Wednesday 27 July 2011

Special K Diet: Tuesday's Report

Tuesday's are really busy days for me. Work, exercises, to the Mother-in-law's for tea, out to a meeting, and home. Usually home for half nine, ten pm. Very busy indeed.

Yesterday was no exception.

I ate my Special K and skimmed milk for breakfast. To be honest, I enjoy it. Some say it's bland, horrible, cardboard, etc. But to me, it's cereal, part of a healthy, balanced diet, and I'm fine with it.

I didn't really drink much water yesterday, but I ate my Alpen Light cereal bar with pleasure. Although I did bite on an ulcer in my mouth and pop it, but my brain's pleasure receptors were outdoing the pain receptors, so I didn't notice it.

Lunchtime was great. Special K with skimmed milk and two tangerines, and that was it. No more food until dinner.

For dinner, I had macaroni cheese and roast potatoes, followed by a chunk of home made cheese cake. Gorgeous!

I made myself a strawberry milkshake when I got in, and had with it a chocolate yogurt. I had already done twenty minutes on the bike, and I was exhausted and shattered, so didn't do my dances or weigh in. I'll be doing that Wednesday night.

If you're reading this and have any comments/suggestion, let me know!

The Dieting Man.

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Special K Diet: Monday's Report

Well, I'm gutted.

Monday started so well. New day, new week, determined start.

Special K with skimmed milk for breakfast. Check.
Alpen Light cereal bar for a mid morning snack. Check.
500ml of water during the morning. Check.
Special K with skimmed milk for lunch. Check.
A MILE long walk to post an ebay item at lunchtime. Check.
Pop in to ASDA for a Mars bar and big bag of M&Ms. Che-Wait, what? Oh damn.

When I got home from work, Mother Dear popped in to see me. She'd been to Scotland for the weekend. We chatted over coffee and a blueberry muffin. Groan.

Wife was exhausted when she got home from work, and neither of us felt like cooking. So we ordered in. Chicken Curry. Naan Bread. Onion bargees. Oh flipping heck.

I did go on the exercise bike for around twenty minutes, cycling just under 5 miles. I was tired and worn out, and didn't do any dancing.

Booted up the Wii, body test. BMI was 33.6. I'd gone up to 14 stone 1 pound. I sat on the sofa and held my head in my hands. Wife berated me, saying there's no point eating Special K, which isn't cheap, if I'm going to eat junk as well. She's right.

I went to bed with this weighing heavily on my mind.

Tuesday is going to be different. I'm really going to try hard. I WILL eat healthily. I WILL exercise. I WILL lose wieght.

I am The Dieting Man.

Monday 25 July 2011

Special K Diet: Friday's Report

Ah Friday, the most uplifting day of the week, particularly when it hits five pm...

Friday started the same way as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday... a bowl of Special K drenched in skimmed milk, as I browsed the net and checked... stuff.

I was in a predicament. I had left my portable cereal and milk containers at work, and I didn't have any spares. I hadn't got rolls out of the freezer. I was out of options. With a sigh, I resigned myself to the notion of nipping to ASDA for either sarnies or pasta. But my dark side had other ideas...

I got to work, and cracked on. My mid-morning snack of an Alpen Light cereal bar was opened, inserted, and gone within 30 seconds of the clock hitting 9am. I love them chocolate and coconut snacks.

I was on my own, which isn't the norm, but halfway through the round my mind was made up: McDonalds. It had been a tough half-morning, I was torn between healthy and pigging out. Pigging out won.

I rolled into McDonalds at quarter to twelve and joined the healthy queue. What I mean by healthy queue was that there was a considerable number of people in the queue, not that the people were healthy... this was, after all, McDonalds. Anyway, I placed my order: Quarter pounder with cheese, large. When asked what drink I would like, I responded with, "Do you do iced mochas?" She smiled, leaned forward, and said, laughing, "What's one of them, I've never heard of it!" I was quite taken aback by this, and only managed, "It's... it's a cold coffee and choco-never mind, I'll have a coke."

