Oh eckie-thump!

I've just checked the NHS website for what my ideal weight should be; they say 11 stone! (158 lbs). Now that's what I call a target! And is this realistic and achievable? - by me? .... yeah, right! ... and probably the day after Lucifer skates to work!

Lucky 13 (for a change)

I did it! I did it! I did it!

I've reached (below) my target weight of 13 stone (182 lbs). I was rather surprised to find myself to be exactly 13 stone on 3 consecutive days in the run-up to, and over the weekend. Today, I weighed in at 12 stone, 13 and 3/8 pounds (181.375 lbs) which means it's still on the way down... yay! (check out the picture - taken 4 days ago).

But was this a realistic target,?... was it too easy?.... are you kidding!!!! only last week I was getting disheartened at the lack of any real progress and suddenly (woof!) it started dropping off again as I smashed through the imaginary wall. A little over 12 months ago, I was at 14.5 stone (beached whale); now I've reached my first target. Back then I sometimes couldn't sleep 'cos I felt so uncomfortable (big fat tummy!), and I was getting out of breath just walking up stairs. And hot days.... better that we don't go there!.

But back to 'if this is a real target'... hmmm yes! I think quite often we set ourselves something that is quite unrealistic to achieve in what we want to do. Sure, it's good to have dreams, but we must have a plan that is realistically achievable with milestones that give us those little wins to keep us amused and satisfied that we're making progress. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day....

So what IS my actual target; well, as a dream... to get beyond my recommended best... something to do with being the right-weight-for-my-height sort of thing. Casting my mind back to when that was last described to me ... I would just love to be better than 12 stone... but I know that isn't achievable in one go so my next target is 12.5 (175 lbs). As long as it keeps going the way it has over the last week, I'm certain I'll make it, but still with one eye on the real trophy - 12 stone or less!

There's only one drawback with losing weight though, I'll need a new wardrobe - I only discovered on Friday that my favourite white jeans needed an extra hole in the belt ... much to Mrs Kates disgust!.

Blogs like buses...

... nothing for ages and two come all at once.

I've been trying to lose weight; there was some promising activity during the initial stage of my 'market research' but I've since kind of hit a wall - I can't seem to make it below 13 stone, with my weight sort of moving up and down by a couple of pounds around the 13.25 mark.

I'm trying really hard not to snack or have such indulgences whilst out (although I do have a weakness for chocolate Salvas in Velvet!); I've even been sticking to 'just soup' for lunch in the works canteen. So I've tried cycling to work for the last couple of weeks; an impressive 'round trip of about 15 miles, come rain or shine.

Apparently I seem to be gaining weight in leg-muscle whilst losing a little off my waist. Net result - no change!

But let me tell you about the lunatics us cyclists have to endure...

Drivers that don't give you enough room - especially 'white van man', one of whom got 'the' bang on the side of his van as a result - getting one of those off a cyclist means you're marked for life; a black spot that Blind Pugh would be proud of.

Taxi drivers who get offered guidance about perhaps signaling left before coming to a stop in front of you; that one is also associated with 'I-can-just-overtake-you-and-turn-left driver' who often receives very exceptional guidance from a cyclist.... I really live for those (NOT!).

Some dog owners don't escape special advice - especially those that like 'Rover' to have the freedom of running around the designated cycleway... I'm quite pleasant in that I ask them to 'Please put it on a lead' as Rover tries to feast on my rear wheel.

But my all time favourite is 'Mum on a mission'; she really couldn't give a flying fig about other road users let alone cyclists. 'Mum on a mission' can often be found outside schools, blocking other road users whilst they're dropping off little dorrit, opening doors in front of cyclists, pulling off without signaling whilst you're passing them.... and the list goes on; suffice to say they're worse than 'white van man'.

Ok I'll stop now... grumpy old woman mode off.

Psychology of the Quiet Coach

Off the T-girl topic for a change and doing the grumpy old woman bit... prompted by Janes recent posting about train seat chivalry, it reminded me of some of those situations I so often see on trains; or to be precise, from the comfort of my reserved seat in the quiet coach - well... nearly my seat.

Quite often, by the time the intercity service reaches our humble town, most of the quiet coach seats are occupied, - but not quite enough to oust the lout, or usurp the business man from yours.... but you can tell these folk are quite practised at giving out the hidden psychological messages of 'bog off and don't hassle me' when they occupy your reserved seat.

Like for example, there's 'sleeping guy', who occupies the unreserved seat next to yours but thinks his brief case has it's own busy life to lead and cares for it by giving it your seat. This is especially annoying when your seat is the only reserved seat in the coach, and apart from 'sleeping guy' the coach is empty.

Then there's 'railway worker guys' who have a medical need to sit next to each other and discuss how well United faired in the previous evenings match - and yes, you guessed it, they occupy your seat.

And there's proffesional dude and dudess who travel the same route every day; they really don't care where they plant themselves 'cos they're only going to the next stop so it doesn't matter if they occupy someones seat.

Ladies don't get away without an observation from Ms Kate - in the quiet coach, they are the absolute the worst for using the phone... they're also the ones mostly likely to shout, if someone else uses a phone! On a recent journey, a girl got on for the last 20 minutes of the service and she managed to make 7 phone calls - I was impressed... normally us girls can only make one call in that time; perhaps she was 'business dude' in drag....

But if you're sat in my seat on the 16:20 out of Birmingham, you take your life into your hands.... unless you're a lovely old lady from Falmouth in which case I'll sit in the seat next to you, have a nice chat about gardening and treat you to tea and cake!