Completely confused

I know that eating good food and small portions will help to lose weight, but I don't understand why I gain weight when I do those things. &;15 Swiss muesli with a bit of sugar and some milk. 8:15 cup of black decaf. 12:00 noon chili con carne with rice and a pot noodle. 2pm cup of black decaf with sugar. I have not had massive protions of anything, so see what happens today.

Lasagne

started at 7:15 with a bowl of Swiss muesli. I had a small amount of sugar with it as there was hardly any fruit in it. I had a couple of mouthfuls of white coffee with sugar before going to work. 8:15 cup of white coffee. 12:00 noon I had mackerel with a green salad and tomatoes. 5:30 Lasagna with 6 chips and some cherry tomatoes. The weigh in revealed I had gained one pound and Mary had lost one pound. We decide to aim for Monday to start the Marines diet again. This is how we made some big weight loss before.

Connifer day

Today started with a Poached egg on toast and 3 thin slices of Bavarian smoked ham at about 9am, mmm. About 1 pm we had 2 finger rolls with a mixture of tuna, mayo, tomato and spring onion. Dinner was Bangers and mash with fried onions. The sausages were 100% beef, mmm. We had been topping a large connifer today. My friend came round and we took the tree down from about 50 feet to about 25 feet. This was getting out of control and was taking the fence apart. Disposing of all the branches helped me to burn off a load of fat. Mary felt she had put on weight for too many cups of tea and felt like  had lost weight. The weigh revealed that Mary had gained one pound and I had lost 2 pounds. I had some baked beans to celebrate my weight loss, but now I need to burn that off too. I got some Swiss style meusli to have for breakfast, so that is what  am looking forward to tomorrow. I have updated the 'simple fry up' page to show the non-fried version (poached egg, dry toast and ham).

Football diet is bad

Today we were taking our daughter to a football competition. The prize was to carry the flag on the pitch for the start of the champions league final at wembley. This was at the Dagenham & Redbridge stadium. The team drew one match, won the next, and lost the last. They were close to qualifying for the semis, but missed it by one goal by another team just as the whistle blew. Maybe next time....

We started at about 8:00 with poached egg on dry toast with a few thin slices of smoked ham and a cup of white tea with sugar. When we got to the stadium we had to wait to go in, so we had a cup of tea while we were waiting. During the day we had sausage rolls, salad with roast chicken, chopped bacon and pasta, some chicken rolls (brown bread) and crisps. Dinner was roast chicken with a cheese and pasta salad.

The weigh in revealed we had both gained 2 pounds. Next time we go to sit for half a day in a football stadium, we will take less food and no pasta.

Salads....

As I lost 3 pounds yesterday I though I would have a simple fry up. I had poached egg on dry toast with a single rasher of bacon, mmm. I would have had a slice of ham instead of bacon, but I got it at work and they do not serve sliced ham in the morning. This was at about 8:00 as I was travelling alone I skipped breakfast at home and went straight to work. I had a cup of white coffee with sugar with breakfast. 9:30 I had a cup of black decaf with sugar. We went to the pub for a lunchtime drink and I had a pint of bitter shandy and that was all. Then as it was a Friday I had an early finish and when i got home about 2:30 (that was late for me) I had mackerel with salad. At 5:30 I had ham salad and the weigh in revealed no change and Mary had gained a pound. She blames her pound on a milk craving. I get those too. I reckon when you do get a milk craving, go with it as your body is feeling delinquent of calcium generally and this should be addressed. So I am off now for a glass of milk then some TV before going to bed.

Losing weight again yippee

Yesterday the weigh showed that we had both lost a pound. This demonstrates that we are back on track after the long weekend we had. Also we were a bit de-motivated after gaining so much weight. Today started as yesterday with 2 weetabix with sugar and a cup of white coffee with sugar to kick start my metabolism. 8:15 cup of black decaf with sugar. For lunch I had a rice and salad dish at about 12:00 noon. 5:30 I had cod in butter sauce with green salad and tomatoes. I didn't like the fish though. The weigh in revealed I had lost an amazing 3 pounds and Mary had lost one pound.

Sir Mackerel the 2nd

I started the day at 7:15 with 2 weetabix, milk and sugar, and a cup of coffee with a dash of milk and sugar. 8:15 I had a cup of black decaf with sugar. 10 am cup of black coffee with sugar. 11:30 lunch was smoked mackerel with green salad and tomatoes. This is the second time I have had this since I started losing weight. This is the first time I had this when not on the Marines diet, so there is a meal that I have inherited into my usual daily life. I have have had smoked mackerel for lunch before, but when I go to the restaurant at work I would normally get a salad with pasta and cheese and lots of other bits that I avoided today. The green salad had lettuce (several types), cucumber, cress and some shredded carrot as well as a few cherry tomatoes. I really enjoyed it and I am not bloated. Talk about being extra good, I walked past chili con carne with rice and a full curry menu. I didn't even look to see what region the curry was this time. I had a cup of black decaf with sugar with my lunch. I hope I lose some weight today as the last weigh in was a big gain after the long weekend. No surprises though. We had lamb chops with salad and tomatoes for dinner and then the weigh in revealed we had both lost one pound, cool.

Back to work

We had some stew left over from yesterday, so I boxed up 2 portions and put them in the freezer and put some in a bottle to have as soup and then the meat that left after the pour I put in a ramekin with some of the stock and I had this for breakfast today at 7:15 with a cup of tea with milk and sugar. 8:15 cup of black decaf. 11:30 meat stew soup. 2pm cup of black decaf. 5:30 dinner was minced beef with spaghetti sauce and fried mediteranean vegetables. I had a weigh and over the weekend I have gained 7 pounds, ouch. I need to be focussed on what am eating now to lose that again now to pick up the trail.

Still no weigh in

To be honest I am worried about gaining all the weight I lost recently over this long weekend as my normal "being sensible" and eating less does not lose weight at the same rate as the Marines diet. This long weekend my eating has not really been sensible, but I have consciously eaten less than in the past. Today started with a plate of last nights' garlic chicken supreme that I split with Mary half each. This will be my lunch too as I didn't get up till 10:30. Tonight we have meat stew with golden vegetable rice. That has been slow cooking yesterday and we shall warm it up again for dinner time today. The meat goes so tender when cooked that way. Notice we are having rice instead of potatoes or dumplings. This is lower in carbs, easier to digest and easier to burn off again. Also it is cheap. I buy a kilogram of normal value long grain rice for about 50p. This will do us for about 5 meals for the whole family. A proper cup measure (tea "cup and saucer" size cup) of rice serves 3. I shall post a recipe for this on the side bar. Again it is a simple dish. I only do simple dishes, but it tastes delicious. The only special ingredient is turmeric. This is what makes the rice golden and gives it a distinctive taste. I shall have a weigh in tomorrow night. Fingers and toes crossed.

