FatBlokeThin - The Fat Blokes Guide To Losing Weight!

Déjà vu...

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:09:00 +0000

This is NOT a New Year resolution – REALLY!!

Firstly, let me be clear. I do not ‘do’ New Year resolutions – I hold the opinion that if you are going to do something, then just go ahead and do it! Do you feel differently today than you did last week – better equipped to achieve your goals – somehow more motivated? I don’t think so…. IT’S JUST A DAY!

Adding the pressure of a glossy Sunday Newspaper supplement induced ‘fitness guiltfest’ – lots of pictures of achingly glamorous and toothy fitness freaks jogging up a beach in the bright sunshine – will not help you to achieve your goals either - FACT.

Having said all that… here we go again (groan..). Let the Groundhog Day begin.

Since my last post so little has happened that I don’t really know where to begin but I’ll give it a go….

My weight is a bit like some of Wall Streets finest investment opportunities – it goes down as well as up! At the moment I am quite happily bucking the planet-wide economic trend as my weight appears to be rising in adverse correlation to the worlds stock markets! Long gone are the heady days of dreaming of 220lbs but hopefully my own personal Wall Street crash is just around the corner…

The last time you heard from me I was 239.8Lbs – today I am a whopping 272.6lbs. Yes, that’s correct – almost exactly back where I started in June 2010... great!

The only possible redeeming feature to this tail of woe is that I now know that I can lose 40Lbs plus in 6 months – I know this for a fact because I have done it! Weight loss is no longer a mystery to me - Shaggy and Scooby can stand down for now. Mystery solved.

So what went wrong then?

When it comes to pressure (both internal and external), I realise that I am a sponge. I soak it up and soak it up with no visible effects (that I am aware of) on my character. I manage the stress levels I encounter from this pressure by self medicating with alcohol and comfort food.

Being overweight is both mentally and physically stressful – however, it is entirely self inflicted and I neither seek nor expect sympathy from anyone. I have the knowledge to understand how I got into this situation and I have the tools to dig myself out. It is time to start digging.

The mental stress from being overweight is probably the more pernicious of the two – it is the very hub of the wheel of self doubt, self pity and comfort consumption that leads to excessive weight gain.

The trigger for this initial pressure can be any significant event in your life – in my case it was overwork towards the end of 2010. The ‘drip-drip’ pressure of my job reached a tsunami in late 2010 / early 2011 – this pushed me so far that I could not sustain the positive mental outlook to continue my weight loss.

I am happy to say that for a number of reasons, I no longer have to endure the stress levels that I experienced this time last year. My head is in a much better place and I really have no reason whatsoever to avoid just getting on with it!

Dear reader, should you be interested, I will be following this highly complex plan:-

Get the food right!

I will loosely be following the zone diet. It seems to work from me.

Get the mind right!

The struggle to follow the ways of Buddhism continues…

Move my fat ar*e!

I have no excuse whatsoever as I have a gym at work and a wife that likes to get the boxing gloves out – ouch! Just get on with it….

The real key to breaking the destructive wheel of self doubt, self pity and gluttony is in the mind – of that I am sure. I understand what needs to be done – as I knew instinctively when I started this blog, the right mind will ensure the weight comes off. Happiness is not a large glass of red and a family size bag of crisps… it comes from increased mindfulness, respect for myself and compassion for others. Working on that....

As a permanent reminder to me of the huge task in hand, I look at this many times a day to remind me how far I have to go…

The tattoo is an important symbol of the road I am heading down. The mantra is hard to explain so more of that another day...

I began this blog with a very pompous notion that I had an important narrative to offer all fellow pie-worriers. I have been humbled by the rocky road that I have travelled. - words are cheap and actions are dear indeed.

I am back on the road though and I will record my thoughts here from time to time for my own enjoyment more than anything – please feel free to comment if you have something interesting/relevant to say but please respect the no advert policy – just saying ‘Cool Blog’ and adding your link to some probably illegal gadget/potion is really quite rude. If you come in peace then you are very welcome to come and sit on my lawn but please respect it as it’s mine not yours.

Finally, I am not here to buy or sell – there are more than enough people doing that. I am here to find happiness and lose a little weight a long the way.

“Happiness is not something ready made.
It comes from your own actions.”

Dalai Lama XIV

Half way to somewhere…

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 13:11:00 +0000

For my sake it is just as well that I am better at losing weight than I am at updated my blog. I don’t seem to be able to do them both successfully at the same time! Maybe there is a lesson for us all here in the lardy blogosphere…

Anyway, now to the point of this post – as the more observant of you may have deduced already - the clue is the title.

As of this morning I weigh 239.8Lbs or 109Kgs (or even 17st 2lbs for the empire dreamers amongst us) – this is halfway between my starting point of 280lbs and my dream goal of 200lbs!

This is a total loss of 41.2lbs since June 2010. Wow, wow and thrice wow!

Well, what’s changed for it to go so right this time you may cry?

No pills, no potions, no expensive diet plans and no crazy mind voodoo just good old fashioned hard work and positive thought has got me here. Mentally I am in the best most positive place possible for this. It is the most important thing in my life for the last six months and the next.

Weight loss 101 – get your head straight!

The single biggest priority when preparing for weight loss is the creation of a positive mental attitude. Without this, I was wasting my time (and money) on a cause that was already lost. Put simply, my weight loss had to be the single most important aspect of my life for the period I intended to focus on it.

What I do have though is a great personal trainer who has pushed me beyond anything I ever thought I was capable of. When I first contacted him, I likened my bodily situation to an oil tanker gently steaming in the wrong (i.e. unhealthy) direction and I needed him to help me to slow it down and then start turning it around! He turned out to be a great sailor…

I really feel like I am starting to steam again in the right direction but it has taken 6 long hard months to get just this far along the way.

This change in my life’s direction has been brought about by a powerful combination of mental and physical effort.

