Jude Smith

Today some alarming social equality data was released. It said what we all know: if you are poor, you have less opportunities in life. For every £100 a month less income than the median you start school one month behind developmentally. Your vocabulary aged 5 is half what it is for a rich kid if you are in the bottom ten percent of income. Housing tenure stats are even worse. "Only 4 per cent of those of working age living in social housing have degrees, and nearly half have no or only low qualifications. Only half of men and 42 per cent of women of working age living in social housing are in paid work, compared with 89 per cent of men and 81 per cent of women in households with a mortgage." Social housing: by its nature, is grouped (london people ignore this, you are the freaks not the norm). That means that we have allowed ghettoes of poverty and low attainment (not just in a SATS way either). Now it would be easy, and some daft Tory has already done it, to pin this on

Well I made it! I am half way to my weight loss goal. On Thursday I stepped with trepidation onto the scales and there it was. It had taken the whole week (it felt like the whole week) to get there, but a stone and a half has gone. That, it turns out, is a jeans size! Am I feeling healthier? Sort of: I'm pretty tired and so need a break that its hard to tell right now. But I move better and feel stronger: and I'm starting to plan my next big challenge... In weight loss terms its 6 pounds to the next milestone. Then another pound until I am two stone in! And its at that stage (during Lent) that it gets serious for the last push. The other challenge: the Dales Way, 70 miles in four days (though could I do it in three?).. am thinking just after Easter! Bring it on!

The community that I live in has 86% of its adults of working age on some kind of worklessness benefit. Thats mental!

First goal achieved. My BMI has dropped below a magic number placing me precariously into the overweight category. Which is hardly an achievement to be proud of- but it kind of is.. At the gym today I was training with a kettlebell that weighed pretty much what I had just lost- wow! It feels like quite a lot when its in a metal ball as opposed to on my body! Anyway I am going to stop going on about this- I'm not trying to gloat about weight loss, I think mainly I want to go on the journey openly so I can't start scoffing cream cakes on the quiet. So, lovely readers I will keep chuntering on about training and stuff. Next goal- the half way point. Three pounds to go!

I'm going to blame the snow: its probably not all its fault but it is a convenient scapegoat and given that it will be blamed for poor exam results, a slower economic recovery and a poor England World Cup performance, I think it can cope with my woes too. I think basically I have slowed down: everything seems to have- I have so little motivation right now. I can't even make myself feel creative, tis most strange. Weight loss has kind of ground to a halt. Thats just plain disappointing though may be the Christmas not so much dieting coming back to haunt. And I'm a bit sick- just a cold I think, but made working out yesterday feel really tough.. But on the plus side I did work out- I boxed (and oh my can I feel that today!), and did some proper caveman type exercises with logs and stuff.. hopefully will reap some results! If you are a pray-er though, do pray that I get some motivation back.. cos its tough just now..

Well, I have been doing this diet thing for maybe seven or eight weeks now. And there are some results: I have lost about 15lbs, and feel decided fitter already. Exercise took a blow over Christmas- and isn't helped by ice everywhere- but we fight on, and I might even invest in some more personal training sessions! I am a third of the way there- which is the first milestone made- I wanted to lose a stone by Christmas and have made it. The next targets are: to no longer be obese on the BMI- maybe one or two pounds away to get to the half way mark- six pounds away to make the two thirds marker by Ash Wednesday to break a magic pounds marker (as yet to be disclosed but a wee way to go) Its going to get harder from here on in. I think stone two will go via exercise- stone three will take a more radical diet I think.. all the low fat that I can manage! But I am very up for the challenge...