So it’s been over a year now in regards to my big diet change and mass detox of bad foods from my system.
 

This journey of abstinence has been a tough and gruelling period of going without, a period of going ‘cold turkey’ of the foods that once gave me a lot of pleasure. 
 

I’ve had some stumbling blocks – a slice of birthday cake here and an Easter-egg there and a few occasional treats. Heck, I had my first ‘rocket fuel’ coffee in 14 months to help with a student style all-night essay attack. Those things have never turned me into a backwards fall onto the platform of regularity and bad habit. I am entitled to an occasional treat after all. Abstinence is not easy! The fact remains, that there are still bad foods I will never go back to again.

There is one evil I will always stay clean of.

 
Pork… The silent killer.

http://www.giveshare.org/Health/porkeatdanger.html

 
I made a conscious decision to stay clean of pork. Pork is a major killer in the human diet today and it is massively ignored. Hey… There’s enough Youtube videos and other material out there to scare even the biggest carnivore into becoming vegetarian.

 
Some say even the Tyrannosaurus Rex was originally herbivore with its brittle teeth that couldn’t chew a T-Bone steak let alone a Triceratops’ backside.

 
Over a year on... I feel I could have done my dietary journey a lot better but in hindsight the best diets out there are the slow diets. I’ve done better than I could have done and slipped up. That scare of being told I won’t live to see 40 unless I got my ass in gear was what I needed for a head-start. You can’t get more serious than a matter of life and death, and I wish to be around long enough to live my Hank Hill years and well into my Jack Lemmon years.

I’ve lost 4 stone already, and comparing my recent student film to the one I made in 2008 was a personal and rewarding experience to see how I physically changed and improved. However what is on the inside is important… and inside I have never felt so ‘clean’.

My weight-loss journey still has many Tolkien book length chapters to go though. And as I progress through that journey I will proclaim victory past any stumbling block or road block that gets thrown at me.

I encourage anyone out there still fighting off the extra spare tyre or two to keep going and share your battle/war stories with others who may be going through the same thing. I know I’ll probably never get the pythons and washboard abs I’ve always wanted, but I know and can say I’m still doing pretty damn good for myself and others in the same fight as me can do the same too and better.

The battle of the bulge continues..

Something I made today...

I spent a large portion of this Saturday attending and helping out at the TGI Kids Christmas Party.

The TGI Friday kids party featured: food (of course), games, a Veggie-tales Christmas DVD showcase and the most outstanding of all a Punch & Judy display. The Punch & Judy was in its true traditional, non-PC performance (aside from the omission of the hanging scene) and was loved by kids and adults alike. Seeing a Punch & Judy act again after 2 decades was quite cheerful to say the least. I'm glad no sensitive types complained, especially as PC Plod confirmed to the audience that Judy and the baby were still alive and well from being thrown down the stairs by the naughty Mr Punch.

Of course 'Santa Claus' appeared at the end with a bag of goodies for the young uns. Every kid got a present to take home too. Afterwards 'Santa' waved goodbye to everyone as he left though the back door or the Pastor's office and onto his vacation. :P

Having a Christmas Party in early January is a great way to give Christmas and the holiday period good send off. I think its good of TGI to do this event at this time every year, since it provides a last Christmas related highlight for the kids who have to go back to school the following week. For me, I am happy to help out and be a part of it and most importantly, its great to see those kids happy.

2008 is now done and dusted, but for me has been a fairly good year to reflect on.

So many good things have happened to me during the last year along with a few snags here and there, but importantly I overcame them.

2008 saw me making movies, doing art, attending Faith camp, organising a 30th birthday, joining TGI Friday, turning 31, dropping 5 jeans sizes, losing a tooth, having fun, beating problems, building relationships, witnessing events, and many other highlights that I don't have the energy to write in detail about. I can summarise and just say I enjoyed 2008 and am happy to look back on that period in time.

2009 is going to be tough. Exams are afoot in January and University is still very demanding of me. I aim to get through this year in one piece but to do it in the happiest way possible. Things will not be easy on the 2009 road ahead but the journey is just as important as the destination. All I must do is stay as positive as possible and keep close the things that are most important to me such as my loved ones, friends, cats and happiness. I aim to make 2009 as interesting as possible to blog about, hope you can join me on the ride.

I wanted to write up a lot during the holiday season, but the ambition just hasn't been there. 2008 has been a great year with a lot going on, so much so it deserves an entry or two of its own to reflect on the months gone by.

As it is still the holidays for me I am making the most of the time I have whilst I have it and making the most of the Christmas surroundings whilst they are still in the backdrop. 2009 is set to be a busy and taxing year for me so resting the grey cells is something I need to do whilst I can.

I make the most of Christmas especially in the year. It gets my goat to see Christmas in general being further treated with a little less respect as the calendars go by. What I mean by that, is that Boxing Day is treated like a bank holiday now with more and more shops opening up and decorations disappear early. These are just a couple of things that annoy me about the dwindling treatment of the holiday season.

Maybe I shouldn't make too much a deal on the decorations front considering what others do with their seasonal bunting is up to them. I just think those who take Christmas Decorations down too early should maybe consider not bothering with them to start with, or maybe celebrate something else instead =)

I still hold strong on the Boxing Day thing in that the UK especially is lacking the concept of public holidays compared to anywhere else. Treating Christmas like a one day thing doesn't make things any more cheerful either, and no wonder some complain about it being an anti-climax. Think… Jesus 'chosen' birthday date at the start, New years in the middle and Epiphany at the end - all marking a fun 12 Day period long enough to have fun with family, extended family, friends, food and presents, the way Christmas is meant to be.

In any case, I probably enjoy Christmas a little too much, but that isn't a bad thing. To me Christmas is an incentive and one of the few good things left in this fallen world and a great way to end the year. Christmas sparks up my artistic and creative side and in that sense it is always a big deal to me. I am not telling anyone how to spend the holidays but I will always say to anyone to make the most of the Christmas period whilst its there even if you do hate it, the rest of any year is likely never as colourful and ambient in comparison.

Next: REFLECTION

It is Christmas Eve and I am so glad to not be out there in the human asteroid field of consumer chaos.

Quite simply I take pride in planning Christmas early to avoid playing shopping dodgem on the night before Jesus' Birthday. I buy my turkey crown in January, I stock on wrapping paper/cards/cellotape etc also in January and presents I especially make a point of purchasing 2 months in advance. Of course there is also the modern advantage of ordering things online in which even with that I sort out before December so I can receive them in December.

I'm currently at home with the sniffles and keeping warm, but I am sure feeling great that I forward planned everything. If anyone reading this has been out there, is going out there, and currently out there I will be thinking of you.

Merry Christmas to all.