The devil took me over... 2 weekends of events where alcohol was central to the occasions has put the diet and exercise programme to date in dire straits... I have gained 1kg (lbs) in weight since I have lost 6kgs – that’s not supposed to be part of the plan!

While Monday to Friday is a mixture of self discipline and regular exercise – the dreaded Friday and Saturday nights have drawn me back into the “DEVIL´S ARENA”... Whoever said this was going to be hard wasn’t kidding!

THOSE WEEKEND TREATS ARE KILLING US!

Monday to Friday’s diet is simple. Both Emily and I eat regularly and very healthy. Following Ann’s advice on “... small but regular portions, eating the right type of carbs, and don’t overdo it with the protein shakes” Emily and I are great at sticking to our meal plans. Take today for example – it’s Monday (the start of the working week). Lunch consists of 2 boiled eggs, 2 celery sticks, 1 carrot, 2 slices of cheese and 8 cherry tomatoes – washed down with a litre of water – YUMMY (NOT!)

It’s just hard to stick to healthy eating in the weekends. Saturday comes along and we treat ourselves to something ‘special’ every now and then (as a reward for being good during the week). To be fair we keep away from fast foods like McD’s, KFC, Pizza’s, etc but the odd bag of wine gums or crisps have found their way mysteriously into my belly... even the odd lager or 3! What is it they say about an ‘old dog’ and tricks?

Having gained weight is a bad sign - we need to stick to our plan more during the weekend if we want to reach our weight goals. This isn’t easy when you are invited to summer BBQ’s (where you expected to be the cook – a kiwi just cannot cook a BBQ without a beer in the hand – it’s against our law of manhood!), or curry dinner parties

... or even when we got invited to VIP treatment in the Bobby Moore Lounge at this year’s Charity Shield at Wembley (courtesy of one of our charity supporters). I mean come on... it’s verging on being impolite or rude to refuse what’s on offer – surely you’d all agree?

The simple way for me to completely avoid all of these occasions/temptations is to refuse to attend – aint no way that’s gunna happen! I simply have to be more disciplined... HELP...and the footy season is about to start - ARRRRRRR

KEEP POUNDING THOSE PAVEMENTS...

This is the area I am most pleased with. Regular exercise sessions at least 3 times per week still remain part of the diary. Even with a workload that is getting more hectic, ensuring that I stick to an exercise programme is A MUST for me.

New shoes and exercise clothing means I run faster... right? (well... I tell myself that anyway), boxing gloves (any excuse to legally beat up Emily “...I’ll try not to miss the hit shields and get you in the belly Em... I promise” - haha), a skipping rope (doubles as an excellent device for tying Emily up when she nags me) and a Swiss Ball (excellent for beach parties in the pool too) all add to helping make the gym sessions more fun and diverse. Our sessions in the gym are mixed with cardio and fat burning exercise with low weights and high repetitions. The guests at The Hilton Park Lane must be sick of seeing my sweaty body exit the building as the glamorous ladies come in for a dinner.

The kindly donated Timex Ironman Digital Watch has made it so much easier for me to maintain a really efficient exercise programme and guess what – I now know how to use a watch for other than telling the time!!!

The heart rate monitor (that works with the watch) helps me keep a rhythm and tempo that I need to maintain to be most efficient when I’m exercising. Who would have thought a watch and something that looks like a stick of liquorice that sticks to my sweaty chest was going to make me exercise harder? Sometimes I feel like throwing it in the bushes.... I reckon it needs to have a sexy woman’s voice that keeps telling you how good you’ll look once you’ve lost all the weight – just like the satnav? Now there’s a product ready for the exercise market!!!

WATER, WATER EVERY WHERE...

One thing I am really pleased about is my ability to ensure I keep drinking loads of water. Ann has been really helpful in advising how much we should drink and this has had loads of unexpected benefits for me:

• I don’t drink tea so much in the office anymore (only 1 or 2 cups a day, down from 5 or 6)
• It keeps me feeling full
• It keeps me from drinking too much of anything else – including the devil´s drinks!!!
• I don’t drink bucket loads of diet coke anymore
• I visit the ‘little boys room’ much more often

BYE FOR NOW... see you in a couple of weeks!