ACB day (after curry and barbecue)

Now the barbecue is done and we have a load of meat left over. My friend suggested we stick it in the slow cooker with some gravy and veg and let it bubble away for ages. So we chopped it up a bit more and it is now cooking. I just grabbed a sausage roll before taking my daughter to her football training. When I came back Mary and I shared a can of chicken soup. She has some ryveta with it, I had a handful of pringles. I have our special meal planned for today, beef and tomato soup with poached egg and grated cheese, garlic chicken supreme with golden vegetable rice and coconut ice cream. I need to do some post processing on the coconut ice cream as I tried some the other day and it was not sweet enough, so I shall mix it up again with some milk and icing sugar in the blender, so it is just a nice sweet smooth coconut desert. I am not sure if it will be like I intended, but it will be cold, sweet and taste of coconut. Well the starter was a hit with Mary. The main course I knew would be a hit, but the ice cream was a bit of a flop. Mary didn't like the coconut. My daughter didn't like it, but 2 of her friends had a bowl each and said it was nice. I thought it was delicious. I had a bit more soup later for supper and a cheese and pickle sandwich. Throughout the day I had about 3 glasses of lemon cordial and the same amount of tea with milk and sugar. I am only having the smallest dash of milk now as after not having any, it tasted really creamy with a normal measure, so I now prefer less milk, so that is a good thing long term.

Curry ooops

Curry seemed like a good idea for the last two weeks until I got to last nights weigh in where I had put on 2 pounds. Started today with some left over curry, mmm. We are having a barbecue later and I hope not to gain too much weight this time. As well as losing weight, this blog highlights when I am gaining weight and what has gone wrong. This is a departure from the strict diet I have followed for the last 2 weeks. I make no excuses, I have eaten too much yesterday and I know it. I shall probably put on a bit more weight today with the barbecue and the curry that I have already had. Monday I'll be back to being sensible. Had barbecue and we had a big tray of meat pieces and a bunch of wooden skewers, so we made a load of meat kebabs. It was lovely, we also had some ribs, burgers and sausages, potato salad, cabbage coleslaw and green salad, some cherry tomatoes and baked potatoes and chips. I had a bit of everything except potato. I went off to the cinema to see fast and furious, it was completely stupid, but highly entertaining grunt film. Loads of punch ups and car chases, great stunts. Isaac Newton would be turning in his grave at the physical inaccuracies, so much so that it was funny. I had a luxury ticket, so I had the complementary giants bucket of popcorn and a huge Pepsi, it would have been rude not to. Next time I shan't. No weigh in today as I know I shall have gained and don't want to look at the moment.

Curry day

Its here, the wedding of William and Kate, the end of the Marines diet and a full on curry tonight. We started the day with my new fry up alternative and Mary said she prefered this. We did not have any bacon or beans, so instead we just had a poached egg on toast with a slice of ham and it was really nice. As well as tasting good, it was satisfying and healthy. Nothing excessive about this. Washed it down a cup of tea and sugar, and milk. It tasted so creamy. This was my first cup of tea for 2 weeks. I shall have less milk next time. Lunch at 12:30 was chicken soup with a slice of toast cut into soldiers for dipping. mmm. We shared a can of soup where before we would have had a can each.

Curry tomorrow

Started out as usual on the last day of the Marines diet 7:15 poached egg with a cup of black coffee with sugar. 8:15 cup of black decaf with sugar.12:30 lunch was fruit salad with a cup of black decaf with sugar. 6:30 dinner was lamb chops with salad and tomatoes. Had the weigh in about 10pm after a trip to the shop to buy and electric chopper. I had lost 1 pound and Mary had also lost 1 pound. Over the last 2 weeks of this diet, I have lost 19 pounds and Mary has lost 17 pounds. I consider this to be a significant success. I celebrated with a pot noodle Bombay bad boy, crisp bread and a thin slice of cheese, washed down with a glass of milk. Wow I missed those things. Got to keep a lid on it though or I will just put loads back on again.

Curry countdown, 2 days to go

My mouth is soooo watering for my curry now. I want to savour it though and not just woof it down, so I digest it properly and stop when I am nicely full. 7:15 poached egg with a cup of black coffee and sugar. 8:15 cup of black decaf with sugar. 11:30 3 poached eggs on a piece of dry toast with a cup of black decaf with sugar. 5:30pm Dinner was steak with celery, tomatoes and cottage cheese, mmm. 7:00pm cup of black coffee with sugar. Wii weigh in revealed that I have lost 1 pound and Mary stayed the same. Her graph did show she has lost some weight though. She has lost weight consistently and not gained on a single day so far.

Curry countdown, 3 days to go

I have two more days of the Marines diet, then I am having a chicken vindaloo. 7:15 poached egg with a black coffee and sugar. 8:15 cup of black decaf with sugar. 11:30 tuna salad with tomatoes, cup of black decaf with sugar. 1pm cup of black decaf with sugar. 5:30 Lean ham salad with tomatoes and a cup of black coffee with sugar. We took a walk down to the shop to look at an electric chopper that was going cheap and to stock up on eggs and salad for he next 2 days plus some steak for tomorrow's dinner. Wii weigh in, we had both lost one pound, get in.

The wrong trousers

Had another lay in today. 10:30 poached egg and a black coffee with sugar. 2:30pm lunch was tomatoes and salad. Dinner at 7:00 was 3 poached eggs on a piece of dry toast. The Wii weigh in showed that I had not lost any weight and Mary had lost one pound. I threw away a good pair of trousers today because the waist size was 44. I am comfortably fitting into size 40 now. I want to get back to 36 inch waist. We have been dog sitting for Easter for Mary's Mum and Dad and they come to pick up the dog and said that we both looked slimmer. Not a bad result as I thought I would have gained some today, but I actually did gain less than a pound, so that was good.

