Again thank you to everyone who has offered support over the past week – I appreciate it.
This past week has been okay—not as completely squeaky clean as week 1, but that’s because I planned for Saturday (I did warn you about that). Even then, I tracked my food intake, so I was fully aware of what I was eating and the choice I’d made to eat it. (For the record, Saturday was Destination Scandinavia, and we had a plan-friendly mackerel and beetroot salad to start, followed by a Norwegian fish soup that required three of my seven weekly indulgence points.)
The week wasn’t as inventive food-wise either at the start of the week, and that did get me down a bit – it certainly got Grant down. He sighed when he looked at meat and salad for the third night (Sun, Mon, Tues). The protein had changed, but the salad was the same. He made the mistake of asking how long we’d be doing this, to which I reminded him that we’d made lifetime changes for his diabetes, and as I had 30kgs to lose, this, too, was our new life. He seemed to accept this.
Anyways, the lesson from this is to avoid boredom, the time spent on the menu planning thing is not wasted.
On the upside, the rogue tomato plant that grew from last year’s plant is keeping us well-stocked with plump, round, super-sweet cherry tomatoes. We eat them in salads, and I have them with a poached egg in the mornings or as a snack.
We had one failure on the meal front from an unexpected source. Actually, when I say failure it was more that it wasn’t to our taste – and when I say it wasn’t to our taste what I mean was we wanted a voluptuous Thai Green Curry and instead I made a version that wasn’t that. Sure, it still tasted Thai green curry-ish, but it didn’t have the mouth feel of our usual Thai green curry.
The recipe was from a normally trusted source and involved pimping some store-bought curry paste with onions, ginger and garlic and then blending it with a bag of spinach, some coriander, light coconut milk and stock. The chicken and a heap of green veg were then cooked in this (very green) sauce.
As I said, it tasted good, but we found the sauce a tad watery, and Grant didn’t enjoy the texture of the blitzed spinach and coriander. I’ll save my indulgence allocation for the real thing with coconut cream in the future and do without in the meantime.
Speaking of real things, after last week’s success with zero beer, we tried Guinness’s version—Guinness 0.0—on Saturday night. The draught cans have the same satisfying shhhh, and the head is as creamy as it should be. While it doesn’t have the depth of real Guinness, that chocolatey, coffee, malty, hoppy bitterness is still there, making it a good alcohol-free substitute.
Last week’s exercise…
On the exercise front, we had a week of thunderstorms, so I managed just one swim. More importantly, for the first time in a long time, I swam 1km. It’s a long way from the 2 km I used to do in my lunch hour back in the day, but I’m coming back, baby!
Other than that:
- we did the 5 at 5 (5 kms at 5 am) Monday-Thursday – including two mornings in the rain – and also Friday afternoon and Sunday
- I did a shorter afternoon walk on four days
- Two strength sessions
- One dance-fit class
How am I feeling?
For a start, I’m not sleeping any better – despite the no alcohol thing. My Fitbit tells me I’m sleeping differently, ie more REM, but it’s taking me longer to get to sleep, and I’m still waking multiple times during the night and waking well before my 4.20 am alarm. I’ve always taken a herbal sleeping tablet and read for a half hour or so to wind down, so I think it’s something I just need to train myself better on. Grant tells me I’m not snoring as much so I suppose that’s a good thing.
My resting heart rate is the lowest it’s been in many, many years, and my heart rate variability is the highest it’s been in about the same time. These numbers tell me I’m getting fitter even if I’m not feeling any different yet. As I’ve said before, I don’t have great body awareness, so I rely on numbers to show improvements. I’ll talk more about this next week.
The number on the scale has begun to move in the right direction.
On the menu last week…
Again, breakfasts were simple – a poached egg on a single slice of rye sourdough. Lunches each day were salads with either poached chicken or tuna. Snacks were an apple or rye crispbread with cottage cheese and tomato.
Evening meals were:
- Pork chops and salad
- Steak and Salad
- Lamb chops with pea, mint and feta salad (there’s a similar recipe for the pea salad on the Fast 800 app)
- Very green Thai green curry
- Spice-crusted pork fillet roast with a warm white bean salad
- Destination Scandinavia (see above)
- Leftover spice-crusted pork fillet with Asian greens
We went out twice – once for breakfast on Friday (avocado on rye – I skipped lunch after this) and lunch on Sunday (Vietnamese chicken noodle soup)
The week ahead…
Next Sunday is our annual put up the Christmas tree celebration. There will be champagne, and I will drink it. There will also be pastries and nibbly bits, and I’ll enjoy them too. It just means I’ll need to be tighter with my food units during the week and save the indulgences for Sunday.
And Anyways... 