The physical side is simple really (simple I said, not easy – there is a big difference); I have learnt to control my eating and to limit my intake of the things that will harm me. Also I can now push myself physically until I really can’t push any more and then I push a little more. Every time just that little bit more….it’s almost intoxicating. I never thought I would say that…

As for the mental side, Buddhist and Benedictine readings have helped me to prepare myself for what is a most rigorous test of my mental state – the urge to forget it all and have a large glass of Chianti and some ripe Shropshire Blue is never far away! Understanding that modern life can so easily prevent our happiness has helped me to overcome my non-specific dissatisfaction and focus on the weight loss. If you are serious about weight loss you must be serious about happiness and the root of both is purity of heart. If you want to know more, I suggest that you read this book – I found it helped me hugely.

As a direct consequence of this journey towards happiness and the weight loss that ensued, I now feel that my body is starting to be mine again – I really KNOW that I was not meant to be 280lbs and being that weight was almost like an out of body experience for me. Looking in a mirror was not disgusting for me, it was just downright confusing! I honestly did not recognise the fat person looking back at me and this confusion gave rise to a deep sense of unhappiness (not pity or dejection but the true definition of unhappiness).

The very best thing about this is that if I can do it I honestly believe that ANYONE can.

From a sedentary 280lbs heading inexorably towards 300, I am now fitter and healthier than I have been in a long time (possibly ever). I eat healthily; drink in strict moderation and exercise almost every single day.

If you are seriously (by seriously I mean 80-100+lbs) over your healthy weight I urge you to get a personal trainer and then shut up and listen to them (lesson 1). Get a good one (the one that’s going to push you the hardest), one that comes recommending for offering safe and consistent weight loss. The money this costs you can be more than recouped by smarter food purchasing and cancelling the gym membership you never use! The mind has to be ready though – total commitment or don’t bother. Let them guide you…

As my trainer told me, it’s great if you can go to a gym regularly but you really don’t need to. The process of pushing your body to higher levels of fitness combined with diet control will give you weight loss for sure. So bin the gym!

Your body is your gym – and he was right! The weights I needed to lift were attached to my torso! He can put me through a work out in my living room for 45 minutes that can reduce me to a near-vomiting wreck and no equipment required!

If you feel it’s time to make the change – YOU MUST DO IT. I put it off for the best part of 10 years and convinced myself that I was meant to be that way – I was not, am not and will not be that way again.

If you embark on a weigh loss journey, be it 2 months or 2 years, you will need to clearly inform friends, family and even the household pets that for the weight loss period, you will be focused on losing weight above all else! It must come first and it must be undertaken with the upmost dedication. If not, failure is just around the corner.

I am no expert but I know what worked for me - If you want to more information regarding what I have done and how I started then please feel free to e-mail me. You will be pleased to know that I have nothing to sell.

Next step is 220lbs by Christmas….tough but maybe I can do it!?!

Love your nuts!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:21:00 +0000

Well, I did promise updates - as of this morning I weigh 260.4lbs - down from a start of 280lbs so just shy if the 20lb mark.

This is a brief update - I will let you know more soon.

As for the nut thing - my diet now includes more nuts than I ever thought possible - more of that later too.

Only 60lbs to go!

Much lost, much gained...

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 23:19:00 +0000

As the title of this post suggests the past 2 years have been eventful to say the least. Since my last post, I have managed to lose two parents, a dog and a job ...

I have however gained more dogs, a new job and sadly a considerable amount of weight..

Ah, the weight. So what is it you ask? Well, let's start at the beginning......

The last time I ventured onto this blog was way back in July 2008 - 2 long years ago. At that time I was fairly disgusted to be 247Lbs - well ladies and gentlemen, not 1 month ago I weighed in at 279lbs! Just shy of my traditional ‘tipping point’ of 20 stone (280lbs).

This has at last shocked me into action and I am quietly confident that my time has come - my time to get the job done that is. So what is different this time? Good question well presented

I FEEL different about the whole thing, that’s for sure - I have run out of excuses NOT to sort myself out. I am now exercising more than I have ever done in my life (twice a day most days) and I am following a wheat, gluten and dairy free diet very rigorously. On top of all this I have enlisted the help of a personal trainer - maybe an extravagance to some but he provides the willpower boost and motivation to push me beyond anything I have ever done before. He could very well be saving my life...

All this has meant I have lost around 14 pounds in 5 weeks and this morning weighed in at 266lbs.

My next target is 247lbs and then the game begins again - I am not looking back though and positive thought is going to push me on to achieve an even greater goal - 200lbs! I am in no hurry and am not going to set any ridiculous timescales - I will do it and it will be done when it is done.

I am back and this time I really mean it. Yeah, I know I have said that before but TRUST me, this time it is going to work!

Please comment if you feel the urge but please don't try and sell me your diet pills or your get thin quick websites etc as I am not interested. Losing weight is about effort and application in both physical expenditure and dietary control - nothing more, nothing less.

There are no shortcuts and the walk starts here....

I will try to update once a week from now on to let everyone (?!) know how I am getting on.

The same old same old...

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:50:00 +0000

Well, so much for the "post every week on a Monday", "never be this weight again" tush! Yada yada yada... I am boring myself now!

Anyway, this is how it is people - hear his.

As of this morning I weigh 247.2 Lbs - duh! This is not as bad as it sounds though. On the 17th June I was 251.8 lbs (Double Duh with sprinkles on!).

For various reasons (some really good and others downright lame..) I have not be able to get to the gym as often as i would like this week. yes dear reader, I said G Y M. Yes, really!

The whole Biggest Loser tv-fest is getting me in the zone for change (Sky TV are showing the whole season of Biggest Loser Couples with an episode each night! This is like self inflicted Chinese water torture for fat people! I love it - the tears, the rows, the unadulterated schmaltz of it all, God Bless NBC ! That last bit was a joke by the way - sarcasm in fact).

Seriously, I AM motivated by this as I see real (life-changing) development in people that previously believed it to be impossible (as I do/did) - it all boils down to how much you are willing to do to get it - it's not enough to want it really bad you have got to expect and accept the incredible mental and physical tornado that will hit you. This is a BIG lesson for me.

I am there - in the zone, ready to change and at the moment I am frustrated that I cannot get to the gym as often as I would like. For 2 days this week I was without a car as Mrs FBT's wagon was being MOT'd and to top it off, my Gym is at an hotel/spa complex that is very close to the Silverstone GP circuit so with the British Grand Prix this weekend, it is bedlam to say the least - I will be back on Monday to start again!

