Weight Loss, Diet, Health and Excerise

Every time I turn on the television I seem to be told that I am overweight or eating too much sugary/fatty, 'bad', food.  I should be eating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, not to much red meat, don't drink too much, blah, blah...

I don't disagree with all that the media say about eating but I am getting a little tired of it being rammed down my throat!

As a kid I wasn't the smallest, bit over weight with a bit of a belly, actually!  But when I got to 18 and started a part time job in my local supermarket, I started to loss the weight.  Since then I've pretty much, apart from a bit of fluctuation around the 1 stone mark, stayed the same weight.

Because I was chunky as a kid I've been quite aware of my weight over the years, which means I've always wanted to try and be thin.

To keep my weight in reign I've always tried to do do a fair bit of exercise.  I have been a member of 4 gyms in about 12 years.  I went through a period of two years when I cycled every day to and from work, while I worked in London.  About 10 years ago I took up jogging and over the years, while going to the gym, took part in two 10 mile runs, two half marathons and two 10 km runs.

During that time my weight has pretty much stayed the same.  The reason for this is, is because as I do more exercise I eat more food!  Pretty simple really.

Drinking alcohol hasn't changed much either, although while training for the runs I did notice the effect of alcohol the next day!  If I'd had just a pint or two I would feel it the next day if it was a longer run, say 1 hour plus.

So what is my suggestion for keeping the weight off?

• Don't worry about cutting everything out of your diet for good.  If you eat a lot of a 'bad' food, say chocolate, then go cold turkey for a week or two so that you don't crave it so much or rely on it.  For example it's easy to eat a bit of chocolate after dinner in front of the television.  Soon you develop a habit of eating chocolate and your body expects it.  Cutting that out for a week or two stops the habit.
• Don't go on a diet!  Going on a diet is quite short sighted, in a way.  You end up focusing on your goal weight, which means you loss the weight, and is great, but doesn't help for the time after that.  What happens after you reach your goal is you will start to slip in to your old habits, thinking I'm thin now I can eat that and I'll be fine.  It builds up and before long you undo all the great work.
• Rather than a diet look at what you eat as long term, something that you want to keep up for the foreseeable future.  That doesn't mean boring food all the time either or missing out on 'bad' food.  If you eat a piece of cake on one day, that's fine, just don't do it every day.
• Try eating less but a little slower, you will realise that you don't feel hungry and you don't need as much.
• Try to fit in some exercise, that doesn't mean you have to shell out lots of money by joining a gym.  No try walking for 30 mins most days, briskly.  Or find something you like doing, first time you do it, it may be hard but if you keep it up you will grown stronger and will be able to manage to go further.  Take jogging - first time I went to a gym I could only manage 2 minutes on the treadmill before feeling like I was dying and my heart was about to come out of my chest!  But after building it up I've run 13 over 13 miles in half marathons!

Go on give it a try!

My Seat Ibiza 1.4 Mpi, cool/s, Year 2000 (1999 - 2002)

I was just thinking about my Seat Ibiza and thought I’d blog about it!

Here is a video of me starting the beast!


I brought my Seat Ibiza back in April 2012 as a replacement to my Toyota Corolla, 1997 Sportif - which had failed it’s MOT.

My Seat Ibiza is a 1.4 Mpi, 8 valve, cool/s model, which means it has climate control - or Autoclima as Seat seem to call it. During the summer it works a treat, after a re-gas that is! I’d never experienced the air conditioning in a VW/Seat car before, really nice and cold!!
When it comes to winter, thought, it’s a whole other ball game! If the temperature goes below 2.5 deg C, that’s Ext temperature sensor, the AC doesn’t come on. The AC icon on the central display doesn’t show even after you press the manual override AC button.
There is also another sensor below the windscreen wipers, under the plastic cover, that also stops the AC from coming on. This turns off the AC if the temperature falls below -1 deg C and turns it on again if it goes above 7 deg C. So if the temperature outside falls below -1 deg C then goes up to 3 deg C, the AC doesn’t come on. The icon on the central display shows up but the AC doesn’t kick in. If you drive around for a while, and after being parked up for some time, the sensor seems to warm up and the AC will come on.
This is a bit of a pain during the winter months when it gets cold. Even after driving around for an hour the AC will not come on because the Ext temperature is, say, 2 deg C.

Engine
What can I say about the engine in this car?
Well for starters it sounds a lot like a Diesel! When I had the air conditioning re-gassed the bloke who did the re-gas mentioned that he thought it was a diesel! That is until he saw the 1.4 Mpi on the engine and realised it was petrol. What a complement!?
So, what’s it like to drive when you put your foot down?
Well, it’s pretty slow! This is down to the hair dryer that lives under the bonnet. It is a 1.4 injected, 8 valve petrol engine and produces 60 PS of power, which is about 59 bhp or 44 Kw. 0 to 62 mph (0 - 100kmh) takes 14.6 seconds, which seems like a long time when you try it!
The fuel economy isn’t that great either, at the moment it is running at around 40 mpg - combined driving. Which I think for a 1.4 engine is quite poor especially as I drive it like an old man, staying at around 60 mph on the motorway! If I compare it to car I used to have a Renault Clio, RenaultSport, 172, which was a 2 litre engine with VVT. That used to average 37 mpg, combined driving, and I was doing 70 mph (perhaps maybe more... ;o)) on the motorways.

All in though I do like driving my Ibiza! :o)