Many months since a blog post, making me wonder who still actually reads this blog and is it worth still investing the expense to keep it running (along with all my other websites). While I can continue to have a relative limit web presence for free by using Twitter and Facebook. (Although Facebook I tend to use less to publish and more to discover what is happening in my circle of friends and ex work colleagues.)

Time is flying and we are almost at the mid point of 2014. A World Cup Year. Perhaps for the first time for many years, I have little care for the fortunates (or lack thereof) of the England team. I have been tasked to set up the World Cup Sweep Stakes in our office and had the bad luck to pick Belgium. I need to spend some time this weekend, collating all the prize money and putting together a wall chart to display on the wall behind my desk.

On Friday 15th March, I made the decision to change my gym days and start to attend a weekly spin class at 5:45pm each Friday evening after work. My last spin class had been in September 2009. I returned as I wanted to have a single hour session to focus on cardio and spend my other two gym sessions on weight training / toning. While having to spend time at the office later than expected on a Friday, I felt the class was a good way of earning my weekend and potentially also come into the gym on a Sunday morning. The class is taken by Amber and there are usually a group of six guys whom regularly attend. I have to admit it was a struggle to start with, making sure the bike was set-up correctly. Three weeks were probably my bed in period but considering a few weeks when I have not been able to make the class, due to work commitments or having to be somewhere outside of work at a certain time. I do try and get to the class early and position my bike as close as possible to the single fan which is the only form of air conditioning in the studio. I finish the class with tired legs, a sore backside and dripping with sweat but perhaps not as much sweat as my colleagues. I know I need to push myself a little more and that came apparently on my most recent class last night. A late arrival meant the instructor came off her bike and walked around the room, increasing the resistance on my bike several times during the class, as I was making it look far too easy. The benefits are there for all to see, I have lost several pounds since starting the class in mid March. I am now close to 12 stone, and would like to get to 11.5 stone as my ideal weight. Remember at the start of the year I weighed in closer to 13 stone. I still need to invest in a fitness tracker but have yet to decide on what product to buy, with the FitBit Force still not available in the UK (having been withdrawn from sale from other markets). I am still using My Fitness Pal to track my calorie intake and Daily Burn to record my fitness progress each week.