You know what they say............

When the going gets tough, the tough get going!

I doubt that there are many of us who find January and February great months. I little winter snow can make the place look beautiful and the kids like it for a while. However to my mind it palls fairly soon after that. February is little better but it does have the redeeming quality of being mercifully short! March I can handle. The world is waking up and things are starting to grow, the feeling of renewal is beginning to spread.

But there are things all of us can do now to make sure that we are best placed for the better weather when it comes.

I know dragging my sorry carcass out to the gym on a dark rainy night is more difficult than leaving work in the light with perhaps a bit of sunshine to travel in.

For those of us who run outside the prospect of lighter nights and warmer weather must be eagerly anticipated.

However much as it is tempting to hibernate for the rest of February there are rewards to be gained from pushing on through and getting the 'hard yards' done now.

Not exercising is not just neutral. It is not as if doing nothing for the whole of February will leave me where I was on the first. The nature of the human body is such that if you do not use it it slowly deteriorates, especially as you get past the dreaded 50!

If you weight train missing out too many sessions will set you back there is no doubt about that, and while not many people will see the changes you have made under layers of winter clothing time will come around when it is just T Shirts and jeans or sunner dresses when all that work pays off.

If you are a runner stamina is lost of you don't run, gained if you do. Many people (myself included) have entered runs and races in the coming months and it will be the miles put in in January and February that makes finishing the run possible in April May and June.

So am I writing this to motivate others or myself? The truth is both. If we are having trouble motivating ourselves to do something, the more compelling reasons we can find to do them, the easier it becomes. So for my part I am thinking forward to the half marathon that I have entered and standing on the start line knowing that 13 and a bit miles is within my capability. I am thinking about being able to wear whatever I want to wear in the summer without my belly hanging over my belt, if feeling confident and healthy in my physical body.

So whatever it is that is de-motivating at the moment, put to one side, look forward and imagine the rewards of the efforts you are putting in now. It makes following through and taking action so much easier.

So the world moves on.............

Found a new site today that does much of what WLR does called nutracheck.co.uk. I have signed up for a free 5 day trial. I had thought of doing without, as Chocolatebutton said I should know enough about what to eat by now and she is probably right however having that bit of dicipline 'imposed' on me where I know I will have to record what I eat is no bad thing.

It means I can put the whole WLR thing behind me. What irks me a bit is that there are stll nasty little people having a dig when I am not even able to defend myself!

Still that is between their ears.

Really pleased about the response to the facebook page and want to say a big thank you to Tina for helping out with some of the admin and generally giving the page a shot in the arm.

Also a big thank you to all who have come along and joined. I realise now I should have made it a 'group' rather than the page I did then everyone would be a member rather than a 'fan' but I suppose there is not much wrong with being a fan of beng Leaner For Life.

The ethos is really discuss whatever you want there and certainly clean eating HIIT and increasing protein is not barred nor will you have anyone jumping down your throat for it!

As for me today, it is a rest day exercise wise and with the bathroom a bit upside down due to having a new shower put in just a case of holding the line on food and looking to get out there and get some miles under my belt tomorrow.

Wow! Blown away!

Wow guys, I will admit I went to bed last night feeling a tad low. So many amazing people that I was in danger of losing touch with all because I am a bit impulsive and hot headed!!!

I was even beginning to wonder how would I keep my motivation going to stay the way I had become (let alone do the really hard part which is the last 10%)

Then when I got to work I looked at my hotmail account and there was a message from Jo (JAG) saying that she had joined the facebook page. Oh well I thought if it is just me and her, who better to share a corner of cyberspace with!

So I logged on to Facebook and it seems 30 of you little rascals have already got there nad joined up!!!

To say that I am chuffed would be an understatement. But this is not about me it is about providing something for people that does not exist elsewhere.

I would like the Facebook page to be a place for people who have got past the foothills of the process and know that to climb the mountain the you have to be in control of your own feet.

That does not mean we do not all need a bit of help from each other from time to time but it does mean an acceptance of the fact that change has to come from within.

To get some better idea of what I am saying I would urge anyone in doubt to go the the facebook page and look at the discussion initiated by Marianne 'Why are we here' I could not have put it better so I won't try.

What I do know is that as a group we are stronger than as individuals and I for one would love to be able to continue sharing this journey with other people.

My main question now is what do people want from the Lean For Life facebook page? I have started a discussion there so please feel free to put your thoughts.

Also anyone who is adept at getting the most from facebook please let me know as I am a bit of a novice, the page does allow me to make others 'admin'.

My my this page has been busy!

I have just checked my stats and it seems that there have been something like 6 X the pervious highest number of views of my blog page than the previous busiest day!

Thank you to all those who have looked in be they the curious, the supportive or just the downright happy to see me gone from WLR!

As dear ol d Oscar Wilde said "There i sonly one thing worse than being talked about.....and that is not being talked about!

Now what can I do tomorrow to get those sort of numbers again. perhaps the towel shot without the towel!!!

Lean For Life

In the course of todays events someone said why don't you set up a facebook page. well I have done just that and have called it 'Lean For Life'.

It is not in anyway in direct competition with WLR as I just do not have anything like their resources, but it seems to me it might be nice where people who have had a certain amount of success with what they are striving to do and have tended to stick to the clean food/cardio/ weights message can have a place of their own and on which they can discuss their way of doing things .

I have no idea what it might become but it strikes me that as much as I got into trouble for saying it on WLR there were a number of people for whom the penny had dropped and this seemed to be making a huge difference to their results.

So I have set this facebook page up as a place where those of a like mind can help and encourage others without some of the 'periferal' stuff that goes on on WLR. It costs nothing so I thought it worth a try.

Blogs can be promoted shamelessly and any photos that are OK with Facebook are OK with me!

Can be found on: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Lean-For-Life/288223610955?ref=ts

Drawing a line and moving on

Had time to consider, and what has happened with my fall out from WLR is probably for the best. Clearly my sensibilities and some people on that site are not the same, and not having been there for years and years I suppose I was bound to get the smelly end of the stick.

Perhaps there was some resentment of the fact from those who saw fit to complain that I had managed to do in four months what they it seems were still struggling to do after years of trying. It takes all sorts.

However I don’t go away that easy and anyone who is interested in how I am doing can follow on my blog as I will now change it to being a little more like some of the others which are more a kin to an online diary of how I am doing.

One thing I am absolutely sure of is that I will not let this derail me in the slightest.

Should anyone want to stay in touch or would like any help with anything you can get in touch at williamfreeman@hotmail.co.uk

Oh and Suzie? Never was anyone so misnamed.

Laters people!

Farewell to WLR

I had quoted it as a favourite website but it seems it is not one where freedom of speech has any place. Following unexplained and undiscussed complaints they summirarily terminated my membership.

This is a shame because I met some very good people there but it seems we are living in an increasingly sanitised world where is you deviate from the accepted norm you can no long er be tolerated.

Me today who next?