Well Helloooo Again....

Gairdner said:

Dodgy! LTB! How hangs it ye wonderful forumites?

Yep, you've gone and done it again you naughty American. Vintage Old Spice wonderfulness - the olfactory holy grail for nostalgic commoners like me. Not shaving today but when I eventually do deign to enter upon the falling water cubicle, I'm a-splashing some of that glorious cologne on afterwards. Smell like a man, man! If you have any, I'll gladly part with some electronic currency....

Steve, how's the veggies mate? Got a compliment on Mater and Pater's garden (one's permanent residence these days and pottering around their green and pleasant patch keeps me occupied) when the local Scotland's Garden Scheme rep wanted us to open the garden to the public to show it off. I declined as I feel it is not ready yet but lots of visitors who were attending the two open gardens in our street commented on how lovely the garden was and why wasn't it open. They'll be down our way in two years time so I'm under orders to prepare the ground, as it were. Honestly, some folk have no taste.

Anybody seen NotThe Stig and Smallbeard? Them's my buddies (nearly typed biddies instead! ) and I miss 'em. And the Vinnster. And Chris with the Michael Caine avatar - very clever chap which means I don't understand 50% of what he says and 50 % of that is on the very limit of my shriveled walnut. Hope IanM is doing well and Northam Saint and Cyril Hairsuite too (generous fellow that he is). Anybody seen WiffWaff Steve or has he gone back to his leccy shaver or grown a beard again?

Now stop it you lot, this foruming is hard work and I've get to get back to doing buggerall, I mean nothing.....

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Gairdner said:

Cheers to you too, missingskin. It ain't easy but you have to start somewhere. I started by just trying to get through two days whereby I didn't eat between meals i.e. crisps biscuits, cake, chocolate bars and any old shite. That was really hard but I felt good after it then thought right, let's do another two days and don't think beyond that. Slightly easier that time given I was bolstered by the first two days success. Then I slowly but surely tried to watch my portion sizes which again wasn't easy especially as I've never met a single other person that could put away as much as me in a single sitting or over the course of a day.

Although my depression and anxiety hold me back severely, I vowed to get out walking my dog Toby more. I had been guilty of just going to the garden gate and throwing the ball along the street to keep him exercised but again slowly but surely the walking has got better with me going further and faster and even, heavens above, jogging up the odd set of steps although I have to go less travelled routes where I stand less chance of meeting people. Even if it means popping a few of the stronger diazepams, I'll do it just to get out.

Being a keen gardener has helped as weeding the borders, cutting the grass, trimming the hedges (I only use hand shears as power tools and I don't get on) and planting helps keep me active, burning a few calories and it's therapeutic too.

Now, here's a thing that might sound strange: a few months ago I started making my bed really vigourously. Sounds daft but there's a cover at the bottom to protect the duvet from the Tobster so every day I shake that madly for as long as I can, then I shake the duvet like a man possessed for as long as I can. I batter seven bells out of the pillows in order to plump them up and I have four cushions in my room each of which I plump up as vigourously as possible for as long as I can. By the time the bed is made, I'm sweating profusely and breathing heavily so I know it must be burning calories and helping me get my wind back. Also, anytime (apart from first thing in the morning when I'm dead groggy) I go up the stairs, I run up them two steps at a time. None of this sounds like much but if you keep doing it long enough, it makes a difference I can tell you. Another thing is showering. Because I'm a large chap fatwise, I sweat a lot so now when I shower I go super vigourous by rubbing myself everywhere (not there, mate, too much risk of injury!) like a tasmanian devil and dry myself the same way i.e. till my arms and shoulders ache. Yep, helluva unorthodox but it helps, trust me.

Then I started doing some press-ups. At first I could manage ten and then only just. That went on every second day for a wee while till I built in some situps but only managing fifteen of those which was also a struggle. I've been keeping that up for a good while now and last night I managed a total of 128 press ups (7 sets), 105 situps (4 sets), 66 leg raises (4 sets), 150 calf lifts where I stand on my toes and lower my heels to almost but not quite touching the ground and back up again (1 set), 20 squats in a single set where I stand on my toes, keep a straight back and bend my need then push back up again. I also bought myself a grip trainer which is rated at 150lb. I thought I had a pretty decent grip with all the gardening but when I first got this infernal thing I could only close it with my right hand and only 3 or 4 times whereas now I manage 85 with my right hand over 4 sets and 80 with the left over the same. I can almost close it every time with my right hand but my left lags behind. I hope to buy the 200lb version soon. That wee workout was on top of an afternoon gardening and trying to help my dad repairthe summer house - me brawn, hims brains!

Little steps lead to bigger ones and its ok to have a bad day or even a rough week as long as you get back at it. I've gone from nearly bursting out of stretchy 46" waist jeans to having room in size 40". XXL and some XXXL has now become a roomy and comfortable XL whereas my shirt collar has gone from 18.5 to 17. I eat more fruit and veg and don't bother with biscuits or crisps at all. Mother complains that I eat all the carrots because when I'm hungry, I go peel one and get all Bugs Bunny with it. I try to eat foods with less fat and less sugar but I don't go mad as its about portion control really.

I've a way to go yet and I want to get properly fit so I can have fun with my daughter, running around daft and live longer so I can be there for her.

Yer can do it because I said so, right?

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