17: Halftime

I know it's September and it's technically the start of autumn, but I've only just managed to shoe-horn a week off work - a consequence of being self-employed - and am enjoying some much needed time-out in a relaxed Ionian idyll.

The day before departing Scotland I had a monthly evaluation with Luke Bremner. Considering my Fringe Festival naughtiness (way too much alcohol) and the less intensive gym workouts (due to my IT-band problem), the stats weren't bad at all. Waist and chest measurements down, body fat down, lean mass up a little.

Suddenly my vacation, and week away from the gym, feels like a natural halftime for me.

Over the past five and a half months I've achieved a lot with Luke. Looking at my initial goals and incentives - most have either been met or I'm well on the way to reaching them.

My goals were to lose the "spare tyre" around my mid-rift and have a flatter stomach. Tick. I wanted to swap the "moobs" for pecs, start developing my biceps, and lose weight but replace it with muscle. All of these are underway.

My incentives were: new motorcycle leathers. Not on order yet, but will be soon. Be able to change body type status of online profiles from 'average' to either 'athletic' or 'toned'. Tick. Find Mr Right. Tick.

Prior to the evaluation, Luke and I had agreed that I'd continue working with him for another 6 months. I'm loving what's happening to me - both physically and mentally - with his input. I'm now interested to see what we can achieve by March 2015.

However on Thursday Mr Bremner asked me the killer question: "What do you want to achieve in the next 6 months?" My answer was simple. "I don't know. I'm really going to have to think about that."

There's no doubt that my original aims and objectives kept me focused and committed to my fitness regime. I'm also excited to see where the next half of my personal training programme will take me. But in order to sustain my current motivation I need these new goals.

So for the next few days, whilst enjoying the warmth of some late summer sunshine, I'm going to contemplate this dilemma. Regardless of what I decide, I know the second half will be as beneficial to me as the first one was.