Mackerel

Had a nice long lay in today. Got up about 10:30 when the dogs were going mad at the door as my friend Rob had popped round. Mary was already up. 11:00am poached egg with a black coffee with sugar. About 2pm we had lunch and this was fish with salad and tomatoes. I had the proper Marines diet sent to me and it says that you can have vinegar on you meals, so I thought that would be nice on the salad. The Sarsons vinegar bottles always had a stopper on the inside so you could shake the vinegar over your food. In my haste and keenness I didn't notice that they had moved in into the lid that I had unscrewed and put to one side. I went on to drown my dinner in vinegar. Thankfully I could hold my food and pour it off. We had mackerel for the fish instead of tuna and this was really nice. I prefer tuna mixed with mayonnaise, but mackerel is fine straight out of the tin. Dinner at 8pm was lamb chops with spinach salad and tomatoes. I had some lemon cordial with this. I had a couple of small glasses of lemon cordial through the day as it was hot today and I needed a drink. After gaining a pound yesterday I didn't want to have too much to drink today. Every time I have gained weight I knew exactly why. I think the knack is to stop yourself before you do it. We had a fight on the Wii sports boxing, then our weigh in. I was well pleased today as I had lost 3 pounds and Mary had lost two too. This was a great result as this is the day with the most food and was feeling a bit down after gaining a pound yesterday. Well chuffed today. I obviously need to watch how much I drink.

Easter despair

We got up and had poached egg at about 9:30, lunch was fruit salad at 1pm, then dinner was steak with celery, tomatoes and cottage cheese at about 7pm. We did our Wii weigh in and I had gained one pound. Mary had lost another pound, so she was happy. I had a rather large blob of cottage cheese, and have been having a lot of drinks during the day. I despair, I need to chalk this up to experience define a new level of full-upness and continue till the end of this week. Overall I have lost 21 pounds since the end of March, so this is definitely good progress in general. I expect I will be a lot more sensible with my eating in future. I think I may have over compensated for reaching my goal for the month on the Wii. I believe I am going to struggle to get the same level of results in the next month, but I can try. Mary has lost a whole stone since starting the Marines diet and she is well chuffed with that.

Easter egg day

Well it is egg day again and it is good Friday, so that makes it Easter, therefore it is Easter egg day. Don't worry I am not having a chocolate one. Had a lay in and at 10:30, 1:30 and 6:30 we Had our 3 eggs (9 in total). We loaded some rubbish in the car and took it to the tip, then went and did some shopping for the rest of the food we need for the week ahead. Had a walk down to the shops again later to get some bin bags. The Wii weigh in showed that Mary had lost less than a pound (showed zero, but the graph went down) and had a reduction in BMI. I lost another two pounds , but hardly any loss of BMI??? I don't get the BMI and when I went along to a presentation about risk of getting type 2 diabetes, the medical professionals there said that the BMI is not used now for determining if people are obese or about right for their weight height etc. and they were now using a ratio of your waist to hips measurements.

First week done

It all starts again tomorrow. However, we are on holiday now for the next 4 days. Curry countdown is 7 days to go, really looking forward to next weekend. 7:15 just a cup of black coffee as we were out of eggs at home. 8:15 went to the canteen and got a poached egg and a cup of black coffee. Lunch time was fruit salad, and 5:30 pm lamb chops with salad and tomatoes. I have tried to cut down on the size of my drinks a bit. I am just using a much smaller glass now. I think I have had just 3 small glasses of lemon cordial during the evening. The Wii weigh in had Mary lose one pound and I had lost two. That is good news for both of us after a couple of days of no change.

Curry countdown, 9 days to go.

Yesterday neither of us lost any weight, but the good news is that neither of us gained any weight either. 9 days left on this Marines diet, it seems to be working so far and the diet is not too bad. I found it hard at first, but I have learnt a lot about how to appreciate smaller quantities of food that is full of flavour and also about food that has no flavour or tastes rank. I know there are some things I will definitely not be carrying on eating after this diet and celery is one of them. Normal Marine diet start to the day with one poached egg and a black coffee with sugar at 7:15. 8:15 I went to the canteen to get my poached eggs and dry toast for lunch time and they had no eggs ready, so I had to wait, in front of all the bacon eggs, black pudding, hash browns, fried bread, chopped tomatoes, beans, scrambled egg, teacakes, fried mushrooms etc. while the other people filtered past me taking their selections. That was torture. I had the money in my hand and could have quite easily ordered in some bacon with all the trimmings, but I resisted. This was a true test of my commitment I believe. I also had a black coffee with sugar. I have already planned our first 3 days of food for when we have finished the Marine diet and it is not based on big portions of anything. I am going to call this the curry countdown. I love curry and basically any food from our local Indian (there are actually about 3 Indian restaurants nearby). So I shall have this on the Friday 29th. I expect there will be some left-overs for Saturday lunch. Mary will probably opt for KFC. Saturday night will be a ramekin of beef and tomato soup, poached egg and cheese with a little blob of mayo for starters followed by my own recipe chicken supreme (cream and garlic mainly) with boiled golden vegetable rice, again my own recipe. To finish a small portion of coconut ice cream. I haven't tracked this down yet. Sunday will feature a meat buffet barbecue. This is basically a tray of raw meat that has been chopped into kebab size pieces. You take a skewer and load it with meat and then cook it on the barbecue, straight onto the plate and eat. This reminds me of the "hot-stone" meals I used to enjoy in Germany. Basically you get a square stone on the table that is blistering hot in front of you and pick raw meat onto it, when cooked, you eat it straight off the stone. With a nice salad selection, it was gorgeous. 11:30 lunch was 3 poached eggs and dry toast that I had got in the morning with a cup of black decaf. Dinner at 5:30, steak with tomatoes and cottage cheese, not forgetting the celery. I ate this first to get it out of the way so I could enjoy the rest of my dinner. Took the dog for a walk then had our weigh in. I had stayed the same again and Mary had lost 2 pounds, so she has caught me up now. Since starting this Marines diet we have both now lost 12 pounds.

Fantastic, still losing weight

We both lost another two pounds yesterday, and this is just fantastic for our 4th day on the Marines diet. I tried to take sweeteners, but couldn't do it. 7:15 poached egg with a cup of black coffe with sugar. 8:15 cup of black decaf with sugar. 11:30 tuna, salad and tomatoes with a cup of black decaf with sugar. 5:00 dinner was lean ham with salad and tomatoes. Thw Wii weigh in today revealed that we had both stayed the same. I guess it was too much to expect another day of weight loss like we have had so far, but hopefully we will keep losing or at least staying the same for the rest of the diet. We have 9 days left now.

