You Fat Ba*tard

Evrey year after Christmas I start to get myself fit for the new cricket season. This means I have 4.5 months in which to shake off my excess bulk and gain the ability hit a ball and run backwards and forwards along a 22 yard cricket pitch.

I don't so much go on a diet as cut out the crap. That means no crisps, chocolate or sugary fizzy drinks. In previous years that has been enough for me to lose as much as 1 stone.

This year I need to lose more. I weighed myself the other day out of interest and found that I am heavier than I have ever been. The weight doesn't bother me so much as the lack of fitness. We had a fire alarm last week at work, which involved walkiing down 12 floors. That was no problem. When we went back into the building I did what i usually do and walked back up rather than wait for a lift. For the first time in a long while I struggled.

So this year I have more work to do in order to lose more weight than before and to get fitter.

Here is the plan:

1, Cut out the crap as usual
2, Eat according to Paul McKenna's plan.
3, Walk upstairs to my office every lunchtime
4, Exercise more often - at least 3 times a week for 1 hour minimum at a time.

To help with point 1 I have gone back to an old favourite - popcorn. Popcorn has virtually no calories and if you microwave it there is no fat in it. It is an ideal food to fill you up without fattening you. Perfect for those mid-morning munchies.

Paul Mckenna's plan is interesting. It is currently on tv and really it is just about sensible eating. I eat very quickly. McKenna says that people who eat quickly do not give their stomach enough time to send the 'full' signal back to the brain and therefore overeat and end up feeling bloated. These extra calories become fat if not burnt off. By eating more slowly I have found that I am eating less because I am stopping when my brain gets the 'Full' message.

The walking upstairs thing starts today. It is the part of the process that I am least looking forward to.

Exercise. Well i have cricket nets on Sundays, but added to that I have bought "Max and Paddy's Power of Two" dvd. I did my first session yesterday and found it to be a good workout. I get bored with plain exercises so the fact that they combine comedy with exercise meant that the process was more bearable. How I'll find it when I've seen the dvd a dozen times - God only knows.

So there we are. I have the ambition of losing 18 pounds. Thats roughly a pound a week and I know it's a tall order. I will be pleased if I lose less but feel my fitness is up to scratch.

I will keep you updated.