"What's the secret?" he asked

[Jabbers]

I paused outside my gate when I came back from this morning's run. The inevitable weeds were high, even for my supposed slovenly housekeeping so I took a few minutes to lop them back. As a Brit living in a tiny village in Cyprus I'm judged poorly for not mopping the pavements outside my house ever week.

Anyway, there I was weed pulling whilst wearing my dusty and, frankly, sweaty running kit when the mayor of the village drove by. He stopped to chat for a minute and after the usual pleasantries commented that I'd lost weight. I agreed that it was possible that I had.

He responded with "You must tell me your secret as my wife will want to know how you have done this."

I replied "No great secret: three times I week I lace up my trainers, drive down to the reservoir and run alongside it."

He looked horrified, made his apologies and drove off. People don't really want to hear the truth (more exercise, less food) do they? Meanwhile my reputation for being eccentric just grows and grows

In other news: a mediocre run, but no police today. There was a horrendously fast-moving snake (non venomous) and a turtle in the water though.

Hope everyone's enjoying the weekend,

J

[TurboTortoise Graduate]

That's so funny - it's true, many people don't like to hear the plain truth of eat less, move more. Next time you should come up with some ever-increasingly nutty "secret", I dunno - only eating blue food on Mondays, astral projection, toad-licking, whatever - and see his reaction!

[rmnsuk Graduate in reply to TurboTortoise]

I can cope with frog kissing, but toad licking - yuck

[Jabbers in reply to TurboTortoise]

I know when I had loads (loads!) of weight to drop I was the same. It suspect it's parcticularly hard for Cypriots: a family meal isn't complete unless there are 3 dozen relatives there each of whom has brought their own special dish.

Anyway, do I lick the toads before or after eating the blue food !?

J

[Irishprincess Graduate]

Great story. And yes sadly I think you're right. Most people want an easy fix - take a pill rather than put some effort in. But we know the secret and that's why we're still running and loving it!

Well done to you for the run and digging out the weeds. You can come over and do mine if you want.......

[Jabbers in reply to Irishprincess]

Ironically I've hardly dropped a pound since I started C25K. Inches, yes, but the scales have stayed the same for a long time now. No matter: this is for fitness, not weightloss, so I'll just keep buying new smaller clothes and frowning at the scales.

As for the weeds ... they are a constant battle here! Just as soon as I have mine under control I'll deal with yours, honest!

J

[Hidden in reply to Jabbers]

same here, scales are sticking (just want to loose half a stone), but clothes are looser, just not enough to drop a size yet, but I and others can see changes. , so the clothes getting looser is a bonus, although a bit awkward at the moment, as clothes hang or slip down, bt the next size down is to tight! so im with you at frowning at the scales, but not on the shopping trip !

[useitorloseit Graduate]

Wow - you're brave running in the Cyprus heat. I was out there a couple of weeks ago and loved the heat - but not for running in!

[Jabbers in reply to useitorloseit]

Brave, or mad? I can't see there's much option. I don't want to pay for gym membership nor stop running for months so I'm just trying to get on with it and go out as early as I can manage.

Last weekend I stuffed up and ended up heading out at 10am. By then it was 35 in the hard shade ... only there was no shade! I limped back to the car dripping wet and feeling sorry for myself as did the dog who'd come out with me.

I'm in Scotland next week so it'll be interesting to see how different (and wet?) my runs there end up.

Hope you had a glorious holiday, sending sunshine in your direction

J

[useitorloseit Graduate in reply to Jabbers]

It was heaven, as there is absolutely nothing to do there except soak up the wonderful sun and relax (also drink and eat too much, natch). I tried to find culture, but every sign I tried to follow seemed to end up in the car park of a hotel not an 'ancient monument'. On the last day before we flew home I finally found the amphitheatre, but just as we got there they closed, so I never got in. Oh well, maybe next time.

Today in Cambridgeshire it is cold, wet and windy. I actually put the heating on for half an hour to warm the house up a bit. Not impressed at all. Enjoy the Mediterranean sun, because the UK is doing its usual Summer impression of Autumn. Summer happened, apparently, whilst I was in Cyprus at the beginning of July. It lasted 2 days and was accompanied by torrential rain and storms. God help us.

[mfamilias Graduate]

Do you blog about your life in Cyprus? You write very well, I'd love to read more.

As for the secrets to losing weight, try naming a magic pill they can swallow. That's what many people seem to be looking for these days. Discovering that they have to make an effort to take exercise and eat less crap comes as a great disappointment as it lays the responsibility fairly and squarely at their door, but when the push comes to the shove, the only way to achieve weight loss and fitness is to clean up their diet and move more.

[Jabbers in reply to mfamilias]

Oh, that's a lovely thing to say, thank you! I did blog about life here at one time but I'm on a verrrry long blog-break right now.

I've been overweight for pretty much all my life (which is a surprisingly hard thing to admit) so I'm as guilty as anyone of ignoring the "more exercise and less food" message. I lost a significant amount of weight before starting C25K but the running, the act of lacing up trainers and going out and doing something good just for me, feels more of a life changer than the weightloss itself.

Now, that's far too profound for a sunny Sunday. Off in search of a cup of tea!

J

[mfamilias Graduate in reply to Jabbers]

Blogging breaks don't last forever. Blogs eventually end up tempting you back to your keyboard. I hope so, anyway. If it does, let me know the website address (if you don't mind doing so, of course :D). I love reading about the lives of other expats (nosey cow, check).

I agree that running gives a whole new outlook on life, and that's what makes the rest (including weight and diet) slowly follow suit. I'm still adjusting to the complete turn-round in my attitude.