In August 2023, I shared that I'd gained just over 4kg. 16 months later, I've since gained another 12kg. I'm really pleased with the steady growth rather than in sharp peaks and valleys. The dip that started in October 2023 was when we put the house on the market, and it didn't start to rise until we accepted an offer and officially reserved our new (now current) house in early Jan 2024.

Turns out I stress-starve.

For a little context on that, my BMI went from the bottom end of underweight before I started at 60kg to slap-bang in the middle of 'healthy' at 76kg. For my height, healthy ends at 90kg. And yes, I know all about BMI's shortcomings, but it's commonly understood, so I'm rolling with it.

I owe much of the success in my gaining weight to MyFitnessPal, which kept me in check and helped me steadily gain the weight, rather than binge on sugar for 3 months straight. I had it set to gain 0.2kg a week since I started, and even though I'd added a quarter of what I weighed before, I still look very, very slim. So there's definitely work to do, but that work is in the gym. More on that later.

I also wrote in that linked post that I wanted to do a 5k run by the end of 2023. I gave that a try at the end of the year, but I failed needed to work at it some more.

I tried again at the end of March 2024. We were moving house a few days later, and I wouldn't be working with my PT after that. Being able to run was one of the bigger reasons I started working with him, so it felt a little symbolic to complete the 5k run before I moved away.

I completed it, but it wasn't quite the pace I had imagined.

I never really talk about my fitness goals or issues with anyone, so having someone in my life whose primary goal was my fitness was a nice motivator. That came to an end, but his way of thinking about all of this stuff is now lodged in my head, and that's my motivator.

I've not donned my running shoes since, though.

I mentioned the gym & weights earlier. The new house has an internal garage, and that was always going to be for motorcycle storage and a gym. Within a week of moving in, I placed an order for a RowErg, 2 barbells (6ft and ez), 60kg of weight plates, an adjustable bench, and dumbells from 1kg to 12.5kg. That was enough to replicate a decent chunk of what I did with the PT.

I've been in there at least 2 days a week since the beginning of April 2024, and I've definitely continued progressing, and I know that because I'm starting a drop set of curls with heavier weights than I was even 3 months ago now.

I'll never be a bodybuilder—that's not my goal at all—but I am fitter, stronger, and healthier.

I am now thinking that I should have a plan and routing for gym stuff, and stick to it. Progress will stall at some point if I keep going aimlessly, and I can't let that happen.

When you work for a company that makes publishing software, and work with publishers every day, you see all sorts of content. Everything from international economics news to hobby projects about knitting. They all have an audience, and it all starts with writing.

I always wanted my blog to have a theme. I thought that theme would be code, as that's what I do day to day, but because I'm not a great teacher, the posts would be short and not explain the concepts in play.

So, rather than silo myself into a specific theme, the theme is going to be whatever the fuck I want to share, whenever I want. Enjoy.

Next up, an update on my journey from being severely underweight to being less severely underweight.

It's been 3 months since I started working with a personal trainer. I'm seeing some changes now, so I thought I'd jot those down.

I started at 60kg (130 lbs), and while I don't have a target weight in mind–preferring to gauge it on how I look & feel–I'm still weighing myself daily. This helps me keep an eye on whether I'm eating enough and that I'm not going down. Even though I'm not aiming for a specific weight, I'm still early in my journey so a loss in weight either means I'm not eating enough or I'm not gaining muscle.

In my first several sessions, we'd start with a 1km row. Initially, it was a 'take as long as you need' kind of thing, but it soon turned into an aim for 4:30, then aim for 4:15, then one day I did a 3:48. That's well below what it could be–a 3:30–but it's all good progress. Whenever we did this, it would wipe me out for the rest of the session, so we don't row much anymore.

We are focusing on weights more though, and this is where I'm noticing the difference. Several weeks back, I'd to struggle with a 6kg dumbbell bench press, now I can do a set of 10x 6kg, 10x 8kgm and 10x 10kg. I can also do a 35kg trap, but unsure what my max would be. Not big numbers by any means, but it's an improvement for sure.

I've also been running more. My distances are still pretty short being in the 1.2km to 1.6km range, but it's something I can do easily without much prep, and again, it's better than nothing.

