Rostov

I think seeing a doctor is the best advice anyone who isn't a doctor could give you. A constant thirst could be a symptom of diabetes, so it's important to get this checked out, if only to put your mind at rest.

Sorry to hear about the job.... but you've got that interview experience under your belt, and it sounds as if not being offered it keeps things simpler for now.....

Thanks everyone. Full week 3 update.... Goal 1: A shadow of my former self Lose 5lbs (average of just under 1lb per week) over the duration of the challenge. I'll do this by a combination of calorie counting and exercise and run a safe net deficit through, sustainable habits. My starting weight is 85.5kg, 188.5lbs, 13 stone 6.5lbs This week: 84.6kg, 186.5lbs, 13 stone 4.5lbs. I've got a slight weakness for toast at the moment, which needs a bit more resisting than I'm acheiving, but I'm still making decent progress on weight loss. I bought some new jeans last week - 34" waist, although they were a fairly generous cut. Given my frame size I don't think I'll drop another size, and the cut is more for my muscular thighs than the waist. This time last year I was 40"-42". A sub-goal of this is Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is to work out on at least 11 days of 14. This has been a regular goal that I've almost always succeeded at in full, so perhaps it's not a challenge any more. 6 out of 7 this week. I've started on the pull-ups again, and I can usually manage 3 - need more work to build back up to where I was. Goal 2: Drink water like water, and soda like soda One of the big changes I made when I first started out with weight loss was cutting out full calorie cokes/sodas. It wasn't easy, but I succeeded and now rarely have any liquid calories. However, I don't think I drank any less soda overall, but just shifted to Diet Coke and Pepsi Max. While I don't want to throw words around like "addicted", I drink more than is good for me and do get a form of "withdrawal" if I don't have any. This is not good. I understand there's some research that would indicate that diet sodas are nearly as bad as full calories and that artificial sweeteners are not good for the body. I'm unconvinced, and I think my experience has been that the kick of something sweet and caffinated helps satisfy cravings for high calorie food. But perhaps that's doing something bad to my metabolism, I don't know. What I do know is that it's not a cheap habit, and that if I let myself I'll drink it like it's water. For this goal, I'm going to have a 1 litre bottle of cold water in the fridge at home which I'm going to drink and finish each day before I have any soda at home. I'm going to succeed at this at least 5 days out of 7 each week. I'm allowing myself a bit of wiggle room because this will be difficult on days when I'm not in much. 6 of 7 this week, with one exception for an evening out. Goal 3: The awesomeness of the middle distance runner These were the targets that I missed in my last challenge and the one before that. Injury permitting, these are my running goals: (a) entering a timed 5k run (+1 cha for entering one at all); and (b ) getting a time of under 30 mins (+3 sta). If I miss this, I get +0.5 sta if I complete without walking or stopping, and another +0.5 sta if I'm under 33 mins. As well as the injury, I also need to make up lost time/training/running. Hopefully I've not regressed too much, but I don't expect to be able to run 5k immediately - got to build back up. As mentioned above I managed a full 30 minute run. I retreated to the rebounder for the following day, but ran a litle further, a little quicker, and up some more hills the day after that. No ill effects, though my foot still isn't quite right. But whatever is wrong (which I think is diferent to last time) looks as if it will allow me to run normally as well as on the rebounder. Not sure whether to run again today (after another rebounder day yesterday) or stick with the rebounder today and go back to circuits tomorrow. Goal 4: Life goal - Roll your Charisma In my previous challenges I've set myself life goals related to getting to know people better, or opening up more, or turning acquantainces into friends. Last time I decided to broaden things out and give myself points for times when I've taken a risk and "rolled my charisma" - to use a D&D term. Actually my charisma score isn't bad, especially diplomacy, but I tend not to take risks and introversion is my default setting. So in this challenge I'm going to put myself out there and be more open and more talkative and more sociable. I did pretty well at this last time, and I'd like to continue it this time. Last time I think I levelled up at this, so I'm going to be a bit tougher on the grading this time round. It's been a quiet week, with some time off work and not much happening. No points this week.

