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"From out of the dark"

From Out Of The Dark

From out of the dark is a collection of 6 songs finished during the infamous Covid lockdown of 2020, drawing musical influences from many different genres and based on different themes close to my heart.

Some with a narrative, others about how I felt a particular junction in life, playing music, writing and recording songs has been a great outlet for me and helped me deal with and express myself in a productive fashion.

With no single genre over the six songs I decided to put them out as From out of the dark, to show how something good can come from the darkness. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making them.

I appreciate so much all the friends and family who have helped critique these tracks ready for public consumption. Thanks also to my younger sister, Hannah, for providing her vocal talents and lyric writing on two of the songs.

Please listen below and follow me on all of my social networks using the links above.

Matt x

#WeightLossUpdate 13 months on.

The diet has been going now for roughly 13 or so months. My previous blog on my weight loss challenge I worked out I started out back then at about 24 stone before making a conscious effort to improve both my health and appearance.

In the colder months it has been more difficult remaining disciplined in what I've been choosing to eat. It's winter; it's soon to be Christmas - all you want to do is eat rich, fattening comfort foods and treats, punctuated with sweet mulled wines and ciders. 

I think the reason I'm able to continue is that I've not cut out any food group completely at all - I just avoid a carb heavy diet, but do eat some rather than going full Atkins, making healthier substitutions where I can (I don't eat any bread though as I just enjoy it too much - pretty sure 1 slice would quickly escalate into 1 million loaves,). I still drink - but avoid beers and ciders replacing them with whisky, gin and other shorts with diet mixers. 

In fact I did have to up my food intake slightly, after having a couple of days at work where I felt incredibly faint throughout the day - I've upped my breakfast to include 40g of porridge, a fat free yoghurt and some grapes along with my trusty banana. I haven't gained any weight from doing this - quite the opposite - and I find I have much more energy in the day. 

I have upped my weight lifting, doing 2 sessions a day instead of 1. This was because with the cold nights drawing in I've stopped walking home from work but wanted to maintain my exercise. I'm thinking about taking up swimming as well to make sure I keep my legs active. 

My lunch is the same - 40g wholewheat pasta and veg, and then my main meal is often but not exclusively salad based. I just happen to really enjoy my salad! I'm trying to eat earlier of an evening as well, doing my second set of weights after tea to work through some of those calories. 

This seems to be working so far, and at my most recent weigh in I was at 13St & 12lb. Just over a 10St loss in total. Not too shabby. 

It's definitely nice having people notice the improvement, and I definitely feel better. I recently registered at our local doctors and had my first ever good blood pressure reading. 

After:

Before:

These blogs are just for me really as a bit of a journal, but feel free to comment with any thoughts or questions. Thanks for reading. 

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