I grabbed my goodies, and hoofed it back to base. I sat down, got comfortable, and ate. The burger and chips were finished with a Smarties McFlurry. This diet's going great... /sarcasm

I got home, and did my exercises. Twenty minutes on the bike, three sweat producing dances that exceeded my 1000 sweat-points-per-day target, and then Wii Fit for the body test. Astoundingly, my BMI had dropped a couple of hundredths of a point. Although my weight hadn't changed, it had. I was down a pound. Nice one! The Wii was more optimistic than I was. I was now weighing in at 13 stone 12 pounds, and my target is 12 stone. The deadline for the target is... Saturday. But the Wii tells me that I'm "approaching my goal at a good pace!"

However. There's always a however. Saturday incorporated a trip to the cinema, to see the atrocious Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon. That meant sweets. Not copious amounts, but, you know, a few. It also meant fish and chips... But I did spend the afternoon in the garden felling trees, so I worked up a bit of a sweat there. I was also gardening on Sunday.

Unfortunately, I didn't get on either the exercise bike or the Wii on Saturday or Sunday, so I'll have to wait til Monday night to see what my weight is.

I'm dreading it...

The Dieting Man.

Friday 22 July 2011

Special K Diet: Thursday's Report

Ah, Thursday. Nearly the best day of the week, as it means that Friday is looming. And we all know that Friday is the official start of the weekend. Well, that's what I say anyway...

Thursday started with me shattered. My pal, we'll call him Phil, because that's his name, had come over on Wednesday night to experience the Logitech Driving Force GT, along with Gran Turismo 5 and Need for Speed Shift Unleashed. To say he was impressed is the understatement of the year. Well, no, I suppose that accolade goes to "News of the World has had some bad press recently"... anyway, I digress. Point is, he was at mine til midnight. Not that I'm bothered, I enjoyed it enormously. But it did leave me tired.

So there I am, eyelids drooping, spoonfuls of Special K being chewed wearily as I check my email. All is well in the world of The Dieting Man. Nice.

I'm on a different round at work, and it's like a breath of fresh air. Of course, I still have my early mid morning Alpen Light cereal bar snack.

Now then, remember that I ran out of milk yesterday? Well, yeah. So that leaves me with white rolls, cheddar cheese and lettuce sarnies. I also had my two tangerines. One was dry - I couldn't get my head around that - the other was so bitter it made my eyes water.

I had loads to do when I got home, so I postponed exercising until later. Dinner was satisfying - chicken pie, potatoes and veg, followed by a nice Strawberry Cornetto.

I had MORE stuff to do, so it wasn't unti half ten that I powered up the PS3, dragged out the exercise bike, got Udinese into their kit and started my regime.

I was getting hammered 2 nil, but I managed to bring it back for a disappointing draw.

I cycled for just over 20 minutes, covering a distance of 5 and a bit miles. Now that's a result!

From there, it was on to Just Dance 2, where I bopped to Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend, a song by Daft Punk, and another one which my aging memory can't recall.

Wife took some photos and videos of me on the bike, and dancing... it was shocking. Seriously bad. I may upload some... maybe.

My BMI had dropped a few decimals, but according to the Wii, my weight hadn't changed, even though the graph had dropped. So hopefully tomorrow I'll drop a pound or two.

It got really, really late, and I didn't end up going to bed til half one. I'm writing this at 3.30 on Friday, and I'm exhausted... but I'll update you on Friday's progress soon.

The Dieting Man.

Thursday 21 July 2011

Special K Diet: Wednesday's Report

Wednesday was cold, damp, and dark. It was more like November than July, and it felt it.

I started how I meant to go on: very well. Special K with skimmed milk for breakfast, browsing the net and checking my emails. Pure bliss.

Reality and work followed quickly, and my mid morning snack was well received. I was drinking water like I'd never see it again, I was mega thirsty.

Lunch was back to normal, Special K and skimmed milk. I didn't eat my two tangerines that I'd packed, rather, I spent my lunchtime polishing my boots. Sad, yes, but industrious too!