I'm learning that it's cardio that is my biggest issue. My body just isn't used to it. I did go to the doctors (for free, thanks NHS!) to get some blood tests and an ECG after my PT suggested it for my high heart rate. The ECG was good, with 1 doctor & 2 other nurses all agreeing it's just my body acclimatising. The bloods came back as a vitamin D & B12 deficiencies, for which I take pills for now. It'll take months –even from here–to get to the point where I can run a few kilometers without stopping.

I'd like to do a 5k parkrun by the end of the year, even if that means getting up at 7am on a chilly December morning to do it.

I've been training with a personal trainer for a month, so I thought I'd check in here and track some progress. I've been doing 30-minute sessions until now, but I start 1-hour sessions this Friday, so it feels like a natural point to do this.

If you haven't read the why, here it is:

Starting With A Personal Trainer

I’ve started training with a personal trainer. But why?

Paul DavisPaul Davis

I now weigh 2kg more than I did when I started. This is largely down to me eating more. I'm eating breakfast & lunch every single day, and have massively increased my protein intake with the help of a mass gainer shake.

I'm drinking water. Note I didn't say more water. My liquid intake for years was a single coffee in the morning, maybe a small glass of something fizzy with lunch, and a beer or two after dinner. I now have at least 2 pints of water a day, and I'm trying to get this to 4. With the weather getting warmer, this should be easy.

I'm also doing some simpler exercises at home to keep momentum. I have some old weights and I've been replicating some of what we do in sessions at home. I'm always asking questions about what muscles are targeted with different exercises, so when doing them myself, I know I'm doing it right.

I'm also trying to run more. My distance is very short right now, 0.5km, but it's a step in the right direction and further helps with that momentum.

We'll probably do a fitness test in a few weeks, so that'll give me some solid numbers to report on and compare with in a few months.

A while back, I was chatting with my colleague Ryan about Ghost theme deployment and how cool it would be to not need to commit built files to source control and have GitHub Actions build them and then deploy.

Ryan took that idea and ran with it. He wrote a really nice article about how to achieve just what I was after.

Build and Deploy with GitHub Actions

Let the machines take the wheel with GitHub Actions. Push an update to your Ghost theme and then see it automatically built and deployed, anywhere and everywhere.

Ryan FeigenbaumRyan Feigenbaum

I borrowed most of the code & ideas, and adapted it slightly to suit my needs. I use yarn instead of npm, so my version accounts for that and skips deploying to a demo site.

If you already use GitHub Actions to deploy your theme, you can probably drop this right in. You may need to adapt the build task, which is run: npm run build in this yaml file and "build": "gulp build", in the scripts in my package.json file.

name: Deploy Theme
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Use Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '18.x'
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: |
          if [ -e yarn.lock ]; then
          yarn install --frozen-lockfile
          elif [ -e package-lock.json ]; then
          npm ci
          else
          npm i
          fi
      - run: npm run build
      - name: Deploy site
        uses: TryGhost/action-deploy-theme@v1
        with:
          api-url: ${{ secrets.GHOST_ADMIN_API_URL }}
          api-key: ${{ secrets.GHOST_ADMIN_API_KEY }}

I'm mostly sharing this incase anyone with the same setup as me is in a ind and needs a quick solution. Happy building!

In April 2023, the Ghost team was on a retreat in Wales. Several members of the team are runners, and looking at the team Strava group, average distances range from 3km to 25km.

Through a little bit of peer pressure and a lot of potential FOMO, I decided to join them for a run. I had not done anything close to physical exercise since school in 2006, so I didn't know how it would go, but waking up and starting the run at 7:15 am would be an achievement in itself.

The planned loop was 3km, I made it 600 meters before my legs were jelly and my lungs were on fire.

I tapped out and retreated to a convenient bench and sat for 10 minutes. Whatever level of fitness I have is clearly not enough and I need to do something.

Rationale

Researching how to get fitter when you're skinny (190cm and 60kg) is hard. Almost all advice & marketing is about how to lose weight. There's lots of anecdotal information about how to get fitter and not lose weight, but if I'm doing this, I want to do it safely—I need someone who can see me in person to give me the right advice and instruction. I need a personal trainer.