I think interviews are hugely hard to read. People tend to only remember the negative, about what they might have said slightly differently, and some of the standard "advice" out there seems to encourage people to obsess over first impressions and small stuff that doesn't matter. My last interview was quite odd. It felt to me like it didn't go very well, and one of the panel members looked very bored and I didn't think he was engaging properly. One of the others seemed keen to get it over with. Turned out later that this was because they'd already pretty much dediced to appoint me on the strength of my CV and presentation, and that the job was mine unless I royally screwed up. On the train back I kept going over it in my head, worried that I'd somehow managed to miss what should have been an open goal. But it's good to get the practice in early for job interviews, regardless of the outcome.

Funny thing happened today..... This week we've had some glorious spring weather, so I've taken the scenic route to work through the park, turning a 13 minute walk into a 30 minute one, and my walking from about a mile a day to two miles. Anyway, the joggers were out in force as I was walking home, and I got my usual pangs of jealousy. I went sports training on Monday for the first time since December and got through that okay (though it was a very light session) and so decided to rest my foot and not do anything other than rebounder jogging or walking for a few days. But.... beautiful day, perfect conditions for running, the park.... feeling okay.... So, I got home, got changed, and went straight out. I'd only done a mile at a time at this point, and I thought I'd just walk to the park and then do a short run, then come back. But I got sucked in... first the path, then the hill (because of the scout challenge), and then the next hill, and then down the slope to the woods and the lake, then just round the near edge of the lake, then round the full lake, and then... oh well, may as well run all the way back. Full 30 minute run. Cardio-vascular fitness felt fine - probably as good as or better than pre-injury. A bit of running through treacle and blowing quite hard up the final hill, and probably quite slow overall, but pretty good. Wasn't sure about my foot.... I was "aware" of it, but it wasn't painful or stiffening up like last time. Walk home, rest, ice, and elevation and so far it feels fine. DOMS is going to hit me hard tomorrow, I reckon, but if my foot is okay when I wake up tomorrow I'll probably take a day off running and try another 30 minutes on Saturday. If I can manage that, then a timed 5k may well be in sight.... In other news.... this week I kept being distracted by something shiny... my belt buckle. My first thought was perhaps it was oddly shiny, or oddly sunny, but now I think it's because it's now more visible than before because of weight loss. Certainly my clothes feel very loose, and at the very least I need a new belt. Maybe some new trousers/jeans too if I've lost enough to drop to a 34, which isn't entirely out of the question....