America - next time you see me I'll be on the front cover of FatBlokes International (swimsuit edition). Yuk!

“Daddy, why have you got a fat belly?”

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:34:00 +0000

Well, no sooner than the medical profession view me as a threat to the planet as a whole and indeed everyone on it, my biggest fan has started to ask some seriously probing questions about my physique…

My son is 4 years old and clearly does not yet know that "directness" is not always the best policy (lying is OK for adults, right? Especially to yourself, right?) Anyway, it’s my own fault for trying to bring him up to be an open and loving child – WHAT was I thinking??? Why can’t he lie to me like I lie to myself every time I pick a bottle of white wine from the cooler at the supermarket? Kids today – bah!

Anyway, I answered this devastatingly direct question with an equally devastatingly direct answer.

“My belly is fat because I eat too much and don’t exercise enough.” (Can you hear the thud?)

Simple, to the point, and possibly the single most depressingly direct thing that I have ever said in my life. What’s worse, it is the TRUTH! More importantly than that though is that if I know it, why in the name of jumping Jehosaphat do I not DO something about it?!

In answer to this, he looked at me and said thoughtfully “I only eat little chocolates so I don’t get a fat belly, don’t I dad?” – Oh please! – lay in on a bit thicker, why don’t you son?

At this point, I feel like I am trapped in a very bad 1950’s health film flickering and jumping around on the cinema screen between Flash Gordon (Just kill Ming when you get the chance – what is so difficult for God’s sake???) and some Laurel and Hardy. Another fine mess indeed…

I think I have kept up this denial long enough don’t you?

That same day I watched the latest series (season if you like) of the US Biggest Loser show – I lie to myself that I watch it for motivation but in reality (no pun intended) I mostly watch it to try to kid myself that I am not really fat – these people are proper fat, that’s spelt F A T, not like me, I’m just a ‘bit big’ – but as my wife groans and goes ‘uh yuck!’ every time one of them takes their shirt off for the initial weigh-in, I sigh inwardly knowing that I look just the same if not worse – she says that I don’t but I know I do – this is really not negative thought… just reality. I am genuinely not repulsed by my appearance at all (why should I be?), but my wife clearly hides her disgust, and that makes me feel bad – really bad. She really shouldn't need to do that.

We’ll leave ‘body-image’ for another day (BIG SUBJECT), but If I needed motivation, I got it, not from where I thought it would come but from an innocent question from an innocent little boy – and like love, sometimes you just have to get motivation from wherever you find it. As Mr Micheale jagger once said...'You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need!' - Amen to that brothers and Sisters!

TIME TO REDEDICATE

This morning I am 246.4lbs. I will NEVER weigh more than THIS EVER AGAIN!

I will be 215 lbs by the end of this year. WATCH ME BECOME OVERWEIGHT (now that's an ambition...!)

I will post at least every Monday morning from now until I get to 215lbs!

Its official, ITS ALL MY FAULT!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:02:00 +0000

I HAVE OFFICIALLY HEARD IT ALL...

Just look at this....

ps - where do they get off using a picture of me without my permission!!?

pps - yes I DID shoot JF Kennedy...that was me too!

More about this when I calm down a bit....

April fool on me - Back by popular demand (ish) !!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:46:00 +0000

Well, its been a while, I'll grant you that and reading my previous post, everything has changed and nothing has really changed. I'll explain...

On April 1st (how poetic!) I weighed in at 254.4Lbs (yes, really!) - that's only around 10lbs down on my starting weight just over a year ago!! This morning I am 245Lbs (I have been 241 as recently as last Monday but I am struggling again at the moment) - the call of the grape (both red and white varieties) grows ever stronger like a call to arms! I am sure I should have been born French (I have the nose already so that's a start I suppose...).

This recent wake-up call led me to my latest weight loss torture - 'death by fruits of all nations' - this unsurprisingly involves consuming so much fruit you begin to hallucinate cake,bread and biscuits. By crikey it works though, but the side effects are fairly troublesome and mostly ruinously anti-social. I did lose 14 pounds in as many days though, but keeping up this regime is harder than a big box full of REALLY hard things all wrapped up with tape with a label that says REALLY REALLY HARD STUFF INSIDE!!

My plan now is to keep up this fruit and water torture (no boards involved Donald you little tinker) during the week and try and minimise my exposure to NICE THINGS (i.e. bad stuff I really like) to small doses at the weekend. Hopefully this will put me back on track.

Don't get me wrong, I like fruit, some I could stretch to love if they looked at me in the right way over a candle-lit dinner but however affectionate they are, most fruits are not naughty enough to be interesting (unless they are dipped in chocolate obviously)!

Sadly I do not have time for a more in depth meander through my head at the moment but save to say that Buddha is still in there along with the usual mess of other tat from daily life. I will post again soon - PROMISE!. Many stories to tell from me and Mrs Fatbloke - stay tuned.

FBT

Walking with my eyes shut (aka Blogging as therapy part deux)

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:57:00 +0000

Yes, I'm still here bumbling along the highway of life ( as the buddhist saying goes - Do not speak- unless it improves on silence!) .

My weight this morning was 246.6lbs ...so better but not exactly great.

When I was a kid I used to try and walk as far as I could with my eyes shut - only opening them when I sensed impending doom (pot holes, trees and main roads etc!). The journey was exhilarating and adrenaline producing (bear with me, I'm not one for premeditated risk taking!). I tried it again recently for no known reason and it transported me back instantly to my child hood. Spooky and exciting all at the same time - just like Scooby Doo.

But what you may ask has this to do with lardy Buddhists? Not a great deal as usual, but I have struggled to blog about my journey for a while now and it occured to me that like my 'blind walking', I need to rediscover the pure thrill of the journey rather than worrying about my lack of progress - does that make any sense?

I used to be acutely embarrased about my lack of success (weight-wise or spirituality-wise wise), to such an extent that I felt emotionally paralised and totally unable to communicate to those of you who clearly care (I am still V E R Y touched and humbled by your interest and support). I am sorry for this but now I think I finally get it - the journey is the thing, not the destination nor indeed where I am on the map at any given time.

