The Battle of The Bulge!!

I am going to blame Jenny for this, although that is probably a bit unfair as will become apparent later.... I was talking to Jenny and her husband Rob the other day in the pub and as things do in the pub it all seemed like a good idea at the time. She had just got herself a new FitBug and was using it as a tool to assist in getting fit. So I went out and got one, for anyone not familiar with the things, it is basically a glorified pedometer which you can upload statistics to their web page to monitor your progress against a set of goals, it also requires you to put in some measurements of your current size. I have been quite proud that I have been able to get into the same size jeans for the past 15 or so years, i.e. a 34 inch waist, however I now understand that I have what is known as a muffin top sort of body, which is not good at all....... My actual waist measurement around the widest part is somewhat larger than that and is closer to 39 inches, ooooooo!!
So it was apparent that some serious weight loss is required, necessitating dieting and exercise the first things are:-

1. Eat less!!
2. Eat more good stuff and less bad stuff, and no the salad bits on a donner kebab are not part of the 5 a day!!
3. Use smaller plates, the look full with less food on them, see 1 above
4. Go out and get active, the FitBug counts steps, try to get to 10,000 per day
5. Go swimming, there is a pool just at the end of the road on which I live
6. Walk to the pool, don't drive unless already in the car and returning from somewhere else
7. Eat more fish
8. Eat more fruit
9. Drink more water and less coffee
10. Drink a lot less beer!!

I have also had a couple of instances of shortness of breath when under stress during a dive, which is not fun especially if you are somewhere in the 15 to 25m deep phase and there is no way you can get back to the surface safely and quickly to be able to breathe as much as you like, you have to try to slow your breathing, calm down (panic is not good) and catch your breath, then carry on; this can make fore a very uncomfortable few moments trust me......

None of this is rocket science, but it will make an interesting challenge for me, I have actually put some figures on it, I want to loose at least 10kg by the end of the year, or the next time I see Kat, which ever is sooner (and I hope that seeing Kat is the deadline); wish me luck, I will keep this blog updated with my progress.

Update for 19th Feb 2009
I have now managed to carry out some basic fitness tests and the results are not as good as I would have hoped, but better maybe that I had expected. I have also purchased a heart monitor which I can use when exercising either on foot (I am not a fan of running, I think I look like a pratt and run like a girl!!) or if all the bits are included, I can attach it to my mountain bike and ride up and down all the hills of Haslemere, or at least maybe to the sports centre and back. I don't think it is sufficiently water proof to allow me to swim with it though. The bad news is that I have ordered it on eBay from the US and it will be a couple of weeks getting here, but hey that is no excuse.
My step count is a bit below the requirement, I am supposed to do 4,400 per day but am only averaging a bit over 3,000 so I need to get off my fat ass and get walking!!!

Long distance relationships.....

For those of you who know both myself and my beautiful girlfriend Kat it is not new that we have been seeing each other (if you can call it that) for almost 2 years now, our anniversary is in April, but we have been in correspondence since October / November 2006. It all started on the internet, we had both uploaded our profile to a site called Filipina Heart and if memory serves me correctly, she contacted me (the hussy!!!).
After several e-mails and chats using Yahoo Messenger and the very occasional phone call we arranged to get together when I was next on vacation in the spring of 2006. The good news was that we clicked almost immediately, it was only nerves that slowed us down, but after the first kiss I think we both knew that there was something worth building on here.
To cut a long story short, we decided to make a go of it and committed to each other that this was to be an exclusive relationship, i.e. we were to be boyfriend and girlfriend. After 3 weeks together I returned to the UK, leaving Kat behind in The Philippines, and both of us in tears. And so began our long distance relationship and I would like to make some comments about how it is affecting me, some of this may well get me shot, but honesty is always the best policy, this is how it is.
Being 7000 miles away from a woman I am in love with has been really hard in some ways and remarkably easy in others, in no particular order (just as I thought of them) here are my thoughts :-

• I really miss being with her, we hold hands, kiss, laugh and cry and do all the same stuff other couples do when we are together, not being able to is really hard.
• I wouldn't be with out her, I can no longer see my life as complete without her in it, even if we have to endure this enforced separation for a couple of years longer.
• Although we have known each other for almost 30 months, we have only really spent less than 6 weeks together, so how well do we actually know each other? I guess there is still a long way to go on that one, which is something I am looking forward to.
  
• We only get to share stuff occasionally, complicated by the time zone issue (she is currently 8 hours ahead) and also the fact that she works long shifts, so we cannot guarantee a time to talk or Skype.
• We are still living largely independent lives, now whilst this might sound great to the commitment phobic out there, it rather defeats the object of being a couple if nothing changes regarding living arrangements.
  
• Selfishly, I can still do what I want when I want (and I suppose she can too) for the same reason as above, this sounds great but it is actually a little sad and I really want to be in a situation where we do things together, there is no sharing of experiences.
• I have only met some of her family, luckily those I have met seem to like me, but there is a whole bunch out there as well as her friends that I have yet to meet. Additionally Kat has not met in person any of my family or friends, especially my Dad.
• I suppose that being apart means that when we do talk, we have a lot to talk about, not just the weather and how our day has been, but this also means that much of our lives are relative mysteries to each other.
• I cannot be there to support her when she needs it, the job Kat has means that sometimes she has a hard day when a patient doesn't make it and her patients are largely young children, that has to be really hard, I so want to be able to be there for her.
• We have so much to plan for the future and to be honest most of it is only really going to work if we can do it when we are together, since discussing some of it over the phone is never going to be successful.
• I have no firm idea when we are going to be together, or where; my best estimate at the moment is sometime after 2010 once Kat has become a paediatric consultant and hopefully over there as I know for a fact that she wont like living in the UK as it is too cold for most of the year!!!

