Injury Cloud

I'm seriously running out of excuses for my slackness. This maybe takes the cake though. I made grand promises about my commitment to blogging eight days ago and then went missing for over a week, so I guess that says more about how I'm going than anything I write here.

First things first. I'm not getting on the scales again until I get back to Brisbane on July 4. Put simply I don't trust these ring-in scales and they're doing my head in. After getting on last week and posting that glorious figure of 105odd, I got back on later that evening prior to my shower and discovered I was 2 kgs heavier. Having had a good day I found this hard to believe and damn annoying. So after a few of these issues in the ensuing days I decided to put the scales away until my return to sunny Brisvegas.

And won't sunny Brisvegas be a nice change. This is the first extended Canberra winter trip I've had in many years and I can confirm it's stupidly cold here. So much so that the dodgy Smeato body has begun a revolt, and is pressing a union claim for a return to warmer weather. I went ok for the first week but thanks to the ongoing minus 0 temps and a fairly heavy exercise regime in the last week or so, every dodgy joint in my body is going on strike at the same time.

Despite the stiffness and pain I'm off for my last Canberra ride today before the bike is packed up and shipped home. It is a real treat to ride the bike after the first 5 months of the year on the hybrid. I'm really looking forward to my first Brissy ride when I get home and we'll see how "Tiger" (bike's new name) goes in the balmier conditions. The Canberra rides have been good for my bike maintenance education though. Sunday morning's 60km ride was the toughest I've done since getting back on a treadly for a number of reasons. First, I haven't been that far this year so the last 10km was tough considering the group I was with kept the pace up. Second, the Mount Stromlo climb introduced me to the joys of low gearing. It's amazing how you just keep shifting down until it will shift no more and all you can think of is "I wish I had more low gears". Finally, I had my first puncture and was forced to do an on road tube change in -3 degrees. Needless to say, prying off a cold stiff tyre with plastic tyre levers and using numb fingers is not my idea of fun.

On the diet front I've remained on track so wouldn't expect any tragic news upon my return home. Having said that I don't seem to be heading south on the scales anymore despite my good work and it's a constant source of frustration. I had grand plans of knocking off the triple digit numbers by the end of June but it seems that goal is dead in the water and will need to wait for another day. I know its simply a case of persistence, and that every weight loss journey has its "Plateau's", but fair dinkum this bloody plateau has no end in sight. To elaborate, I was around 107kg in early May and now eight weeks later, I seem to float between 105-107 and I'm a bit bloody sick of it to tell you the truth. I feel a bit like a horse dragging a cart because of the bloody carrot on the end of the string in front of my nose, but that damn carrot never gets any closer.

Anyway, that's enough whinging for now. My carer duties come to an end tomorrow and I hope I've offered my Mum a break from the ongoing task of looking after my Dad. His condition is pretty stable and we'll know in a month how his broken leg has healed but unfortunately the dementia issues will continue.

I'm off to Melbourne on Saturday morning for a weekend with some mates which I'm sure will involve some questionable behaviour, the odd beer and plenty of footy. It will be a great way to wrap up the trip south before returning home to lie down for about a week I reckon.

Alrighty then, the bike and a Lake Burley Griffin Loop beckons so I'm off. I'll take my camera with me this time and get a photo or two to add to the blog as proof I put my money where my mouth is.


So until next time (sooner than this time I promise)

P

I'm calling this press conference to announce my COMEBACK!

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Yes one thousand sorrys. I am officially hopeless. Life has been a little crazy recently and as a result you my have noticed I’ve gone missing a little. But after what has been a whirlwind tour of news organisations, assignments, exams, events etc, etc, etc, I’ve finally jumped off the merry-go-round and come to a stop in sunny Canberra. Sunny and about ZERO bloody degrees I might add.

Yes I’m on my carer ‘tour de force’, and will call the retirement village home for the next week and a half or so. For those who are aware of my Dads health problems, I can happily report that he is on the mend. He is wheelchair bound at present but with time and a firm stick (to keep him off his damaged leg) he will hopefully recover well enough to walk again, at the very least with the aid of a frame. His mental health is reasonable, but as expected is deteriorating slowly but surely. It’s my first really close contact with dementia and it’s a real eye opener. In a nutshell he has little or no short term memory. This is a real problem because he forgets about his physical injuries and tries to walk etc if we aren’t watching him all the time. For this reason he’s staying in the dementia ward at nights and spends the days at home with Mum and yours truly.

