The dilemma

I’ve not made the best of starts in training for our grand sports challenge. Its only the middle of September and I go and get a cold/horrifically debilitating bout of man flu that’s prevented me from doing pretty much any form of exercise (though all the sneezing has given my intercostal muscles a good work out I suppose). I can’t really say that I’ve done much organising or structuring of my fitness regime either; so far I’ve read a few copies of Shortlist magazine. Unfortunately for every well intentioned article on health and fitness there are three advocating the mass consumption of meat and beer.

Which links nicely to my current dilemma, a quandary that has been gnawing away at the back of my brain for the past few weeks, like a mischievous little hamster. In it’s simplest terms; do I get fit or get fat? To put this into context you have to understand that at the time of typing this I am Sealand’s only recognised front row forward (I played youth rugby for about a decade before academia and earning a wage got in the way). A position I last played when I was 17 years old and weighed 18 stone. Just under 10 years on and 5 stone lighter I’m not so confident I’ll be able to compete with the big boys. I can’t take all the credit for my weight loss either with three poverty stricken years at university (at which time my dilemma was whether to eat or drink as I couldn’t afford both, with a predictable victory for the alcohol) taking on the brunt of the work.

So now with experience but not body shape on my side I’m torn between getting as fit as possible so I can shift around the park and make it to every break down (even if I get pummelled upon arrival) and using all the wonders of man made processed foods to bulk up and put a bit of weight in to each tackle (if I’m able to catch anyone). It’s the classic moral dilemma of good versus evil; abstinence, dedication and hard work on the one side, a tempting world of fried chicken, kebabs and generalised gluttony on the other. I know which sounds the more fun to me.