It has been over a week since my straightedge lifestyle has finished. Lots of my friends are asking me if I've fallen back in to my old lifestyle, if i've started drinking loads again.

I say, "Of course I haven't", but really I should say, "Well, kind of". In all honesty I've kept a little bit of my straightedge lifestyle and I've gone back to a little bit of my old, unhealthy lifestyle.

I'm still going to the gym but not twice a week like I used to. I'm finding that I'm making excuses not to go but when I do go I work hard there. As for takeaways, I've been to the chip show twice or so since last week. Not good, I know. Think of it like this though. Before my period of straightedge I used to go three to four times a week, which wasn't healthy for me.

Finally, I come to alcohol.I used to binge drink in the first year. So much so that when my friends asked me if I wanted to go to the LRV dressed as a woman, I did it. Not a highlight of my life.

A picture of THAT night

I've just come back from the Ember Lounge(Student Union) and it was awesome. Not because of the people I was there with, not because there was something great going on but because for the first time in nearly two months I had a beer.

It was like tasting beer for the first time.....well since the first time over ten years ago.



I won't lie to you guys because I feel by now we can tell each other anything. I felt quite drunk even after one beer. I felt like a girl whose over-done it on the VK Cherry.

We went to watch the football but for the life of me I can't remember who.

I'm going to attempt going to Gobble this Wednesday for the Christmas Party but I don't think I will last too long.

So.....my straightedge lifestyle finishes tomorrow (5th December). Whilst it has been tough to stick to the five rules and whilst there have been a few blips along the way, I feel that it has been largely beneficial.

Rather than write a long, boring post about it, I decided to write a poem to commemorate my last day as a 'straight edge' soldier.

Here goes...

For this blog, I gave up the Booze,
I thought it would be fun, just like a cruise,
But now I know, it's harder than it looks,
Perhaps I should have read some informative books,
I've craved alcohol, pepsi, tea and junk food,
The lack of these things put me in such a mood,
Despite all this, there are positives that I see,
I've lost weight and it's all down to straightedge and me.

Hope you all enjoyed this 'poem'.

Throughout this period of straightedge, which is now into it's seventh week, I have been attending the gym frequently with Darren and George,

When I say frequently, I get the feeling people think I'm going four to five times a week. This is simply NOT the case. When I say frequently I mean around two times a week....at a push.

My little weedy arms and legs couldn't stand anymore days at the place where the motto is quite clearly 'Brawn over Brain'.

There is two basic sections to the gym: the cardio-vascular area (featuring such items as the treadmill,rowing machine and bikes) and the weight resistance machines(lat pull down and shoulder press)

I won't lie to you, my loyal followers. I tend to stay in the cardio area around 99.9% of the time. The other 0.01% I'll spend chatting to my friends in the 'muscle' area.

Anyway, I digress, After seven weeks of gymage I have been updating my weight loss on the main page. There's been steady drops in weight throughout the last month and a half but only minor, nothing to shout about.

That's why, during my pre-boxing match like weigh in, I was astounded to find out I had dropped a whopping 4lbs. It was pretty special but would probably not be nominated for this years 'Besties'.

When asked by George how I felt, I replied 'Lighter'.

When I think back to when I started this blog, I remember feeling optimistic. I remember being really excited about it and wanting to start as soon as possible. It quickly became apparent that the key to being straightedge was having other people around you who were straightedge.

That was my problem, I didn't have anyone like that around me. That night at the LRV was kind of like the last straw. Being surrounded by drunken messes did not really help my straightedge lifestyle.

I found this video on YouTube the other day, it really gave me more of an insight into the straightedge lifestyle. It made me realise the the straightedge movement is a lot more than just not drinking and taking drugs. It's about keeping yourself 'pure' to a certain degree.

Since September, myself and my two friends ,Darren and Tom, have been playing a game of Football Manager. For anyone who doesn't know what Football Manager is, it's a long running, football management simulation game that allows players to take over as manager over there favourite football team.


In our game, I'm my beloved Birmingham City, Darren's Reading FC and little old Tom is Derby County . I can't explain how addictive this game is. We regularly play for seven hours plus.

The best thing about our Football Manager sessions is alcohol. It makes us (obviously) drunk and allows the banter to flow. For example, when we're playing our matches, we take a leaf out of cult football show 'Soccer Saturday'. We'll behave like we are actually there in the studio and are giving minute by minute coverage of our matches.