Back to work - still on Marines diet

This is becoming a typical start to the day now, 7:15 poached egg, mashed up and a cup of black coffee with sugar. 8:15 cup of black decaf with sugar. Our friend who introduced us to this diet has said that we shouldn't be having sugar, and only eat at meal times, but this for me is a step too far. I cannot drink coffee without sugar, that is disgusting. Also that the lemon cordial is not a good idea, but I cannot stand just plain water. No sauces etc., well so far that is o.k., but not ideal. This is my first full day at work on this diet and I am counting the minutes till lunch time. 11:30am just enjoyed my tomato salad, mmm. Now having a cup of black decaf with sugar. 3pm had another cup of black decaf with sugar. 5:30pm home again and dinner is 3 poached eggs on some dry toast. 8pm cup of black coffee with sweetener. I decided to give in and put up with the after-taste of sweetener and not have sugar. I will see how this goes. Well I tried it and gagged, so it's back to the sugar I'm afraid. Mary and I went for a walk to get some more salad etc. from the shops and then had the Wii weigh in. We had both lost two pounds, incredible.... Really pleased again.

3rd day of Marines diet

Yesterday we both lost weight again, I lost 4 pounds and Mary lost 3. Yesterday we had fruit salad for lunch, today we have fish, tomatoes, spinach and salad. That's a bit more like normal food. Not my choice, but all edible. 10:15 am we both started with a poached egg and a black coffee with sugar. 12:15 we had out tuna fish with salad, cooked spinach and tomatoes and it was quite nice. Went to last league match of the season for my daughters team and took a big bottle of lemon cordial. Had a couple of coffees in the afternoon while finishing of laying the laminate floor in Syd's room, then dinner was lamb chops with salad and tomatoes, mmm. Finished putting Syd's wardrobes back together, then did the Wii weigh in. I had lost 2 pounds and Mary had lost 1. It is starting to level off a bit now, but still both losing weight. Well pleased, I have lost over a stone now since I started at the end of March. I have lost an amazing 10 pounds so far on this Marines diet, wow, and Mary has now lost 8 pounds too.

Marine diet, chuffed so far

We are both chuffed after both losing four pounds yesterday on the Marines diet. Egg day will be repeated next week when the cycle repeats for second and last time. Started today with one poached egg, Mary opted for half a grapefruit. I cannot stand grapefruit so egg it was. Now I am on day 2 I can snack on cherry tomatoes as they are mostly water and are the list of things for today. You won't believe what a difference that makes. My dodgy chicken episode seems to have have cleared and I no longer have heartburn, cool. Had a lay-in so breakfast was at 11am with a cup of black coffee with sugar. 2:30pm had lunch of a bowl of fruit salad. 7pm Dinner was steak with celery, tomatoes and cottage cheese, mmm. I quickly downed the celery first (yuk), then enjoyed my dinner, mmm. I never though I would enjoy a meal so much. Had a couple more cups of black coffee while we were continuing with re-arranging Sydney-Ann's bedroom to lay some more laminate flooring. Mary went to pick Syd up and when she come back we debated about how to get a lemon juice drink as I tried some jif in a glass of water and it was rank. I suggested that I could justify that lemon cordial contained lemon juice and sugar and as I was already having sugar and water and lemon juice is allowed then lemon cordial should be allowed. By then it was gone 10:30pm, so we went round to the few corners shops to try to find some lemon cordial and they didn't have any. The 24 hr Tesco that we have nearby shuts at 10pm on a Saturday only, any other weekday it would have been open. So we went home and I had some orange cordial. I had reached the point where I had to have something other than water or black coffee. Tomorrow we shall get some lemon cordial. The Wii weigh in was another surprise, I had lost another 4 pounds and Mary had lost another 3, fantastic. This is hard work, but it is paying off. We are trying so hard to not cheat, and we have very slightly, but we don't believe it really makes a difference, it is not like having a big glass of milk or something. Well chuffed again.

Crash diet begins - egg day

So after a few weeks of just trying to be a bit more careful with what we eat, my weight has gone down overall by about half a stone, but seems to have stopped. This is partly due to taking breaks from dieting and having some fried food and big meals etc. Now comes the next phase and that is to follow a planned diet that is supposed to help loose a lot of weight quickly. Mary has pretty much stayed the same throughout, so hopefully she can get some real benefit from this diet. Not a typical start to the day. 7:30 3 fried eggs mashed up like a sandwich filling, just eggs. Tasty, yes, but I was going to make poached eggs. Mary had already done them when I eventually came down. I was having a bad experience after eating some left over chicken last night. I had a cup of black coffee with sugar with the eggs. Mary was having 3 sliced boiled eggs. As I have a half day today, I shall have lunch (another 3 eggs) when I get home. I shall call this 'egg day'. 8:15 cup of black decaf with sugar. 10:15 cup of black decaf with sugar. 2pm my 3 eggs (poached) for lunch, and again I mashed them up like a sandwich filling. 7:30pm another 3 eggs same as before. During the afternoon and evening I had a few more cups of black coffee with sugar, but the main event was the Wii weigh in. I have suffered from eating a bit of dodgy chicken and had heartburn to start the day. With all these eggs, this has only got worse today. I have never had so much wind and spent so much time on the toilet. It has been worth it though as we have both lost 4 pounds today. At last Mary has something positive to enjoy. Tomorrow is not much food, but a bit more variety. I found out this is called the 'Marines' diet and should be limited to 4 times in 12 months maximum as it puts quite a strain on the body.

I despair

Yesterday we had a day off from our diets and just ate whatever. Mary lost 2 pounds and I gained 2, I despair. Today having another day off, and starting crash diet tomorrow. 7:15 2 weetabix with milk and sugar. 8:15 large coffee with milk and sugar. 12:00 noon mulligatawny soup and a curry and rice with a pint of milk. 3pm Large coffee with milk and sugar. 5pm cup of tea with milk and sugar and a piece of left over chicken from last night. Took my daughter to football training then had dinner 8:30pm sausage caserole with lattice potatoes. Wii weigh in I had gained one pound and Mary had gained two. Starting crash diet tomorrow.

