It’s Chrisssssssma… Nope. Still got 22 days left before it’s that time of year. I’m not feeling very xmasy this year though. I’m not going to bother with decorations, with the exception of a pontsetia for my very much missed mum.

Sorry not to have posted last week. I missed SW so I have no idea how I may or may not have done. I was in Bristol for a fantastic gig and at that point, I couldn’t have given a fig as to how many pounds I had put on.

This last few weeks has been a bit full of temptation and it’s been a rough one or two for the “Plan”. 

That There London

My first trip away was a two night stay up in London to see a three band show. The first night was on Friday and we spent most of that wandering through the City. Obviously there were a few pubs on route and that was absolutley fine. Lots of walking though and I think I managed about 14k steps through the day.

There were a couple of full English breakfasts had while we were there and that was extremely tasty but it was just the prelude to Guinness and a pile of junk food each day.

I thought that I may be able to catch up with myself during the rest of the week so I suppose that I let myself just eat and drink what I wanted. 

Charlotte and Vola

Two days after getting home from London, I was on the road again. Not as far this time, just a short hour or so over to Bristol to see quite possibly one of the finest live acts I’ve seen in a long time. 

Vola are nothing short of magnificent. Supported by Charlotte Wessels formerly of Delain, they made my year. I’ve been looking forward to their album “Friend of a Phantom” since the early part of the year. I booked tickets for this gig in April!

They did not disappoint. 16 fantastic tracks played live and time just flew past. 

I can’t recommend this band highly enough. I hope that you’ll find them as engaging as I have over the last few years. 

Last weekend

Last weekend was a rather unplanned few days. Alex came down from Scotland for a flying visit. We didn’t really have much planned except for a day in Bristol (again) on Saturday. 

Friday was a lovely day and we went in to town to meet Sara in Cardiff Castle for a couple of beers. We discovered that there was a Rammstein tribute band playing at The Globe so we popped along to see them give it a good effort to emulate the German maestro’s. 

Saturday’s plan was to head over to Bristol for a bit of culture and stuff. An afternoon had been organised for a good number of folks to head over and enjoy the day. 

One by one, the numbers deminished so that by the time came to catch the train, it was just Cardiff Alex, Scotland Alex and myself standing on the platform waiting for the train. 

The train was delayed by about half an hour and when it did eventually arrive, it was standing room only. We decided therefore to sack off the train and just head into town for a couple of beers. 

We went to Tiny Rebel and had some food and some delicious beers. Then over to The Blue Bell and into Fuel for a short time. 

Needless to say, Sunday was a very quiet day. A carvery was involved and then a trip back over to Bristol Airport and a goodbye to Alex. 

Her plane was delayed so she spent nearly six hours before getting home very early on Monday morning. Typical Easyjet! 

A fairly uneventful drive back until I hit the M4 above Cardiff where the skies just opened. Biblical levels of rain slowing cars down to crawling speeds. 

The Tale of the Scale

So, after two weekends that were basically beer and food, I wasn’t expecting any miracles on the scale. I was not surprised then when after two weeks, they registered a three and a half pound gain.

Possibly the worst outcome that I could have expected given all of the food and beer over the last couple of weeks. 

I’ve been massively off plan but have enjoyed every minute of a great few weeks. 

I realise that I have now double the amount of work to do to get to where I wanted to be by Christmas. 

Next Week

I am trying to keep up with the walking and have done a couple of walks this week already. It hasn’t helped with the weight loss but it may have done a little to aleviate a mahoosive gain. 

I have been to see the doc about my back and the pain that I’ve been experiencing for about six years now. They sent me for an x-ray last week so I’ll get the results of that soon and I need to go for a blood test and ECG later in the week.

Next weekend isn’t too bad. I don’t have anything planned for it as yet so it will be a nice one. A walk or two and no alcohol. The final Grand Prix of the year. I hope that Mclaren get a good and need to score 15 points more than Ferrari. That will give them their first Constructors Championship for 26 years.

I need to go and get some Iceland Slimming World meals tomorrow at least those are free foods that I can scoff and enjoy without feeling guilty. I have bought some eggs, ham and wraps so I can do those for lunches too. Maybe they’ll help with where I need to be. 

Anyway. Wish me luck.