Weeks Thirty Seven,Eight,Nine

Sorry to lump this altogether this is due to my holiday and lack of a decent computer,both have now finished and sorted. Normal service will be resumed with weekly blogs.

Lets start off with the holiday 11 nights on a cruise ship,this was booked and planned way before I started my life style journey for those that don't know cruise ships have twenty four hour eating a paradise for foodies and to be honest I used to partake in over indulgence in the past and had planned to on this cruise when it was booked. So what was holiday heaven suddenly had the possibility to be the holiday hell, how would I cope with all the temptation that would be on offer would I have control of myself would I fall off the wagon, loads of question's.

Well I needn't have worried my control over everything was perfect the slimpod has past with flying colours the toughest test I could ever give it. If I was ever going to fail this would have been the time that it would have happened. And the best thing about the whole cruise were the great lesson's I learnt as the holiday progressed and afterwards when I digested the whole experience.

The dinning choices on a cruise are, a set meal time we had a table of eight and had a great table of people which helped as well we had a 18:00 and the whole dinning experience lasted about two hours for a three course meal and coffee. The other option is in the main cafe which is help yourself time and go back as much as you wanted, on the first night we ate in the cafe and whilst I was good a little to much went on the plate but control was good and I was not freaking out about food. On the second and third night we hit the first winter storm of the year and for the best part of 48 hours it was rough Hazel spent this time mainly in the cabin sharing her time equally between the bed and the toilet, Like any good man on holiday I left her to it, what on earth could I do for her anyway? Anyway back to the food issue's the next night I was on my own in the cafe and whilst I ate my dinner I felt uncomfortable being on my own (fat man all you can eat what are they thinking about me?) So I made the decision for the next night to eat in the waiter service table although on my own again the other six people made me feel welcome and comfortable I explained about Hazel being unwell and had a great time. The menu's had a vitality menu 3 course's for under 800 calories, I think I've died and gone to heaven eating made easy. The weather improves and Hazel joins me for dinner for the rest of the cruise.

The biggest thing I learnt is portion size, how can I eat this little and be full up I know that the dinning experience lasting two hours helps but it something I'm trying at home with portion size's this is work in progress and I will keep updating on my blogs how it is going. After the first week back from the cruise bread took over a little to much which was disappointing but that has past now.

My aim now that the Great South Run and the cruise is over is weight loss my weight has been steady at 16 stone for nearly three months fluctuating within a 2kg limit, this clearly shows a massive improvement and lesson's learnt that I have not done in my life before. My weight at the great South Run was 103.2kg  16st 3.5lb today three weeks later my weight is 101.3kg 15st 13.3lb.Wow Broken the 16st barrier so good news straight away next target is to go under the 100kg mark then reach my target weight of 82.6kg or 13st I don't regret any part of my journey so far, the weight freeze was frustrating but taking into account the training and my first ever road race and the new experiences gained from that, everyone that counts is still happy with how I have done and more importantly I am happy with the whole process.

I must express some relief that I am now back to putting the weight loss first and the running second, this is because all the training I have done so far is banked and I don't have to do it again, for the Half Marathon in Brighton in February I just need to keep running and training to tick over what I have already done and being the next race I am aware of what is involved in the race day so no surprise's. I hope that bit makes sense to you.