Thursday 29th April

67/84 Is this election nonsense getting on your nerves now? I have no idea who to vote for but it seems strange that someone who can call a dear old lady a bigot and who is very likely to get the least amount of votes will still be Prime Minister after May 6th! How does that work then? Anyway, more importantly, contest prep for both Marc & I is going well. I am with Eddie this weekend and also have posing practice with Kev Simonds again. If we do pics I'll put them on here next week but this pic is of Marc, still over 2 weeks out, looking much bigger than the 72 kgs that he currently is, like I said, all going well!

Sunday 25th April

63/84 Had a good week. Saw Eddie on Wednesday and he said that the top is almost in, so are the calves, with no sign of the problem that cost me the British title last year. However, the upper legs will come in last as usual and he gave me specific instructions on what to do while he went to the FIBO in Essen. That meant a lot of work at Body Limits, it is such a better gym than Atlas that I go there as much as possible this close to a show. We are in the zone now, everything has to be well planned, organised and executed. Marc is suffering but will see it through, I have no doubt about that. Here he is looking great at 4 weeks out, can you imagine how he will look on May 16th?

Monday April 19th

57/84 What is going on with this cloud of volcanic ash?! Have you heard the conspiracy theory yet about how it is a cover for UFO's to land here? No me neither but I feel that someone should invent that rumour and start circulating it! Had another good posing practice with Kev Simonds yesterday (see pic). Kev says that I'm a week or so behind and he is right so I will hit the diet hard before I see him again. No such problems for Marc, he is coming on dead on time, in fact he is looking so good that if he works hard enough over the next few days I might put one of the pictures from Saturdays inspection on here later in the week!

Friday April 16th

54/84 I do hope that you are not affected by this huge dust cloud, but that's what happens when you clean the Arsenal trophy cabinet! And did you watch the election debate? Is Clegg a viable alternative? You see I like Clegg, but I also like Cameron and Brown, but which is best? As Harry Hill would say there's only one way to find out - fight! Wouldn't that be great on primetime TV? Had a fantastic birthday night with Steve, Amy, Marc, Natalie & the Grandchildren last night, even cuddled my gorgeous Princess Lilybelle off to sleep! Here is a picture of her from Saturday, this is her "why are you taking even more photos of me Granddad?" face

Thursday April 15th

53/84. So Arsenal won nothing again (5 years!) and their season was ended by Spurs, what a great birthday present! Saw Eddie yesterday, he was pleased, said I look bigger, thicker and fuller than last year, then with his usual smile he slashed the amount of carbs on my diet sheet like he always does and trained me hard to make sure that I am spot on for May. That's why he's my coach and why we get on so well, minimal praise, maximum constructive criticism; it works! So no birthday cake for me when the kids come round tonight, which will mean more for Colby, or Colby cakes as we call him. Look at this picture taken on Saturday just before I cuddled him off to sleep and guess why?

Tuesday April 13th

51/84 So now we move into the critical stage of the diet and contest preparations. Marc is suffering but he really couldn't be any more spot on than he is at the moment and he just needs to look in the mirror to see that it will all be worthwhile. This coming Saturday we will have another look and I think that he will be surprised at just how much it is all coming through now. I will see Eddie tomorrow, do a workout with him and then let him have a look at me. He will then be brutally honest about what I need to do for the next 30 days to ensure constant improvement. Here's a picture from Sunday, as you can see it is all coming in about right at the moment but there is still a lot of work to do.

Sunday 11th April

49/84 Well I have just had a brilliant weekend. Not even the atrocious refereeing of Alan Wiley which cost Spurs an FA cup final place could spoil it! On Saturday I had virtually my entire family round for an early Birthday party which lasted most of the day. My Dad is almost 70 now yet he is still the life and soul of any party, I dearly love him and everyone else that was here. Today I had posing practice with my mate Kev Simonds which was very hard work but I learnt a lot of very useful stuff, thanks Kev, I owe you one mate. I have so many great pictures from the weekend, but this one is my favourite, Caden as ever, stole the show on Saturday, I think that he wants to be a fireman when he grows up!

Monday 5th April

43/84 Although I have been helping some others with their show preparations this year, the diet is kicking in now and energy levels are lower than usual, so I'm just concentrating on getting Marc and myself ready for May 16th. The photo shoot at the weekend went well, I am pleased with myself but even more pleased with Marc. Here's a picture of his back which is almost in already, not bad for 70kg. When the front is in I will put a picture of that on here too. I have posing practice this coming Sunday with my good friend Kev Simonds http://sites.google.com/site/kevsimondsglobaltravels/ Kev is an experienced bodybuilder who will give me some tips so that the extra muscle that I have built over the winter can be properly showcased.

Friday April 2nd

40/84 Another good week completed at the gym. Saw my good friend the Rev. John Lennon today, I rarely need motivating but on Good Friday when other people are away on holiday and I'm in the gym it did help. John teaches me LAP - Life Application Principles. I'll use them in the gym and on here in coming weeks. Tomorrow, as we are nearly half way through contest preparation, Marc & I will have a photo shoot to analyse what we need to do for the final 6 weeks. I never ask Marc to do anything that I don't do myself, one of John's LAP's is "Leaders lead by example" so that's exactly what I do. Finally, here's another picture of Caden & I from Wednesday, at nap time. Yeah, like that kid is going to sleep when it's playtime at Granddads house!

Thursday April 1st

Todays blog is devoted to my darling daughter Natalie who yesterday had her final wisdom tooth removed. She has been in agony but is ok now and I'm so relieved, whenever she is in pain I am in pain. I had Caden for most of the day while she was at the private clinic where she was well looked after. Caden was fantastic as usual, the time that I spend with him is the happiest time of my life. Here he is at "snack time" he does actually like my chicken and rice diet, but I think that he prefers his own diet of chocolate frogs and bourbon biscuits!