So you’re probably saying about now, “stop crapping on and tell us if you’re still shrinking or not”. Well the truth is the last week and a half was pretty poor. I put on around 3-4kg from the last weigh in mostly thanks to a massive day on Saturday for the Brisbane Lions v Richmond game. As usual I was pretty heavily involved in the club functions on the day and MC’d an event for around 250 people prior to the game. I really enjoy this stuff and it gives me more experience at public speaking, something that is invaluable if I get into broadcasting at some point. I always have a couple of itty-bitty drinks prior to going on stage (I’ve nicknamed it liquid confidence) and I tend to perform better. However post-event, those drinks led to a thousand or so more followed by the traditional footy pies and hotdogs which in turn led to a less than perfect weigh in result.

“So what the bloody hell is the weigh in result”, I hear you scream.

Settle petal it’s on the way.

Current weight: 105.1kg           Previous weight: 104.6kg          Gain of 0.5kg

Current Gut: who knows           Previous Gut: 108kg                 ?????????

I’m pretty bloody pleased with that result actually. I really thought I’d be around 107kg after the week that was so 105 is a big win. Considering I have the next week and a half here with Mum and Dad and I’ll have few other commitments outside of my role as “Chief wheelchair driver”, I think I can make a good dent in the scales from here as well. I’m planning to get in around 2 hrs of exercise a day while I’m here and I started well today with a marathon squash contest with a great mate of mine. I copped a 12 sets – 2 flogging but considering I’m still a somewhat fat bastard, definitely a crippled bastard and my opponent is a semi professional tennis player I’m happy enough with that result. I’ve got a lake loop ride planned on Saturday with my brother-in-law. He tells me it’s around 50km so that should keep me out of trouble for the weekend. I’m also hoping to ring in for my younger brother’s F grade basketball team next week. F Grade sounds like the perfect level for me these days. 

On the Uni front, the semester is over and I’m awaiting the results from my 5 units. I’d be really happy if I could jag one HD, but I fear I’ll have to settle for Distinctions and credits thanks to the lack of time I actually spent on campus over the last 4 months. I’ve now got only 6 months left in my uni career unless of course I decide to take up the honours option that is being dangled in front of me. I think I’d only consider that if the job options dry up though as I’m dead keen to get a paycheque again.

I’m actively looking for work now and with any luck I’ll manage to position myself well before I graduate which hopefully will mean I’m gainfully employed by November/December. I’m not very picky with respect to the type of job I want. I’d be happy enough in any area of journalism and I’m chasing work in everything from print to online to broadcast. I am praying though I don’t feel I need to go to the dark side (PR) because I’m not quite ready to sell my soul just yet.

So as for the diet, I know it seems extreme but I’m still going to try to knock over that 100kg barrier by months end. I made the commitment at the beginning of the month and even if I fail I want to be as close as I can. With that in mind I plan to be very strict with myself from here on in and with any luck I can smash through that milestone in the very near future.

Thanks everyone for being so patient with me over the last month with this blog. I promise I’m still on track and now that my heavy commitment schedule is complete I’ll be on here more often again.

So until we next converse.

P

Here we go again, another Saturday, another trip to the scales. It's pretty full on to think I'm coming up on 6 months since I began this journey and I've certainly had a few ups and downs during that time. It's fair to say I still haven't been able to re-find the commitment or consistency in my diet that I had through the first few months of the diary. Despite that, I'm managing to move forward slowly at times, bit forward all the same.

So here are the figures for this week:

Current Weight: 104.6kg  Previous weight: 105.8kg      A loss of 1.2kg for the second week running
Current Gut: 108cm  Previous Gut: 109cm     A loss of 1cm also for the 2nd consecutive week

So there you have it another little win. I'll be happy if I can just manage to continue stringing those small losses together week by week.

Confession time. I've failed dismally in my efforts to stay off the grog until next Saturday. I headed to the pub on Saturday afternoon for a few hours and enjoyed a relaxing ale or two with the locals. As expected the buzz achieved from those few beers softened my willpower yet again and I let loose with a little binge last night. Sad I know but true. At least today I had to work at the Broncos game so I've been more sensible today.

I have a fairly big week coming up this week with my first full week in a TV newsroom at Channel Ten. I find when I'm busy like that I think less about what I'm eating (or not eating) and focus totally on the job at hand. The end result is generally positive. Lets hope that's the case. I'd love to think I can nudge into the 103's or even 102's by next Saturday to give me a shot at that 99kg target by June 30.

