Hey party people oaf12 here!

When we started TRTTSP it was expected that both myself and albinorob would be making regular updates…..then came Christmas!

Let’s just say I finished the year HEAVIER than I was when I blogged the first instalment.

Christmas is really a killer for diets, especially if you like food & drink as much as me! I found this year particularly hard as due to the fact I am getting married in 2013 my mind convinced itself that I must eat as much as possible, as I wasn’t going to be able to indulge during the first half of 2013.

The good news is a stone has dropped off me already this year, this hasn’t been easy but the hard work really starts now. Another stone (and a half if it doesn’t make me look ill) and I will reach my goal weight.

A big part of the weight loss has been helped by a smart-phone app recommended by a friend, the app is by ‘my fitness pal‘ and is basically a calorie counter that allows you to interact with friends and is made easy by the fact you can scan bar-codes.

The app needs your current and goal weight, plus the amount of weight you would like to lose a week (the is a healthy limit), it then gives you a number of calories you can have each day and helps you track it.

The app has really changed the way I eat, it let’s you eat what you want but if it’s bad it will leave you short of calories for the rest of the day. It promotes drinking water as it is zero calories. I am currently having porridge for breakfast, a salad or a soup for lunch (saving me plenty of money at work too) and a healthy dinner. This leaves me room for some healthy snacks throughout the day to keep my metabolism going and keeps me within my 1500 allocated calories a day.

It also promotes exercise as you can ‘earn’ additional calories if you burn them off first, all tracked and accounted for. I haven’t done much of this yet and have mainly counted on what I eat to get rid of the excess weight.

My top three misses:

Beer – only a single shot of whiskey has passed my lips in 2013, and that was from the bottle of Glenfiddich albinorob got me for my birthday.

Sandwiches – I am a big fan! Whether it be egg or bacon or sausage or all of them I am usually totally game but I am starting to get my head around the fact that these will still exist after the wedding. I need a Subway

Pizza – Totally amazing but, unfortunately, totally calorific too! Gone are the days (for now) when I devour a huge on to myself in one sitting.

As I said, it has been tough but the hard work starts now – starting with the gym tomorrow and my subscriptions to Men’s Fitness & Men’s Health

We will try to keep you updated a bit more regularly as we go.

Cheers guys oaf out