Well here we go - 2023
It started with a 30 day challenge and now needs to become a way of life!
I started this Substack blog because myself and my long suffering friend, Gareth, decided to shed some pounds over 30 days - and it was a moderate success I believe. But, it’s been Christmas, so the success was short lived!
The festive break has left me pondering, ‘why can’t I lose weight and maintain the loss across time’. I can remember being 14 stone wishing I was 13, then 15 stone wishing I was 14, then… well you get the drift.
I have voiced my frustration to my equally long suffering wife! I work out regularly. I consider myself, taking into account age, general physical ability etc , to be quite fit. I can run a good few miles, indeed ran a half marathon towards the end of last year, with very little negative impact in the following days, save a little inevitable muscle soreness. I go and do gym classes 2 or 3 times a week, and walk the dog daily. I do yoga and stretching lots of days.
I eat a reasonable diet. I am partial to a bag of crisps, and when I say a bag of crisps I mean a whole bag of Walkers Sensations, and I do like a wedge of peanut butter on toast, but generally I’m alright. As a vegetarian trying to be vegan a whole load of calorie infused stuff like pepperoni or bacon and sausage does not feature in my diet. So what is it? The answer is simple. Alcohol.
I don’t drink loads but i do drink with stunning regularity. Pretty much every day…. and when I say ‘day’ I mean on an evening. I genuinely like the taste and genuinely set out to just have one drink. But the problem with alcohol is that the alcohol in the one drink lowers motivation to only have one drink to such an extent that I have two or maybe three, or maybe… you get the drift.
So I think the solution to my ‘waistland’ problem is simple. Knock the alcohol on the head. Now, I’m not going to go out for the night for a meal with the Mrs. or a catch up with friends, and not drink. So the deal is no drinking in the house. Simple.
I’ll keep you posted.
P.s. Two days in and doing alright! ;-)