Me, slimming world and a bike called Obera Aqua.

My name is Warren Parry, i am a 47 year old (overweight) male.
On the 5th January 2014 i weighed in at a hefty 23st 12lb............. here is the story of my road to recovery.

At a smidgen under 50 years young, i have turned my life around to a fuller healthier way of being.

Heres where my road began; it was another mundane shift at work, on a dark and dank day in January. The sort of day where not even a free lunch at the local taproom would raise one's spirits.  In fact the day was utterly unmemorable with the one exception which was the fatigue i suffered on my ascent to the building's third floor!

On arrival home that evening, i could not relax. The thought of my breathy, sweaty assent to the top of our office was eating away at me like a untended fresh cream eclair in the coolerbox. A glance over to the corner of our kitchen revealed those wretched scales, the ones i bought 5 years ago when i was a mere 19st 6lb. Would i dare to weigh myself? I pondered my dilemma, my imagination telling me the scales would say "one person at a time fatty". I  knew if i stepped on them i would be stimulated into a action plan.

The fortitude came to me as i gratuitously wolfed down a slice of toast soaked in butter.I approached the scales and blew away the cobwebs, firing a couple of expletives in the direction of said scales, as if to warn them to be good to me. To my horror the scales clocked up 23st 12lb. Bemused, i stepped off to checked them and to see if they were level. Picking the scales up i shook them (as men do with anything they think is not working). Bracing myself i mounted up again, quite sure they would be nearer to the 20st mark but no, 23st 12lb it was.

I sat beside my wife and broke the news, she looked over her glasses in a slightly nonplussed manner. I awaited her exclamation of surprise at how her leviathan of a man could be so overweight when he looked so fit? It didn't come, not even a "i didn't think you were that heavy". So i guess i was the only person who didn't quite see the fat bloke in our house.

My head was spinning for the next couple of days as to how i could easily address the problem. I thought exercise would be the key. That way i could eat loads of crap and still lose weight. Looking back, my addiction to high fat value foods had conditioned me into wanting more, no matter what the outcome. I was a fairly active person anyway,as i was taking lots of walks with the dogs. I soon realised that i would also have to amend my diet, overcoming my enslavement to fatty food. Over the years i had tried a few diets, with limited success. Having heard that the slimming world diet was a diet where you change your lifestyle, and still ate plenty of food i thought i would build my plan around that.

 Bizarrely the Sunday following my realization of how unfit and overweight i was, i decided to begin exercising by dancing in our front room to the Venga boys  (follow my leader). Looking back, i must have looked like a demented crystal meth abuser. My plan however was working; my loose interpretation of the Slimming world diet and the exercise helped me lose 3lb or so in the first week.

The following week my wife and i decided go for a long walk. We took the dogs to the beautiful Tissington trail and completed a 15 mile amble. Towards the end of the walk i began to get a sharp pain in my ribs, a bit like stitch as well as a pain in my back. The pain then occurred every time i went for a walk after that. A visit to the doctors ended with the usual answer from him being that he "thought it might be due to my weight problem". He referred me to a health advisor who in turn offered me a free 10 weeks at a weight loss club/group. I chose to go to Slimming world as i was already loosely following their ideals.

By the time i plucked up courage to drag my sorry carcass to a group, almost 6 weeks had passed. I was now 22st 6lb and to be honest i was not feeling much better for my efforts. The pain was still in my back and ribs, which was troubling me. The doctors referred me to a specialist who said it was muscular skeletal, and not my Gall bladder as was now suspected by the GP. It dawned on me that my injury coincided with my "Venga boys inspired" cavorting around activity. At least my mind was at rest now i knew it was a simple muscular injury.

The day for my initial weigh in was a bit of a nerve wracking affair. I had decided i would stay to the groups after the weigh in no matter how embarrassed i would be. The first visit to slimming world involves an induction where your consultant introduces themselves and gives you an insight into the slimming world way. You then weigh in at the end of the group. The assemblage were remarkably  friendly, led by a very bubbly consultant called "Joolz". The meeting was in fact nothing to worry about or even get slightly embarrassed about. There were another one or two men in the group who stayed behind, alongside about 20 ladies. Joolz was very positive, she spoke with authority, encouragement and when required some sympathy.

