FatBlokeThin - The Fat Blokes Guide To Losing Weight!

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!

The biggest of drops...the highest of mountains!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:17:00 +0000

If you get a chance, pop over to a new weight loss buddy just starting out on the road to wellness. He is going for the Big Drop and will need our help to get stuck into it!

He might even join the challenge....

Hell has a face and she answers to Frances....

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:35:00 +0000

Weight - 241.6lbs
Exercise - near death gym based shenanigans (see below for gruesome details).

'I'll be gentle' she said. Hmmmm....see what you think....

I arrived for my gym assessment (heath and lifestyle assessment included gratis) right on time. As predicted, I was met by the perkiest, most health obsessed person you are ever likely to meet, her name was Frances. A lovely lady it must be said. What follows is MY intepretation of the the first 45 minutes of our 'relationship'.

After the usual height and weight checks, I had my blood pressure taken and found it smack bang in the middle of 'normal range', this was even better than my recent check-up so things are starting to happen. Next was the realisation that I have shrunk as I appear to be an inch shorter than used to be, hopefully I haven't lost anything too important....

By this time I was starting to enjoy myself, but the black clouds were looming - she asked me 'Which machines DON'T you like' - this was a difficult one as it's like an Islamo-fascist asking me which knife I would prefer he DIDN'T use to hack my head off with live on the inter-web!

To be polite, I picked the worst looking one - the rowing machine. In my previous infrequent gym visits I always seemed to see some fit looking bloke going 'hammer and tongs' on the thing and looking like he was close to death moments after starting - not a good indication of suitability for my purposes...also, lets be honest here, I've tried the soddin' thing before and for ME it's like trying to row a dingy across a lake with all your winter coats on at ONCE! My body was not designed for this type of machine - I look like a bull frog with it's feet stuck to the wall....

Anyway, after deciding what I didn't want to do, I was introduced to my 'pain routine' :

10 minutes warm up on the bike (fitness program L9) - halfway through this, she uttered the fateful phrase 'I'll be gentle on you'. By glorious ironic coincidence, this was the moment my thighs let out a (silent to all but dogs) blood curdling cry and expired - I was trying to be a M A N about it ( i.e ignore the obvious and plough on regardless hoping no-one will notice my tears...) - it was then that she remembered to inform me that 'if you slow down your peddling, the resistance gets higher' - eh? how does that work exactly, just when I need a breather and slow down you turn the treacle up?? Insane! Anyway, I coughed and said I thought I had got the hang of this one and best we move on...I think she bought it..!

Next came the treadmill - ahhh, a nice relaxing walk maybe? She prodded a button called nine hole course and off we went. This innocuous sounding program (surely a gentle amble around the leafy fairways of a golf course??) turned into what can only be described as low level mountaineering - the damn thing started going up in the air! More insanity! Thankfully, she got bored before I did on this one so that was definitely a result as I could stop without further embarrassment. She was obviously getting worried about me by then as she looked at me with a serious 'you're not gonna die on MY watch' look on her face and instructed me to take on water and NOW!

Suitably refreshed, so to the final part of the 'holy trinity of torture', the cross trainer (cue - Phantom of the Opera organ music!). I have NEVER been so out of bodily control as when I used this (drunk or sober sadly...). I cannot begin to explain the complete mess I made of this contraption - legs and arms flailing everywhere totally out of sync with what the machine was doing - NOT helped by some bloke nearly twice my age (I exaggerate only SLIGHTLY...) on the next machine going at it like it it was the Olympic qualifications or something and STILL finding the lung capacity to condescendingly tell me that 'it takes a while to get used to it' - OH REALLY!

And then there were the exercises with some sort of space-hopper ball thing! Dont get me started on that! Things as they say, can only get better...

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Finally, if you got this far and you are a member of the FBT Weight loss challenge - PLEASE remember to send me your updated weight as soon as you can today so you get included in the weigh in tonight!

Best of luck everyone.

Dawn of a new era.

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:52:00 +0000

Weight : 242.2Lbs

So, finally I have joined the gym. I could put it off no further. My spangly shoes have twice graced the high-tech torture devices to be found in a very modern gymnasium and I will be going again this evening for gym & swim. The plan is to go 3 times a week.