It's kind of lame but we like it.

In one of our great seasons we made a bet where the person who finished highest would get £5 off the other two of us...Darren won. We also had a prize for the player whose team got the most bookings. That person would be the recipient of a condom. Tom was that man.

Me, Tom and Darren at the prize giving.

Sundays are known as the day of rest. A day when families go to church,mosque and temple or sit down to have a Sunday Dinner(mainly consisting of a meat,potatoes and veg).

Unfortunately, as I am no longer a Christian(long story) and I can't afford to go home to sample my moms Sunday roast, I'm forced to eat whatever is in my cupboard at my humble Uni house.

Today, that amounted to a stale loaf of bread, a jar of marmite and some gravy granules. Luckily George and Darren(yes, they are mentioned again but they're not my only friends) were making homemade pizzas and, being the nice lads that they are, invited me to join them.

We purchased the ingredients needed from Sainsbury's. Only cost us about £1.60 each. Bargain!


After about 20 minutes of preparation I managed to put together this masterpiece. It consisted of Ham,Chicken and Onions(as well as the default Cheese and Tomatoes)


I put it into the oven for about 15 minutes. I burnt myself when putting it in, my fault for not wearing oven gloves really. Mine is the top one...I think!


Out it came and it looked (in the words of Stacey from Gavin & Stacey) LUSH. I won't lie to my loyal readers, I ate it very quickly. I'm not sure if I even chewed.


All in all, I'd say it was a good day.A very good day indeed.

YOU KNOW WHAT? I miss alcohol. I miss takeaways, chocolate,crisps and I miss tea a hell of a lot more than those previously mentioned. Being able to dunk a custard cream into a 'brew' was my only salvation.

I absolutely regret doing this idea for my blog now. My near non-existent social life has actually become non-existent. This can be attributed to just one thing about my straightedge lifestyle...no alcohol.

The best moments of the last five years have all involved alcohol or alcohol related incidents, as sad as it may seem. I don't have a wife, I don't have kids and I certainly am not involved in any sports clubs so all the winners of 'The Besties' (the imaginary award for the best moments) have been alcohol induced.

What I imagine a 'Bestie' looks like!

Dear Straightedge and Me God, Today, Sunday 15th November, I have sinned.

OK, so maybe I should backtrack a little bit.

I've just been to the 1PW (One Pro Wrestling), the biggest wrestling company in the United Kingdom, show in Doncaster.



It was awesome. Some of my favourite wrestlers were there, both American and British.

One of those wrestlers was a Canadian guy named Steve Corino. Although I've never been a huge fan of Steve, I've always liked his in ring work but I really gained respect for the guy after me and Darren spent nearly 30 minutes talking to him in the freezing cold even though he had a match in an hour.

The awesome Steve Corino

So after watching around seven hours of wrestling the show finished around half 11. I don't mean to offend anyone in Doncaster but I was starving and there was NOTHING open...except for McDonalds. I'm sure by now you're probably thinking "Isn't that one of the five rules". I respond by saying "Yes". In my defence, I had nothing to eat all day and the cheeseburger I purchased was amazing. This was probably down to the fact that I hadn't had eaten all day. I hope the powers that be accept my little blip and let me off.

I apologise to all my 'loyal' followers

Anyways, peace out.

Why do people go to the Gym? Yeah, I know that part of it is to keep in shape and bulk up but beyond that I just don't see the appeal. As one of my five rules I am required to attend the gym at least twice a week.

I purchased a semester pass at a heartbreaking £54 so it will force me to attend and get me off my arse. Luckily I have two friends that I'm going with, Darren and George. George has already been mentioned a few times on this blog and will probably be mentioned a few too many times by the 18th December.

The thing I hate most about the gym is that there are people actually in the gym itself. My low self esteem kicks into overdrive and I am forced to stick to the treadmill and bikes. If I went on things like the weights or anything else muscular related I will look like a pansy.

I plod along.

I've been told in the past that,in life, you don't need to drink alcohol to have a good time. Well, after tonight at the LRV (Union Venue) I am seriously considering finding whoever gave me that insane piece of wisdom and forcing them to endure a sober night in the LRV.

It seems that being sober around peeps who are very,very drunk isn't the best idea on the world. It makes peoples faults shine through bucket loads, sometimes even friends.

I look really drunk here.....I'm not.