I had to go to ASDA after work, but I couldn't remember why... I strolled around, picked up some more shoe polish, and spied Frijj Chocolate Milkshake for 50p. BARGAIN! Then I bought a Mars bar, naughty naughty. Both were demolished on the drive home. But I made up for it with 20 minutes on the exercise bike, followed by three strenuous, sweat inducing, heart attack beckoning dances. One was the Monster Mash - what's that all about then? Weird.

I then flipped onto Wii Fit, and I was gutted. My balance was off - not by much, it was 49 ish and 51 ish. But my weight - I'd pu on another pound, so I'm now tipping the scales at bang on 14 stones. Mortified.

But hopefuly, this exercise regime will see results soon - I know I'm still snacking more than I should, but I've cut right down, and I'm eating small portions, well, for breakfast and lunch anyway.

Dinner was chicken curry followed by strawberry cornetto, and then I spent the rest of the night playing Need for Speed Shift Unleashed on the PS3.

Oh, and I remembered what I needed at ASDA: milk. I'll have enough for cereal in the morning, but it'll be sarnies for lunch.

Oh well.

I am The Dieting Man.

Oh, and no photos, my phone was on charge upstairs. Maybe tomorrow...

Wednesday 20 July 2011

Special K Diet: Tuesday's Report

Tuesday went well.

I felt better when I got up Tuesday morning - I say better, it's never a good thing when you've got to be out of bed by half six for work. But needs must, those bills won't pay themselves!

I munched my way through the Special K and skimmed milk as I surfed the net... browsing the latest on Reddit, checking my email, checking my book sales (yup, those are my books on the right there, have you bought one? What did you think?) Anyway, book sales are healthy, I've got some on the iBook store now, woohoo!

Where was I? Oh yes, munching through my Special K. Anyway, I finished them, got ready for work, and made sandwiches for lunch. Sandwiches? That's right. My work schedule had been reaaranged for Tuesday, and I knew I wasn't going to get back to base for lunch, so would have to eat on the road. Upside was that I'd be getting an early finish.

I start work, and I'm so busy I don't have time for my mid morning snack. Well, I do, but it's a lot later than usual. About 11, by which time my stomach is screeching like tortured metal against metal. I devour my Alpen Light bar - I can't remember if I actually took the time to chew it, or just swallowed it whole. Anyway. I park up for lunch at around one, and eat two white bread rolls with Cheddar cheese and lettuce. My mind is confused, wondering where the Special K is, but my stomach doesn't care, it just absorbs the food as if it hadn't tasted anything but Special K since 1996.

I finished work and headed home at half past two. I took the time to do a bit of quiet reading, and then got on with the task at hand: exercise.

I found some batteries for the exercise bike's computer, and booted up FIFA10. I was playing against Catalina in Manager Mode. I beat them 4 nil. Apparently it was a surprise win. I thought it was down to my skill. Anyway, turns out I was only pedalling for 15 minutes, so I'll have to extend the matchtime tomorrow - that'll give the opposing team a bit of a chance too.

Next was Just Dance 2. I moonwalked my way through I Want You Back by The Jackson 5, and the other songs were less memorable, although one was very tribal. I accrued 1212 Sweat Points, putting me ahead of schedule for my 7000 Sweat Points per week goal. It sounds so glam, doesn't it...

Onto Wii Fit, and my balance was off kilter, although my excuse is that I wasn't fully ready for it. My BMI had gone up, and I'd gained a pound. Damn. Back up to 13 stone and 13 pounds. But that exercise is gonna pay off soon, although it's early days.

Wife and I went to the Mother-in-law's for dinner, where we were served a beef casserole, yorkshire puddings, mashed potatoes and cabbage. Yum! Dessert was a Cadbury's Flake yogurt. All part of a balanced diet...

We didn't get home til around ten, and I wanted to sort a few bits and bobs that I'll be putting on eBay this week, so I didn't bother doing any more exercise. I'm quite happy with what I'm doing at the minute, but may increase my activity in a week or so if I deem it necessary.