There is probably one upside although as you will see there is also an associated significant downside, when we get back together the reunion is absolutely amazing, sadly we only get to do that so infrequently!!

Would I recommend it to others, I don't think so as it requires a very strong relationship to make it work with an intense desire to be together in the end. I think it helps that I am already thinking about leaving the UK to go and work and live in The Philippines and everything we do now is a step closer to that. I passionately believe that if you find the right person, you do what it takes to be together.

OK I am going to post this and see what the reaction is, I expect some comments!!

I am bored today, I have had enough of job searching for this week so I have decided to do something different for the rest of today so I have decided to do the following:-

• Cleaning the kitchen, well it needed some TLC so I have emptied the cupboards and cleaned them inside and out.
• Cleaned out the hall cupboard and thrown away a bunch of old crap, put the stuff I want to keep in boxes to keep them neat and tidy.
• Sorted out a couple of things to sell on eBay, auction to start over the weekend.
• Booked a hotel for the last week of my Lean Six Sigma training in Crewe, a Travelodge, but hey it's clean and cheap.

I also got a notification that Kat had put up another blog posting, it made me quite tearful when I read it, it shows how much we mean to each other. She has become so much a part of my life, I had pretty much given up on the idea of getting married or having children, then this amazing gorgeous, clever and caring person comes into my life albeit via a dating website and she does live the other side of the world. We keep it together by the use of phone calls, text messaging, e-mail, Skype and Facebook. I think that if it weren't for the fact that she is so busy with her studies that this might not be enough, I certainly find the separation difficult sometimes, especially when asked what our long term plans are. Although the plans are relatively straightforward, they are kinda hard to explain to some folk as they are contingent of several imponderables happening first such as me getting back into employment and having the necessary finances to make a new life in The Philippines, I also want to be able to work out there too, so I need to get some work oriented qualifications first, as well as some experience. With Kat being a doctor and working on being a paediatric consultant, I guess that I may well end up being a stay at home dad for a while when we have kids, so being a business improvement consultant could be a good way to make money as that can be done from home for much of the time. Also since most of the work is in the major cities we may be too far from her parents to get them to baby sit regularly. Still who said it was going to be easy or even simple, I am looking forward to a time when these are my real problems, not just dreams for the future, and the good news is that being a bit older, I may be in a better position to be a successful parent, here's hoping!!

Jumping the gun??

I just got a text from my wonderful Girlfriend Kat, she has started her own blog here on Blogspot (at http://www.katbyrne10.blogspot.com/) those of you that know us will spot that she has "changed" her name already, this makes me really happy and has brought a smile to my face on this cold and damp day in Surrey.
I am having a pretty good week, several recruitment agencies have contacted me regarding possible jobs, several of which are in companies doing completely different things to what I am used to, however that could be a really good thing, after all change is good!!!
Without stating the bleedin' obvious, I really do want to get a new job, not just because I need one to keep me in the style to which I have become accustomed, including putting petrol in my rather thirsty car (currently averaging about 28mpg or 11ltrs/100km but then again it is a 2.8ltr V6) and feeding my personal thirst for the odd beer or two...... I also want to have another vacation and whilst I am able to holiday cheaply nearer to home, it would not be as much fun without Kat and the bad news there is that she is some 6,700 miles or almost 11,000 km from where I live, so I need to take a long haul flight to see her. Also I just love visiting The Philippines, which is a fantastic country full of really friendly people, some incredible sights and wonderful beaches and places to go diving; basically an absolute paradise and this is where the woman I love lives, not that she gets out much since she is studying to become a paediatrician which involves long duty shifts in the hospital. I really do want to get back out there to see Kat and her family again soon, I don't want it to be as long as last time, almost 18 months.... Also I have a new God son to see (we did that by proxy as I wasn't at the christening, don't ask it's just a bit too weird).
Anyway, got some stuff to do later so time to post this...

Not long to go now

Well, it is only a few more weeks and I will become one of the many people who have been made redundant. When I agreed to take my terms from the company I have worked for since 1982. It seemed like a good idea at the time and in some respects it still is for the following reasons:-

• If I had of moved to Switzerland, I would have started a new contract and given up the possibility of the redundancy pay.
• I have managed to get something like £8000 worth of training out of the company over the past 6 to 8 months, even though I have needed to pay for a further £4000 or so of course fees and travel and lodging costs.
• My newly acquired skills should make my new career a lot more interesting and hopefully rewarding than the previous one.
• I have been forced to get out of the nice comfy place I was in and actually think about my future, the fact that I don't quite know what that looks like right now is just a small problem.
• The possibility of leaving the UK and going to live with my Girlfriend is now a much more rational possibility, I was having a hard time justifying leaving the rather amazing ICI final salary pension fund voluntarily, but now that has already happened and I have had an additional 2 years of contributions made to the fund as part of my package.....
• I am also going to get a payoff sufficient to keep me in something close to my accustomed life style for quite some time whilst I search for a job.
• There are some quite good jobs out there for someone with my soon to be acquired skill set, and the pay isn't bad either
  

But as we have all heard the shit has really hit the fan in the financial and job markets (there will shortly be over 2,000,000 of us out there searching for a job) so it may take a while...

I have had my bit of a whinge now, so that is that for this the first of my "blogs", I have had my wallow in self pity the next one will be much more upbeat, unless I want to moan about something that annoys me!!!