The diary was full today with children, meetings, children, work, children, gym, taking the kids to my parents and then dinner with Dad this evening. The joys of half term… So the walk had to be done early. To be honest, I wasn’t terribly motivated and I lay in bed from 6 to 6:30 trying to find a good reason to get up. I was finally up and out at 6:45, back by 7:15.

I felt like a bad parent heading out for the meetings and leaving the children to fend for themselves, but Lily is 11 now and ought to be able to be able to look after the two of them – and to be fair she did. So they were left home-alone for three hours this morning. They also got another hour and a half to themselves this afternoon when I went to the gym. When I came back the place was fine and they had also packed their bags for their stay with my parents. It’s almost like they’ve been trained.

The session at the gym went well, but it was busy. The exercises that I did were heavier and for longer than I had in the past, but there was no getting on the Smith machine which virtually had a queue for all the time that I was there. I did a few extra squats, but couldn’t hang around because in my head the children were probably demolishing a new bit of the house with every minute that passed.

This evening Dad and I went out to Liverpool for a pint, a meal and a good old catch-up. We went to Bem Brasil, which is where Jude and I (and the children) had gone for my birthday last year. It’s a Brasilian steakhouse where there is an endless supply of meat, and I think we tried all of them… and the pineapple – because it’s the law (I’m told). It was much tastier than the last time we visited – I think that the quality of the food is directly proportional to the number of people in the restaurant. I doubt that there is much incentive to cook twenty different types of meat if there is only one table occupied. The meat tonight was very tasty, fresh and there was plenty of it.

So all my good work on the diet has probably been trashed with one tasty meatilicious meal. It’s a price worth paying, I think.

We then pottered over to Flanagan’s Apple in Mathew Street for a pint (or a Becks Blue for the nominated driver). That place is like an oasis of calm surrounded by the usual Mathew Street craziness. They usually have music on, but sadly there was some football, so the pub was full of zombies staring at the screens. Oh, and Dad and I.

So as I write this I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. I think that I’ll try and get a teeny tiny lie in tomorrow while the children are away.

Day 49: 3.4km walk and 45 minutes at the gym. And about 10 kilos of assorted meats. Nom!