Not dieting today

Decided to have a break before the full on assault of a crash diet tomorrow. 7:15 cup of coffee with milk and sugar. 8:15 bacon roll with black pudding and a hash brown, with a large coffee with milk and sugar. 12:00 noon 12"pizza with pepperoni, pineapple, mushroom, jalapeno and sweetcorn with a pint of milk and a beef and tomato soup. If I don't gain weight today I'll despair and go off and have a scream somewhere. 3pm cup of black decaf with sugar. To round the day off we had kfc at 7:15, mmm. Decided to start diet on Friday as it is easier because I have a half day at work and I can come home for my lunch. The wii revealed I had gained two pounds and Mary had lost two. I despair.

Going out today

Yesterday I had gained one pound and Mary had stayed the same. Today I have a day off work and I am going out for dinner with a group of friends. Had a lay in and at about 10:00 had a toasted bacon sandwich with a cup of tea with sugar. 1pm cup of tea with chocolate digestive biscuits. 3:30pm cup of tea with milk and sugar. 4:15pm a Bloody Mary. 5:30 cup of tea with milk and sugar and some biscuits. 7:00pm minestrone soup with Parmesan cheese starter, chicken pie with mashed potato, green beans, carrots and gravy main, chocolate covered ice cream and a cheese board for desert. This was followed by coffee with cream. 10pm cup of tea with milk and sugar. 11:30pm cup of tea with milk and sugar. Not surprisingly I had gained one pound today and so had Mary. We are now starting our crash diet on Thursday.

Start of the 3rd week

Monday starts 7:15 cup of coffee with milk and sugar. 8:15 full cup of soup. 10:30 another full cup of soup. 12:00 noon, Tuesday's left over spaghetti bolognaise, thawed during the morning and nuked for 3 minutes, mmm. 3pm cup of black decaf with sugar. 5:30pm pack of Doritos. 6:30 Steak and Kidney pie and chips with sweetcorn. Wii had me add 1 pound and Mary stayed the same.

Garage clearance

Today we were clearing the garage of rubbish. I had to watch the grand prix first, Lewis Hamilton was robbed by Alonso and Button came second, well done. 9:30am weetabix with milk and sugar, Mary had shredded wheat with milk and sugar. I also had a ramekin of soup and a cup of coffee. Mary is trying green tea to boost her metabolism a bit and hopefully increase her weight loss. 1:15 ham and tomato sandwich and a cup of tea with milk and sugar. I had a ramekin of soup too. All these soups, they are only tiny portions of about 5 or 6 spoons. I believe in one day they amount to a mug of soup, but it just keeps me from getting hungry and tastes great. 4pm cup of tea with milk and sugar, then we had to run down to the tip and offload in time for them to shut. We got quite a lot of rubbish cleared, but there is still more to come out. After doing the garden yesterday, my back was hurting and my knees too and I just had to stop. 7pm Roast chicken with stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and peas and carrots with gravy, mmm. Our weigh in revealed that I had stayed the same and Mary had gained another pound. She was most upset. Wednesday we shall be starting a specific weight loss diet and hopefully this will work for us both. I seem to be having a steady success and Mary is staying about the same. My weight loss may be due to the lack of snacking and a small increase in exercise. Mary was already quite active and not snacking much, so it is much harder for her to lose weight. I really hope this diet works on Wednesday as she is very upset now. The reason for starting on Wednesday is because I am going out for a meal on Tuesday and the diet is very strict that you do not deviate from the food or change anything.

Garden clearance

Today started at 8:00am as my friend Luke was coming round to help us get the garden cleared. Originally we were going to do the garage, but then Mary asked for the garden to be done first. 8:15 a ramekin of soup with some toast. Luke arrived just after 9am and we got stuck in. 10am cup of tea with milk and sugar. 11:00 glass of orange barley water. For lunch we had a toast ham sandwich with a ramekin of soup and a pack of crisps. had another cup of tea with milk and sugar in the after noon and another glass of orange barley water. 5pm went with Luke to his grandad's workshop and wired up the horn button, had a portion of chips on the way. Came back about 8pm then started on dinner. We had Chinese chicken portions with golden vegetable rice (my own recipe). I had a mars milkshake after dinner then we went for a trip to the shop to get some milk and goose fat for our Sunday roast. We got the garden cleared and the pool refilling now after we cleaned it out. Todays weigh in had me stay the same and Mary had put on one pound. I really believed we would loose some weight today, but it wasn't to be.

Souper chuffed

I lost another 2 pounds yesterday and Mary lost one pound too. I am "Souper" chuffed. This is because I have my new recipe for beef and tomato soup. Today started like most 7:15 coffee with milk and sugar. 8:15 a cup of home made soup, nuked it for 1:30 in the cup, lovely. I only had a small amount of soup left, so 9:00 I couldn't resist half a cup of soup. 11:30 cup of black decaf with sugar. 1:45pm cheese sandwich with a bit of ketchup. Our daughter has gone camping this weekend so we are on our own. We have a friend coming round tomorrow to help us get the garden and garage cleared of rubbish. That will probably help us burn off some weight. I washed my car then had a cup of tea with milk and sugar and a pack of Doritos. I have started taking less milk in my tea, every little adjustment helps. 6:30 another cup of tea with milk and sugar. 7:30 dinner was pork loin with a baked potato and a salad with pasta and cheese, mmm. Weigh in on the wii revealed I had lost another one pound and Mary had gained one pound.

