Doctor who? – no but it was some odd eastern european name

I went to the Doctors yesterday…..

No there is nothing wrong with me, which is also what the doctor found odd!

I explained that i was not ill I just wanted an MOT (checkup) so we did the whole weight, heart rate and blood pressure thing, and I am fighting fit, 120/90 and heart kicking like a horse and weight in the doc’s with clothes on was 17stone 2lb.  He asked me how I lost the weight and I said ‘divorce’ (ok its getting old now but it still a  jaw dropper).

Ieuan also came in with me and we discussed stratagies with his own diet as well….

The Doc also seemed to think I could not get on any plastic surgery list unless I had also had a tummy tuck, so in one way I am actually relieved as I am not interested in any knife touching me on purpose.

But….he did seem to think that most of the skin would, over time shrink back and also if I was to bulk up with a bit of muscle mass that would also take up some of the sag.  So my plan is a sound one.

When I get to 15 stone I will focus on maintaining my weight (although any lose would be appreciated) and concentrate on firming up my body for a few months (about 6 maybe) and then I can re-evaluate after that and maybe move a bit further down the weight chart (maybe to 13 stone).

I am also going to try to give myself a freaky challenge over the next 3 weeks and see if I can lose a whole stone in that time ( my birthday).  It would be nice to just sneak into the 15 stone range and know that I only have 13lb ish left to loose.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The G (the only and original)

Family SlimPlan ???

OK I want to carry out a motivational experiment with my son Ieuan, so to that effect I have created his own ticker tape on his facebook page and will keep a track of his weight on my blog too

So without further adue(?) here are todays scores on the doors

May 7th 2009

Ieuan                 Gareth

Height               4ft 8.5                 5ft 6.5

Weight              11st 9.1lb           17st 4.7

Wrist                 6.75 inches       7 inches

Neck                 15 inches             16 inches

Waist                40 inches            48 inches

Chest                43 inches            48 inches

Come back next week for an update on the situation

running so fast away from it, eventually it hits me right in the face

I am going to my brother’s wedding at the beginning of April, so invariably I have t owear a suit (if only it was a rock wedding).  This, as always entails the grief ofputting clothes on to see if they fit.

The last 3 to 4 months I think we can all safely say that my diet has become a back seat priority.  so back seat I think I now drive a coach.  I know what I am like, I have avoided my diet, I have avoided going to the gym, and to be honest for no better reason than I just did not want too face up to the fact that I had put some weight back on.

So on Thursday I went shoppping for a suit,  my chest is essentially 50 inch, my waist is between a 42 and a 44 inch (not bad considering I used to be a 54-56 in both).

Anyhows…..I went to Asda, Tesco and Matalan to no avail, trying on all sorts of awful colours also the lenghts on the jackets that did fit varied from middling bad to OK corral Burt Lancaster design (jacket almost brushing my knees).  So after a somwhat disheartening ordeal I had to do it all again on Friday when I went looking around Swansea.  After traversing several places I managed to locate a suit with a small subtle lilac pin strip.  The chest was 48 and the trousers were 42, and they both fitted, I could not believe it (Sorry Victor Meldrew).  I snapped up the suit after some drastic fashion education from Gaynor and then proceeded to look for a shirt and tie to make it even more fun, lol.

Now for the catch, they fit, JUST.  It will not be mission impossible to wear the suit, BUT it would certainly increase my pleasure in wearing  it and the survivability of the suit if between now and the wedding I were to lose some weight.

Which brings me back to my diet, smacking my in the face after running away from it for so long.  There is no getting away from it, I need to lose weight.

So I weighted myself, knowing that it would not be  a pleasant experience and here are the results

18 stone 9.9lb

That is an increase of almost 12lb (and to be honest it has been fluctuating from this to almost 19 stone 4 on a regular basis).

So my mission is to go berserk and lose a load of weight with the very real target of my brother’s wedding looming over me.  Three weeks today I will be waking up in some Glasgow hotel looking at my suit and either smiling or crying.  ts now up to me.

My target is to get below 18 stone again (Realistic) however I would really like to lose a full stone in the coming 3 weeks (I have done it before now) which would then put me lower that I have ever been.  Lets see what I can do.

This is the great G signing out

Love you all

The Light Fantastic – My Cousin’s Wedding

I went to my cousins marriage yesterday. I danced the light fantastic with gaynor and showed the rest of the gathering just how 2 40 year olds party. It was a great day out and the bride looked lovely oh and the groom looked ok too. Its amazing how much energy 1 litre of kick can give you@

Mobile post from the Esendex BlogIt service

A quiet moment

Well Gaynor and her children moved in on Friday officially, although they have been here most nights for the last 3 weeks.

At present Ieuan and Carys have just gone to bed and Alex is already up there (on the computer). Gaynor is having a soak in the bath and I am having a quiet few minutes on the computer myself.

