500 Days of Slimmer - and Some Other Crap Too...

[Funt Solo]

Congratulations on your academic success, sir! 

[sheridan]

I accept this is very self indulgent and you are of course more than welcome to ignore this thread. It would be fun though if anyone fancied joining me in this journey of self improvement and posted their progress also.

Lose Weight : The NHS tells me this:

Healthy weight range for your height: 10st 4lb - 13st 13lbYour health would really benefit from gradually losing just 5% of your current weight. The best way to lose weight is through a combination of diet and exercise.  Aim to lose 11lbsRecommended daily calorie intake: 2051 - 2637 kcal.  To lose 1-2lbs a week stick to the lower end of the range.

I appear not to have noted my starting weight, which doesn't help.

Update Blogs regularly : as luck would have it, I also have a blog that I need to keep updating regularly.prog slog hack and prog slog hack forum thread

Yep, been doing that and keeping to a daily schedule.

Get a Letter Printed - I've not had anything published yet (I think I've sent in a total of about 10 letters and/or emails over the past 35 years) so if I send a letter a week perhaps the constant drip, drip, drip will force Tharg to print one just to shut me up?

No letters written, no letters published.

My original one: Draw or write something at least once a week :

Not done brilliantly on this one, barely created anything if the back prog hack is excluded (which it is as it's its own target).

I've come up with a fifth one Read all the unread comics and graphic novels I've got lying around.

Really should get started on that one - no progress since Overture.  Had been reading new comics and old progs, but nothing in between.

[Buttonman]

Cheers Funt!

A familiar tale Sheridan. I'm conscious that this lockdown could be looked back on as a missed opportunity by many and that's why I was keen to try something to focus my ambitions and be accountable to them.

I'm glad to have finished my exams a year ahead of schedule and I'll always look back on the qualification as one good thing that came out of the pandemic.

I keep trying to refocus so that I don't come out of the pandemic as a fat(ter) alcoholic with a bad haircut!

Good luck with your endeavours!

[Colin YNWA]

Wow getting past those exams a year ahead of schedule is going some - well done.

[sheridan]

Cheers Funt!

A familiar tale Sheridan. I'm conscious that this lockdown could be looked back on as a missed opportunity by many and that's why I was keen to try something to focus my ambitions and be accountable to them.

I'm glad to have finished my exams a year ahead of schedule and I'll always look back on the qualification as one good thing that came out of the pandemic.

I keep trying to refocus so that I don't come out of the pandemic as a fat(ter) alcoholic with a bad haircut!

Good luck with your endeavours!

Thanks - I've got 'unofficial' targets of sorting my way through a lifetime's collection of collections (I'm sure many reading this know what I mean) and I've managed to spend some of the time doing that.  This means I've unearthed pieces of artwork I've not seen for years, though also even more as-yes-unread things :-)

As others have said - seriously impressed by completing exams a year early!

[Buttonman]

Another month flies by - hope all are well as we start to emerge from the shadows - stay where you are Leicester people!

Thanks for the kind words about me passing my exams - would have posted earlier but I'm conscious of bumping such a vanity thread!

This has been a quick month with success on some fronts. Others, not so much.

Lose Weight : Not doing well with the gym shut down. Curbed the wine until the weekends only but the Friday night takeaway is a killer + a peshwari nan. This will be the last week of gluttony as we are getting a kitchen fitted and takeaways are all we have! In mitigation I've not had chocolate or Haribo in months and I have lost the urge for snacking.

Update Blogs regularly : Did my usual 'focus too much on one thing' thing again with a total of 44 films watches and critiqued. 45 if you count the Will Ferrell Eurovision one that doesn't fit my criteria. The Definite Article blog saw the most with a whopping 25 entries. Best of the month was The Duellists which was Ridley Scott's first feature. The 'W' Blog saw 19 entries with the pick of the litter being Wind River which was cold and brutal. Lovely!

Update the Lettersentertainyou thread for each letters publication event : No Nerve Centre or Dreddlines letters this month. For shame. Again!

Average 12,500 steps a day : Probably averaging about 6000 - spending too long inside watching movies that start with a 'W'.

Get 105 Letters Printed : - Sending fewer as all are going in the bin. C'mon Tharg unquarantine that inbox!

Pass ACII : Still awaiting the certificate but did get notified that I'd been awarded the CII Certificate for 'Excellence in Claims Practice'. Another certificate awaited along with £250. Actually I was jointly awarded it, but we won't talk about that.

Get on TV Again : All games shows are now reruns and no one is recruiting!

Bag 50 Munros in total : Parked until the Summer!

[Tiplodocus]

Me and the long suffering Mrs Tips walk to and from work each day even though we are both working from home. It's just twenty minutes round the village but has helped keep our step count up.

[Buttonman]

Another month whistles part -be old before I know it!