I may post a current picture tomorrow, or maybe a pic of myself whilst on the exercise bike.

I am The Dieting Man.

Tuesday 19 July 2011

Special K Diet: Monday's Report

Get in! I feel like a new man! Today was fantastic - a few slip ups, I'll admit, but on the whole great.

Monday's are always busy days. I got up - reluctantly - at twenty five past six, after a blissful week of not having an early alarm call. I poured for myself a meager ration of Special K, and sorted out my bowl for lunch too. Whilst eating my breakfast, I checked my usual morning internet sites, to see if I had become an overnight sensation, an internet millionaire. I hadn't. Oh well. Got washed, got changed, headed out the door.

At half eight I had my usual Alpen Cereal bar, a delicious mix of chocolate, coconut and other things which combine to make a mouth wateing snack.

It was pretty warm - saying that, my job's pretty active, so regardless of the weather, I was warm. I drank my water like a sponge soaking up a spill.

Lunchtime rolled round quick. I poured the skimmed milk into my Special K, and let it soak for a few minutes, as I buried my nose into Jason Bourne's latest escapades in The Bourne Dominion.

After eating my gourmet styled luncheon, I moved onto dessert: two tangerines. Ah well, the life of a dieting man is not one of great luxury.

I refilled my bottle of water, anticipating a thirsty afternoon, but, surprisingly, it was not.

The afternoon was uneventful, and when I got home, I dragged the exercise bike from the kitchen to the living room. That was a workout in itself... I was so exhausted from the effort that I had to have a chocolate mousse... I fired up the PS3, loaded up FIFA10, and began cycling. The digital computer on my exercise bike wasn't working, as I had no batteries in it. What's with that, anyway? You never seem to have any batteries when you need them.... Anyway, I was on the bike for about 20 minutes, in which time I annihilated Sienna 6-0. I was Udinese. By the end, the sweat was running off of me in rivers. I was exhausted. But that didn't stop me from then firing up the Wii and going on Just Dance 2. I found Sweat Mode on there - pick any 3 songs, dance your socks off, and try to score more than 1000 Sweat Points.

I danced my heart out to Donna Summer's Hot Stuff. Don't know about hot stuff, but it was definitely hot in the living room! I then danced to a song by Vampire Weekend, and I can't remember what the last song was, but my total Sweat Points were 1200. Rock on!

Feeling good about myself, I went onto Wii Fit. After raking around for some batteries for the balance board, I proceeded to do the body test, which it asked me to do with my eyes closed. Surprisingly, I had perfect balance. Even more surprisingly, I had lost a pound. So now I'm down to 13st 12lbs, and a heart attack inducing 33.20 BMI. Nice.

I then had to have a cold shower to get rid of the casing of sweat that had built up over my obese body. By the time that was washed off, I was able to enjoy Wife's dinner: Pasta and garlic bread. That was washed down with some nice Bulmer's Pear Cider. For dessert, I had a Guu pudding, and then a couple of Werther's Chocolates.

All in all, it was a good day, but I slipped up towards the end.

I was well chuffed that I'd lost a pound, especially after my week holiday. I'm going to do the same again on Tuesday, so I'll let you know what happens soon...

I am The Dieting Man.

Monday 18 July 2011

Oh Yeah, About Last Week...

Last week I was on holiday. Remember, anniversary? Okay, so Wife and I had a week off, exploring the glorious sights, sounds and smells of the English countryside. We're talking Severn Valley Steam Train, West Midland's Safari Park, Chatsworth House, Heights of Abraham, and more. And food. Copious amounts of food. I mean, come on, I was on holiday. Diet was out the window.

Pizza Hut. Restaurants. Cafes. Sandwich shops. Ice cream. Groan.

I haven't weighed myself yet. To be quite honest, I'm dreading seeing those numbers creep up and up and up.

So today I have prepared my usual lunch. When I finish work, I'm going on the exercise bike, Just Dance AND Wii Fit.

I'll update tomorrow with how I got on today, including current weight, BMI, and eating.

See you then!