I've toyed with the idea of hiring a PT for a while and have done a lot of Googling, but never had the kick I needed to act on it. I contacted a PT who's local, has their own gym, knows nutrition, and was reasonably priced.

I emailed, he replied, and after a few messages about my current nutrition, what I'm looking for, and availability, I was booked in for the first session on May 9th at 10:30 am.

I currently own zero gym equipment. All the clothing I have that's even remotely close to being suitable is cotton and more fashion-focused. No shoes that properly support my feet, no t-shirts that are light & breath nicely, and no shorts that allow proper movement. I have now acquired one complete outfit with the help of some nice people at a sports shop.

I don't know what to expect, so I don't know how much to prepare, so I'll leave it there until I'm told otherwise.

Post-visit

I arrived a few minutes early, saw the previous people leave, and then walked in. We exchanged pleasantries, went up to the mezzanine, filled out a form, and had a chat about nutrition, my current fitness activities, and how flexible I can be. Thankfully I work with an amazing team so flexibility isn't a big deal. Speaking of the team, I also mentioned my short-term goal of being able to complete a run with everyone on the next retreat.

We then moved on to some light cardio, which was a few minutes in a cycling machine, then a rowing machine. I was later told that I'm not the worst he's had, but there's definitely work to do. Win?

We then went back downstairs where we did some squats, press-ups, curls with some light weights, and a few other small bits.

It was only a half-hour session (starting slowly) but by the end of it, I could definitely feel my heart rate was up and my muscles had worked more than they are used to.

I think this was the perfect intro. He didn't work me too hard and it's shown both of us that's definitely work to be done and lots of ways to improve general fitness.

My homework is to drink at least 2 liters of water a day, keep a food diary, and incorporate more fruits & protein into my diet. The water part is easy (there's an app for that) but the extra nutrition part requires a bit of research to find the best way to fit it into my life.

If you have a bunch of folders and want to individually zip them up, the simplest method is to right click and compress the folder. But, if you have many folders it can get tiresome.

I searched around and found a way to to run a small bash script that will loop through the top-level folders in a directory and create a zip from it.

For example, say you have:

Main folder:
  - MyFolder
  - Another Folder
  - Yet more folder

cd into the main folder, cd Main\ folder and then run one of the below:

# Loud mode
for i in */; do zip -r "${i%/}.zip" "$i"; done

# Quiet mode
for i in */; do zip -q -r "${i%/}.zip" "$i"; done

The result of the above is:

Main folder:
  - MyFolder
  - MyFolder.zip
  - Another Folder
  - Another Folder.zip
  - Yet more folder
  - Yet more folder.zip

I was using this to backup a load of working files and it worked a charm.

Happy archiving!

Shopify has a library called Theme Kit, which lets you use your local environment to build theme that then deploy to Shopify and lat yo preview on their infrastructure. Most tutorials will guide you in setting this up akin to mid 2000's development where you FTP every change to the server and view the changes on the live site.

The trouble with this comes when you want to work on something that will take more than 2 minutes, and don't want to interrupt the live site and potentially cause issues with people trying to purchase stuff. You wouldn't change the wheel on a moving car.

Thankfully, Theme Kit is configurable and there's a few ways to drastically improve this process.

There's a little bit of legwork to get started, but once done, it's simple.

On Shopify

• Navigate to the Themes section and create a duplicate of the current live theme
• Rename the live theme to Your Theme - Production
• Rename the new duplicate to Your Theme - Development (To help differentiate)
• Hit [Customise] on the Production theme, and copy the numbers in the URL. This is the theme ID.
• And do the same for the Development theme.

At this point you should have 2 copies of the same theme, and an ID for each version of that theme.

• Your Theme - Production — 123456789123
• Your Theme - Development — 123456789456

Local development changes

In config.yml, set development and production environments.

development:
  password: a1b2c3d4
  theme_id: "1234"
  store: mystore.myshopify.com
  ignores:
  - themekit_ignores # Ignores files in ./.themeignore
production:
  password: a1b2c3d4
  theme_id: "1234"
  store: mystore.myshopify.com
  ignores:
  - themekit_ignores # Ignores files in ./.themeignore

Of the Commands section below, one deploys all files whether they have changed or not, so we need to make sure that any files we don't want synced are ignored. For example, config/settings_data.json caused me some headaches (it wiped all custom settings fields), so that's definitely important to ignore.

