Archive for the ‘Retirement’ Category

The [Pre] Retirement Cruise Starts

Posted: April 25, 2024 in Another Cruise, Cruising, Memories, OaP, P&O, Podge, Retirement, Travel, Tubbs
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#50 Flight and Boarding – Day 1 (Day 1 of Week 1)

3 whiskies and 3 rosés for breakfast then head to gate 571 for boarding. Phew, got the right gate and the right time (unlike a previous occasion). Boarding the plane was actually quite painless except that two passengers went awol though they were finally located but caused us to take off 50 minutes later (when all the blue sky had disappeared!. 

First greeting was with a glass of fizzy pop: So, so nice to be back on a Tui Flight (Premium of course 😋).

Second greeting was complimentary drinks (Johny Walker Black Label for me, G&T for Tubbs) twice, each being doubles. Then, it was time for lunch accompanied by 2 glasses of white wine with a brandy chaser post lunch. Poor Podgeness is feeling weary now while Tubbs is fast asleep. 

One of the passengers spots me and says “I recognise you, you’re Podge”. It seems people have been reading my hints and tips on Facebook! Ooh Err 🥴

Now, one of the hints I had given on Facebook was make sure that they were comfortable before landing as when we alight from the plane, we DO NOT go through the airport terminal: we are taken directly from the bus to the ship where we just check in and go on board. Our luggage magically appears in our cabin after we’ve boarded and, true to form, it all worked perfectly.

Hats off to P&O.

By the time we did reach our suite, we were truly very tired and in need of a long lie down to recover from the journey 🥱 but, before we do, we needed to meet our Cabin Steward (We called him Ninja – more on that in a later post) and our Butler, both of whom would be looking after us for the next 6-weeks. I have to say that we were pleasantly surprised to find our Butler was Asmita who had in fact looked after us on our last Caribbean Cruise: We like to think that Asmita was as pleased as us.

And then, it really was time to hit the hay, as they say. 🛌

Resolutions

Posted: January 3, 2019 in Cycling, Health, OaP, Retirement
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2018

2018 held such promise for me and to be honest most of it was delivered though I did kind of wreck it towards the end: Having started the year weighing 100 kg I finished it weighing 93 kg though I did drop to 83.5 kg. This was all in pursuit of improving my health and appearance and because I needed a new hip and I wasn’t going to get one while I was fat.

To help me lose the weight not only did I stop eating just about everything I liked 😦 but I also experimented with new foods such as vegetables which, I’d always deemed to be poisonous :-). The results were amazing as I lost 16.5 kg. I also found myself doing more walking and cycling and even took up weight training. I felt like new man. Then came the news, I was scheduled to have my hip replacement on the 31st October (the surgeon was so impressed with my results he lost no time in getting me in sooner rather than later).

Following the operation I was forced into many weeks of rest and recuperation and although I did try to get back onto my bikes and try lifting some weights I was forced back into r & r. I consoled myself by eating nice stuff again and with the build up to Christmas, the nice stuff was plentiful and ‘justified’ and aided by the fact that I had finally retired and mutated into an Old Age Pensioner.

The weight, inevitably, went back on but at least I did finish the year lighter than I started it :-). And, the benefits of losing the weight were highlighted by a distinct improvement in my breathing.

Through 2018 I cycled and walked (recorded) 199 and 53 miles respectively.

2018 stats

2019

Resolution #1

Match the miles cycled and walked through 2018 in a single month in 2019. then cycle at least 2019 miles.

Resolution #2

Reach my target weight of 75 kg.

Resolution #3

Get a second medal for completing the Great South Run – last completed ion 2003.

Go Podge, Go.

 

Podge Gets Fat, Thin And Fat Again!

Posted: December 31, 2018 in COPD, OaP, Retirement
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Poor Podge

So, His Podgeness, or Podge to his friends, started 2018 weighing in at 15.5 stone or 100kg, which is quite a lot for somebody who is only 5’9″ or 175cm tall.  Yet, despite his doctor telling him, all through 2017, to lose weight, the weight stayed where it was. However, two events through 2018 garnered Podge into a goal of weight loss. It is also worth noting that Podge has COPD and a manky heart caused by fat and of course COPD. The consequence of these is that exercise was difficult and so weight loss was a challenge. Add to the list a now arthritic hip, it was all a bit of a chore.  Poor Podge indeed.

The first event was when Podge was promised a shiny new hip but, only if he lost 2 stone or 12.7kgs. The second event was helping a long-standing friend, Lillybet, in her quest for qualification as a Nutritional Therapist. Both these events helped Podge lose enough weight, 18kgs in the end, to have the op and improve his breathing and heart no end.

Then the Operation

So, come the end of October, Podge goes down for his hip replacement followed by many weeks of rest and recuperation, then retirement then Christmas and Podge puts back on 11 of the 18Kgs that he’s lost. Bad Podge. Now, Podge’s breathing is not too good, and his heart is all over the place. So, Podge once more is returning to the healthy diet that Lillybet had advised, it did after all work. Basically, Podge has to stop eating and drinking everything that Podge likes. Still, at least Podge ends the year 7Kgs down from the start of 2018.

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Expect more pictures of lard 🙂

Through 2018, Podge cycled 208 miles and walked 63 miles, not including normal day-to-day walking, some stats to be improved for 2019. Poor Podge.

So, here’s to 2019 and Podge becoming UnPodge.

Now, it’s new year’s eve so, everybody down to the Pub.

Happy New Year Everybody.

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