Sunday 20 February 2011

Fit versus Fat

I've always been under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that I could eat pretty much whatever I wanted if I was doing enough exercise to cancel it out. I have now learnt that this is most definitely not the case! Even if it was, it would take a hell of a lot of physical activity to burn off my current calorie intake. Anyhow, my attitude towards food/weight loss has also taken a massive u-turn. I wish I could pretend I've suddenly decided that the quest for skinniness has no place in my life however, unfortunately, it's more a case of having fallen off the bandwagon so hard I don't quite know how to get back on.

Training (I use that term loosely) for the half marathon has also had an impact on my eating habits. I'm starting to view this as something I have to do well, a bit like studying for an important exam (that's a lie, I was never this committed to my degree!), and am therefore prioritising it ever so slightly over other areas of my life. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fitness freak (this will be illustrated on the 27th March when I stagger across the finish line about an hour after everyone else!) and I'd never choose running over social interaction on a regular basis, however I've definitely put my new hobby above watching what I eat. I'm unlikely to even be exercising enough to justify eating more however running definitely works up an appetite (perhaps it's because I spend the majority of the session thinking about what I'll have for dinner but that's besides the point). I know you can increase your calorie intake healthily however I think I find it difficult to be disciplined in two areas of my life so one of them had to go! In other words, if I'm going to force myself to run alone on a cold February's night then I bloody well will enjoy overindulging in the chocolate throughout the day!

I know in the grand scheme of things this shouldn't really matter. I'm not unhealthily overweight (I don't think...) and I'm probably the fittest I've been in a long while, however being such a shorty it's easy to look a bit on the chubby side. I also miss how eating healthily made me feel (the sense of smugness as I reached for an apple as opposed to a chocolate bar is a distant memory!). I guess it's all about achieving some kind of balance, which is pretty tough when you're more of an 'all or nothing' kind of person. Unfortunately at the moment this has taken on the meaning of 'all of the biscuits and none of the self control!' Bring on the running I say, surely it has to at least count towards balancing out my shameful diet?

Saturday 19 February 2011

There's a reason some films never make it to the cinema...

You know when you just fancy staying in with a glass (or two) of wine and a really good film? Tonight was one of those nights. Despite it being a Saturday I had no intention of venturing out, having hit the shops earlier to spend my HMV voucher as opposed to raid Top Shop for a new outfit. Armed with some bargains (two DVDs for a tenner? Amaze) I headed home to enjoy a relaxing evening in front of the TV. What a let down. My film of choice was 'The Rebound' and oh dear God it was horrendous. Maybe I'm being overly harsh but the string of bad films I seem to have watched recently has severely affected my tolerance when it comes to disappointing viewing.

The one thing certain to make me hate a film is a complete lack of believability. Don't get me wrong, I love ones that push the boundaries of reality as much as the next person however this doesn't necessarily work with every film genre. Black Swan makes this work this due to the very nature of its plot- when a film delves into the mind of a mentally ill ballerina it's never going to mirror reality. On the other hand, watching Zac Efron enjoying a romantic evening with a girl who is in actual fact stranded at sea on the brink of death in Charlie St Cloud takes things a step too far. Maybe it was also a sense of sheer ridiculousness which made me question the credibility of Piranha (or it could have been my inability to watch as the characters were maimed by crazy fish, either way this most definitely was not a hit). What's even more annoying is the fact that both of these films did manage to make it to the cinema...

Another recipe for a motion picture fail is when an unrealistic plot is accompanied by uninspiring main characters. I know the viewer isn't meant to identify, or even like, every character on screen but when you sit there thinking the leading lady is a complete idiot then surely they've got something wrong? Take The Switch for example. Without boring you with an entire plot synopsis, Jennifer Aniston wants a child however, without an eligible man on the scene, goes down a more unconventional route and enlists the help of a kindly stranger (and his sperm). Unfortunately, her 'best friend' drunkenly swaps the sperm sample (!) and ends up, unknowingly, fathering her child. As if that isn't already enough to make you press the eject button, even after Jen finds out about this little mix up, it only takes a brief falling out to make her realise that the sperm swapper is actually her true love. If it was me I'd find it pretty difficult to look past this behaviour and see this guy as relationship material but maybe I'm just cynical and missing the true romance of it all ("so how did you two get together?" "Well, he swapped my donor's sperm for his and the rest was history"- clearly the stuff dreams are made of).

It does appear that I have inherited my mum's bad taste when it comes to choosing dvds however I'm starting to see a pattern emerge (silly characters and unrealistic plots!) and so fingers crossed I won't make the same mistake next time I find myself in Blockbuster. Or maybe I'll just let someone else choose.