My weight loss from that point on was fairly constant thanks to the free and easy plan from SW. My losses were constantly between 2 and 5lb per week. The extra easy plan suited me, i was finding it quite unbelievable how much food i could eat, and still lose weight. Unfortunately not many weeks into my time at Joolz group, she decided to move home back to Wales and therefore leave the group leaderless. Slimming world appointed a interim group leader until a permanent one could be found. By now i was quite enjoying the after weigh in group sessions where much hilarity was to be had. It was quite worrying however that we were leaderless. I would say this was the only time i have considered leaving the group due to the uncertainty. It was nevertheless a undue worry as slimming world had soon appointed a new consultant.

The saviour who appeared in the form of an existing member was the Lovely Rachel. She was a regular group member, who had  the guts and mettle to take up the leadership of the Chasetown posse. Rachel, under the guidance of slimming world is now going from strength to strength as a consultant. Its not easy standing up and talking to a group of strangers, but she has taken to it very well.

Once i had reached 3.5 stone loss at slimming world i decided i should once again push myself to get fitter. I had been watching a few sites selling used bikes; I really fancied getting a racing bike.

I had soon committed to take the plunge and get myself the aforementioned road racing bike. I had no idea which type to get, as i had not done enough research in racing bikes. The last road  bike i had was when i was 14, and that was stolen by our paper-boy. The idiot tried to sell it at our local bike shop after he had stolen it from my mom's driveway; anyway that was called a BSA javelin, it was a bright yellow 5 speed bike. Now for some weird reason i had fixed pretensions of getting myself nice yellow road racing bike. Having little knowledge of which were good bikes and which were inferior bikes i began looking. My son had tried to bestow on me some useful tips on what i should look for. He gave me some crucial pointers and what specification were considered by cyclists as a reasonable one. I was amazed at the price of some of these bikes, some cost as much as my new car had. In the end i made a rush decision, and as it turns out good decision to purchase an Orbea Aqua. This was blue and white cycle, nothing like the yellow i had wished for. I picked my new bike up about a week before i was due to go abroad on holiday. The saddle on this bad boy looked narrow enough to fit between my buttocks and deposit itself deeply into my bowl, which was worrying.

I started by riding 2 or 3 miles a night and thinking i had achieved something immens. Well i had achieved something, i had actually begun to become fitter.Biking is not a cheap way to up your exercise levels, as the correct gear is very expensive I always thought that people wearing Lycra and riding bikes were pretty much weird, and to this day i stand by that, i still think they are weird, though i have a full wardrobe of it now myself.

My Orbea Aqua is a great piece of kit. Its a fairly modern road bike made in Spain by the good and knowledgable people from Orbea. They are not one of the colossal cycle manufacturing companies that are out there, but they are well respected and build good quality bikes. Losing weight is not achieved by use of leechcraft or magic beans; Its done by eating the correct food (with help from a dietitian if required), and a generous helping of exercise (body magic) if possible. My work out just happens to be flogging my guts out up a 10% gradient on my trusted stead. For all those that would like to lose the belly, i can assure you that the bike really does help. There are hundreds of manufacturers out there, it can get a little confusing if you want to buy one. I have included a link to Orbea web site here. All i can say is mine does what it says on the tin and thats all i have to say about that-Forest

Your slimming world consultant may be a motivator and a wealth of knowledge, they may well be always available for a pep talk, but it's you that needs to make the difference. Its you that needs to decide to take the stairs instead of the lift, or put the dog on the lead even though its raining and the x factor is on. It's these little things that make a hell of a difference....even if the dog don't want to go out in the rain. I have to confess that i had become a sluggard prior to slimming world. I thought that going for the occasional walk was enough, well it isn't, not even close.

One thing that i have struggled to come to terms with is using nutrition during stamina events At present, when i go for a ride of any distance i soon run out of fuel (i suddenly lose energy). I can actually feel almost the exact moment i lose energy. My worry is that once the stomach is empty while under exercise, the body will switch into emergency save mode. In this mode, the body is more likely to burn muscle than body fat (catabolise), This i feel is a primeval instinct and something built into our homosapien DNA. Unfortunately while these hominid homie instincts worked well for sapiens, they don't work well for me and i would think all other homies who are trying to lose body fat. Another problem is that once i run out of fuel my body craves food that contains the most or the fastest acting calories which take shape in the dreaded FATS and SUGARS, oh cruel world.

Well thats enough about exercising for now. This week i weighed in at 17st 1lb which equates to a loss of  6st 11lb. i am immensely proud of what i have done and thankful that i had great support from SW and the group i attend. By Christmass this year i would like to be 16st or vet very close to it.

Without SW, i will not achieve this target. Attendance will be 100% until i reach my target, i will then have a think about a way forwards.

