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!!