The Great Exhibition and another reason to lose weight

So I've been to the Dinghy Exhibition at Alexandra Palace. I took my two daughters and Ben, a young friend, and we spent pretty much all day there. I saw loads of boats, loads of gear, visited the Enterprise Association stand, met loads of old friends, listened to an RYA coach explaining how I can 'go faster without spending a penny' and bought myself a new spray top. A good day was had by all in all.

Jo, my youngest daughter and also my crew, responded to the plea from the Enterprise association for young people to be on the stand. She spent from 10am to gone 12pm explaining and demonstrating the new 'Flyaway jib-stick'. It's a good job we tried it on Goosy just before the end of the last season so she did at least have some awareness of how it works and what the advantages are.

One of the good things about the exhibition is that you have the chance of looking at a load of gear and investigate, and try on, to determine the best gear for you - and buy whatever it is, sometimes cheaper than you might through the more usual channels. For me the downside was finding out the hard way why it is not good to put on weight - it means you have to get the XXL size. Trying the XL size spraytop is just plain embarrassing and having to ask if they have any XXLs and owning up to the fact that basically I'm just too dam fat is even worse - like what buisness have I got even thinking I can do this sport!!!

There are all kinds of really good reasons for getting your weight down closer to your ideal level and the bookshelves of bookshops groan under the sheer volume of books telling you how to do it But being motivated to do it is another thing altogether. Just facing the fact of your weight problem is bad enough - you already feel like a failure - but how can you beat a problem if you don't acknowledge that it's there? You can't so you just have to face it and work out how to overcome it and I suspect that it is mostly in the head.

I don't like the idea of these fancy diets, you might lose weight but unless you have a change of lifestyle you are doomed to put it all back on again. I much prefer the idea that you make changes that lead to a healthier and fitter life and part of that is understanding how you got to be where you are, what is going on in the head.

One thing I am trying, and it is a small thing, is no longer taking sugar in my tea. I don't know if it will really help but I figure its a step in the right direction.

Next on the list is to reduce food intake and do more exercise. This is the tough bit. I already spend too long sitting still and studying and nibbling food is all too easy. So I need to work out a strategy to accomplish this. Ideas and suggestions are invited. The good thing is that once the sailing season starts I will invariable lose weight through the summer but this time I want to keep it that way through the winter.