Your .themeignore file should look something like this, depending how your theme's built:

.DS_Store
node_modules
package-lock.json
package.json
gulpfile.js
config/settings_data.json

Commands

The day-to-day work involves running gulp and the below command in another shell tab.

# Upload changes to the development theme
theme watch --env=development

When I'm ready to deploy all changes, I run gulp build, and the below:

# Deploy changes to production theme
theme deploy --allow-live --env=production

Previewing things

All fo this is great, but if there's no way to preview the changes, what's the point?

Shopify lets you preview any theme installed on your site. By knowing the theme ID, you san skip the step of needing to go into Shopify and opening the preview every time you need it.

https://yourshopifystore.com/?preview_theme_id=123456789456

Now you have a staging version of your Shopify theme, and a single command to deploy that to production.

Happy theming!

It’s been a while, hasn’t it. Since my last post, the new car has: been assembled from a pile of aluminum, steel, plastic, and several dead cows; been shipped from South Carolina USA to Southampton UK; passed through customs; and finally transported to Berry BMW at Heathrow.

It was there for all of 48 hours before I arrived to collect it, in all its unwashed glory, per my request.

When I ordered the new car back in January, one of the first things I wanted to do (if budget allowed) was get it detailed by someone with considerable more skill than me. I’d say I’m a competent weekend-worrier, but as soon as it comes to paint correction and ceramic coatings, I get nervous. I’d rather pay someone to do it right once, than pay even more to correct my mistakes.

So, when I got a better idea of delivery dates, I contact Matt at The Matt Finish to get it booked in for a ‘new car detail’. That means that pretty much every surface visible for protection. The engine bay was dressed; wheels, suspension components and breaks ceramic coated, paint corrected and coated. I had the black plastic surrounding the windows and rear windows covers, and even the mirror caps covered in matte PPF, as they have a matte finish from factory.

Look that that gloss!

The paint is coated with Siramik SC Altum, Ultima and Diamas, the wheels and plastics in CarPro Dlux, and Gtechniq G1 on all glass, Dr Leather Dye Block on leather, Gtechniq I1 on fabrics, and finally Aerospace 303 on the engine bay.

I’d say that’s pretty comprehensive, and I’m chuffed to bits with it. All of that effort means that I (right so) need to take proper care of it. What’s the point of it being absolutely perfect if I then wash it with a sponge with Fairy liquid on a hot day, and let it dry in the sun?

With Matt’s help and recommendations, I purchased about £400 worth of new detailing equipment. I had some, but wanted to refresh any older things I had. So, 3 buckets, shampoo, wheel cleaners, various brushes, new wash mitt, microfiber clothes, spray bottles, tyre dressing, and pressure washer, and a multitude of other bits & pieces.

Let me explain.

I’ve grown tired of the hot hatch market. I currently own (owned?) a Ford Focus ST-3. It was a fun car, and I specced it relatively well, but it had issues from the start. The 19″ wheels I specced left little in the way of comfort, and the infotainment system definitely shows its age. Trying to zoom and pan around the sat nav map was infuriatingly slow. It also made my wife queasy on long journeys, and after a long journey on my own, my ears felt hot and pained.

The qualities that led to those issues, where the same qualities that made it fun to drive on dry, country roads. The car, assuming you understood its purpose, fulfilled its role in life. I have no real complaints about the car itself, but I feel i’ve outgrown that market.

I’m 28 years old now. I’m beyond trying to show off with wheels, badges, and exhausts. But, I still want some fun.