University has finally finished for the semester and its not a moment too soon. This has been by far the most challenging semester of my degree with my external work experience commitments keeping me away from the place for extended period. I'm certain I'll have a dip in my results this semester but I'm also hoping it's minimal. Having never got a mark worse than a distinction in two years I'm preparing myself for the inevitable, the dreaded credit, which I'm sure is on the way. I have three more units to complete next semester then its (hopefully) back into the workforce again and it'll be full steam ahead for my new life as a news-man.

I've just enjoyed perhaps my most productive week at the Courier Mail. I managed about six published stories for the week including my first Sunday Mail page 3 today. I'll get hold of a PDF for you all shortly and share it with you all. In the mean time here's the Ipad publication version. http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/origin-fan-ezra-pulls-his-weight-at-12/story-fn6ck45n-1226073548363

I'll be down in Canberra in just over a week and it looks like the weather Gods are preparing me for the seasonal change. Brisbane is smack in the middle of a cold snap and while it will never compare to those freezing Canberra mornings it's been damn cold for here. Last Thursday was the coldest day for something like 90 years with a max temp of around 12 degrees for much of the city. I was covering Broncos training for the paper and spent the morning outside in just a shirt (don't own a decent jacket) freezing my proverbials off. Peter Wallace (who I interviewed after training) was mildly amused at my shivering.

So it's off to bed for an early night and early start on Mt Cootha tomorrow. While I don't think I'll get my mug on the box this week I do hope they give me a chance to contribute.

Until we speak again, it's bye for now.

P

Hold the presses

Ah...back in the busy newsroom and loving it. It's amazing how I can go from the smartest sport bloke in the room to the dumbest as soon as I step through the door at the Courier Mail. Fair enough though I guess. I mean these guys live it 24/7 and I have other plenty of other commitments. I tend to hold my own on AFL matters but I look forward to the time I get to sit around day in day out just consuming sport. One day...one day.

I think I'll get my first by-line of the week tomorrow, which is always a nice feeling. I wrote a couple of good stories today but the second is pretty big news in AFL world here is Brisbane so I should get the AFL page lead tomorrow. I've only had one page lead before so that'll be great if it happens.

On the home front I've decided to take a bit more control over my diet by following the weight watchers points plan that worked so well for me all those years ago. It seems like a good idea because I've found myself getting a bit lazy in the last few months and the WW thing not only helps maintain a calorie intake but also forces me to eat more of the good things. Fortunately I still have all of the books and documentation from years ago so I'll work off that old tried and true system.

I've also decided to stay off the grog until the Richmond game at the Gabba in just under two weeks. It's not like I'll be having a massive night then either but I'll have definitely be enjoying a few footy beers. It's not that I'm want to be a teetotaller but I just keep misbehaving as soon as I have a few beers so for the next 10 days or so it's sobriety all the way.

I've pretty much committed to doing Cycle Queensland in September with my bro-in-law and maybe one or two others, so it's time to really kick up the km's on the bike over the next few months. It's a 600km journey from Goondiwindi to Brisbane over 9 days which for experienced pedalers would be a walk in the park I'm sure. For me on the other hand, I think it'll mean a numb butt and and a whole new understanding of lycra.

Ok I'd love to stay and chat longer but I still have one assessment piece to finish so I'd better get back into it.

Bye for now

P

Excuses excuses

Ok I know I'm late but please understand I have an excuse.

My dog ate my homework. No really. I've just been so insanely busy with the last week of Uni I haven't managed to get to the blog. But rest assured I'm here now armed with the weekly figures.

So here goes.

Previous weight: 107kg   Current weight: 105.8kg  Loss of 1.2kg
Previous gut: 110cm   Current gut:   109cm  Loss of 1cm

Finally, I'm heading in the right direction again. Not a huge loss I admit but based on the last couple of months I'll take it. I'm hoping to put an exclamation mark on it by dropping another kilo or two by next Saturday.

This week is all about career advancement (or more accurately beginning). I'm back at Brisbane's flagship daily paper and I'm hoping to secure some ongoing work until until the graduate intake at the end of this year. It may not happen but I've got my fingers in more pies than Little Jack Horner at the moment so hopefully one of them will work out.

As for the diet, well it's just all about concentration right now, oh and avoiding alcohol. Yep, the grog remains a big hurdle for me. It seems after 2-3 beers or similar I'm anyones. Particularly if that anyone is a pizza or similarly poor choice of food. I plan to mimic a person who has a real life this week and go to work, come home and cook a healthy dinner, then go to bed at a decent time. Novel idea I grant you but I think I'll give it a go for the week anyway. I can tell you, there's a 13-year-old living here who'll love the idea of her Dad actually cooking an evening meal for a change.