So far I have not lost any more hair and I have not killed any of the children. Gaynor and I had a little argument on Friday night, but considering how tired we both were and the pressure of the whole moving day for Gaynor then no wonder really. We did however both resolve the argument before going to bed and even had Carys mediating between us (nice to see how much she cares for us both)

Ieuan is finding it difficult adjusting to the increase of people in this house, having to share his father with other people, but I hope that he adjusts soon. I try my best to be fair with him and the other children and at the same time give him opportunities to have time alone with me, although he usually is in the middle of a mood when I offer him some time and then he goes through the ‘cutting his nose off to spite his face’ phase and ends up missing out on a good moment with his dad. All things said though he still seems to want to spend more time with me and Gaynor. So far he has spent an average of 5 nights a week this month with me and might even get to 6 nights this week.

Ah well Gaynor has finished in the bath and just popped up stairs to give all the kids a kiss (Ieuan seems to be very keen for the kisses too, which Gaynor is so chuffed about). I had better log off for now then so will see you all soon….

Carys just ran past for a wee…..lol…..And gave me a kiss on the way back…

Loving you all

Papa G

The Parent Trap

I am a parent, I have been a parent for nearly 10 years.  Odd how that sounds, almost as if I was at an AA meeting, its as if its something to be ashamed of.  I love my son dearly and gladly would shout it from the rooftops.  It is not something I am ever ashamed of, however……these feelings of Parenthood have recently been expanding to include others.  And it seems that it is a role that I am now playing more often.  I had got into a routine of being a parent on the weekends, but recently (The last couple of months) I am being a parent every day, visiting my son, when he is not at home and also taking on a guardian role in the lives of two other children.

The little free time I have had over the last couple of days I spend tidying two bedrooms to make sure that three beds were all made and tidy for this weekend.  I also spent time cleaning out two drawers so that I could put some of their clothes away…..and the odd thing was, I was content to do just that, sitting on a bed, tidying clothes and putting them away.

I am also worrying about little things like what to feed them, where to take them, what to do with them, how to ensure that they enjoy the weekend.  I do not seem to care whether I have money any more, just so long as I have enough money to look after all three of them.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no intention of spoiling any of them, just that I want to make sure that all three are secure. content and safe.

Granted I enjoyed having a small amount of disposable income when I spent the last 15 months living on my own, and spending a bit more on my son, taking him out to the cinema, or treating him in town with a big mac, or a couple of dvds, etc.  However money is now a bit tighter with more people to look after.  Before I left my ex-wife, I gave all the money to her to manage, retaining no control over how money was spent, so the last 15 months have certainly been interesting.  Now however the problem of stretching the money is mine to resolve, to budget for 4.5 people instead of 1.5 people is one hell of a steep learning curve, one I hope I can figure out….

Loving you all

Papa G

PIxel update – 7.15am

Well I just went outside one more time with Pagan to see if we could find Pixel, luckily Pagan must of figured it out for me as he started meowing, suddenly I heard a return mew from pixel, so drawing close to the sound we managed to locate pixel as he came rushing out from behind the next door fence where his mother had left him.  So now they are both upstairs with me while I decide exactly what I am going to have to do with the pair of them and their mother.

But hey, at least Pixel is back

Blogged with Flock

Where is Pixel?

I hope the little furball fids its way home.

Is it fate, or is it just random coincidence.  my son walked into my bedroom at about 4.20 wanting to sleep in my bed after a bad dream.  I, then, decided to nip downstairs to visit the bathroom and discovered pagan sitting there ll alone, no mother or brother in sight.  I then spent the next hour in the last remnants of the night trying, in vain, to find pixel, with pagan clutched tightly to me, after stopping his mother from hiding him somewhere outside.

Its a bit of a dilema, as I sit here , holding a sleeping kitten, hoping that Tabby will bring Pixel home.

The strange thing of it all is, why did I go downstairs?

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My son – THE STARFISH

There are certain moments in your life which you will treasure forever, especially when it comes to your children. Due to my present circumstances I do not get to see enough of my son, so when these magic moments appear they are even more precious.

The last few weeks I have been taking Ieuan swimming, on his insessant nagging that he could swim.  Our first visit dissproved that theory and I resigned myself to the idea that I would need to teach Ieuan how to swim.  Well yesterday was, in my opinion, a milestone achievement for Ieuan, he actually managed to float on his back without the aid of any form of swimming aid, not even his dad’s reassuring hand holding him in the water.  He laid there, bobbing in the water with his eyes closed, face all peaceful, his arms and legs stretched out like a starfish.  I just cannot wait for next weekend now, but, as they say, patience is a virtue.

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Tabby and her newborn kittens

Well today has been a day of ups and downs in the cat world. I woke up this morning to see Tabby proudly showing me a small ball of black fur, new to this world. By the time I was leaving for work I had helped to deliver the second ball of fur which had its little head stuck. Sadly however, when I returned home from work I found a further ball of fur gently pushed to one side, cold and lifeless. Ieaun and I took the third outside and buried it in the garden.

Here is a little video clip of the proud mother with her two kittens.