I am not going to promote this blog as I have neither the time nor the ego but I will try and keep you updated about my journey as often as I can.

If I am meant to be thin, I will be. Every day is some small way I try to follow the Buddhist way of life - through thoughts and deeds. I fail often, the overwhelming noise of moden life sometimes intrudes so harshly that I explode but on the whole, I am happy with my progress - a good sign is that my cirmumstances haven't changed but my general feeling of wellbeing is greatly improved.

Just writing this makes me feel my journey is worthwhile. It is clearly a journey that will last for the rest of my life and it's my journey, no-one elses.

Blogging as therapy - part #1.

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Whoa...it's been a while, hasn't it? Hope eveyone is OK...

Yeah, I know - new year resolution...blah, blah, blah! I really don't believe in the new year resolution thing - it's just another day - why should we all be so much more capable of rebirth just because we got a new 'puppies of all nations' calender from the mother-in-law?

Right, let's get this out of the way. I'm bad (not Lindsey Lohan bad, but bad nevertheless) - my weight as of this morning is 254.4lbs.

I really don't want to dwell on the negative stuff, though I am REALLY quite good at it sometimes and everyone needs a hobby... but I know I have just got to get my 'she-height' together and get the weight off, so here we go again!

So diet, exercise and positive thought then - simple? Deja-vu?

I watched Kundun over Christmas and it managed to rake over the near dying embers of my Buddhist fire. I know deep down that Buddhism is for me but it feels like it is just another hurdle I have to straddle at the moment. But I know I must negotiate this hurdle as I still feel very passionately that central to my happiness (NOT WEIGHTLOSS REMEMBER) is the Buddhist philosophy and from this happiness will come the weight loss I need to heal myself.

In truth, I have been lazy. Lazy in thought and action. Too lazy to exercise, too lazy to adequately control my food & alcohol intake and too lazy to work on my mental state. This is in many ways much more annoying than the weight gain. But failure as they say, is just a fresh opportunity to improve!

I am now at ground zero again.

I have started an 11 week challange to lose weight - a battle with a colleague at work. We will weigh in once a week for the 11 weeks and the biggest loser is the winner (if you see what I mean...).

I have just deleted the word 'Pressure' as I was about to type 'Pressue of work prevents me from beginning an exercise regime. What a load of crap - I'm embarrassing myself now! I must resolve to be honest with myself. I don't exercise because I can't be arsed - no other reason!

Without radical chnage I am going nowhere. So a new start...the journey starts here!

Resolutions :-

1. Be honest with myself. I cannot be honst with anyone else until I do...

2. Exercise in a sensible, sustainable way.

3. Control my food and alcohol intake to manage my weight more effectively.

4. Learn to play the drums ... sorry, that should read, study more Buddhist teachings and try and sort my head out. Then I can learn the drums...

So, If you stray on my lawn in the near future, feel free to shout through the letter box as usual. I still have an ego you know!

Action stations!!! Fat Bloke ahoy!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 07:18:00 +0000

Right then, I'm back ladies and gentlemen. This time it is personal....

The time for action has finally arrived. Don't know why but who cares - I'm here and ready for action.

Weigh in this morning was 'disappointing' to say the least. Though not that disappointed I suppose when I consider the near suicidal diet regime I have been following.

I am presently engaged in an attempt on my life which shall be known as 'death by Panini' - moving offices to within a few yards of EVERYTHING that is both bad for me and utterly fantastically tasty is NOT helping.

So here we go (drum roll...)

Weight - 248.6Lbs.

Well, there you go - all that excitement and over a 10 pound gain - TEN POUNDS!!! Hang-on, I just have to read that again.. TEN BLOODY POUNDS!!! How could I do that to myself - Muppet!

Right - I'm not going to dwell on it, just get on with it.

Target 1 - get back to 239 (my lowest previous weight).

That'll do for now.

I will try and post at least every other day to let you know how I am getting on but this is IT now - no prisoners!

Courage comes in many sizes...

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:32:00 +0000

A great rock is not disturbed by the wind; the mind of a wise man is not disturbed by either honor or abuse. Dalai Lama

I got an e-mail today. A short, nice thoughtful e-mail. It goes a-somefing likka dis....

Hi FBT

I’m Brian and I’m a 58 year old fat Buddhist – there aren’t many of these around. I was actually looking for some Buddhist magic to do the dieting for me when I stumbled across your site.

It’s great and I’m 100% behind you and will even try to lose weight myself. I’m starting from a sylph like 256 lbs.

Most of my Buddhist friends are thin veggies and I tend to stand out on photos, weighing twice as much as most of them, so some serious weight loss is long overdue.

I will follow your progress with great interest and hope that it will provide me with inspiration.

Good on you FBT lets see your smiling face in Dharamsala ( pies permitting ).

Kind Regards & Metta

Brian

Leaving aside that my progress is minimal, this is still a nice thing to receive. I am not too churlish to appreciate some encouragement, however random it's arrival. Thanks Brian, and good luck to you too!

This is not the first one I've received and it's not the first time I have considered blogging about their arrival/contents. Sometimes I feel it is not very 'Buddhist' to bang on about these sorts of things. Think less - do more! Resolution for 2008....

Anyway, thank you to those of you that continue to take time to contact me via e-mail. I do appreciate the thought and I feel I should really start living up to your image of FBT.

Slowly but surely I am dealing with the other things in my life that are mentally dragging me down and stopping me getting on with the single most important thing I will ever do - get fit and healthy for my son.

I love him in a way I can't really explain - sound stoopid? Who cares!

Dharamsala fells a VERY long way away at them moment but I have not given up and I have not lost the notion of where I want to be - I may have put the map down somewhere and forgotten where I put it but sooner or later I will lift an old copy of Private Eye and find it lying there waiting to show me the way.

I dare not weigh myself but I am building up to it. I have not exercised in the gym for weeks and my diet is fairly abysmal....but on the bright side, life can always be worse.