The Dieting Man

Saturday 9 July 2011

Special K Diet: Friday's Report

Do you remember that I said it was our Wedding Anniversary coming up? Well it's tomorrow, Sunday. And we've gone away for the weekend-in fact, I'm writing this from my hotel room.

What's that got to do with Friday's report? Well, I woke up in ready-for-holiday mode. I still had my Special K and semi skimmed milk for breakfast, but when it came to prepping my lunch (aka putting Special K in a tupperware container) I thought, "Stuff it. Holiday time."

I had my Alpen Cereal bar at the usual time.

I finished my morning work at the usual time.

And then I visited one of my old haunts.

McDonalds.

Ah, the smell. The ambience. The - well, hold on. It smells like McDonalds, and it was in Sunderland, so there wasn't much ambience.

But before I knew it, I was ordering a large quarter pounder with cheese meal, complete with coke and a Drifter's McFlurry.

And it tasted glorious. There was no guilt, just satisfaction. Of course, I then had two mega healthy tangerines, so that helps, right? Right?

The afternoon was uneventful enough. Now, usually, on a Friday afternoon, Wife does shopping. I get in at around 4, she gets in with shopping at around half past. The gives me half an hour to chill. But oh no. Not today. You see, when I got home, she hadn't DONE the shopping. So I had to then go with her.

I was flagging at this point, so I grabbed a Rocky to keep me going. What? I'd finished all the tangerines!

Dinner was half a fresh pizza, a slice of garlic bread, a glass of water and a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

I think I'm doing this all wrong...

Then parentals came around to drop off anniversary presents and wish us well.

We had a couple of glasses of red wine... and then, because it was so late, and we hadn't even packed yet, we hit the sack. It was half eleven.

I KNOW that I'm not gonna stick to the diet during this holiday... but I'll keep you posted.

I'm still trying to be The Dieting Man.

Friday 8 July 2011

Special K Diet: Thursday's Report

Ah, Thursday. The penultimate day of the working week, the beginning of the end for the 9 til 5ers.

All in all, it was a good day. It wasn't a great day, but it wasn't a bad day either.

It started out bright and fresh, along with my bowl of Special K with skimmed milk.

As is my usual habit, I had an Alpen Light cereal bar around half eight, and by lunchtime I had consumed half a litre of water.

For lunch, again it was Special K and semi skimmed milk, along with two tangerines. I resisted the urge to wander down to ASDA, where I would deplete my bank accout but increase my waistline. Instead, I grabbed a chair, went outside, and snoozed in the Sun.

When I went back on the road, the heavens opened. The rain was torrential, it was dark, and I could feel a storm brewing...

Hometime rolled round earlier than usual, so I was in the house for quarter to four. My growling stomach guided me straight to the fridge, where I grabbed a choccy yogurt... naughty but nice.

I then chilled on the PS3 for a bit, goofing around on Just Cause 2, an awesome game.

Dinner was served - lamb chops, new potatoes, and brussel sprouts. Yum. The portion was small and healthy, and I loved it. A glass of water to wash it down, and a Cornetto to finish. Sorted.

Now then. Remember I said yesterday that our anniversary is rapidly approaching? Well, family members wanted to shower us with gifts - and I certainly wasn't going to decline - so at half nine we headed out. A bit of food was served, to which I was party to - twi slices of pizza, and then home made Rocky Road Cheesecake dessert... oh dear.

We didn't get back into the house until quarter to 12, by which time it was too late to do any exercising. I know, I know, I should've done exercise instead of playing JC2... Nevermind, eh...

I'll let you know how today (Friday) goes tomorrow.

I'm still The Dieting Man. I'm just not very good at it...

Thursday 7 July 2011

Special K Diet: Wednesday's Report

Alrighty There.

Ah. It's not good news, I'm afraid. Well, saying that, it's not TERRIBLE, but it could have been better. Much better.

I started by getting up five minutes earlier, at 6.25. Feels good, that. An extra five minutes. Nice.

Whilst the laptop was booting up, I drenched a miserably small portion of Special K in skimmed milk.