Week 2 update.... Goal 1: A shadow of my former self Lose 5lbs (average of just under 1lb per week) over the duration of the challenge. I'll do this by a combination of calorie counting and exercise and run a safe net deficit through, sustainable habits. My starting weight is 85.5kg, 188.5lbs, 13 stone 6.5lbs This week: 85.1, 187.6lbs, 13 stone 5.5lbs. Ever so slightly up on last week, but not by a statistically significant amount. I've been feeling thinner recently, and it's not long before I'll have to spend yet more money to get new clothes that actually fit. Oh, the problems of success. It's funny really... these days the slight over-indulgences that tempt me are toast and peanut butter or toast and ham, or toast and marmite. I feel a bit bad when I give in to tempation, but this time last year "temptation" would have been an extra takeway, or a massive bag of crisps. A sub-goal of this is Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is to work out on at least 11 days of 14. This has been a regular goal that I've almost always succeeded at in full, so perhaps it's not a challenge any more. 6 out of 7 this week and last, so 12 of 14 overall. My pull-ups have stalled a bit at 3 reps, inching towards 4. I think I've pulled in my left arm, probably because I'm doing too much of the pulling with my left and not enough with my right. I'm going to leave this for a day or so doing much more. Goal 2: Drink water like water, and soda like soda One of the big changes I made when I first started out with weight loss was cutting out full calorie cokes/sodas. It wasn't easy, but I succeeded and now rarely have any liquid calories. However, I don't think I drank any less soda overall, but just shifted to Diet Coke and Pepsi Max. While I don't want to throw words around like "addicted", I drink more than is good for me and do get a form of "withdrawal" if I don't have any. This is not good. I understand there's some research that would indicate that diet sodas are nearly as bad as full calories and that artificial sweeteners are not good for the body. I'm unconvinced, and I think my experience has been that the kick of something sweet and caffinated helps satisfy cravings for high calorie food. But perhaps that's doing something bad to my metabolism, I don't know. What I do know is that it's not a cheap habit, and that if I let myself I'll drink it like it's water. For this goal, I'm going to have a 1 litre bottle of cold water in the fridge at home which I'm going to drink and finish each day before I have any soda at home. I'm going to succeed at this at least 5 days out of 7 each week. I'm allowing myself a bit of wiggle room because this will be difficult on days when I'm not in much. Success today will be 7 out of 7 for the week, so pretty good. I'm a little worried that all I'm doing is pushing my soda consumption to later in the evening, and probably not drinking that much less. Not sure about that, though. Goal 3: The awesomeness of the middle distance runner These were the targets that I missed in my last challenge and the one before that. Injury permitting, these are my running goals: (a) entering a timed 5k run (+1 cha for entering one at all); and (b ) getting a time of under 30 mins (+3 sta). If I miss this, I get +0.5 sta if I complete without walking or stopping, and another +0.5 sta if I'm under 33 mins. As well as the injury, I also need to make up lost time/training/running. Hopefully I've not regressed too much, but I don't expect to be able to run 5k immediately - got to build back up. I went for mile run yesterday and my foot felt fairly good. I'm coming to the view that what I've done to it this time is related to, but isn't the same, as the problem last time, so the solution might not be the same. The mile felt quite good, and I've had no obvious reaction that's definitely not psychosomatic. Back to walking today, and maybe a bit more running tomorrow. When I am able to return to running, I'm going to have to re-learn pacing, as my default pace has become my rebounder pace, which is far too quick for a 5k - at least for me at the moment. I'll need to slow myself down and hold myself back a bit more. Goal 4: Life goal - Roll your Charisma In my previous challenges I've set myself life goals related to getting to know people better, or opening up more, or turning acquantainces into friends. Last time I decided to broaden things out and give myself points for times when I've taken a risk and "rolled my charisma" - to use a D&D term. Actually my charisma score isn't bad, especially diplomacy, but I tend not to take risks and introversion is my default setting. So in this challenge I'm going to put myself out there and be more open and more talkative and more sociable. I did pretty well at this last time, and I'd like to continue it this time. Last time I think I levelled up at this, so I'm going to be a bit tougher on the grading this time round. Did okay this week - full points. Partly for socialising, and partly for navigating some conflict at work. It didn't involve me directly, but I managed to calm a few people down a bit.

As requested, a week 1 update.... Goal 1: A shadow of my former self Lose 5lbs (average of just under 1lb per week) over the duration of the challenge. I'll do this by a combination of calorie counting and exercise and run a safe net deficit through, sustainable habits. My starting weight is 85.5kg, 188.5lbs, 13 stone 6.5lbs This week: 84.8kg, 187lbs, 13 stone 5lbs. Off to a good start. Think I was in a bit of a plateua towards the end of the last challenge, and what sometimes happens after that is a period of faster weight loss. Fingers crossed. A sub-goal of this is Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is to work out on at least 11 days of 14. This has been a regular goal that I've almost always succeeded at in full, so perhaps it's not a challenge any more. 6 out of 7 this week, up to between 3 and 4 pull-ups and 2 x 10 one leg push-ups. Goal 2: Drink water like water, and soda like soda One of the big changes I made when I first started out with weight loss was cutting out full calorie cokes/sodas. It wasn't easy, but I succeeded and now rarely have any liquid calories. However, I don't think I drank any less soda overall, but just shifted to Diet Coke and Pepsi Max. While I don't want to throw words around like "addicted", I drink more than is good for me and do get a form of "withdrawal" if I don't have any. This is not good. I understand there's some research that would indicate that diet sodas are nearly as bad as full calories and that artificial sweeteners are not good for the body. I'm unconvinced, and I think my experience has been that the kick of something sweet and caffinated helps satisfy cravings for high calorie food. But perhaps that's doing something bad to my metabolism, I don't know. What I do know is that it's not a cheap habit, and that if I let myself I'll drink it like it's water. For this goal, I'm going to have a 1 litre bottle of cold water in the fridge at home which I'm going to drink and finish each day before I have any soda at home. I'm going to succeed at this at least 5 days out of 7 each week. I'm allowing myself a bit of wiggle room because this will be difficult on days when I'm not in much. Success today will be 6 out of 7 for the week. Goal 3: The awesomeness of the middle distance runner These were the targets that I missed in my last challenge and the one before that. Injury permitting, these are my running goals: (a) entering a timed 5k run (+1 cha for entering one at all); and (b ) getting a time of under 30 mins (+3 sta). If I miss this, I get +0.5 sta if I complete without walking or stopping, and another +0.5 sta if I'm under 33 mins. As well as the injury, I also need to make up lost time/training/running. Hopefully I've not regressed too much, but I don't expect to be able to run 5k immediately - got to build back up. Still got a feeling of weakness that I can't quite shift. Not had a twinge in a while, but I'm really not sure whether it's time to start running again. On the one hand, I've waited for ages for it to recover completely, and I don't honestly think it has, but on the other I can't help wondering how much of it is in my head. Maybe I'll try a mile or so in a few days... Goal 4: Life goal - Roll your Charisma In my previous challenges I've set myself life goals related to getting to know people better, or opening up more, or turning acquantainces into friends. Last time I decided to broaden things out and give myself points for times when I've taken a risk and "rolled my charisma" - to use a D&D term. Actually my charisma score isn't bad, especially diplomacy, but I tend not to take risks and introversion is my default setting. So in this challenge I'm going to put myself out there and be more open and more talkative and more sociable. I did pretty well at this last time, and I'd like to continue it this time. Last time I think I levelled up at this, so I'm going to be a bit tougher on the grading this time round. Nothing I can really point to this week to justify the points.