We are coming up to Remembrance day in the UK - a time to reflect and give thanks for the sacrifice of others. A sobering time for all of us fretting about sub-prime debt and the price of the latest Jimmy Choo's or whatever! Real courage, real hardship, real fear.

A strange day for a Buddhist, but then I'm not your average Buddhist......

Thanks for your comments everyone - when I'm back in the loop I'll come and sit on all your porch's and have a chat - that's a promise. Tea, milk no sugar and don't show me a biscuit unless it's got chocolate on it! Got it?

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. Bernard-Paul Heroux

The glass is still half empty...

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 08:39:00 +0000

I haven't posted for a while, I've not had much to say. I also turned off my comments (sorry Celeste!), I just needed some space.

I am not usually a half empty glass sort of bloke. I'm English, we don't really do public emotion (though you should have seen me last night when England beat France to get in the Rugby World Cup...cripes! Not a dry seat in the house! That may have been the London Pride talking though,...) - this blog turned into something far more emotional than I ever envisaged and this meant I delved much deeper inside myself than I ever intended to go - when you delve, you can't control what you find, it you could they'd be not much point delving now would there?. That is not necessarily a bad thing, just a thing. OK, cards on the table, I am acutely embarrassed by my emotional outpourings - there you go, I said (wrote?) it!

Some, not many, but some people know me in the 'real world' and know I blog as FBT - this is a problem, as soon as you have lunch with someone who knows you spilled your 'dharmic guts' the night before, it makes it very difficult to keep on spilling. Does this make sense?

I think I just need a gap and then I'll be able to start again. I am on holiday this week (but at home) so I intend to do a bit of redesign of the look of the blog and do a bit of a re-launch to get the ball rolling again.

So finally, Celeste (any anyone else who feels the need to get in touch) please comment whenever you like as I have turned the comments back on. But if you expect me to understand or involve myself in FACEBOOK, you may have to long wait as I don't think 'social networking' is for me...yet!

Anyway, off for a night at a hotel with the wife (child free time!!!) - a chance to relax and think (as if I don't do enough of that already!).. Pictures to follow!

See you soon.

Still looking inside...

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:07:00 +0000

I received an e-mail this morning - it was from Facebook, saying that Steve Vaught wanted to be my friend.. ahhh that's nice!

I know what a face is (I have one after all) and I have a whole host of books, so clearly I am familiar with their appearance. Facebook, however remains a significant mystery to me - what is it and what is it for??

Anyway, I am now officially a friend of Steve and that's a good thing. He's a nice bloke who did a very brave thing when he embarked on a journey across America. If I had half his courage I would be a happier man than I am today. Reading between the lines, he has established the same connection as me between weight and spirituality. I think - maybe not, thats for him to say I guess.

Due to the 'spiders-web' nature of the internet - the way that moving from link to link transports you to places you never dreamed of visiting - I got to read some truly inspiration words today thanks to Steve.

If you have a little 'too much junk in your trunk' - read it here.

Oh, and Karoline, you're right in your Dharmic assertions....the negative stuff will be removed forthwith! Only positive thoughts - self depreciating humour not withstanding - will grace this blog!

Anyway, how am I doing?

I have not weighed myself (other than visual 'man-boob check' every morning - a very accurate indicator of weight fluctuation in my experience..) for way too long. My eating habits are not great but have been worse - I am clinging on so far....

More soon...

Live in Joy

Live in Joy, In love,

Even among those who hate.

Live in joy, In health,

Even among the afflicted.

Live in joy, In peace,

Even among the troubled.

Look within. Be still.

Free from fear and attachment,

Know the sweet joy of living in the way.

There is no fire like greed,

No crime like hatred,

No sorrow like separation,

No sickness like hunger of heart,

And no joy like the joy of freedom.

Health, contentment and trust

Are your greatest possessions,

And freedom your greatest joy.

Look within. Be still. Free from fear and attachment,

Know the sweet joy of living in the way.

Mental dump on the subject of ‘Chickless Headings’ and far more besides

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:49:00 +0000

We don’t really get Tornados in England (well not real ones like this) but today we had some little ones not far from here. Sky News got very excited as usual, but then they get excited about a particularly fruitful nose-picking…but only if someone has got some grainy mobile-phone derived video footage of it!

I feel I have been in a mental tornado of sorts for a while now myself. Whilst I may feel I’m getting blown from pillar to post all the while, I still manage to put up the appearance of serenity (just like the proverbial swan). Well sort of…

This may get a little rambling, but bear with me if the mood takes you!

I began this journey because I felt INSIDE that it was time to get something done. It was time to lose weight, time to get fit and time to expand my spiritual horizon. It just felt right, I can explain it no more than that. So far I have lost some weight, got a little fitter – not using my Asthma medication for months now is a MASSIVE non scale victory that it easy to overlook sometimes – and begun to more deeply explore my spiritual side (no sniggering at the back!).

The thing is, I know what I need to do to kick start my weight loss etc and it is mostly mental. I need a fresh beginning and a clean slate – in my mind that is. But like the beginning of this journey, I do not feel that this is in my control. I feel I will know when that time is right, and it most definitely isn’t now. I just wish it was….

Right. Positives. I am maintaining my weight at around 242Lbs – not my lowest but still nearly 30 Lbs down on my start weight. My eating is better but the wine and savoury treats are creeping back in – I know where I am going wrong and like I say, I know what to do but I have to FEEL its time to sort it out.

I am not ready to resume my full-blown ‘blogular’ duties (and I do see them as duteous – rightly or wrongly). It feels like something I really SHOULD be doing rather than something I can just play around with. I hope that doesn’t sound pretentious as it is not meant to be.

Anyway, since April, I have received a few unsolicited e-mails brought about by this Blog and they have been very humbling to be honest – to find that just one person takes inspiration and encouragement from my inane ramblings should be the fillip I need but it doesn't always work that way. I read a lot of Blogs (well I did until I fell into this slump) and I seldom take the time to contact authors directly and discuss their work. This mild and infrequent appreciation of my work actually contributes in some way to my feelings of inadequacy in a bizarre way and may even contribute to the base problem in the fist place.

As a consequence I have inadvertently (and ridiculously) placed enormous pressure on myself to write regular ‘high quality’ posts. At the moment, I don't have it in me...