Chuffed

I lost another two pounds yesterday. I am chuffed to bits with this result. Mary stayed the same. We did have a longer dog walk last night and the night before I went for a jog with the wii. It seems that maintaining a steady diet maintains a steady weight. At the moment this is slowly dropping, but goes up for every big meal and down when I stick to smaller portions. I know this is obvious, but understanding what that feels like when you have eaten the food is really knowing your limits. I now know what is too much and I can normally predict when I am going to lose weight by the diet alone. Tonight we are supposed to be going swimming after my daughter's football training session. A normal start to the day, 7:15 coffee with milk and sugar. I started eating an apple, but it didn't taste right, so I chucked it in the bin. Maybe the couple of mouthfuls I had would kick start my metabolism. 8:15 pack of crisps and a cup of black decaf with sugar. 10am cup of black decaf with sugar. 11:30 ham sandwich with a cup of soup. 3pm cup of black decaf with sugar. 5:30pm steak and chips with peas. At football training Mary and I had a cup of tea with milk and I had sugar too. We came back and did a bit of shopping, but didn't go swimming after all, then onto the weigh in. Today I lost another two pounds and Mary lost a pound too. To celebrate I made another batch of soup. I changed the recipe this time an I believe I have it right now. I had a ramekin of soup instead of a bowl this time, and that is me being sensible for once. Mary tried a bit and she ended up having four or five spoonfuls as it was so nice. She didn't like my previous attempt as it was too strong in flavour. So beef and tomato soup is basically 2 of everything. put a pint of water in a saucepan and add 2 beef stock cubes, 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 2 big knobs of butter, 2 tablespoons of tomato puree and bring it to the boil stirring occasionally to mix the ingredients and melt all the butter. Leave to simmer at a lower heat for about 5 minutes, then serve. You can leave it to cool then bottle it and keep it in the fridge for a couple of days. When you fancy a bowl just put in the microwave on full power for 2 minutes to heat a fairly large bowl. A small portion would be about half of a mug full and this makes a great snack when you are waiting for a meal. Nuke it for one minute on full power. If you know it is going to be a few hours, then this can fill the gap and it is light. Alternatively have a mug full with a sandwich for a nice simple lunch. I think the ingredients to make about 4 pints of soup cost about £1. It is hard to say precisely as have a big bottle of soy sauce and that would probably be enough for about 16 gallons of soup, same with the butter. Anyway lets just say it is cheap and easy to make, light to eat and great as a snack. "Souper" chuffed now.

Two steps forward, one step back

Yesterday I gained a pound and Mary stayed the same. We had quite a big dinner. I did do some exercise after the weigh in. I went for a jog on the wii and then did some torso and waist stretches, Hopefully this will reduce weight a little. 7:15 coffee with milk and sugar. 8:15 soup and a bag of crisps. I made a batch of soup last night and I am finishing this up today. I made a beef a tomato soup with beef stock cubes, light soy sauce and tomato passata, cooked in a saucepan with a knob of butter. This could easily be made into a meal with some pasta or rice added. 10am soup. 11:30 soup with 2 brown bread rolls with cheese. That is my stash of soup used up now. It was a delicious experiment. 3:30pm cup of black decaf. Dinner at 5pm chicken dippers with a pasta bake and a blob of mayo mmm followed by a cup of tea with milk and sugar. 7:00pm cup of tea with milk and sugar. Weigh in today, I lost two pounds and Mary stayed the same. Well Chuffed.

1 week and we have lost weight

Well one week has passed, Mary has lost 2 pounds and I have lost 6. I am well pleased with this and most of what I have done is just cutting back a bit and being sensible, not snacking and a tiny bit of exercise. Today started as always at 7:15 with a cup of coffee with milk and sugar. I also had a banana at this time as my friend Rob pointed out to me that breakfast should be as early as possible when you get up as it triggers your body to start metabolising and therefore it does this for the whole day from the very start. Nice one Rob, useful tip. Even if it is just an apple or a biscuit, I shall have something at 7:15 with my morning coffee. 8:15 cup of black decaf with a pack of crisps. Mary has been chatting with a friend who has had a great success with a type of diet that sheds a lot of pounds in two weeks. Apparently this can only be repeated 4 times in one year. Try as we may, we cannot find the 'size 12 in 21 days' diet that we had success with before. We bought this from eBay or amazon (can't remember which) as we had lost the original one we had, now we can't find the replacement either. So anyway we have this other diet now and it involves a lot of green salad and eggs, and other stuff. It seems a little extreme, but does have some variety. I have seen like 'just water' diets and other really extreme diets and I am worried about getting a balance of food. Will power is not in great supply here, but if the plan is not too extreme then we can keep to it for 2 weeks and hopefully shed some big pounds. Should be starting that on Friday. 11:30 lunch was 2 brown bread rolls with ham and a cup of soup. 2pm cup of black decaf with sugar. 5pm glass of red grape juice. 7:30pm spaghetti bolognaise mmm. Wii showed I had gained 1 pound and Mary had stayed the same. I put this down to a big dinner. I also made some beef and tomato soup and had a bowl. It was delicious, but I should have just had a little sample. I used too much beef stock and soy sauce, but next time I should get this just about right. 10pm more grape juice. I did a jogging session on the wii, we took the dogs for a walk and I did some waist and torso exercises on the wii. It wasn't too bad. I didn't enjoy the jogging so much.

Nearly 1 week now

Yesterday I stayed the same and Mary gained one pound. This was due to our big snack type dinner. However it does make me wonder how much we would have gained if we'd had our normal Sunday roast with all the trimmings. Today started at 7:15 with a coffee with sugar and milk. 8:15 pack of crisps with a cup of black decaf with sugar. No apple today. 10:45 cup of black decaf with sugar. 11:30 lunch, 2 brown bread rolls with egg mayo and a cup of soup. 3pm cup of black decaf with sugar. 5pm dinner gammon egg and chips with a coffee with milk and sugar. Wii session had me lose another pound and Mary had a reduction in BMI, but no difference in weight. 11pm had 2 ryveta with cheese slices. We have been buying sliced cheese recently as it is about the same price as a block of cheese and just as nice, but it is sliced thinner than I could ever do it. These are cheddar, not the slimy cheese slices that go on burgers. They are just normal cheese, but sliced.

Simple fry up

I am quite happy with the way things are going. I made a mistake with my curry by having too much. I love a fry up on Sunday mornings, but I normally sit for quite a long time after as the breakfast sits quite heavy and I feel a bit nauseous in the stomach afterwards. However having a lesson learned I was determined to have a fry up that I could enjoy. I know it is a lot of fat in one go, but I wanted to make smaller portions without compromising on the taste. Instead of fried eggs, we had poached, so no frying fat there. One piece of fried bread. This is deep fried in a fat fryer, and I can see this getting substituted by a piece of toast next week. That is a lot of fat in one place. One rasher of bacon. This is called 'back' bacon because of the cut. and a small portion of baked beans in tomato sauce straight out of the tin. I only used half of a regular sized tin of beans. I put the rest in a container in the fridge. This was washed down by a cup of coffee with sugar and milk at about 10:30am. ---- In England it is mothers day today and my daughter Sydney-Ann had bought some gifts for Mary. She has a bar of aero chocolate, a box of maltesers chocolates, some sparkly earrings and a lovely card. I guess I'll have to help her eat these, and we'll eek them out over the next few days. A chocolate binge would be a bad idea at the moment. 3pm we had ryveta crispbread with cheese. I spent the afternoon clearing rubbish from the garden, so I should have burnt off some energy and hopefully lost some weight today. 6:30 we had egg mayo and ham sandwiches with pork pie and quiche. I had some sweet pickle with it and a glass of white wine, then a cup of tea with milk and sugar. Had another sandwich quarter, a piece of quiche and pork pie later. Mary's mother's day pyjamas were more appealing than our evening constitutional, so the dogs didn't get a walk tonight. The wii said that I had not changed and Mary had gained one pound. Didn't really have a proper dinner, more of a big snack. I believe that is why we didn't lose weight today. I expected the work I did would have lost me a bit of weight.

