Matt Rutherford in the dictionary?

Not sure how to take that – but I think its kinda cool…

40 by 40 – to save myself…

I nicknamed myself bigman – sort of – I started DJ’ing somewhere and a few people called me it…’Hi, Big Man…hows it going’? I thought it was funny, and so came up with a little rhyme when I had the mic in my hand, “the Big Man with the big plan”, and it stuck.

It was fun, and deserved – I’m a big man, I take 3XL (and struggle to find stuff I like) – and I’m well overweight and seriously unfit, my weight affects my health, my work, the fun I can have and the places I can go. It stops me buying certain clothes – and it makes me lazy. I’m not stupid, and I know all the facts – obesity is a major cause of health problems, diabetes and heart disease.

And I don’t want to die.

So today is a marked day in my calendar – its my birthday next week, and I’ve set myself a target to lose some weight and regain some fitness – and maybe add a few birthdays onto my life. If I write this down, it’ll seem more possible to me – that’s what I do at work, big projects never look quite as complicated when they are written down and you can see the stages.

I’ve set myself a long timeline, but a massive target – I’m going to lose 40 kilos, by the time I’m 40 – that’s two years and one week away.  I’ve joined the gym and I’m adjusting my diet, I’m starting gently with exercise – but I’m absolutely determined to see this through and save my own life. Then I can be my own hero.

The only slightly geeky part – I’ll be tracking my weight loss, and exercise online at Traineo – click here to see my profile. if you swing by here and you have any tips (specifically regarding staying motivated) then I’d love to hear them.

I’ll still be theBIGman….right?

I still think we’re rich…

My Mum is an author – for the last two nights I’ve read through her first book – ‘And I thought we were rich’ which tells stories about her childhood growing up after the war – focusing on my Grandparents. Its a lovely book, and brings back fond memories of my grandparents – its written for us, for the family and the next generations who will have less and less to fall back on. In an age where so much of life is on blogs, flickr and email, it was really nice to have something solid and important to read. Thanks Mum.

Two days in London

A couple of days of meetings in the Soho office this week – new stuff to get excited about at work…had lunch in my favourite Japanese place again yesterday – Taro – with amazing Beef Teryaki Don…superb, and cheap, and only 50m from the office door. I still hate the train, still hate the tube even more – manage to endure it by coming home to my new car. I added some new features to the site this week – a log of my delicious links – with the most recent running in the sidebar over there…so you can see what I’ve been bookmarking, and I’ve started to add some work to the flyer gallery. I’m pleased with how the site is looking now – nice and clean – with some useful features…my traffic is steadily increasing as well – if you are new, then hi…stick around and leave a comment, I’d love to know who is reading!

Family Ties

The closest to a claim to fame – my famous relative.

The truth is out there…

…and I must confirm the rumours that I am moving jobs. After six and a half fantastic years at Mars/ISI I am leaving to go and work for Microsoft. My role will be kind of similar, managing a support team, but this time focused on specific product – the MSN Search engine. I am amazingly excited by the new challenge, and the fact I’ll be working for such an prestigious company. I’ll still be based in Reading – but of course, I imagine I’ll be travelling as much as I do now. If you’re visiting here because you’ve left Mars/ISI – then you may want to know that I’m having a leaving party – May 19th at 7.30pm – at The Slug and Lettuce in Reading. Hope to see you there – drop me a note, or leave a comment if you can make it.

I finally realised…

That my mum has entered the 21st century, when I saw her add me to MSN messenger at the weekend…how they grow so fast, it seems like only yesterday she sent me an email for the first time!