It takes me around 9.3 seconds to slowly get through my breakfast allowance. I spend a bit of time faffing around on the net, and checking my emails, seeing if I've hit the big time yet. Nope. Ah well, washed, put some clothes on and off to work.

So around half 8 the hunger pangs are clawing at my stomach like ... like... like a ravenous fox clawing at a rabbit hole, knowing that there is a plump, sumptious bunny waiting to be devoured. Dammit, now I'm salivating. Anyway, so I rip the wrapper off of my Alpen Light cereal bar, and demolish it. Nice.

I get back to base at 12 on the dot, and by then I'm going wild with hunger again. I cram the Special K into the cavity that a biology teacher would call a mouth, and then start strumming my fingers on the desk. I get up, and take a stroll (note: exercise) to ASDA, as I need to pick up some items:

A hose spray attachment, for my new toy, the garden hose. I know. I'm so sad.

Wrapping paper (it's our wedding anniversary, and I need to wrap the awesome pressies I've got for Wife)

Some ASDA equivalent of peanut M&Ms..... mmmmm... soooo nice

A bottle of chocolate milk

The M&M wannabies were gone by three o clock, and the chocolate milk was finished before I'd cleared the ASDA car park...

I got home, and I honestly can't remember if I had anything to eat... which probably means I did...

I remember having a Cadbry's Fudge before dinner.... which, incidentally, was Chicken Curry. Mmmm, nice.

I then was so busy spray painting my bike (which looks fab, by the way) that I then didn't have anything until bedtime, when I had a hot chocolate.

So. No fruit. No exercise. Too much chocolate.


Today (Thursday) had better be better... Oh, and I've hit 30. Marvellous.

Wednesday 6 July 2011

Special K Diet: Tuesday's Report

Tuesday went a lot better than Monday.

The day went exactly the same as Monday, from breakfast, lunch, water and fruit... but again my downfall came when I got home from work.

I helped myself to an Ainsley Harriott chocolate bar... and then a smooth, delicious chocolate mousse yogurt. Damn!

My evening meal was wholesome enough - steak lattice with mashed potatoes and some other veg that I can't remember, washed down with a glass of cool water, and followed by.... A Cadbury's Buttons dessert... Oh dear.

Later on that night I had ANOTHER delicious smooth chocolate yogurt. Can you see a patern here?

I didn't end up going on the Wii last night because it got too late.

Hopefully today will be better all round.

Hopefully.

Tuesday 5 July 2011

Special K Diet: A Progress Report

So yesterday, Monday 4th July, I decided to re-engage with the Special K diet. Here's how it works: Special K for breakfast and lunch, normal evening meal.

Didn't quite go according to plan... the day started well, took a nose dive, but ended on a positive note... let me explain:

I had my breakfast at half six. A small portion of Special K, served up with skimmed milk.

My mid-morning break saw me nibbling on an Alpen Light cereal bar, in an attempt to stave off the hunger pangs.

Lunch, served up at around half eleven, was a repeat of breakfast, but with the addition of two tangerines. So far, so good.

I'd also managed to drink about a litre of water up to to this point, which was good news for my health, but strenuous on my bladder...

I got home from work at about half four - late, I know - and raid the cupboard. Bad mistake. A huge jar of Nutella eyes me woefully, pleading to be consumed. I consider the offer, and decide to help. I grab a spoon, and wham. Before I know what's happened, two scoopfuls of the delicious, nutty, smoothy, silky goodness has slitered down my throat. Oops.

I had no more snacks. But my evening meal consisted of half a pizza, a jacket potato, glass of water, and a chocolate cornetto. Actually, it wasn't a Cornetto, it was ASDA's version of a cornetto, but it's the same thing, isn't it... Oh, and then I had a can of Bud.

But I redeemed myself... I turned on the Wii, went on Just Dance 2, danced until the sweat was dripping off of my nose, and then went on Wii Fit. Current weight: 13 stones and 13 pounds. Damn.

Let's hope I do better on Tuesday...

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