Howdy! I’m Phil and I’m 56. I worked for the NHS (mostly radiotherapy-related work) for over 32 years, but after my wife died from an untreatable cancer in early 2008, doing the job was a daily reminder of what happened to her, it was really getting to me mentally, so I retired early, on New Year’s Eve 2010. After a short break, I then retrained as a hypnotherapy practitioner and have this year started my own practice in lovely Devon.

The problem is that I was never skinny (I’m a big guy all round, always have been). But from rushing round like a cat on speed at work, for 30 odd years, I went to doing almost nothing and the pounds just piled on. So here I am, just starting the 5:2 plan.

You and me both! We only live around 9 miles from the coast though (between Exeter and the sea), so I suppose that will have to do for now.

Mind you, my partner & I do trawl the local property websites and indulge in a little ‘house & home porn’ now and again, so to speak.
😀

You like that? 🙂 I adopted it from my partner’s accusation that I’m continually surfing the net for ‘guitar porn’, as I love guitars (especially vintage ones) though I’m not myself a particularly good player myself.

StephB: Where in Derbyshire are you from?

Ahhh Beer? Really? Thank you, I must remember that. I think we’ve only been to a pub in Beer once and that was just after I moved down here, in May 2012.

I’m originally from South Normanton though, again, not too far from the Notts border and spent most of my working life in hospitals in Nottingham, Derby and finally Sheffield.