If you are struggling with your SW diet plan, fear not. It's not the plan you are struggling with, it is in fact yourself where the struggle lies. Don't give up on your visits to the group, as this would be to give up on your happiness long term. Drag your ass to group, tell everyone where you are going wrong. It might feel like you are showing yourself as a failure, but this is not the case. You are in fact showing yourself as a strong person, who has the will to beat down the hunger devil we all posses. Who cares if you failed and ate crisps and chocolate? Well the person who cares most is you. Until your head is in the right place, you will continue to fail in your weight loss endeavours. The best place to sort the head out is with like minded people, so back to group with you!!! You will be a success if you want to.....no one can stop you.

Should anyone need some advice or even offer me advice, please feel free to post in the comments.

Please do not use this post as promotional literature without my prior permission.

Brownhills canal festival 2014.

Brownhills very own canal side festival.

I have been looking forward to visiting this year’s instalment of the canal side festival for some time now. Its not a huge event for Brownhills by any stretch of the imagination, but its ours and its something we need to keep going. We have very little going on in Brownhills that might ever attract a visitor from other towns, but this event has potential.

I took a stroll into town with my mother as well as the two dogs (Charlie and Harry). On the way down Silver Street we were passed by a vintage motor that stopped to be directed into the old market area to park. I took a couple of snaps as the attendant showed the driver where to park, as i thought i might not get another chance.

The first stall we happened upon was the Bird of prey display. Many people were to gravitate here throughout the day. I feel that in Great Britain we have an attraction to raptors. I don't know why this would be, but we have plenty of top quality displays dotted about across the country that are always well attended.

I walked along the water front taking snaps as I passed stalls. I was attracted to the main stage where Mr Brian Dakin was about to kick off the activities. A spars gathering of visitors had seated themselves centre stage, they were busily demolishing ice creams. Brian focused in on the ice cream eating spectators with some well aimed jokes.

The presentation was a mixture of anecdotes and songs featuring the use of the Black Country language past and present. He threw in a bit of banter regarding local rivalry, occasionally deriding Brownhills. This was well accepted by the crowd, with some cutting banter heading back to Brian on the stage.

I thought Brian’s appearance was well received, although it was a tad early in the day. He did drop a minor clanger though! He announced that the Mayor would soon be opening the show, only to be objurgated by one of Richard Shepherd MP’s Tory side kicks. He shouted “it’s not the mayor it’s the Right honourable Richard Shepherd”. Brian was apologetic, saying he had been told “it would be the mayor opening the show.” I personally thought the blazer wearing side kick was not very convenable, he in fact made himself look like a right pillock.

On the subject of the right Honourable Richard Shepherd, he looked very unwell. In fact my mom commented that” he looked like death warmed up”. I do hope he is not suffering some ailment and hope he gets back to good health soon if he is.

I did not stay for the day; therefore i missed the other events on the main stage. i know there were to be shows from spotlight and a local choir amongst other things.

Whilst we were listening to Brian, a fire engine pulled up. The kids always love to see a fire engine accompanied by fire men, so do some women apparently. The fire engine pitched up next to the birds of prey and soon had an audience of inquisitive passers by.

Next to the fire engine, a stall with scale model naval vessels resided. The gentleman who had hand built these models was only to keen to talk to anyone interested.  He was a very pleasant fellow indeed.

Over on the Market the vintage car had parked up next to a 1943 coal truck. My mom was telling me how when she had her appendix taken out, a coal truck very much like that picked her up from the hospital. The owner of the truck was from Birmingham, he said that he knew all of the old coal merchants in Brum. He was exactly the same age as his truck, they both celebrated their 70th birthday last year.

coal truck owner.

The canal is understandably the centre piece of the event, it was in full use by all sorts of vessels. Canoe's, kayak's, narrow boats and paddle boards were all out in force. The much under used canoe club was looking splendid, with people coming and going throughout the morning. Buntings had been raised and the patrons brought out in numbers. The pathway had many stalls from many different organisations, i photoed as many as i could.

The air by 11am was ringing with the tones of black country radio and laced with the scents of the bacon butty stall. There were a lot of locals now streaming in, with the market car park filling up nicely. The sun was occasionally making a welcome appearance though one or two showers were also threatening.

People on the whole seemed  happy to have spent an hour or so looking around the event. I thought there were enough stalls to keep people interested and plenty of variation in those stalls.

If any improvements were to be made, i would say one stall relating to old world Brownhills/local history stall would have attracted a lot of people.

Thanks to the people who put in so much unpaid effort to get this event going, and long may it last.