Lose Weight : Started this in earnest with some decent results to date. A 1500 calories a day diet has been instigated along with some extra exercise and this has seen a weight loss of a stone (14lb) in this month taking me from a hefty 16st 12lb to a hefty 15 st 12lb. I should be about 12.5 stone so plenty to go, but at least it’s heading in the right direction. I’ll need to lose about 6lb a month a month to hit the goal which is totally happening.

Update Blogs Regularly : A solid month with 18 ‘W’ movies critiqued with Walk on Water the best of that bunch and 16 Definite Movies assessed with The Gift winning that blog’s crown for July. The ‘W’ blog now has 315 entries and the Definitive 213 - both on target for their 350/250 goals.

Update the Lettersentertainyou Blog for each publication event : Completed - only one letters page appeared in July and this was fully reviewed - A mighty 650 reads which is more than the 34 movie blog entries, and rightly so.

Average 12,500 steps a day : Partial success. A big part of the diet strategy has been to exercise more so I haven’t fallen below 10k since 11th July. 12,500 is 87,500 a week and I’ve managed that for each of the last 3 weeks. I had a big hike today and notched up 40,918 (18.76 Miles) along with two sore feet.

That’s everything that merits an update. Hopefully Munro bagging returns in the next month as does TV game show recruitment. I will start writing to Tharg again for each issue. He may not print them but you have to give him something to work with.

Have a great August.

[sheridan]

I've not had any time off during lockdown so much of this is as it was last month.

I accept this is very self indulgent and you are of course more than welcome to ignore this thread. It would be fun though if anyone fancied joining me in this journey of self improvement and posted their progress also.

Lose Weight : The NHS tells me this:

Healthy weight range for your height: 10st 4lb - 13st 13lbYour health would really benefit from gradually losing just 5% of your current weight. The best way to lose weight is through a combination of diet and exercise.  Aim to lose 11lbsRecommended daily calorie intake: 2051 - 2637 kcal.  To lose 1-2lbs a week stick to the lower end of the range.

Still haven't noted what my weight actually is, though due to going back to the office this past week I've spent roughly nine or ten hours actively travelling.  We also moved office this summer while everybody was at home and I'm on a much higher floor than I used to be.

Update Blogs regularly : as luck would have it, I also have a blog that I need to keep updating regularly.prog slog hack and prog slog hack forum thread

Yep, been doing that and keeping to a daily schedule.

Get a Letter Printed - I've not had anything published yet (I think I've sent in a total of about 10 letters and/or emails over the past 35 years) so if I send a letter a week perhaps the constant drip, drip, drip will force Tharg to print one just to shut me up?

No letters written, no letters published.  Made a bit difficult as I've only been to the comic shop once since they re-opened (I used to go there once a week on my way home from work).

My original one: Draw or write something at least once a week :

Wrote a little bit but not enough to be satisfying.

I've come up with a fifth one Read all the unread comics and graphic novels I've got lying around.

Just 2000AD for the prog slog and Starlord for the Starlordathon.

[Buttonman]

Bang! There goes another month - who said time drags when you’re having fun? Ah no one. Carry on.

This month’s updates are as follows :

Lose Weight - Going OK, was 15 stone 8 lbs yesterday morning, which is 18 lbs off my 2020 high. Not too bad given we had a couple of nights away in Wigton which included this afternoon tea.



I didn’t eat all the cakes but broke the back of them. Started a bit of running and was at the gym for the first time in six months too, after it reopened yesterday. Have cut the booze and takeways out, so confidence is high that progress will continue to be made. A pound a week is too slow however with only 30 weeks to go until the big day. 1.5 lbs a week will be sufficient, which is the equivalent of about 5000 calories a week or 750 a day. Looks like 1750 calories a day will be the average going forward. Of course a combination of diet and exercise will be the preferred, and planned for, option.

Depressingly when looking at past blog entries I'm the same weight I was in January. Well at least I can claim Lock Down didn't add anything. Momentum is now in the right direction. What? Greggs is open?

Update Blogs Regularly : Thankfully for all concerned this slowed down somewhat but kept ticking over. I saw and reviewed 11 Definite Article movies with the best being the 1974 version of The Gambler. ‘W’ movies were less well represented with only 6 getting the once over with White Girl being the best of the lot.

Update the LETTERSENTERTAINYOU Thread : Only one letters page again this month but a full autopsy was provided Right Here.

Walk 12,500 Steps a Day : Keeping this one in the ball park with at least 10,000 steps completed every day since 11/07/2020. My Fitbit app says I’m averaging 14,387 a day and with the gym reopening yesterday this should be easier to maintain.

Get on Another Game Show : Have applied for Tipping Point!

Get 105 Letters printed : I fear this one is destined to fail mainly due to the lack of letters pages being published (nothing to do with the quality of the submissions, obvs). I sent 3 letters this month so I'm doing what I can.

Bag 50 Munros Scottish rules for bubbles and the like have prevented me and my regular hill walking buddy from getting this progressed. I did text him yesterday as some restrictions have eased so we can hopefully get back to the hills this month.