Keeping your pet octopus warm in the winter?

Thanks for posting that - an interesting listen. In some ways it was hard for me to relate to, because no amount of weight loss will make me attractive, and those guys sounded like bodybuilders, which I'm not and will never be. A thin ugly duckling is better than a fat ugly duckling, but still isn't a swan. But it was useful to think in terms of preparing for and thinking about the consequences of success, and about what comes next, and about how good is good enough.

Worth saying that only the aristocracy had or have coats of arms in the UK. It's very unusual, and I don't recall meeting anyone that posh, ever. I can think of one or two who might have, but if they did they kept it quiet. What's sometimes marketed (to tourists) as being coats of arms are genuine coats of arms for a particular family with a particular name, but it absolutely doesn't follow that that's *your* family coat of arms. Even if it turns out that there is a line of descent, it again may not follow that there's any formal entitlement to use it - not that it really matters. Short version is that there's a whole industry out there to cater for people (mostly North Americans) who are interested in their cultural heritage and have money to spend and are interested in flattering stories. Because you'd like to think your ancestors lived in Downton Abbey, rather than being oppressed by their feudal overlords like the rest of us. See also Scottish family tartans - largely a Victorian invention (at worse) or exaggeration (at best). Of course, I wouldn't rule out the possibilty that families might be able to trace their origin back to some of great and not so good - after all, there's a family in Australia who apparently are arguably the rightful British royal family (if anyone can argue that there's such a right) because of the likely illegitimacy of one of the heirs a few centuries back.

I've got Skyrim via Steam, and Steam seems to support the installation and (presumably) de-installation of mods. I've never really played around with them myself... enough to do in the game as it was!

It's certainly a thought. At the moment I am able to jog on the spot on a mini-trampoline/rebounder thing in my front room. For some reason the injury isn't aggrevated by that, probably because it's a soft surface and there's no forward momentum. I think I'm probably not far off being able to run again, but I want to take it very carefully. I don't have a bike but I've been thinking aobut getting one for a while - it's spring soon, so perhaps something to think about. There is a swimming pool fairly close by (though a bit of a pain to get to), but its opening hours aren't ideal, and when I went previously they seemed to have more people wanting to swim lengths than there was space for - just two or three lanes, and the rest of the pool hired out for classes or competitive swimming or something like that.

Great goals - nice and simple, measurable, and targeted. Best of luck with the new challenge!