So the all knowing Wikipedia defines Straightedge as a lifestyle and youth movement that started within the hardcore punk subculture whose adherents make a lifetime commitment to refrain from drinking alcohol, using tobacco products, and taking any recreational drugs.

I became familiar with straightedge on a trip to Wales to visit my friend Jack at University when I met a girl called Olivia who told me she was Straightedge. To be honest I had no idea what it meant. Needless to say, she filled me in on it straight away.

Since then I have encountered many straightedge followers. At the Reading Music Festival 2007 I met two guys who had been doing it for a couple of years. They said they wouldn't want to drink any alcohol again and even if they did, they would be hammered off one beer.

Couple this with the fact that one of my favourite wrestlers, yes I like wrestling, called CM Punk (below)is straightedge and you can see why I kind of chose it as my blog reason.


I'll leave you with a dose of wisdom that a friend of mine once gave me; Don't wear socks with sandles. Random, I know.

Toodles.

After over 8000 days on this planet and countless amounts of takeaways I decided to cut out all things that are deemed to be bad for me.....including the aforementioned takeaways. Bad Luck. Now I am faced with only two foodical (is that even a word) options. I could either cut out food all together and go on the Hannah Ashworth diet (she was an anorexic, its a Hollyoaks reference) OR I could actually learn to cook.

Well, this was a huge shock to the system, me being an emotional lacking android and all.

After much deliberation I went for the cooking option. The next massive decision that I faced was what I should make as my first meal. My choices were limited due to the fact that a)I haven't cooked anything from scratch in my life , and b) I am pretty much skint.

I then remembered that I saw my friend George cook a Shepards Pie a few days previously. He told me that it was pretty easy to do, cheap to make and ,if done properly, was delicious.

Carrots, Onions, Mince and Gravy is all that I required. Done. An hour and a half later and I had cooked my first culinary delight, well hardly but it was nice, very nice indeed. The best thing is, the leftovers will last me for two more dinners.....RESULT!

Since I can't drink alcohol or soft drinks for the next two months, when I'm out I am forced to drink either water or spend a little money on a bottle of J20.

At £1.40 a time (in the union)and with only about three full swigs in the bottle, J2O seem overpriced and over-rated but I don't agree. I find myself drinking them like they are going out of fashion. They are the Morcambe to my Wise, the Baddiel to my Skinner. I could say they complete me but that's going a bit over the top.
Orange and Passion-fruit flavour is my preferred choice. Isn't that amazing.

Just look at the healthy break down...

As part of my five rules I have vowed to attend the University's fine gym at least twice a week. A big step towards that was actually having my gym induction...which lasted about two minutes(being generous).

After that me and my mate George did a solid hour of workout at the previously mentioned gym. Well, when I say we, I really mean George. I sucked.

Ten minutes of biking and running respectively and I was cream crackered(knackered). One plus point,however, was that I got to weigh myself. The downside was that I weighed in at a huge 11st 8lbs. My aim is to have lost at least half a stone by the time this thing is done. Fingers crossed.

I will have a video up within the next couple of days of me attempting to make some food...from scratch.

Laters all!

Saturday 17th October 2009 was a landmark day in the life of Richard James Taylor (that's me!) as it saw the final day that I could partake in some of the things that I love in life. Below I will talk about some of these things that will really hit me hard.


Takeaways are amazing. I don't know why, but they just are. I think out of everything, I will miss this the most. Goodbye old friend.

Alcohol, oh alcohol, how I will miss thee. Many of the best moments in life thus far have involved some form of this.

Whenever I feel thirsty I reach for a soft drink. They quench my thirst and are delicious. This is an underdog for things I'll miss the most.

I don't know about anyone else but when I wake up in the morning/afternoon (depending on whether I had much of picture 4 to drink the night before) a cup of tea is the BEST way to start the day. This has the potential to drive me crazy.

So...here are the rules that ,come midnight on Sunday 18th October 2009,I will follow strictly and with devotion.

DRINKAGE-Alcohol,tea/coffee or fizzy drinks will NOT be drank.

JUNK FOOD- No takeaways, frozen or convenience food will be consumed. Crisps, chocolate and other treats like this will also be banned.

OUTGOING ME-I must go out to a club or a pub for more than two hours every week so my resolve can be truly tested.

HEALTHYNESS-The gym must be attended at least two times a week.

ANTI-DRUGS-I will not take ANY drugs (unless really needed).