Basically, since a child I have always wanted to be ‘good’ at something (the roots of this are probably far deeper than I want to go today). Something difficult, something that would challenge myself and impress others – I want to experience the adrenal thrill of achieving something that brings enormous pleasure to others. All I lack is talent, effort and application! No problem then….crack on!

I still have plans and I hope they will bear fruit soon but I am suffering ‘bloggers block’ and talking about it is not going to shift it I’m afraid. Clearly, the time IS coming when I will feel ready to ‘get back on the horse’ and turn Fat Bloke into Fat Bloke Thin. If not today, then sooner rather than later.

This whole thing is turning into the biggest challenge in my life by far – a challenge that I do not intend to give up on but a challenge that must be met on my terms and at a time of my choosing.

I know there are those that wish me well and I would like to thank you for your kind words. It may seem that I ignore you but you would be very wrong.

I will be back when the time is right.

He is able who thinks he is able.

Buddha

The Chewing Gum proverb and other cathartic meanderings...

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:33:00 +0000

Life can sometimes be very much like used (not-second hand..) chewing gum.

When you stick your gum to the bed post of an evening, though it may still be there in the morning, regardless of the question of flavour, it will almost certainly have hardened somewhat!

What do you mean; you don’t stick your chewing gum to your bed post, doesn't everybody?? Next thing, you’ll be telling me you get out of the bath to have a wee!

Anyway, like the chewing gum, some things in life get harder the longer you leave them. This Blog is one of those things.

Like most things I do, I start with huge and unbounded (sometimes almost evangelical) zeal and make great fantastical (mental) plans of what I intend to achieve in the future. I am not so ashamed of this as a 'fantastic' methodology of life, as there are doubtlessly many worse things I could be doing. The longer I leave it between posts though, the harder I find it to ‘get back on the horse’.

At times like these (there have been too many) I so often feel, like now, that I have let myself and others down – I feel depressed, deflated and also oh so slightly embarrassed when the ‘cold light of day’ of reality shows my great ideas and grandiose plans to be heroically out of reach. So often they have stalled through either a debilitating lack of self-belief or an equally chronic loss of primary focus. I am also embarrassed, to be frank, at my rather pathetic inability to confront problems and my penchant for looking the other way and pretending nothing is going on. I am also acutely worried about how people view me (though I regularly deny this) – not entirely though vanity but rather I have extremely high expectations for myself, and when I fail to reach these dizzy heights my black dog arrives snarling away like before!

I am sure if I was losing 2-3 pounds a week still I would be posting daily and rambling about all sorts of rubbish. The question for me is that am I unhappy because I am not losing weight or am I not losing weight because I am unhappy. This conundrum is a recurring one and I think I have answered my question many times before.

I MUST be happy to lose weight – and happiness comes from positive thought… so start thinking positive!

As a consequence of this unspecific ‘black dog’ episode, I have clearly neglected the development of the weight loss challenge, and more importantly to me I have neglected the regular contributors to the Blog including all those of you who kindly entered the challenge.

You all deserve better, and I apologise to you all.

I sadly have no real excuse for this, no obscure references to ‘personal problems that I don’t want to discuss’, no mental demons that torture me at night.

I just stuck the chewing gum on the post one night and now I find myself here….

I now realise that I created this Blog only in part to assist my weight loss journey. To a greater or lesser extent I also created this Blog for purely selfless reasons of aggrandisement. I wanted to show the world how clever I am and have the thoughts of Chairman FatBloke published in little red books across the globe. I only slightly exaggerate for comic effect – I know now that I need to reign in my expectations for this project and pick myself up and get on with it.

The primary focus for this Blog should be and WILL BE to encourage myself and others to live longer through better health and spiritual well being.

Whilst writing this post, I am reminded of some truly inspirational words. So many times, the word ‘inspirational’ is extravagantly attached to words, images or sounds that patently are no such thing but this, I hope you will agree, is the ‘real deal’.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt

We as human beings are more complex and diverse as possible anything else in the known universe and we all deal with things differently. Tempting though it is to dream of being a simple ‘dumb’ animal, our friends in the animal kingdom are born without the awesome gift of cognitive thought. Cognitive thought is a twin-edged sword though…as I clearly think too much on occasion!

I have set off down a road to enlightenment using a combination of mental and physical challenges. Changes in the way I relate to food & exercise my body along with changes in my cognitive thought process, will hopefully combine to be a new way of living my life.

This fairly major bump in the road appears to be the first un-navigable obstacle in the journey – an obstacle maybe in my own mind, but an obstacle nevertheless. I believe that it stems from my long held belief that I have consistently under achieved in my life.

It should be understood that I do not mean under-achievement in the most conventional sense. I have a very highly paid job, I have a warm and loving family; I live an extremely comfortable and secure life. If Maslow were to use his pyramid to determine my position I’m a long way off the ground! But am I truly happy? Define happy for a start...!

I feel I have under-achieved in a spiritual and human sense. To judge me in the modern currency of material things, I am as rich as Solomon compared to literally billions of others in the world. But spiritually and emotionally, I feel not exactly bankrupt, but certainly short a bob or two! The older I get, the more things are becoming clear to me. I have spent too long concentrating on the what instead of the why.

Anyway, as Teddy so eloquently put it above, it’s time for me to get back in the arena…

As a reminder of just how lucky I really am, this is a photograph I took outside our house a couple of weeks ago. I need to look at these more often...

I hope everyone is well and thank you if you have commented recently and my apologies for my lack of reply - I will try to do MUCH better in the future.

And on that note, I leave you with this question…

‘If tin whistles are made of tin, what do they make fog horns out of?’

I AM so sorry, no really..., I REALLY am sorry!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:05:00 +0000

I am still here, fasting away like fury trying to shift the pounds....

I know I am VERY late with the update for the weight loss challenge (if anyone was interested) - usual excuses, blah, blah! It will be done tonight!

Until then, have a think about this...

Since my acts are caused by my choices and my choices caused by my beliefs and desires and my beliefs and desires are not in my direct control, how can it be that my acts are free?

Question - courtesy Show Me The Argument.