A lot of really good advice there. The one thing I'd add is that even at the relatively rapid weight loss you're achieving at the moment, you will have some time to adapt because you still won't become that "gorgeous skinny woman" overnight. Even at 3-4lbs per week, it'll take time, and I'd imagine that your weight loss will slow down a fair bit as you approach your goal weight. It's not as if you're going to go to bed overweight and wake up slim. But my experience has been the same as Athena's - it takes the mind a while to catch up. But it's not something that's impossible to deal with, and certainly not something to worry too much about in advance. If you're strong enough to lose the weight, you're strong enough to deal with the consequences.

I'd say learning to ride a bike counts as life goal... takes guts to want to learn as an adult..... I'm toying with the idea of going back to cycling.... though it's been about 20 years since I rode a bike.

Making your own work food makes sense from a financial point of view, and possibly from a calorie point of view too. As regards weight loss, have you tried calorie counting using my fitness pal or similar? I don't think calorie counting is for everyone, but it's worked really well for me.... even if just as an educational/audit tool it's perhaps worth a look if you've not already tried it....

All the best with the challenge, and with what will probably be a testing six weeks.... Must be difficult getting a sense of weight loss when you're putting on the muscle... are you feeling the difference in terms of clothes being looser etc?

I really like your third goal. It's specific and measurable but gives you a reasonable amount of flexibility to find your way as you go. Best of luck with this challenge!

Thanks all. I should probably elaborate a bit on the soda thing. I've got two litre bottles at home, and something I've learnt is that things like plate size etc influence portion control, so when I've got a big bottle what's actually quite a lot feels like less. When I'm at work or out and about, it'll be 330ml cans or 500ml bottles, which are easier to keep track of in terms of consumption. I'm not after giving up completely, but drinking it less often will be cheaper, probably better for me, and I'll likely enjoy it more too. On introversion, I think a key insight for me was that extoverts find company energising, introverts find it tiring. So when I'm in company I've got an energy bar that slowly depletes - if I'm with people I know and like, it depletes much more slowly than if I'm with people I know less well. I've now got a much better sense for when the bar is nearly empty, at which point it's usually time for me to say my goodbyes and go home. I've joined a new social club recently when means a fair few trips out for dinner/drinks/other kinds of activities. I've been really enjoying these so far, but better self-awareness means that I can leave while it's still fun and before my energy depletes.

