This blog is a tale of misery so far. I’ve made no progress this week. In fact, I’ve ended the week heavier than I began it. My ketosis strips have gone grey and are unusable. The only good news I have is that my fat weight has reduced slightly.

On Wednesday I had a night out with two friends. A long time ago, we’d decided to try a pizza restaurant (Rudy’s). Wednesday was the night. As a result, I gave myself a “pass” and didn’t diet. I had porridge for breakfast and a sandwich, crisps and a cake for lunch. In the evening, I started with a gin and tonic, before accompanying the pizza with an Aperol Spritz.

Either I’m getting old or I caught a bug on Wednesday. Or both. Although I worked on Thursday, I was not working at full capacity. So all in all, another failed week. And in the coming weeks it is going to be difficult to do better. More on this next time I post.

But, let’s try to be positive. Making progress on a diet takes time and dedication. In 2011 I started to take my health more seriously. Here is a picture of me in April 2011:

To give some context, since 2009 I’d been travelling most weeks. My diet was shocking. Getting exercise was not a priority. In January 2011, I fell over and fractured my arm making exercise even more difficult. At the time of the picture, I weighed over 102kg and my waist was over 40”. In April 2011, I decided to do something about all this. I bought a bike and started cycling. I also engaged the services of a personal trainer.

By May 2012, I’d made significant progress. My waist was down to 38” and my weight was down to 86kg. The change was due to eating sensibly and exercising more. But it wasn’t enough. I was still overweight.

In July 2012, I started the Slow-Carb diet and stuck to it for 100 days. In October 2012, I’d hit 76kg. I continued, more or less, following the diet in 2013. In this picture taken in 2014, I have a 34” waist and I weigh under 80kg.

The point is - I’ve done it before and I can do it again. It feels harder this time, so I must try harder this time.