Loads of other stuff to talk about - check back tonight if you like or if you have some mind blowing, earth shattering, epoch making observation based on the question above, drop me a line.

Check this out

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:02:00 +0000

Mrs Fatbloke lives to tell the tale!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 20:11:00 +0000

Well, 5k in around 29 minutes (slightly off world record pace maybe but impressive never the less) - full results and times haven't been published yet but we think she finished about 85 out of 200 ish so well in the top half!

So, if you needed any incentive NOT to go running tomorrow, here is a before and after comparison of the good Mrs FB clearly demonstrating that there are better things to be doing than running around a lake (only joking, I started screaming at her down the back straight to go faster, bless her!!).

Next is a 10K for Cancer Research at the end of September 07 - then it's straight to the Olympics in 2012!! Get in there!

Before the ordeal!

After the application of intravenous Evian....

Things to feel good about...

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:23:00 +0000

1. I had recently got out of the habit of weighing myself each morning, so imagine my surprise when I weigh myself this morning and find that I am 239.8! This is ALMOST the lowest I have been since the beginning of this weight loss meander.

I had to weigh myself twice just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating! Clearly Tony's inspirational powers are stronger than I thought!

2. I didn't wake up jettisoning blood out of my 'nether regions'! Hope you are feeling better soon Chris!

3. My wife begins her running 'career' tonight! She embarks on a proper 5K run for the first time! Go girl (pictures tomorrow). I am so excited for her!

I am great at encouraging others but not so great at encouraging myself...time to find my own race maybe!

4. My friend AB came second in a writing competition! Whoo! Well done, you richly deserve the recognition. The story is great too - have a read here.

5. I took this photograph a few weeks ago, and every time I look at it, I realise just how damn lucky I am! Nothing else really matters. It's a dad thing, if you don't own one of these, you probably wont understand...

Behold the son of FatBloke!

Inspiration!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:52:00 +0000

Weight - 242.3Lbs.
Exercise - 45 minute cardio workout Saturday & Tuesday

I have just stumbled upon this blog. Please take a look - you will NOT be disappointed.

Wow! Tony started at around the high 280's and is now at 239. His goal is 220lbs (nice to see a realistic goal that has nothing to do with BMI - very refreshing). His journey appears to have a very similar genesis to mine - a revelation of our own weight and how it will affect the relationship with our children.

What really shocked and impressed me was the difference in his appearance in photographs from Christmas 2006 and by contrast, now. Blimey!

Don't get me wrong, I am genuinely REALLY happy for Tony and feel really motivated by his efforts but I can't help thinking 'why don't I look that different' - lol!

Sure, he has lost a bit more weight but I have lost around 30 pounds and it has mostly disappeared off my already bony arse and legs (I realise I am built all wrong and that is never going to change, but we are the same damn height and near enough the same damn weight and he looks SO much better than I do) .

I know I have lost weight, I feel so much better and maybe it's vanity, but I wished I LOOKED better (NOT better , I mean Thinner).

Fat is BAD, thin is GOOD - no STOP it, call the acceptance police, quickly!!!

I'm only half joking, we all have our pride and a big part of motivation (for me anyway) is seeing noticeable changes in my body (size of manboobs, belt overhang etc) - in fact, it has been so long since I lost any weight that I really am starting to question whether I can do this.... :(

Well I was, until I read Tony's blog! Bring it on - the man boobs are history!

Stream of unconsciousness...oh and cart horses!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:13:00 +0000

If you are looking for this weeks FBT weigh-in results - scroll down or look at this.

I have just noticed that my previously prolific levels of 'postage' (creating posts not licking stamps you understand - by the way, why DID it take over 160 years to come up with a self-adhesive postage stamp - they've put men on the Moon for pity sake....!), has dissipated somewhat in recent times. I have been mostly thinking about why this has happened.

1. I have the attention span of a gnat that is really preoccupied about something very VERY important that keeps gnawing away at him even when he's not really thinking about it.

2. If I don't get results, I get fed up and change tack very quickly - not big on hobbies, me...

3. This blog has turned into a digital millstone in some ways. I really like to read other peoples blogs and comment about what they are talking about but the act of commenting starts a reciprocal relationship.........

Sh*t, I have just bored myself TO DEATH with number 3!

Alright, I admit it, the real reason is that I'm lazy and want to wake up tomorrow weighing 195 pounds and find myself as fit as a butchers dog (not a Gypo's dog, that's something else entirely..) and I KNOW that this is not going to happen.

My eating habits have gone completely to pot since last Wednesday when a Curry and lager was applied to my internal waste management system. Since then there has been wine, BBQ, chocolate, more wine - SUN DRIED TOMATOES (can't someone do some utterly rubbish EU funded research to find that they are carcinogenic and BAN them??), er more wine..etc etc etc.

I went to the dreaded CHAMBER OF GYM 3 times last week and pretty much managed to do everything the evil Frances wanted me to do - except for the unusual cruelty that is the 2nd helping on the Elliptical (I'll swing for the bloke that invented that bloody machine - almost certainly FRENCH if I'm not mistaken!) but the notion that I am going to have to do this FOR EVER is gut wrenchingly dismal is so many ways as I can barely mention...

By the way, the devil that is Frances surpassed herself this time with her thoughtless blunderbuss of perkiness - whilst I am torturing myself on the treadmill on Saturday she bounces up to me and chirps ' How's it going then?' - 'Er OK', I grunt, 'Getting there I suppose...'

She then tells me that it will all be worth it when I go for a riding holiday and 'they don't offer you a cart horse!' - OH NICE ONE - YOU ARE PROPER HILARIOUS! Hey, I'm not exactly sensitive, but really, it that meant to be motivational? Bloody hell!

Anyway, I'm sorry to ramble on like a geriatric old clown who's lost not only his marbles but also his exploding car and bucket of confetti, but I really need to find a way to get going and do what needs to be done! I NEED HELP!

The sad fact is that I wasn't built for hard work - I like to imagine that I'm some poncy pondering thinker of great thoughts and I should be in a log cabin somewhere putting down on paper my unique philosophical creed for the benefit of all mankind but actually I am a professional 'avoider' (both of effort and occasionally responsibility) and this is the biggest single barrier to dealing with my weight loss.

