A Whole New World

Hello dear readers!

Every now and then, there comes a time to act.

A time to not just allow life to happen to you but to grab it by the unmentionables. To take charge, get off one’s derrière and do something about the things in life that need a little attention.

This week was that time.

Going The Distance
Long term sufferers of this blog will, no doubt recall my ongoing battle to get a little healthier (see here for instance). As I career through my forties, this is something that is becoming more and more of a priority. My life style is, partly through necessity, fairly sedentary, as the title of the blog might suggest. It will probably remain that way until the postman calls with my bionic legs. Of course, as they don’t exist as yet that is one hell of a pre-order.

So, the question of exercise is one that remains reasonably thorny, especially as the mild state of disrepair my wheelchair usually exists in gives me serious doubts in it’s ability to withstand much long distance punishment.

News Of The World

That may be an excuse and it may be time to revisit the subject but, in lieu of this, it was way beyond time to review the old diet. Herein lies the meat and possibly the two veg of today’s offering.

If memory serves, it was Tuesday night when I came home from a long and tiring day at the coalface of banking services (I.E my job.) to an unusually giddy wife. Tina (the wife in question) had apparently had some kind of Damascus moment and, after speaking to a friend, decided to join Slimming World.

Since her stroke last year (see here), getting as healthy as possible has become both far more important, and just that little bit harder for Tina. It was fantastic, therefore to see her so enthused at the idea of making some lifestyle changes and becoming that healthier, happier person she wants to be.

I didn’t realise I’d be joining her on this journey.

You Can See The Join

Now, as I mentioned, I could do with dropping a dress size or two. Eating healthier is obviously quite a large part of this. With this then in mind I immediately pledged my support to the cause and we fell to talking about food, motivation and support. This was when Tina first broached the subject of me joining her.

Now, I’m not a hugely join-y person and, although I was up for making some changes to what, how, and when we eat, the thought of sitting in some draughty church hall with a dozen or so strangers every week didn’t really thrill me. Nevertheless being the supportive-husband-with-a-big-fat-belly that I am, I slightly reluctantly, decided to give it a whirl. It wasn’t as bad as I had feared.

As expected it was a predominantly female group, but there were those of the male persuasion there as well, so I wasn’t the only man, (one of my fears) and there was a little bit of a happy-clappy flavour to proceedings with every weight loss announced being politely applauded. Generally the group seemed like a good, supportive bunch however, and there was quite a bit of banter flying around the room.

Scaled Down

At the end of the meeting was the weigh in. This was an interesting experience to say the least. Keeping my balance whilst stood on a small platform is no easy feat and meant that the scales took a just a little while to settle and decide jut how overweight I am. Luckily at no point did they complain, say 'ow!' or explode into a small pile of electronics. I also managed not to fall off them. It was touch and go for a bit there though.

So far the eating side of Slimming World has proven to be an exciting journey of discovery. There are recipes aplenty to be found which are either Syn free or low on Syns (Syns being a kind of calorific currency one needs to stay in their allowance of.) and on the whole these have been delicious. Some things have gone down better than others, as you might expect. Mixed berries and fat free natural yoghurt is delicious, as is the salt & pepper spice mix from our local farm shop (not tried them together, mind-you). Cauliflower rice is decidedly not delicious. In fact it tastes not unlike how I imagine licking a sumo wrestlers armpit might taste. Nasty.

Oven Ready

We’re also motivating ourselves to do more actual, proper, bona-fide, cooking, using pans, and pots, and the oven, and everything. Last night was Tina’s turn and she surpassed herself with a chicken in diet coke (yes, really!) recipe. It was lush! Tonight I’m going to try to beat that with a jerk turkey dish. I’m not holding my breath.

It’s going to be a long haul, and we’re looking at it as a change in lifestyle and eating habits rather than some fad diet, as long as we keep the taste and variety going and as long as we keep each other honest and motivated, I reckon we’ll smash it.

Until next time...