This is my fifth challenge, and my second as a scout. My first, second, and third challenges were under the adventurer banner, and the fourth as a scout. Though that felt a little fraudulent, as it turned out that injury prevented me from doing very much running. My original goal was weight loss and fitness gain. I've lost 58lbs since I started counting properly back in May last year, of which over half has been since the start of my first challenge. I've probably got perhaps another half a stone to a stone to lose - I'm not entirely sure, but I'll know it when I get there or thereabouts. I've done this through calorie counting via my fitness pal, jogging on a rebounder indoors, bodweight workouts (first Steve's beginner workout, then my own modified version), and - in my second challenge - running outdoors. Frustratingly, in my second challenge I was one run away from completing couch to 5k when I got injured. One run. I've got flat feet and started getting foot pains on the top of my left foot. Long story short I rested it, it went away, I tried exercising again, it came back. I got some hugely expensive custom orthotics and waited for the pains to go away. They did, I carefully started running again, got up to two miles, overdid it, and injured myself again - similar, but related injury. This time I'm doing nothing until it feels 100%, and then working up slowly. Maybe. just maybe, I'll make my timed 5k by the end of this challenge. So, here are my goals. Goal 1: A shadow of my former self Lose 5lbs (average of just under 1lb per week) over the duration of the challenge. I'll do this by a combination of calorie counting and exercise and run a safe net deficit through, sustainable habits. This has been a constant goal for each challenge, but as I've less to lose (and it's harder to do) I've made it 5lbs rather than 6lbs this time. +0.5 con and +0.5 dex are available per 1lb of weight loss, for a total of +2.5 for each. My starting weight is 85.5kg, 188.5lbs, 13 stone 6.5lbs A sub-goal of this is Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is to work out on at least 11 days of 14. This has been a regular goal that I've almost always succeeded at in full, so perhaps it's not a challenge any more. However, I'd like to track it here to make sure. Goal 2: Drink water like water, and soda like soda One of the big changes I made when I first started out with weight loss was cutting out full calorie cokes/sodas. It wasn't easy, but I succeeded and now rarely have any liquid calories. However, I don't think I drank any less soda overall, but just shifted to Diet Coke and Pepsi Max. While I don't want to throw words around like "addicted", I drink more than is good for me and do get a form of "withdrawal" if I don't have any. This is not good. I understand there's some research that would indicate that diet sodas are nearly as bad as full calories and that artificial sweeteners are not good for the body. I'm unconvinced, and I think my experience has been that the kick of something sweet and caffinated helps satisfy cravings for high calorie food. But perhaps that's doing something bad to my metabolism, I don't know. What I do know is that it's not a cheap habit, and that if I let myself I'll drink it like it's water. For this goal, I'm going to have a 1 litre bottle of cold water in the fridge at home which I'm going to drink and finish each day before I have any soda at home. I'm going to succeed at this at least 5 days out of 7 each week. I'm allowing myself a bit of wiggle room because this will be difficult on days when I'm not in much. +0.5 wisdom for each week of success = +3 available overall. Goal 3: The awesomeness of the middle distance runner These were the targets that I missed in my last challenge and the one before that. Injury permitting, these are my running goals: (a) entering a timed 5k run (+1 cha for entering one at all); and (b ) getting a time of under 30 mins (+3 sta). If I miss this, I get +0.5 sta if I complete without walking or stopping, and another +0.5 sta if I'm under 33 mins. As well as the injury, I also need to make up lost time/training/running. Hopefully I've not regressed too much, but I don't expect to be able to run 5k immediately - got to build back up. Goal 4: Life goal - Roll your Charisma In my previous challenges I've set myself life goals related to getting to know people better, or opening up more, or turning acquantainces into friends. Last time I decided to broaden things out and give myself points for times when I've taken a risk and "rolled my charisma" - to use a D&D term. Actually my charisma score isn't bad, especially diplomacy, but I tend not to take risks and introversion is my default setting. So in this challenge I'm going to put myself out there and be more open and more talkative and more sociable. I did pretty well at this last time, and I'd like to continue it this time. Last time I think I levelled up at this, so I'm going to be a bit tougher on the grading this time round. +0.5 points per week where I can say that I've managed to do this. Total +3 available, which I'll split evenly between wisdom and charisma.

Goal 1: A shadow of my former self Lose 6lbs (average 1lb per week) over the duration of the challenge. I'll do this by a combination of calorie counting and exercise and run a safe net deficit through, sustainable habits. My starting weight is 88.7kg, 196lbs, 14st 0lbs. +0.5 con and +0.5 dex are available per 1lb of weight loss after the first, for a total of +2.5 for each Finishing weight: 87kg, 192 lbs, 13st 10 lbs. 4lbs lost in six weeks, so 3 x 0.5 con and dex, for a total of +1.5 con and +1.5 dex. And slightly frustratingly for challenge purposes (but awesomelly for others), today's weigh in has me 3lb lighter than that! B- Goal 2: Citius, Altius, Fortius I will work out on at least 11 days out of 14. +0.5 Strength and +0.5 Stamina per successful 14 days, total of +1.5 str and +1.5 sta available. (+3 overall) Managed my first pull-up, and I can now do 2. For some reason, I can now pull higher than before, but can't do more yet. Something to build on. Achieved in all three fortnights. Total +1.5str and +1.5 stam A Goal 3: The awesomeness of the middle distance runner Injury permitting, these are my running goals: (a.) entering a timed 5k run (+1 cha for entering one at all); and (b.) getting a time of under 30 mins (+3 sta). If I miss this, I get +0.5 sta if I complete without walking or stopping, and another +0.5 sta if I'm under 33 mins. F - Failed completley due to injury. I managed to get up to 2 miles before injuring myself again. I'll probably roll this one forwards. Again. Goal 4: Life goal - Roll your Charisma In my previous challenges I've set myself life goals related to getting to know people better, or opening up more, or turning acquantainces into friends. This time I'm going to broaden things out and give myself points for times when I've taken a risk and "rolled my charisma" - to use a D&D term. +0.5 points per week where I can say that I've managed to do this. Total +3 available, which I'll split evenly between wisdom and charisma. Did well here - and succeeded in 5 weeks out of 6. So, +2.5 total, +1.25 wisdom and +1.25 charisma A- In summary.... a massively eventful six weeks involving a major life change, and not one for the better. But I've managed to - if not put it behind me - at least plot a path towards moving on.