Wii won one

Yesterday I lost my pound back again. Nett effect is 5 pounds lost so far. Two more and that is half a stone. Had a lay in today until 10:30am. Brunch at 11:30, poached egg on toast with hollandaise sauce, mmmm, with a cup of tea with milk and sugar. 3pm cup of tea with milk and sugar and a pack of crisps. The wii has shown it is not accurate as my wife did her weigh in, went to the toilet then repeated the weigh in and had gained one pound, go figure. 6:30pm chicken dippers with hash browns, peas and hollandaise sauce washed down with a glass of orange cordial. Went and did some shopping and had a pot noodle with a Mars milkshake and later a coffee with milk and sugar. We did some tidying in the garden and garage and took some rubbish to the dump today, probably burnt off a few calories there. Wii session said I had lost some weight, but it was less than a pound. Mary lost 2 pounds and was pleased at that. So in 1 week I have had one weight gain and one no change, the rest have been weight loss. Overall 5 pounds lost this week. I think Mary has lost 3 pounds overall. can't seem to find the 'size 12 in 21 days' diet things, shall keep looking and trying to be sensible all the same. Trying to psych myself up to doing some more exercise, but the dogs got their walk today after dinner.

Curry regrets

Yesterday I had a Curry that was enough for two people and regretted it. This gave me a rise of one pound in weight. My wife just had a sandwich and stayed the same weight. So far the nett effect is a weight loss of 4 pounds this week. Not bad considering I haven't done too much. Today started as usual at 7:15 with tea as we ran out of coffee, with sugar and milk. As I finish at 1:15pm on Fridays, I did not bring a packed lunch, so 8:15 I bought egg on toast, just a simple fried egg on dry toast with a coffee with sugar and milk. I will have something for lunch then when I get home. Please do comment on ways you believe I can improve any part of my diet that don't break my rules. I still want minimal gentle exercise, minimal cost and enjoy what I eat without too many hunger pangs. 11:00 am Tangy Cheese Doritos, 11:30 cup of coffee with milk and sugar. 2pm, two wraps with pork luncheon meat slices and tomato sauce. Dinner sausage casserole made with sausages and chunky vegetable soup. Three sausages today instead of the usual 5. The wii weigh in revealed I had lost one pound, yey. Mary's bmi had gone up, she went to the toilet and tried again and she had gained one pound, go figure. I don't think we can trust the wii to be more accurate than within a couple of pounds.

Happy again, another one bites the dust

As you may gather from the title of this blog, I have lost another pound yesterday. My wife stayed the same. At the moment we are easing into this as we are not doing anything particularly special to lose this weight. The main thing is to just eat the meals, have our dog walk, and limit snacks and treats. Yesterday I got through the cream cake torment, so today should be a bit easier. 7:15 coffee with milk and sugar. 8:15 choccy bar, pack of crisps and a mini pork pie with a cup of black decaf with sugar. I have no apple today? I am sure we have not run out, so I expect to be flagging a bit by lunchtime when I have my soup and sandwiches. I gave in and 10:00 I went and bought an apple. I need to do a little exercise today to make sure I lose a little bit of weight. If I can lose at least 1 pound per day I will be happy. Lunch time at 12:00 soup and a ham sandwich. My electric car batteries have been returned today so I will get a bit of a workout tonight fitting them back in my car. http://www.probatron.blogspot.com/ . 3:30 cup of decaf with sugar. Had a bag of crisps when I got home at 5pm, then fitted the batteries (2 of them) in the front of my car. Picked up my daughter from school, and soon after we were out again to her football training session. I then fitted the remaining 8 batteries in the back of my car and it is working again now, but the batteries were not charged, so I have it on charge now. I had dinner about 9pm as I had a curry in the freezer and I had some uncle Ben's pilau rice with it. I regret this as the wii shows I gained one pound today and I felt bloated. The size of the portion was enough for at least two people. I really regret this as I am now bloated and short of breath. That has spoilt my curry experience and next time I will have a much smaller portion so I can appreciate the flavour without gaining weight, getting bloated and feeling short of breath. Mary was the same weight as yesterday and just had a banana at dinner time. Some lessons learned today.

Happy today

I lost 4 pounds yesterday, wow, that is fantastic. My wife also lost 2 pounds and this is great too. So far my days are fairly routine. Today started at 7:15 with a cup of coffee with sugar and milk. 8:15 an orange and a pack of crisps with a cup of black decaf with sugar. No choccy bar today. Peter who I have been getting a lift to work with is celebrating his birthday today and has brought in cream cakes for everybody. This is torture for me as they will sit on the table in the middle of our office pen all day or until they have all gone. Everybody that has come round keeps saying ummmmh and arrrrr and these are nice ummhhh. So now I need will power. Normally I would have just taken a cake without even thinking about it. Oh well, back to my decaf and keep thinking about the 4 pounds I lost yesterday. 10:45 ate my apple, a bit later today as I was busy. 11:45 two tortilla wraps with ham and soft cheese and a vegetable cup-a-soup mmm. There are still 4 cream cakes left. I wish somebody would hurry up and eat them. I got home from work without eating a cream cake hurrah! Mary had done us an early dinner, so it was salad at 5pm. This was one of Mary's specials, a bit of quiche, half a scotch egg, a slice of ham, some coleslaw, lettuce, baked beans and a blob of mayo. Had to dash out after dinner as Mary had a couple of jobs to do and I was driving her. As a result the dog did not get his walk until quite a lot later. Before that I did the weigh in and I have lost another 1 pound. I did the test and my wii fit age was 50. I still don't put any belief on this number, but hopefully I'll get better at these tests over time and then I'll be much younger. I had a bit of a scotch egg and some more quiche later.

