I’m 41, well 40 and 3/4, but Adrian Mole I am not, and I am fat. This was not always the case and photographs of me as a child can confirm that I was naturally a skinny child and it has taken some effort to get the stage I am now.
As of today, I weigh in at an impressive, for all the wrong reasons, 20ST 9LBS/ 289LBS/ 131KG. I’ve decided to keep a progress diary, both as a means of charting my ‘progress’ and to keep myself motivated through public accountability. I have no ‘exercise gear’ to speak of, and very little disposable income, due to being ‘between jobs’, with which to purchase this, I do however have a young daughter whom I’d rather like to watch growing up and, wherever possible, physically participate in her mad moments chasing bubbles or simply using up the endless energy she seems to possess.
I had posted on the Social Networking site NextDoor.co.uk, in the hope of finding warm bodies to act as a ‘fitness buddy’ as on the few occasions that I’d tried to ‘get fit’ in the past, found a counterpart to be of massive value.
There have been a few bites and I continue to try to find times which work.
Along with the dog, a morning wander to Phoenix Park to identify suitable path(s) was undertaken and, despite “Bixby” constantly chiming in and trying its utmost to interrupt my efforts (genuinely if anyone knows how to disable this, at least in my opinion, utterly atrocious app, please let me know), a roughly 0.6KM route was determined.
Weather permitting, I’ve tentatively decided that I could probably manage to get to Phoenix Park, which is little more than a few hundred yards from my house, twice daily, with 11am and 7pm being times which I believe would work.
I’ve set my expectations low as I fully appreciate that burning myself out early is going to have completely the opposite effect than I’m looking for, so I’ll set a steps target initially before I even consider loftier achievements like a 4-minute-mile.
Expect a few ‘Day 0’ posts but I will sooner or later, run (excuse the pun) out of excuses for not just doing it (Nike, I’m open to sponsorship and offer competitive rates).