Clearly paleo works brilliantly for some, and good luck to them. But it's not for everyone, and it does sometimes worry me when new people join the community, post asking for help about getting healthier, and are immediately told "go paleo", sometimes as if (a) that's the only thing that will work; ( it's simple and straightforward, and © that it'll work for everyone. Generally others will chime in with other suggestions and comments, but sometimes I worry that the message given is insufficiently nuanced. Especially as another bit of received wisdom round here is that changing things all at once is a bad idea. I don't want to make the mistake of generalising from my own experience too much, but when I first stated counting calories I knew I had some choices to make about the kind of life I wanted to live. I wanted to explore exercising more (which was not something I struggled with) and eating less/better. But I like eating and at least some elements of idleness. I wanted to see what sacrifices I had to make to get what kind of return, and then decide. It was possible that I'd decide that I liked food X too much to give it up, and as a result I'd accept being overweight as the price of the life I'd chosen. But any gain would be good. If confronted by paleo at that stage, I'd have been scared off. Completely scared off. I'd have given up. As it is, being able to give up/cut down on a few things created momentum, especially when successes became apparent. Calorie counting has worked for me, and worked brilliantly. But I recognise it's not for everyone. I think the main thing I've learned from participating in these forums is that people are different, and the best path is probably personality/temperament dependent in ways that can't be predicted. That success often lies along the path of least resistance, the path that requires the least fight against instincts and inclinations. For some, that's paleo and (mainly) weights. For me, it's calorie counting and (mainly) cardio. That's not to induldge in sloppy post-modern thinking whereby everything is equal - it isn't - but it's more of a recognition that what works for some really won't work for others. Who was it who said that the best diet/fitness plan was the one that you can stick to?

It's a very difficult one. If you genuinely believe that you have special access to fundamental truths about the universe/meaning of life that ought to be shared with others, in the interests of these others, then it's hard not to conclude that you have a positive duty to share it. By way of analogy, if I think that the building is on fire I may not be convinced by the argument that what I ought to do is to let everyone form their own conclusions about the relative engulfment of their surroundings, rather than push my personal view onto them and hassle them with my door knocking, shouting, and general attention-seeking behaviour. I try to remember this when I do come across missionary-types. However..... I think some of these missionary types don't really care about me at all. They're not trying to convert or persuade, but instead to score points with their God for themselves. They've tried (however half-heartedly, however dismally, however rudely) and so they get their bonus points, regardless of my reaction or response. I can only conclude this from some of the tactics that are used which are counter-productive to the point of being laughable. Sometimes they're even confrontational, presumably because they like to feel that they're being persecuted. But...... As others have already said, these people are very much in the minority. If I were allowed one rule in debates and discussions about religion, it would be this: "Thou shalt not slander nor distort the views of those with who thou disagree-eth. Neither shalt thou misrepresent or stereotype others, or deployeth arguments aimed at a target of straw." So, for example.... in the UK (at least, and likely elsewhere too), it's only tiny minority of Christians that (a) have any problem with accepting evolution and ( think it's okay to knock on your door at 9am on a Saturday morning. I think it's dangerous to generalise from the worst instances, and pass either of these things off as a general truth about Christians. The "no morality without God" line is similarly slanderous, because it's so obviously false.

Good stuff, congratulations on completion! And be gentle with yourself during these stressful times, you hear me?

Congratulations on completion, and as Doug said, on the self-knowledge. Proper experience points = proper old school levelling up. Something I'd recommend for exercise with a hectic schedule is a mini-trampoline/rebounder for home use. Put on the TV, turn up the volume, bounce or jog for half an hour or so. I've found it works really well while watching sport on the TV. My current habit is watching soccer games and jogging throughout the game - two halves of 45 minutes - and resting for the half time break. No commuting, no going out in the rain, multitask-tastic, and its a trampoline and therefore awesome.