I hope everyone is surviving and doing well on their own quests for health and self improvement. Or at least irritating people with their own efforts, that’s important too.

See you in October!

[Buttonman]

Another month another dollar - really must ask about that pay rise. Can anything release me from this interminable quest and indeed this thread? Nah, a deal’s a deal - unless the Reaper steps up and offs me or everyone else.

Quietish month, but with the holidays now over and sober October ahead we can all look forward to even fewer fun times!

LOSE WEIGHT : Holding steady at about 15.5 stone. Still 3 stone adrift and that means half a stone a month to be shed if the target is to be reached. Should be doable unless Christmas arrives and we get another lockdown. Oh dear. Been to the gym 13 times in September and managing up to 7k or so non-stop on the treadmill. Hopefully make the 10k (6.2 miles) this month.

Had a three night trip away to Durham and over indulged as you do. Back on the straight and narrow now, with those 36 bottles of wine on order just to fill the rack.

UPDATE BLOGS REGULARLY : Possible pass here if once a week is considered ‘regularly’. Been enjoying the new ‘The Boys’ amongst others but needs must. Have see and reviewed  4 ‘W’ films, with the best being White Boy Rick and four ‘Definite Article’ films with the pick of a poor litter being The Outpost

UPDATE THE LETTERSENTERTAINYOU THREAD : Success! I thought this was going to be a bumper month with a Letters Page dropping on September first. The review can be found here

Alas that was our lot!

WALK 12,500 STEPS A DAY : Getting there! All time average is 11,469 with me not having done fewer than 10,000 on any day since 11th July. Got into a lunchtime / after work regime,  although I can nail it in an hour in the gym. Getting a bit fitter and the calorie burn is up but not seeing much in the way of weight loss despite flat lining the dietary intake. Something gotta give soon!

GET ON ANOTHER GAME SHOW : Not heard back from ‘Tipping Point’ yet.

GET 105 LETTERS PRINTED : Too few letters pages to make much of an impact here - there hasn’t been a Dreddlines this year with the last being in Meg 404 - 404 error indeed. I have written a couple including my first ever typed out exclusively on my phone. Hopefully that won’t see the light of day either!

BAG 50 MUNROS : Made plans with my hill walking pal but Nicola soon put paid to that with new restrictions.

Hope you all had a good month and I’d be interested to hear of your own lockdown challenges and your hits and misses! See you next month if we are all spared!

[Proudhuff]

Three weeks and no news, isn't it great!

[Buttonman]

1st of the month Tom - keep up!

[Proudhuff]

1st of the month Tom - keep up!

The excitement are soaring through the floor!
Will he? won't he? Will the free school meals over half term affect his poundage? Can he still fit into that schoolboys outfit? Will he be able to visit ever Munro's the Drycleaners in time?

[Buttonman]

Oh God. This thing has been running longer than the pandemic and has cost nearly as many lives. Oh well, only <counts fingers> five to go after this one. As least it gives me some focus and hopefully helps anyone else trying to better themselves or at least irritate others.

LOSE WEIGHT : 4lbs off this month which is OK. Seems a bit low actually as I did ‘Sober October’ and went to the gym 12 times. Have got up to about 10k non-stop in under an hour on the treadmill so I’ll say fat is being replaced by muscle. Looking a bit trimmer, if I say so myself, but still needing that belly wheel. Hoping for at least 4lb off this month which will take me into the promised land of being ‘overweight’. Currently tipping the scales at 15 stone 3lbs.

UPDATE BLOGS REGULARLY :  Crappy weather and a lack of drinking has seen this one get ahead of schedule as my reader will testify. It was a bit of thin month quality wise with the best of the 9 ‘W’ films being Will Hay’s Where's That Fire?

There were richer pickings at the Definite Article Blog with
The Foreigner being the best of the 11 surveyed. Well, it tied with 'The Hustler' but Jackie Chan fighting the IRA was good fun!

UPDATE THE LETTERSENTERTAINYOU THREAD : Once again there was only one letters event which was covered in a post right HERE!

WALK 12,500 STEPS A DAY : Fitbit says I managed 11,621 a day on average which is good going in this current climate. One day I didn’t leave the building and instead annoyed the neighbours by going up and down the stairs and running on the spot. That’s nearly 5 miles worth! Not missed 10k on any day for over 100 days. Becoming something of a burden!

GET ON ANOTHER GAMESHOW : Still awaiting a call from Tipping Point.

GET 105 LETTERS PRINTED : No Dreddlines in over a year suggests this one won’t be possible. To be fair my own contributions have dried up somewhat as the incentive of a me free letters page hasn’t been happening. I’d guess Tharg’s own systems are all over the place with the letters an afterthought at best. Shame!

Bag 50 Munros : Presently illegal to even try!

Well that will do us for this month. Hope all is well your worlds - please feel free to add in details of your own struggles!