, heard it all before)  I’m not saying they’ll all work, I’m not even saying they’ll all get out of the starting gate – but I want to at least try.

For this next period there’s really three main projects going on, alongside the general gradual development/sorting of finances, which is now just an ongoing process. The other three are :

  1. Health / Fitness
  2. Project Development
  3. Writing

Pretty self-explanatory, I think. But a bit more detail…

Health / Fitness

One of the goals for 2013 has been to improve fitness, improve health, and lose weight. So far it’s kind-of happened, but not properly. I’ve been going to the gym, but it’s not really working for me – and even less so when it’s now in the exactly opposite direction to where I’m going for work…  So it’s time to rethink (again) and get back into doing something. I’m not yet sure what it’ll be, we’ll see. There’s a couple of ideas, anyway.

Project Development

As always, I’ve got some ideas for some web-based businesses. I think I’ve now got the overall plan, so it’s time to see how things work out. The primary ideas are all based round a particular theme this time, so who knows, it might actually work out. I’m aiming to get the main sections for the first significant project written by the end of the year. Maybe more, with a bit of luck, but I’d like to be ready to get it launched in early 2014 and see where things go from there.

Writing

Similar to the above, I’ve got two ideas that I want to get into some kind of shape over the next four months. I think that’s a reasonable timescale. We’ll see.

So yeah, the next four months ’til the end of the year should be quite interesting. That’s what I’m hoping, anyway…

 

 

 

Bitten to Shit

Posted: Wed 21 August, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Health | Leave a comment »

Over the last two days, I don’t know what the hell kind of flying bug has been attacking me, but it’s had a noticeable effect.

I suspect it’s a horsefly (again) – I’ve had similar reactions before, but in this case I’ve been bitten four times on one shoulder, which is driving me crazy. There’s a couple of other similar ones elsewhere (one on my elbow, one on my leg) and all six have swollen up with an allergic reaction (I assume) which has left me with hard lumps around the bites. My sodding shoulder looks like it could be a bit-part on Hunchback of Notre Dame

I’ve dosed myself up with anti-histamines, and taken some of the annoyance away with an aloe vera gel, but all the same, chuff me it’s annoying.

Body-Image and Vanity

Posted: Thu 1 August, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, Cynicism, Health, People, Television, Thoughts, Weight Loss | 1 Comment »

On Channel4 this week there was a really good documentary(ish) with Alex Brooker about male body image, called “My Perfect Body”

It’s interesting to see how the perception of men’s bodies has changed over the last few years, and particularly a lot of men’s self-perception of their bodies, and particularly the assertions that a man isn’t ‘successful’ if they’re overweight, don’t have a six-pack stomach, etc. etc.  In a lot of ways I think the programme was right, that a lot of men do ‘value’ themselves by way of their bodies, and that this is (at least to a degree) related to advertising/marketing, and those images of male perfection.

The other interesting side to it was about male vanity, and the surge in male grooming, ‘metrosexuality’, and even how male groups react to each others bodies; the basic answer being that men are (in many ways) bitchier to their friends than women are to their friends.

Personally, the whole vanity thing isn’t something I’ve ever been prone to. Yes, I currently want to lose some weight – but that’s more for health reasons and the like, rather than wanting to be thin/’successful’/’desireable’ and all that pap. Realistically, I’ll never be some 14-stone super-fitty, and honestly I don’t want to be.

I find it fascinating how the whole ‘group think’ perception seems to work, but I’m pretty immune to it. I wonder sometimes if that’s because I’ve never really had a whole group of male mates, and never been inculcated into that type of setup. I don’t know.

I’m not going to worry about it – part of my whole self-image/self-perception is probably more easily described as “This is me. Like it, don’t like it. Your choice”.  In general, I’ve always found that seems to be a fairly healthy self-image, and it certainly causes me a lot less stress than a lot of people in the documentary…

Tour de France 100

Posted: Tue 2 July, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Domestic, Health, Television | Leave a comment »

Once again, it’s Tour de France time, and this one is the 100th race.

I’ve written about TdF before, but as always I’m just in awe of the people riding in it. Just taking part is a mind-boggling endeavour, let alone the achievement of winning the damn thing.

As always, it’s the final bits of each stage that I find truly gobsmacking – that these cyclists have already been cycling for three or four hours, up mountains etc., and still finish the stage with a sprint finish. I find that just awesome, and I can’t honestly think of another sport – or even really any other cycling event – where that happens. It’s not just endurance, it’s that mental and physical strength, the determination, and the pure physicality of that final surge, I think it’s amazing.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →