Kingdom's Blog

April 8th, 2011

Ian, Darren, Ali and I have signed up for the SEStran 2 Capitals Cycle Ride which will see us cycle from Pittencreif Park, Dunfermline to Ocean Terminal, Leith. I am starting to think this maybe wasn’t the best of idea’s I have ever had, however I have said I am taking part so I feel I now have made a commitment.

If you haven’t heard about the 2 Capitals Cycle Ride it is a non-competitive, all-age, all-abilities event that aims to promote cycling for all. The only think stopping me now is the fact that I don’t have a bike and I am extremely unfit. So it’s not looking good. Even the children will come in before me.

If over the coming weeks you see a small fat man at the side of the road with a bike trying to get his breath it is probably me trying out the new bike I plan to buy on Thursday. Please stop and give me some encouragement.

Gary

March 15th, 2010

Well as you will know my weight loss has turned to weight gain as I put on 1lb last week which isn’t good.  This week isn’t looking much better either.  I have just eaten some home made chocolate brownies.  They tasted fantastic but my theory is that if it tastes good then its probably bad for you.

I have decided I need to make a final push to reach the 1 stone I hoped to loose.  Its time to cut out the chocolate, crisps, fizzy juice and takeaways, and go back to the healthy diet - 3 meals a day with  a healthy snack in between.

 I have also decided to join a walking group.  I am due to do my first one by the end of this week so I will let you know how I get on.

Remember to listen to the Wednesday Weigh In, this Wednesday just after 6pm.  And Ali with the Wednesday Weigh In @ The Weekend Saturday from 2pm.

January 9th, 2010

Nearly at the end of the first RadioActive of 2010 and after a 3 week break it’s feeling a bit like the start of a new term or the first day back at school. I really do miss the show when I’m away which is why I don’t take many weeks off and why I’m always desperate to be back! I know,… I’m sad!

This week saw the return of the Wednesday Weigh In and to celebrate we’ve brought back the Wednesday Weigh In at the Weekend. This year I’m starting from 14st 13lb and will be aiming to drop a couple of stones before the summer. Hopefully the triathalon training will help as well as the weekly trips to the BMF.

Since the guys have the WWI Extra Portions podcast, I thought we’d do something similar with the WWI@W vidcast. The idea behind adding pictures is that it’ll hopefully keep me honest especially on weeks where I don’t seem to have lost anything. The first one will be online before Monday.

January 4th, 2010

Back in Jan 2006 a few of us set a challenge which was to run the Glenrothes 10K that summer. At the time we all got out of breath walking up the stairs to the studio never mind running anywhere. 6 months later and everyone of us completed the course in times ranging from 45 to 80mins. It was fun (no, really, it was), it was challenging and it was better than a bog standard resolution because it took a bit of work to prepare for it.

This year I’ve decided on 3 challenges and the biggest is another 6 month one. I’m planning on doing a sprint triathalon (750m swim, 40K bike, 5K run). This is slightly shorter than a regular triathalon but no less challenging. Now those of you who know that I enjoy a 10K run will be wondering if it’s a real challenge but when you consider that I haven’t swum or cycled in a good few years then you might start to see where this gets hard!

You’ll be able to keep up to date with my progress as I train by listening to my show (RadioActive, Saturdays from 2) and through this blog.

So now you know my challenge, what’s yours? Comments below or call me this Saturday from 2.

August 28th, 2009

Let’s start with an apology for ever showing Barry the Fantastic Contraptions game. It’s the reason you’re probably hearing annoying music just now because he’s embedded it in a blog post further down. You’ll find it here if you want to play it later.

With that out of the way let’s get down to business and the decision last week on Radio Active to resurrect the Wednesday Weigh In @ the Weekend. For those who didn’t experience it last time the explanation is of the Wednesday Weigh In is here, the @ the Weekend reflecting my reluctance to come into the studio during the week! Basically Barry, Darren and I were bemoaning the fact that we’ve all let things slide again and feel like an extra push is needed on the run up to Christmas. Now I don’t know whether the guys will do it once Barry gets back but this weekend we’ll bring back the new and improved version.