Shocked after the "weigh in"

Today has started very similar to yesterday. I haven't got over the shock of seeing over 21 stone on the wii weigh in. 7:15 early coffee with milk and sugar. 8:15 1 pear, 1 orange, bag of crisps, choccy bar and a cup of black decaf with sugar. I have a tough target to meet and I start the size 12 in 21 days diet on Friday I think. This depends on when we have been shopping and can start the next day. 10:15 had my apple. This gives me a boost mid-morning. It seems to wake me up again. 11:30 I had my cheese and ham sandwich with a cup-a-soup. 1:15 a cup of decaf with sugar. I had another dip in the Bombay mix when I got home at 5pm, then steak and chips with tomatoes at 7pm. After tonight's constitutional (dog walk) we watched England vs Ghana football. We drew 1-1 with Ghana scoring the equaliser in extra time. It was just a friendly. On the wii today I was really pleased that I had lost 4 pounds, fantastic. My wife had lost 2 pounds and she was pleased too. I am now under 21 stone at 20 stone 11 pounds. I only did the basic checks tonight and made a right mess of them. I had a wii age of 39 yesterday, today I was 52. It does seem like nonsense to me, but it is nice to be told your younger than you are. I have probably lost most of the weight in just water, but I like to think I lost some fat too.

First day

Didn't make it onto the wii last night, so tonight will be the first record. Started the day at 7:15 with a normal coffee with milk and 2 sugars. Really felt like someone had stolen an hour today after the clocks went forward. Got to work, 8:15 bag of crisps and a choccy biscuit bar with a cup of black decaf with 2 sugars. I have a desk job that has no physical requirements at all. I would normally be munching on a bacon roll for breakfast. I am not very good at breakfasts, but I know it is important to have something. I ate my choccy bar to stop it from melting. I have a packed lunch today. Sandwich, cup-a-soup and an apple to get me through my working day. Had apple at 10am then sandwich (cheese) and soup at 11:30 and 12:00 respectively. I am getting a few hunger pangs, but nothing too serious. 1:30 going for a large coffee with milk and sugar (and caffeine). 5pm I got home from work and by 5:30 I was tucking into a Bombay mix snack as I knew dinner was going to be a while and I didn't want to get heart burn from hunger. A cup of tea to wash that down then onto dinner. I had to go to the shops to buy some rice to go with some cook-in-the-bag sweet and sour chicken breasts. I have my own blend of rice that is gorgeous. Use the cheapest long grain or basmati rice. To start with half fill a saucepan with water, add a chicken stock cube per person, a pressed clove of garlic per person a handful of frozen mixed veg, or if you don't have that you can use a handful of frozen sweetcorn and a handful of peas. Bring all this to boil then add 1/2 cup of rice person, 2 tablespoon of cooking oil, this stops the rice sticking together and gives it a nice texture. Add 2 teaspoons of turmeric and get it back to boiling. Keep it gently boiling until the rice just starts to soften. I usually just flick a few grains off onto a plate, let them cool for a few seconds, then test it. Do this every 2 minutes once the rice starts to soften and you should catch it before it gets too puffy. I then just drain the excess water etc. through a sieve and serve with the chicken. I use this rice recipe on loads of different meals because it tastes delicious and is quite healthy. Unfortunately I have had way too many bacon rolls and take aways recently. After dinner it was a cup of tea with milk and 2 sugars, then a short rest to let dinner go down, then out for constitutionals. This consists of taking the dog for a walk round the block (he's glad I am on a diet now as he hasn't been getting many walks lately). When we came back we moved a few things around after yesterdays tidy up and I got the wii fit balance board out. Accordingly it has been 269 days since the last time I went on the wii and I have gained 2 stone 8 pounds (36 pounds). I was shocked to find I am over 21 stone (134kg (295lbs) to be precise). I need to lose 5 stone (70 pounds) in 4 months to get down to 16 stone. I want to go on to 14 stone then I'm done. I haven't been 14 stone since I was in my 20's. I had a few games of ski jumping and did some hip and waist exercises and that's it for today. I will have another cup of tea later.

Getting ready, understanding what to expect.

Today it starts. I am not interested in doing cardio exercises particularly, dieting heavily, buying some useless expensive compound or strapping on some magic gadget whilst on a ski simulator. I am not doing this for money and I won't ask you for any. If you want to give me money feel free, I am always open to more. I have some simple stuff that I am going to put in place to make lifestyle changes to improve the way I eat, exercise and spend my spare time. I do suffer from painful knees and I have back problems, so there is a limit to what I can do. I shall be using my wii to keep a record of my weight etc. I was born in 1966, so to save you the maths, that makes me 44 years old at this time. It's pay day on Thursday and I am going shopping with my wife to get the food on her "size 12 in 21 days" diet. This diet has worked for us before, but we adapt it as there are some things that we just cannot tolerate. I believe it is the detox and regular eating that helps on the food side. Then there is the video exercise regime and regular walks etc. So that is the first 21 days taken care of. Really, I don't think so. Keep reading to see how that goes. I believe the main thing is to want to keep going and lose weight. I recently gave up smoking and that started me picking at food more than usual. I wouldn't say that I eat much more than before, but it felt that way at first. Its been nearly 8 months now and I believe I do eat too much, but no more than most people. I know I can lose weight as I have had some success in the past. Drawing energy from that success is what will keep me going. I can always remember how much better I felt when did lose a bit, then I started eating a bit more and lost sight of what I wanted to achieve and the packing up smoking etc., etc. All excuses, but my medical motivation is high blood pressure. I won't be doing anything too strenuous. I have a tablet daily to reduce the blood pressure and for some time now my blood pressure has been normal. I want to get off the tablets and I have got rid of the smoking, but now I need to lose weight and change my diet a bit, and do some regular gentle exercise. So I shall try to report in daily to tell everybody how I am progressing. So far today, I had last nights spaghetti for breakfast, went to my daughters football match and had a cup of tea there along with a pack of tic-tacs. I have these for the nerves when watching football. I had a bag of cheese Doritos when I got back and a cup of tea. I went round to a friend to help him wire up some new headlights for his project car. I had a cup of tea while I was there, then I came back home and we went out and got our last KFC for some time. I had a chicken burger with fries and a coke and 2 cobettes, so not too excessive. I finished installing the wii since we moved our furniture around recently and this was the last thing left to install. I took a gentle walk of about 1/4 mile to the petrol station to get some milk, but I forgot my debit card and had no cash on me, so I went back home and got the car as I knew Mary was waiting for the milk. I am having a cup of tea now, and get on the wii soon. I shall report again soon, hopefully tomorrow.