Jude Smith

Well dear reader, I wouldn't want you to think that I hadn't trained since last time- I have been dutifully pushing squatting and other things that when written down seem strangely toilet related! In ten days I have eaten only one cheaty food thing (a planned cream cake) and I am pleased to say that I have lost five pounds. Its a slowish start but should get quicker from here on in. I now have my personalised training programme too.. Its a good combination of cross training and rowing, of weights and lunges! It should all have me a bit more toned and shaped by Christmas! (Honest Guv!) The only 'problem' is that my arms are now very tired and gimpy! But I am excitededed!

So I had my first training session with the personal trainer yesterday: and all things considered, pretty good... We started with a fitness test: a 3000 metre row. It took me just over 15 minutes. Not bad considering: though blatantly want to be able to do it first in 15 minutes flat and then eventually in under twelve. Then it was squats, lunges and some weights. My body was proper feeling it by the end of the day but was all good. More bizarre was the lovely scales in the gym clocking me as having lost 13lb (if only).. But the wii has me having lost 2lb plus a little bit more this morning. I am beginning to feel the lack of caffeine and carbs today though.. but we fight on. Today's exercise was cleaning- an hour of it! All good..

This 'dieting' business (which is actually about eating fewer calories not some weird only eat food beginning with z thing.. are there any foods that begin with z?) is quite hard with this job.. I must self congratulate first.. I have had no sugar in coffee and have had no biscuits cake or crisps.. or chocolate. BUT- on a visit I was made homemade Italian sauce from a homemade lovely Italian lady.. with an ENORMOUS plate of pasta (white carbs bad..) and- having not quite made it to a meeting, David and I went to the local and the locals MADE us (really) drink beer.. It was very lovely- but not quite the calories cutting. So.. not bad.. but need to plan things somehow..

Anyone one who has known me for a while will know that at times I can talk big and act small. This is often the case in terms of setting out on a new project- and fitness and weight loss has been a favourite non starter in all of this. But maybe, just maybe this time I mean it. The fact is that I am heavier than I have ever been, I can hear my heart pumping away to keep me going (I suspect my BP is sky high), my asthma is getting worse and people just keep feeding me biscuits. So: here I am, saying it publically. I want to lose something like 3 stone by Easter- thats 42 lbs and a lot of kilos.. I'm a bit too shy to reveal my starting weight.. But there are a couple of people I will be honest with so I can check how its going. To that end- I am going to meet with a personal trainer 6 times at the gym to get me going- plus more exercise generally. I am cutting down on food: mainly carbs, but all food. All teh snacks are going out of the house. And caffeine will eventually go. Th...

This weekend: I have applauded the win of an underdog, and yet decried the win of another.. I have empathised with peace and reconciliation, and yet sought conflict. I have talked of and asked for grace and mercy and yet when I see grace in action I call it a travesty! And I have watched a documentary about massive injustice (Israel and Palenstine) and then gotten more involved in the injustice of X factor.. I am a hypocrite.

When I was a student, I was in my neighbour's rooms: there was noise outside and as I glanced out of the window there was a couple, having sex on the war memorial outside the room. Today, as I type a student is under threat of jail for urinating on a war memorial. Two things have changed in the interim 15 years. The first is that instant photos get everywhere. In 1994 there were no digital cameras to fire images around the world at rapid pace. This lad has been charged with outraging public decency, presumably of the people who saw the photo more than the myriad other drunken students. The second change is that in 1994 we were in an era of comparative peace. We had 'won' the Cold War and we were not yet in the new world of the War on Terror. War memorials were important- but you may struggle to find people calling them 'sacred'. My point is this. I agree that this lad did something very wrong. Urinating in the street is one of the increasingly seen and alway...

I think I am going to make the blog look a little different. I want to make it a bit more functional so you can get to see all the things you need to see here. For those of you who know me well: there is another blog where I can share a wee bit more about what is going on here. If you want an invite then you will need to email me. So: watch this space for the changes to take effect.