I have my fitness assessment (groan...) on Saturday (I could save her the trouble and just take my death certificate with me...), so I am getting prepared for the endless perky optimism of the fitness instructor (why can't they have some fat, miserable ones.. not a very good marketing strategy I suppose), I will doubtless be bombarded with countless facts and figures that I will instantly forget as soon as my thighs are made to burn on the step machine (the very cruelest of the torture machines for sure..), about a minute should do it!

I really want to get fit, so fit that I can run when I want for as long as I want (within reason you understand, I am not planning one of those 'uber-iron man' marathon idiocies that last 3 days and you poo & pee yourself uncontrollably when you cross the line as the bit of your brain that controls your bodily functions has joined the rest of the organs and gone completely berserk..) - I just want to be able to do a 5K and not look like a Muppet. This is not too much to ask in my view, is it?

Somebody recently (probably her or her and maybe even her) told me that I will not believe how differently I will feel when I get fit. They are right as I have NEVER been fit, that's the problem. I do not know what I am missing and I often lack the motivation to find out because I have never had any real level of fitness in my life. That is a shocking thing to say and I got depressed during the writing of that last sentence, nice!

The problem that I have is that I FEEL I am in a 'complete gold plated Catch 22 in the first degree with great big knobs on' situation. Basically, I struggle to run because my legs hurt almost instantly and the reason my legs hurt is that :-

a) they were CLEARLY designed for someone else (possibly an Ostrich or very large 'gamma rayed' experimental Chicken) and cannot support the 3 JCB tyres I have metaphorically strapped around my waist....sigh..

and b) I am not fit enough to run.

The reason I am not fit enough is because I can't run, and I can't run because I am not fit - do you get it? Catch 22 or what!

I know what you will say. Do something else, ride a bike, swim, pogo up the Khyber Pass or whatever, anything in fact that does NOT cause impact to my desperately small and spindly legs.... Listen, I know you are right but I cannot help thinking you are wrong!

I want to run, I want to lose weight and I want to be 'normal' ( in my book, slightly better than wanting to be a tree, nice though that might be in the summer with little birds twittering on my branches and children running around beneath me...oh dear I think the medication has worn off again..NURSE!). Before the fat acceptance Gestapo go into attack formation, me wanting to be 'normal' does not imply that being FAT is abnormal (it is life threatening though...stick I LOVE MY BODY on a grave stone and see where that gets you...anyway I'm straying again..) - normalcy for me is being able to run and do 'fit' stuff without feeling a failure.

I weigh 240ish pounds, there are plenty of professional sportsmen of this weight and my height that can easily run a competitive marathon - so it isn't the weight, it's the distribution (back to the JCB tyres again..) and more importantly my general level of fitness.

Basically, this whole post boils down to one word.... 'impatience'.

This has been a FBT mind dump, brought to you as a public service. Please give generously on your way out...

Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.

W. H. Auden

Inspiration & re-dedication!

noreply@blogger.com (FatBlokeThin) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:40:00 +0000

For all of you that are struggling with weight loss (you KNOW who you are...) and the impasse of the dreaded 'plateau', hopefully this offering will amuse, entertain and maybe re-ignite your journey!

A Buddhist monk on his journey home comes to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he ponders for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier.

Just as he is to give up his journey, he sees a great teacher on the other side of the river. The monk yells over to the teacher, "Oh Master, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river?"

The teacher ponders for a moment, looks up and down the river and yells back, "You are already on the other side."

I still believe that EVERY obstacle can be overcome through either thought or deed. I have finally realised (started reading my own message more like....) that I will never lose more weight if I do not exercise more and the running is really not working yet.

I need to recommit to this journey and NOW!

Seeing how well so many of you have done in the FBT Weight loss challenge is both inspiring and depressing at the same time. The days when I could effortlessly lose 2-3 or even 5 pounds in a week are long gone as now the merest thought of lard is likely to pile the pounds on with abandon...

So, it's gym time folks! Yes, I have joined a gym and this time it's personal.

I must admit to being a 'serial gym joiner' - I have been a member of this one at least 3 times before over the last few years.

This time though it REALLY is different, I have a goal and a community to interact with - this is why I think the weight loss challenge is so great - we can all do this together and really start to heal ourselves inside and out.