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!!!