No Problem

There is a phrase beloved of the nature-rambling, beardy lefties who sit round a camp fire holding hands while singing Kum-ba-Yah and Give Peace a Chance. It is "A Stranger is just a friend we haven't met yet!". I'm going to steal that phrase and rework it as a new mantra for my power of positive thought.

"A Problem is just a solution I haven't found yet."

It has all the power of a self-help DVD slogan but it certainly cheered me up this morning when I thought of it. Not that I need cheering up particularly this week. I am riding on the crest of a dietry wave. I should've really posted this yesterday but I was busy basking in the euphoria of a 4 pound weight loss!

I am now back on track. The 2 pounds I didn't lose in my first week has now come off. I'm feeling good as well. Eating well (and not just rabbit food!), exercising (a little bit) and getting thinner. All nicely in time for my impending 30th birthday in September!

So, back to my original point (you may be shocked to learn that I had one!), I can attribute at least a part of my success to positive thought. Instead of focussing on what's going wrong, I'm looking at what is going right. Instead of dwelling on what I don't like, I've been thinking about what I do like. It would appear that wasting my time with worrying and navel-gazing has been much more of a hindrance than a help, so that has (hopefully) all gone out of the window.

I'm playing football tonight so hopefully the exercise will do me good. I may even venture out of my goal and do a little running.. No promises though!

Tell me what you don't like about yourself?

I don't know if anyone out there watches Nip/Tuck. I'll start off by admitting that I don't. I watched the first couple of series but never really got into it very much. So why do I mention it then? Well, really it's just to tie in with the title of todays blog. It's the line that the plastic surgeons in the show use constantly when they're doing the initial consult.

You may have noticed from previous posts that I do have small problems with self-image issues. So, in the spirit of facing up to these problems, what EXACTLY is it that I don't like about myself so much?

Well where to start? Well, at the beginning I suppose.

I've never been particularly popular. Short children with big ears and ginger hair very rarely are! But it's not that. I don't mind being short (well 5ft 7in). The only thing my shortness ever stopped me doing was being a professional goalkeeper earning millions and millions of pounds a year.... Damn you, why did you curse me with this body! But no, seriously, it's not the height. As for the ears, I've kind of grown into them. So it's definitely not that. Is it the ginger then? It's certainly a possibility. I've tried to dye my hair before but in the end I end up thinking that I look better ginger; and so, it would appear, that none of the things that prevented me from being popular as a child, are the reason I have such a negative self-image now...

So what is it?

I do think that it is childhood related. Many of the things that effect us in later life are. I grew up in a very loving family with a sister who was considerably older than me and a brother who was 11 months older. As we grew up I was always the "clever" one and my brother was always the "sporty" one. Even now, he won't pick up a book unless it's written by a sportsman or about a sportsman. In life, especially at school where we are supposed to be developing our minds, it is a persons physical aspect that seems important, rather than the mental aspect. My brother was always popular at school because he was good at football & running. I was unpopular because I wasn't. It's not as simple as that, of course, it never is. But for the purposes of this blog it will do for now!

Having to grow up in the shadow of a brother who was so much better at the things that mattered to people helped me to develop one hell of an inferiority complex. Even now, he's gone on to do a better job than me. So unless I work out what I want to do with my life from an employment point of view, I doubt my complex will be disappearing any time soon.

End of Season Fatigue, Diet Update & a Miracle

The summer is a weird time for me, football fanatic that I am. Especially this summer with a major Football tournament under way and no team that I feel even the slightest affinity with taking part. Yes, I like the Dutch because Dirk Kuyt plays for them, and I like the Spanish because Torres (and one or two others) play for them, but I just can't feel myself getting excited. Oh well, at least there is some football on, unlike next summer when there won't even be a tournament that nobody is interested in. Roll on August, that's what I say.

So what else has been happening. It was weigh-in time again and despite going out on the lash for pretty much the whole of Saturday, I managed to shed another two pounds of excess. I'm now 4lbs lighter than I was 2 weeks ago. And while I'm not really noticing the difference yet, I'm certainly feeling a lot more positive about it. I think the best way to ensure a good and steady weight loss is for everyone to pile round to LizSara's house where she can weigh us, and then we can settle down for hot or cold beverages and a general natter about the state of the world.

I have finally cleared the huge amounts of television programs that were recorded on my planner. I now have 2 x episodes of Kyle XY (Series 1) that I've started recording on a Saturday to watch and then I'm all clear.

The verdict

And keeping the Football Half-Time Team-Talk analogy going... the boy played a blinder. I lost two pounds! Which, coincidently is my target. I'm hoping to lose 2lbs a week, so losing two pounds in a week is bang on the button. So why do I still feel disappointed?

The Future of Modern British Cooking

Tonight I should be posting an update on how my diet is going because I should be getting weighed tonight, but my buddy/mentor/friend who weighs me, the divine and wonderful LizSara, is off galavanting with Mr Grohl and Mr Dean-Bradfield, so I will have to wait until tomorrow.

So what I thought I would do is give an update into how I think I've done... and then do a compare and contrast with my post tomorrow (or possibly Wednesday) after I've been weighed.

Well, if you remember, my diet started off in the worst possible manner last week with me overreating on the first day. It really knocked my confidence and I was not fully focussed on the job at hand for the whole week. I did, however, not put any weight on, which was a metaphorical weight off my shoulders (rather than an actual weight, which would've been great!) and I faced up to the new week with a PMA (positive mental attitude). It's the dieting equivalent of being two goals down in a football match and getting a goal back just before half time. The score isn't ideal, but it's a damn sight better than what you thought you were going to be facing. The metaphorical half-time team-talk just got a lot easier.

So after my team-talk, how did I do? Well I think I've done well. I even managed to include a night out into the mix and didn't overeat any day this week. So, in theory, there should be no reason why I haven't lost weight. I still haven't managed to introduce exercise into my routine yet (the football match last week was cancelled) but all-in-all it's been a positive experience. And do you know what has made it even better? Home cooking.

So far this week I've eaten steak (dry-fried and cooked medium rare), Pork loin steaks (again dry-fried, with spicy onions, rice and an egg - lovely, you should try it), and pan-fried (this time with an oil spray - in my experience you can't dry fry fish) haddock fillets. So I haven't been starving myself or anything, but it has all been weighed and measured so that I only have the right amounts of everything. And I'll tell you something... I feel great! All I need now is for me to not lose weight at my post-Mr Grohl weigh-in tomorrow and it will shatter my confidence completely!