Now last time it all revolved around weight but this time I’m adding in an extra variable thanks to my new fitness program. I’ve joined the British Military Fitness group mainly as a result of hearing how good the results are for a lot of the current attendees at the Dunfermline group. (I’m not part of that one) Part of the experience is an optional monthly fitness test and we’ll be incorporating that into the new WW@W to ensure that I’m not just losing weight but also becoming fitter in the process. You’ll hear more about this on the show tomorrow.

You’ll no doubt hear a lot more about my experiences at the BMF over the next month and I’m intending to get to the Dunfermline class on the Saturdays that I’m not doing 10Ks but that’s another blog.

March 30th, 2009

Final week of the Wednesday Weigh In at the Weekend and just a few days to go to the final weigh in. Over the past fortnight I’ve dropped another 2 pounds which I’m happy about. The final weigh in is this Wednesday (1st April) when Darren, Barry and I will find out what we ended up as. Darren and Barry are trying for losing a stone since January while I’ll just be happy with whatever I end up as. I was over 15 stone to begin with so anything under that is good, surely?

Now I say I’ll be there but so far in the past 7 days I’ve been told I’m going to London and then Leicester and then both on the same day. The latest update is that I’m going to be in Markinch and I’m hoping this is right because there’s talk of ending the weigh in with a buffet. Is it possible to eat a stone of food at one sitting?

March 16th, 2009

Word Is Out guesses are just below this post just in case you think they’ve vanished.

Anyway, back to the story and to the tenth week of the Wednesday Weigh In at the Weekend and confusion in the McLaren camp. If you heard the show on Saturday then you’ll have heard me being very confused about how my unladen (no clothes) weight was the same as the week before but the clothed weight was 3lbs up. I blamed everything I could think of including wearing heavy jeans but the truth is much more simple. A quick check of last weeks blog has revealed my mistake: I was mixing up the unclothed and clothed weight!

With the truth now out I need to find some excuses and I’ve opted for ignoring the large amounts of choclate biscuits, the Friday night beers and the King Rib supper that were consumed and have come up with the gym. Yes, I made it there this week and pushed myself a bit further than normal. As a result I reckon my body is storing more energy reserves and building up muscle. This is backed up (I think) by my overall body fat percentage being down. That’s got to explain it, surely? Self delusion is wonderful.

Anyway, the new weight is: 14st 12lbs.  Not long to go now!

March 9th, 2009

I know it seems like I’m always asking for your help! What can I say? I’m very demanding!

On the show today I was talking about the online chart which lists UK radio DJs and their ranking as far as the social-networking-site-of-the-moment Twitter is concerned. The chart position is ranked by number of ‘followers’. Sitting proudly atop the list is Jonathan Ross with nearly 140,000 Twitter users who follow his online updates. That is a lot of people!

As you would expect a few of us here at Kingdom FM have Twitter accounts and accordingly are on the radio DJ chart. As I sit here and write this, Ali McLaren is ranked #213, Mike Pelosi is # 185, Barry Snedden is #113 and I am ranked #127. I can hear the cogs turning just now… you’ve already worked out what I’m asking you to do! If you have 5 minutes to spare, I would be most grateful if you could ‘follow’ me on Twitter; help me get ahead of Barry at #113. At the moment it looks there is about 35 or so more people following him than me… so let’s see if, with your help, I can edge ahead on the list!

You can follow me here > twitter.com/darrenstenhouse

March 7th, 2009

Oops, despite my best efforts we seem to have lost a week on the weigh in at the weekend although in my defence, I wasn’t well last week. Basically I’d had what one of my workmates dubbed vomitus spectaculous and only just made it in for the show after 2 days of being confined to the bed (or the toilet but you didn’t need to know about that). In the process I lost just under half a stone which was great but the problem with losing weight that fast and under those conditions is that you put it straight back on…… but have I?

WW@W is back this afternoon around 2.20pm and we’ll get the current position online before 6. Incidently it’s great to have a finish line in sight for no other reason than it’ll be nice to put the scales away again for a while.

Update (15:16) - So, amazingly, even without watching what I was eating or indulging in extra exercise I’ve put on…….. just half a pound! The current situation is:

Ali - Current Weight - 14st 9lbs. Weight Loss To Date: 7lbs