Specification

• Phytonic Blue
  • All of my previous cars have either been black, or silver, with the exception of a dark blue Audi A3 for a brief period. I’m bored of cars that look no different with a B&W filter, and that blend in to the typically miserable British weather. The Phytonic Blue is different enough to be interesting, but not overly bright – I don’t want to stand out too much.
• Black with grey contrast stitching Vernasca leather.
  • As much as I’d like a lighter interior, black is classic, ages relatively well, and effectively eliminates dye transfer.
• 20″ 669M Wheels, with fun flats
  • I prefer the look of the 21″ 718M wheels, but I’m happy to have a smaller wheel if it means a slightly taller side-wall, and more stealthy look. 20″ it is.
  • The 20’s have 12mm more sidewall that the 21’s, and the 20’s have 28mm more sidewall than the 19’s on my Focus ST.
• “Technology package”, which includes:
  • This consists of the Display Key. A largely useless key (apparently) with some occasionally useful features.
  • Head-up Display. I’m not sure yet how good BMW’s sat nav is. If it’s pants, I’ll use Google Maps via CarPlay, and only use the head-up for media stuff. If it’s good, I’ll use it for directions too.
  • “Enhanced Bluetooth with wireless charging” – wireless charging for my phone (and that Display Key)!
  • “BMW Gesture Control“. A fun ‘look at this’ feature, but not one I’ll use often I’m sure.
  • WiFI Hot Spot Preparation – Everyone I know has data on their phones. Not useful to me at all.
• “Comfort package”, which includes:
  • “Comfort Access” because I haven’t used a fob button to open a car door in about 6 years.
  • “Acoustic glazing” – Hopefully this kills some noise on long motorways journeys. I know the car itself is going to be quieter anyway, may as tick this box to help it a bit more.
  • “Exterior Mirrors – folding with anti-dazzle” – Why this is an option and not a standard is beyond me. The ‘anti-dazzle’ bit nice nice. You know the little switch (?) under the rear view mirror in most cars to stop you being blinded? This, but automatically, but on all mirrors.
  • “Rear Seat Backrest Adjustment” – I’m sure the few people who’ll ever sit in the back for any significant time will appreciate this
  • “Extended storage” – This adds a gas strut to the boot floor to keep it up when lifted. Given I’ll store some cleaning chemicals and microfibres under there, this is welcome.
• “Steering wheel heating” – It’s £170. Nobody likes a cold steering wheel art 7am on a February morning.
• “Adaptive M Sport suspension”, because it’s such a cheap option at £530 (comparatively) it’d be silly not to. I hope this gives the car duel personalities. Sport for me, comfort for everyone else.
• “Panoramic glass sunroof” because the black leather interior will need all the brightening up it can get. And, it helps the interior – whatever the colour – feel more open.
• “Sun protection glass” which, if you’ve read about the leather colour and pano roof, seems counterintuitive. It is, but it helps the outside look cleaner. The open glass roof counteract the slight loss of light from the side.
• “Lumbar support, driver and front pass” – I had this on my BMW 335i coupé a few years back, and it’s the thing I miss most about that car. Essentially, it’s some inflatable air bags in the seats which I can set to push into my lower back. Amazing.
• “Galvanic embellisher for controls” – A purely aesthetic option that changes a majority of the switchgear from black plastic to a metallic plastic (not real metal, I think), to lighten small parts of the interior and make controls stand out a bit.
• “Driving Assistant Plus” – Ah, this one is kind of experimental. It encompasses:
  • “Active Cruise Control with Stop&Go”. I want this as a safer cruise control, as it’ll slow when it gets close to the car ahead of me. And in heavy traffic, it’ll even come to a standstill, and then continue on. Is this what dreams are made of?
  • Lane assistance, because driving home from the airport after a 3am landing isn’t fun.
  • A slew of tangentially related safety systems to help prevent me crash, and prepare the car fir being crashed into.
• “Parking Assistant Plus” – So, this one is mostly marketed as the “it’ll park for you” thing, but I want it for the 360° camera, which will be all sorts of run, and wheel-saving.
• “harman/kardon surround sound” (BMW don’t capitalise it, weirdly) – I listen to music through studio monitors all day. I know any car audio system is inherently compromised, but I wanted to give it the best shot.
• “Apple CarPlay preparation” – Duhh

So there’s my spec, with an explanation for all of it. I intend to keep this car for years after the 4-year PCP deal is up, so I wanted to make sure it has everything I want now, and what I may want in the future.

Delivery is expected mid April 2019. As I get some more interesting information, I’ll share it here.