The dance of the hippopotamus

Day 39 and 103 kilos
Day 40 and 103 kilos

The good news is that my weight seems to have settled at 103 kilos for now and despite the fact that I am eating regularly again, it actually seems to have stabilised and there is less fluctuation than when I was on the water fast. My plan is to continue wolfing down vegetables and fruit, the lack of which, I feel fairly sure has been one of the contributing factors of my past weight gains . Well that and the boozing. And the red meat. and the lack of exercise. And the Haagen Daaz.

A couple of people have mentioned that the blog has become a bit foody of late and for that, I apologise. My days are spent looking for a new job and this requires a good deal of focus. I can't really be out spending money and going to the pub (neither of which I particularly want to do at the moment) so when I'm not on the phone or computer I tend to withdraw to my new hobby of cooking.

Once I have a job and have got my knee sorted (assuming that it is sortable), I am toying with another bit of madness - I'm thinking about getting back into Muay Thai boxing. I know from experience that this is the most hardcore form of exercise that I have ever done. Although it will take a couple of months to get up to the required fitness - the good news is that it will get me seriously fit and burn off a lot of fat. The last time that I did it back in 2009 I started doing Muay Thai classes in Phuket when I weighed 118 kilos. The first session that I went to, I had to stop after only 10 minutes of the warm up (the warm up mind you!) to avoid puking. However six weeks later, as others left or got bumped up to the medium skill classes, I was suddenly the fittest guy in the class and I was fit. The problem with Muay Thai, apart from nearly puking with exertion, is that it really hurts. At the end of a session of kicking bags for example my shins feel so sore (you kick with your shins in this sport) and inflamed that you could fry eggs on them ! The real Muay Thai fighters that trained us had been thai boxing since they were five years old. They would invite us to run a forefinger down the front of there shins and the bone was crenellated with calcification from the hundreds of thousands of kicks and blocks that they had done. I have often thought that should I ever get caught in a fight that I might kick my opponents shins which would be agonising  if done to me but try that on a muay thai fighter and he would just smile before kicking you in the head and knocking you out.

As per my brothers suggestion - I looked at doing pilates classes at a couple of places. It's expensive! However here's a write up from one website of the benefits of pilates:

A new YOU awaits you:
- Stronger core, smaller waistline
- Renewed energy, heightened sex life
- Increased flexibility, improved coordination
- Focused mind, new resolve
- Better poise, greater balance
- Toned muscles, disciplined efficiency
- Developed breath control, conditioned strength and endurance
- Redefined body, redistributed weight
- Rid of aches and pains, eased-up stresses
- New-found self-esteem and confidence
- Integrated mind and body
- Your best self

So that all sound quite cool but what is slightly worrying is that it seems to be aimed squarely at women. You are perhaps already aware of the fact that I am slightly self conscious and the idea of me showing up amongst all these toned and delicate asian girls instantly recalls that perennial image of the disney hippo in a leotard. I don't mind taking the piss out of myself but it's a bit different when you invite the inevitable laughter of a studio of women. Anyway, one place that I looked at is offering a starter kit of 3 private sessions for ONLY $200 (it's normally $360). Seems like a lot of money to exercise and when you pair that with the amount of fat to burn off and the abundance of flaccid muscles that I have - it looks like this could get pretty expensive. On the other hand the Evolve Muay Thai gym costs $400 for the month to attend unlimited sessions and classes.

Of course this is all academic until I get an MRI scan on my knee to ascertain what the fundamental problem is. The soreness that I have described in earlier posts has now morphed so that I have the same problem with my right knee that I already have with my left and that is that it feels as though I have floating hard particles in each knee which occaionally, whilst walking or standing up, seem to become trapped in between my tibia and femur. When this happens, the pain hits me like a jolt of electricity and usually elicits a choice oath or a girly scream.

I'm about to go out on the bicycle which seems to be the easiest form of exercise on my knees. It's easier even than swimming in the sense that it seems to cause less twinging. So for now it's this and sit-ups.