Healthiest Dad In The Kebab Shop

Recently I have been on a bit of a health drive...

Now I know full well that diets are for girls, and they don't work anyway.  There are possibly a million tips on how to lose weight, when all you really need to know is that you need to eat healthier and do more exercise.  Its a balance.  Tip the scales slightly more to the healthier side and you will lose weight.

But my eating habits are horrendous.  And I have not really had much of a desire to improve it.  So by my own theory, I need to do a lot of exercise to balance the scales. A LOT! (My BMI is around 27.5, so I'm smack bang in the middle of perfect weight and obese.  A perfect overweight weight)

This is my belly's ideas of a gooooood time!

I have been 'going to the gym' for over a year and a half now.  Although I should point out I have not really been so much for the last 8 months or so, except the odd visit here or there.

I recall when I joined the gym, I was asked what I wanted to get from it.  My answer was 'to lose weight'.  From day one I only really did weights and so I burnt minimal calories.  My arms got bigger, my chest got bigger.  But equally my belly got bigger too.

This is NOT me!  I'm way more muscly!

So for the last month or so I have tried to get in to running.  And I maintained this effort for a few weeks, running a little faster and a little further week on week.  4-5 weeks later and I had run maybe 12 times.  Not too bad, really.  But hefting my gargantuan belly around has been taking its toll on my legs.  And so although I have not yet given up on running, I have been thinking about cycling as it is a much less punishing on the legs.

I often describe my belly as my fun store.  All of the late night drinking, burgers and kebabs, restaurant meals, all the thing I love to do, have all stored themselves in my belly.  So for that reason I am quite proud of it.  But since facebook stores photos of the best bits, I don't need my belly to remind me as well.

This is also NOT me. But could be one day.

So I have been toying in my mind with buying a new bike.  A road bike.  I went to my local bike store to take a look through what's available.  I spend most of my youth on a bike.  Always mountain bikes.  And the revelation that there are such things as 'road bikes' is a little alien to me.  Naturally, the bikes I liked the look of just so happen to cost a bit.  £500-1400 were the bikes that caught my attention.

Now if I invest in a bike that costs about as much as 2nd hand car, then surely I will ride it lots and lots and lots and achieve my goal of losing weight.  Definitely 100% I will.  OK so I'm a rather impulsive person, it literally took me about 2 minutes to decide I was going to buy one.  My second trip to the store and I was advised to 'try' one of the bikes that I liked.  I knew if I sat on the bike I would buy it.  I sat on the bike.  I rode it up and down the road.  I got off the bike and told the man in the shop how I don't know why I spent my youth riding mountain bikes (considering I have never even been close to a mountain, or a dirt track for that matter) when road bikes are so much better!  Sold.  £600 lighter.  A £600 investment into losing weight.

This IS my new bike.  Its shiny.

Now this only happened yesterday.  My plan was to start riding home from work (which turns out to be 16.4 miles).  But to do it in stages, using the train to help me build my stamina.  But with the adrenaline of being on a bike again for the first time in 3-4 years, the first day enthusiasm got hold of me and I cycled all the way home.  An app told me I burnt 1100 calories.  I instantly realised that if I cycled to and from work every day, I could double what I eat.  This would keep the scales nice and level.

So now I've done it, I plan on doing it again, and as often as my enthusiasm will allow.  Hopefully the weight will fall right off, and so I can continue to eat like I always have, but reduce the reminders of my good times to the one media of facebook.

So now I am (within the space of 24 hours) a super healthy live forever Dad who will have good health for ever and ever and ever.  Obviously.  Because I have a bike.

An equation to sum this up is:

Food + fun = fat

Gym = 0

Food + fun + burgers + kebabs + beer x beer + vodka + chocolate cake + pizza + chinese + BIKE = Live forever healthiness

I tweeted earlier to ask if anyone cycled to work... very few people did!

What do you do to keep the scales balanced?

Or are your scales very much weighted to one sided?

Thanks again for reading. (PS. I'm desperately seeking more blog followers :p )