The difference between a boy and a man
On Thursday my youngest son was due home from University. As I haven’t seen him since just after Christmas I was sure he would notice how much weight I had lost – after all it’s over a stone. So I headed off to pick him up from the train station hopeful that he would say something. I really should have known better.
Now don’t get me wrong. I didn’t expect it to be the first thing he said. But by the time we were halfway home I’d heard about everything he wanted to tell me from Uni, we talked about family and friends and how everyone is and we’d even managed to discuss the EU referendum in quite a lot of detail. So when he started to move on to talking about football (he’s a Manchester United fan while I support Sunderland) I decided I’d had enough and had to say something. It went a bit like this.
Me: Do you think I look any different
Joe: Uh. What. No. Why. Are you still not well?
Me: No Joe, I’m fine. Do you not think I’ve lost weight
Joe: Dunno really. I haven’t seen you since Christmas so can’t really tell.
Silence followed for a few minutes with me wondering why I bother if even my own son hasn’t noticed any difference. Then Joe broke the silence by saying ‘Are we going to the shops before we go home?”
So off we went to the supermarket with me still wondering if all the calorie counting and lack of chocolate was really worth the effort. As we wondered round I was contemplating buying things I haven’t eaten in weeks. Chicken and chorizo paella? Steak and kidney pie? Chocolate trifle? All really tempting.
I was just about to give in when I spotted my Nephew wandering towards us. And the conversation we had restored all my faith and gave me just the boost I needed. You see it went something like this:
Me: You ok?
David: Not bad. You’ve lost loads of weight. You look great.
Me: Thank you. Over a stone. Joe didn’t even notice.
David (while looking at Joe): You’ve got to be joking
Joe: Uh, whatever (before returning his focus to his phone)
So as I went to get weighed this morning I thought about those two conversations. Conversations that really showed the difference between a boy (who’s only interested in himself) and a man (who notices what’s happening around him) and hoped David’s encouragement had managed to pay off.
And the result is………..
Another 3 pound lost
Another 3 pound lost. That’s a total of 18lb in just 8 weeks. More than I could ever have hoped for. And only 10 pound to go to reach my target of 2 stone by my birthday, which isn’t until August. And of course another £3 for the Charlie Cookson Foundation
And while I don’t really want to frighten anyone – I thought it was time to share a picture of my happy face after I got off the scales. So here goes. No make-up and hair tied back but definitely happy……………
And my tip of the week is……………………..
Just because someone close to you doesn’t notice what you’ve achieved it doesn’t mean the rest of the world isn’t impressed
If you’re impressed with my success you can add to my £’s for pounds at www.justgiving.com/5iftyby5ifty
5iftyby5ifty 
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