Exercise wise, I'm back into the swing of things. I ground out 44km on the bike on Saturday morning and had more than a few boxing bag sessions earlier in the week. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a road bike in a couple of weeks. I reckon I'll feel like bloody Cadel Evans when I finally get on a decent bike although I may have to invest in some long lycra for the chilly Canberra test rides.

As of next Friday I'll officially be one semester away from having a Uni degree. I must admit for most of my adult life I never thought I'd ever be able to say that. It feels great to have achieved what I have so far in both the Uni study and so far this year in the Fat Bastard Diary and it makes me pretty excited about what lies ahead for me in the next few years. I have no idea really where this whole thing is going to lead but these days I like surprises.

For those loyal Canberra readers of the Fatty Diary, I'll be in town for a blog tour from 20th June so let me know if you want to catch up in between my family responsibilities.

Thanks to Gail and Hayley for my virtual slaps last week, as requested I put them in the cupboard for future use but was forced to pull one out this morning after some over indulgence again last night. Fortunately the damage was minimal and I'm on track for another good week.

I promise to back up again on the blog tomorrow night and get a few credit points early this month so tune in again tomorrow for some more of my pearls of wisdom.

P

Michael Moore's job is safe

As my film and Tv group at Uni enter our 4th day of editing for our documentary film I can categorically state that Michael Moore and David Attenborough's are safe. I'll never make a documentary film maker! It's equally certain that I may be the worst video editor that has ever lived. For what seemed a fairly basic task only a week ago, I now realize things are not always as they seem. Who knew there were 300 thousand different types of video files and more importantly, different editing programs can't read them all.

The enormous effort required to get this thing finished by Friday has meant long hours in the computer labs at uni and piled even more pressure on an already stacked schedule of uni work. Friday is a big day. It signals the end of semester for a couple of my units with another one knocked over by Sunday. I'll close the book on semester one late next week after I complete my final weeks work at the Courier Mail. One advantage of the busy schedule is that I think it's a window to the busy nature of the industry when I get a job (wishful thinking).

One positive at the moment though is that despite the busy nature of my current life I've begun to get my diet back on track. By no means am I perfect but I've managed to fit in a fair bit of exercise in the last week and I'm confident of finally posting a negative number on Saturday. I have a long ride planned Saturday morning so think that should cement my loss for the week. Most importantly I have no work or play commitments this weekend so I can focus on finalising my uni commitments and getting in some decent exercise sessions.

I've decided that June need to be a watershed month in the fat bastard's journey. I've been looking back over the figures from the last few months and they tell a pretty sad story. One of flagging commitment to the diet and lately, seriously flagging commitment to this blog. Let me explain; On April 2 I weighed 112.2kg and last week weighed in at 107kg. That represents a 5.2kg loss in 8 weeks. I was really disappointed with myself when I worked that out but if anything it's helped strengthen my resolve.

Equally, I have averaged around 15 blogs a month for the first four months of this blog and delivered a pitiful 8 during May. Both results are unacceptable and I expect more of myself so I'm going to make a couple of bold statements to make me stay on track as we head towards the halfway point of the journey.

1. I WILL BE UNDER 100KG BY JUNE 30
2. I WILL BLOG AT LEAST 15 TIMES IN JUNE.

I expect my loyal followers to keep reminding me of these promises. One of the driving forces behind this blog was the belief that I perform better when I'm held responsible for my actions. So, in truth this blog and my physical transformation is a team effort. When I struggle I hope you will all give me a virtual kick in the shins and make me get myself together.

It's been bloody frustrating actually getting on the scales and seeing that annoying 107kg mark so I'm dead keen to leave it behind. In fact I'm so keen to see that 99kg on the dial, I've stepped up the exercise this week to overdrive just to make sure I get the Saturday result I'm looking for.

Grog remains a bit of an Achilles heel for me though. I still find I lose all commitment when I have a few drinks so I intend on staying dry for the next week or so. I've made that promise in the past before as well and failed so I'm really upping the ante this week.

So there it is on paper (or at least in cyberspace). Some big promises have been made and I intend on keeping them. The month to come will not be without it's own challenges though. A Richmond game at the Gabba, a family visit from brother number six and then a trip to Canberra to see family and friends will no doubt provide more than a few opportunities to fail in my task. So again I implore you all, my fatty followers, keep me on track. Call, text, facebook me, even feel free to give me a virtual slap if I look like I'm failing to meet this commitment. 

It's time to get serious 99kg is in sight.

Talk again soon.

P