Hi Jo I love that you are documenting your Excess Baggage project as you will inspire others and also keep yourself accountable. The first few weeks can be hard getting into a new routine and your idea of planning when you will relax your goals is good. There is no way we can put up the Christmas Tree without champagne! xx
Hi Jo I love that you are documenting your Excess Baggage project as you will inspire others and also keep yourself accountable. The first few weeks can be hard getting into a new routine and your idea of planning when you will relax your goals is good. There is no way we can put up the Christmas Tree without champagne! xx
Thanks Sue… and no, the tree can’t be put up without ceremony.
Very inspiring Jo, it’s great that you and your husband are doing this together. I think that’s what let’s people down. I still need motivation.
Thanks Alison. We’re sort of not doing it together – he has type 2 diabetes but has lost all his weight and has it all under control. Our evening meals haven’t changed a lot – while he has rice I’m not – and he shouldn’t be eating pasta anyway. The biggest changes for me have been during the day and the no alcohol thing.
Thanks Alison. We’re sort of not doing it together – he has type 2 diabetes but has lost all his weight and has it all under control. When he was first diagnosed I switched him across to a low GI diet (which I’d been doing for years) and with all the daily steps the weight fell off him. I, however, lost nothing at the time – too much grazing during the day – I worked from home.. Our evening meals haven’t changed a lot – while he has rice I’m not – and he shouldn’t be eating pasta anyway. The biggest changes for me have been during the day and the no alcohol thing. It really is a head game, isn’t it?
It’s the snacks and the alcohol isn’t it. I love a small bowl of crisps with my wine
Aaaah wine, how do I miss thee, wine…
I am super impressed with your level of accountability and your commitment to the excess baggage project. Menu planning is definitely worth the time. My nemesis is still the chocolate and the snacking. I’m back to pre France weight but still have lots to go. Your motivation to yourself is a motivation to me. Have a good week and enjoy the special treats.
So impressive and inspirational, Jo. I continue to vote for these posts to form the basis of an upcoming book. ♡
Maybe… who knows? As long as it’s not the diary of a failed dieter lol.
That’s definitely not your story! ❤
well done – another successful week in the bag. It’s good that the numbers are showing some changes too to help keep you motivated. The 0% alcohol Guinness sounds good – where did you buy it?
It’s not bad. We got it at Liquorland.
thank you – I shall check it out for Christmas
I love your approach Jo. Life’s too short to not enjoy the special occasions. It sounds to me like you’ve had a really great first week. My sleeping patterns are similar to yours. I’ve been hoping that the 4am alarm will help me get into some sort of normalcy. It’s not working yet but this is only the third week,
Give up alcohol, they said, you’ll sleep better, they said. Not!
It sounds like you are approaching this in such a healthy manner!!
It’s actually unusual for me to be so sensible.
Even those non-scale victories are great motivation to keep going. It’s unusual to see changes so quickly so that’s great! Keep it up. I don’t notice changes in my body until they are quite extreme too but I do look for other things and changes I can feel. Like running up the stairs and not being out of breath.
I never notice changes in my body – have very low self awareness – i need to see the numbers or have someone else point it out. Ridiculous, I know.
You’re going well Jo and keeping it real. I like that!
So good that you and Grant are doing it together – makes it so much more tolerable and a lot easier! David swears by Guinness zero, we always have a few cans in the house and he says he enjoys it as much, if not more than real Guinness. Also we worked out that a can of regular coke has more calories than a can of Guinness zero! Isn’t that mad?! Go you!
Yeah, except he’s lost all the weight he needs to lose… heavy sigh.
Hi Jo – I love how you do everything so intentionally – and that you can still be a foodie even with reduced choices and less calories. I think it’s easier to stick with something if it isn’t too repetitive. Good on you with all the exercise too – it’s no small feat to walk all those kms every day. I think it’s also a lot harder work to shift weight later in life when our metabolisms are so sluggish – and so easy to put it on (life can be so unfair!) Good on you for documenting it all and sharing the journey to success. x
Get it, girl!! You are doing great. And you are seeing improvements everywhere, not just the scale. I have tracked well for about 12 days – who am I? Even the days when I have not been on my best (dieting) behavior. I am proud of both of us to track on those days when we weren’t squeaky clean, as you said, because it kept us accountable.
I am drinking an occasional Michelob Ultra lime and cactus infusion (beer). Had one slice of pizza. And we have upped our exercise, but still struggling with this silly foot.
Hope you can figure out the sleeping thing. Maybe going to bed just a bit earlier? But if you are having trouble getting to sleep now I guess that might not work. I am back to taking melatonin which gives me very vivid dreams…entertaining but also disturbing.
Tracking on the slightly murky days is so hard, isn’t it? Re the sleep, I’m normally in bed at 8.30 (my alarm goes off at 4.20). I’ll read for a bit, but then… I’d like to try melatonin but it’s not available over the counter here. The vivid dreams sound… interesting though!