Can you remember, way back in December when I first decided that I needed to give my diet a boost by spending more time out of my armchair? I was about four months in to my healthy eating plan, from a starting point of around 320lbs and it was going really well but I think the process of chatting to you guys on a daily basis had by that point thrown up the realisation that it might be possible to speed up the demise of my extra arse if I just started to move it more.
Lots of people have a longer term fitness goal which spurs them on and gives them something to work towards. For normal folk it might be a 5k event, or even a 10k for those who really like to push themselves. Not me, right? I managed to spit in the eye of normal and sign up for a 90km trek through a rainforest and up a mountain. In the heat. With bugs.
And at the time, October seemed ages away, I mean nine months is practically a lifetime. I imagined that I was going to be well skinny by the time I went. And don’t we all know that if you’re skinny, trekking 90km over a mountain range is a piece of cake? I blamed everything that I ever found hard on the fact that I was fat, and in my head anything looked effortless to skinny folk.
Thing is, it’s not ages away any more…it’s now three months away. Three months today in fact. And, I’m still fat. I mean sure, I’m not as fat but I definitely still look like I ate all the pies, which was not in my Cuba plan at all. The penny is starting to drop that I’ve done my usual thing of marrying wild optimism to blind faith that it’ll all be fine. I am a muppet.
Two things happened yesterday to make me realise this shit just got real…we booked our overnight hotel for the night before our early flight out of London, and then I went and bought a new pair of walking boots.
Even walking into the outdoorsy shop made me feel a bit nervous, I mean looking around I didn’t know what some of the stuff was…it’s a whole new world and I felt like a fish out of water. I was attended to by a skinny string bean who looked like she’d just stepped out of an adventure, given that she was dressed from head to toe in activity gear…all she was missing was a rope around her waist and a can of bear spray in her back pocket. I felt very reassured that if I got into difficulties during my shopping expedition she’d be able to help.
And she was very helpful, in her Indiana Jones kind of way. I’m not sure whether she believed me when I told her why I needed them, but I found myself leaving the shop with exactly what I went for, including three pairs of walking socks…who knew such things even existed, I mean socks are socks, right? Wrong.
These socks are made from the wool of mythical creatures and hand stitched by angels, at least they should be given what they cost. But spotting an opportunity to move in for the kill, Indiana Jones mentioned that they’d help avoid blisters and kerching…I was all over that, I’m going to have enough on with shit hurting left and right without having to worry about blisters.
So. They’ll have their first outing after work tonight, I don’t have a class because I won’t be home in time but me and my new boots need to start getting acquainted…it’s really happening.
On that…those of you who’ve read my blog for a while will know how much I hate asking for help, but I am going to do this trek if it kills me. Every hour I put in in the Kingdom of Pain, every mile I walk with Charlie-dog will be worth it when I cross the finish line and feel like I’ve achieved something special, but the biggest thing of all for me, completely aside from the fact that I’ve pushed myself physically will be the fact that I’ve raised a bunch of money to support a cause really close to my heart.
If you enjoy the blog and you feel like you’re a part of my journey, will you help by sponsoring me? If you follow this link you will be able to read the story of why it’s important to me. In the next couple of weeks I have to hit 80% of my fundraising target in order for the company I work for to fund the trip, which means that every penny I raise will go to my chosen charity…I’d be so grateful if you’d support me. It doesn’t have to be much, but if everyone who reads the blog sponsored me the price of a coffee I’d smash my target in no time. I’m genuinely grateful for every coffee bean you can throw my way 🙂
I tell you what, I’m going to hold Indiana Jones personally responsible for any blisters…I shit you not, I keep coming back to those bloody socks and how much they cost. I’m on the verge of developing a twitch.