Christmas seemed miles away when I started this journey and now it is looming in the distance like a tip of a very big iceberg.... 40 pounds to go keeps taunting me like the cool kid at school throwing old Biro's at me and calling my lardy!

RIGHT THEN - this weeks resolutions....

Blog more often (and actually mention your weight once in a while, this is meant to be weight loss blog after all...doh!), go to the gym at least 3 times a week, stop eating like it 'doesn't really matter cause you go to the gym now' ( honestly, how spectacularly, heart-stoppingly stupid is that? I should be put down for that alone...!!) stop effing WHINING all the time (you want to be a Buddhist when you grow up, so GROW UP!), visit more blogs and don't mention WAL-MART again (they obviously don't like that...)... well, that's a start then!

Get the kettle on people, I'll be around for a cup of tea tonight and I want to know ALL about it!

Weigh in results - NOW HEAR THIS!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:35:00 +0000

Righto, without further ado.....(drum roll)..the winners of this weeks FatBlokeThin weight loss challenge!

Laura N - another sterling effort from Laura giving her a massive 4.2% weight loss so far!!

Mr Fat - no change this week for Mr F but still basking in previous glories - 3.3%!

Celeste - no change this week either for C, so holding station at 3.2%...watch out Mr Fat!

Tigerlilly - poor Tigerlilly, a little increase but still in the hunt at 2.8% lost so far!

Kathleen Crowley No Blog - another great loss this week, now with an overall loss of 2.2%

Well done everyone and especially to Laura who continues to show us all how it should be done! Get in there (as they say where I come from, well I do anyway....)!!

Remember it's only one week to go to the first ever Monthly FBT weight loss weigh in!!! I have lots of special things planned for this occasion and more will be revealed soon!

Finally, Please commiserate with 2 of my most loyal and supportive blogger-buddies, Jojo and ChrisH - If I had an excess of wooden spoons to hand, they would be in the care of FedEx as we speak...

Jojo has been on holiday (we all know what happens there, don't we?) and now leads the bottom of the list (can you lead at the bottom? hmmmm...) with a 3.9% increase! Sorry to blow the whistle but this is about encouragement, right??

And Chris, well what can I say? A full blown detox diet and got herself a 1.7% increase! As she so eloquently put it, 'you do the math?'

So, until next week, remember this is about %age weight lost since the first time you weighed in for the challenge so if you forgot this week or you haven't weighed in since you got all excited and told me you were joining in, you can STILL send me your weight next week for the big monthly 'weigh-a-thon' - everyone is welcome and 'you have to be in it to win it!'

Anyone got a soapbox handy?

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 06:22:00 +0000

I had an e-mail from my friend Jojo a couple of days ago. It was about this. The insanity of the basic premise left me speechless.

This e-mail seemed to crystallize a lot of thoughts that have been rolling around in my head for some time. The future of China can go either way in my view - at the moment we (western democracies) seem hell bent in exploiting every last bit of cheap labour and in part payment we are fairly happy to 'overlook' the horrific way in which they treat their citizens in general and their workers in particular.

China worries me, a lot. But maybe what worries me more, is the way western big business is flooding into China. I get the distinct feeling that we are giving fuel to our own destruction, not today and not tomorrow but nevertheless we are helping to build an economic powerhouse that shares NONE of our values of freedom and democracy (no matter how much they spend on PR, I'm not buying 'China-lite' one bit).

When I get wrapped up in my own problems and preoccupations I try to remind myself that things can ALWAYS be worse... how lucky am I to live in a country where I have pretty much total religious and political freedom. There are lots of things wrong in ALL countries, but we pretty much have the basics taken for granted by now. I live in a country where state and church are for all intents and purposes separate. A country where I can babble on about anything and everything and not fear state persecution.. not everywhere can say this....

For those of you who are new to this blog, I started this journey for 2 reasons. One, to get fit for my family and two, to find a spiritual direction for me to follow The welding of mind and body is central to my philosophy of wellness.

A book by HH The Dalai Lama was the initial motivation for this journey - the Buddhist way seemed right for me and it just 'clicked' into place. A book so simple in its philosophy but so profound in it's affect, it has fundamentally changed every aspect of my life (I haven't flipped out, I just got a bit excited - fear not..)

I am really looking forward to a new film next year about him (trailer below).

Everything he seems to utter makes crystal clear sense to me but by a perverse logic actually makes my situation worse. The WAL-MART Movie is a perfect example of this paradox - the more I grow and develop my Buddhist understanding, the more I get depressed by the suffering and greed around me.

The film shocked me in some ways and not in others. The awful way WAL-MART go about their business in China was to be expected - I am no longer surprised by the ways of international commerce. What did shock me was the way this company treats it's staff and customers in the US - incredible!

In essence, I feel utterly impotent to effect any change in the world - I have neither the time nor the resources to jump off the 'exercise wheel' of corporate life to REALLY make a difference (I also lack the courage if I am honest...).

Perhaps I should just 'GET A GRIP' and heed the great mans words....

'If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them'. HH Dalai Lama.

If only WAL-MART felt the same way!

Weigh in results - NOW HEAR THIS!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:57:00 +0000

Week 2 is upon us already!

So, without further delay, I give you, the winners of this weeks FatBlokeThin weight loss challenge!

Laura N has burst to the top of the leader board with an awesome effort of 3.73%.

Mr Fat is narrowly pipped at the post with a superb 3.33% (so close my friend).

Celeste is in the top 5 for the first time with a superb effort of 3.22%

Groovybabe is snapping at their heels with a solid 2.04% loss

Kathleen Crowley (blog-less but hopefully this will spur her on to get into the blogosphere) - sneaks in with a great first effort of a 1.38% weight loss.

Well done everybody!

So Laura, stand by for the tacky prize!

I will try and get a proper results sheet out along with developing a separate challenge website (yada yada yada...) - I will get there !

One thing though - of the 31 people that have so far registered for the challenge, I only received 14 weigh-in's. Its true what they say, you have to be IN IT to WIN IT!