Project Excess Baggage – Week 4

Alrighty, we’re four weeks down. That’s a milestone in itself. Another milestone is I hit the 5kgs down mark. Yay me.

To be honest, there have been times this last week where I’ve almost strayed into ‘go on, it won’t matter if you have that bacon sandwich… as long as you don’t write it down it won’t have happened…’ territory. There were, in fact, two days where I didn’t log my food and my old habits began to sneak through. Writing it down really does help keep the focus on for me.

Another thing that keeps the focus on (for me, anyway) is regular weighing. I’ve read all the studies that have said why you shouldn’t, why you should trust the feel of your clothes, how the scales can be triggering yadda yadda yadda. I’ve also read all the studies about why you should weigh yourself regularly – and in some cases, the study quoted on either side is exactly the same.

It works for me—again, it’s a focus and an awareness thing. I’ve mentioned before how I have poor boundaries and body awareness. If my clothes are loose, it’s because I’ve stretched them; if they’re tight, it’s not because I’ve put on weight, it’s because they’ve been through the dryer. If I see the numbers on the scale it’s a daily reminder of what I’m doing – and also a measurable outcome. (I know, way too many years in corporate with SLAs and measurable targets… sigh).

Even though they can sometimes be misleading, the numbers don’t lie. To be sure of this, though, I weigh myself (naked – now, there’s a picture you don’t need) at the same time every day. Sure, there are days when I’m carrying a little more (or less) water than usual, but it tends to even out.

These days, because I’ve logged my food honestly, there’s no beating myself up for the numbers. I’m short – around 5’3″ and shrinking – so if I haven’t exercised that day, I know that eating more than (around) 1600 calories will be reflected on the scales. I also know that my metabolism is naturally quite slow, so I really have to work hard to kickstart it.

Anyways, I’m daily weigher and it works for me because – like my journal and like this blog – it helps keep me accountable and keeps what I’m doing at front of mind.

I do, however, refuse to weigh myself at the doctors. Seeing the number on different scales and fully clothed would, I know, trigger a complete “nothing is working I might as well give up – look I’ve gained 5 kgs relapse”. Instead I take a photo of the number on my scales for the couple of days before I go in. It’s date stamped and my doctor accepts that’s what I’m like.

In any case, I’m 5 kgs down. I can’t feel it yet, and no one has noticed – I certainly haven’t – but that’s a good start. I had hoped for a little more, but ate out a few times last week which slowed last week’s loss down to a (still very respectable) 500g.

For the second month in a row I also averaged over 10,000 steps a day, and closed the month out at 328,658 steps.

Last week’s exercise

On the exercise front, we had some massive rain – proper Queensland rain – over the weekend which slowed me down a tad. Even so:

• we did the 5 at 5 (5 kms at 5 am) on five mornings
• I did a shorter afternoon walk on three days
• one swim – I managed 60 laps, or 1.25kms. Happy with that. From here I’ll swim for the same time (45-50 mins) and hopefully begin to improve my speed and strength.
• Two strength sessions
• One dance-fit class

Weekly steps – 80,271

On the Menu

I ate out a few times last week:

• Breakfast out with friends twice.
• Lunch with Sue and her husband
• Dinner at our local Thai on Saturday night.

Other than that, the weekly menu wasn’t a whole lot different to what it has been, although we had the salad below twice during the week – once with poached chicken and once with pork. If you get a chance, make it.

Grilled Cabbage Slaw with Fish Sauce dressing, peanuts, lime and coriander

Ingredients

• ½ small green cabbage cut into 4 wedges
• ½ cup roasted, salted, peanuts
• 1 cup loosely packed coriander and another 1/2 cup of mint. I substituted some coriander for Thai basil and Vietnamese mint which I also grow in my garden

For the dressing

• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 3 tsp grated ginger
• 2 red bird’s eye chillies, thinly sliced
• Finely grated zest of 2 limes
• Juice of 4 limes
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 spring onions (green onions) thinly sliced

Method

Heat a lightly greased barbecue or chargrill to high (although you could also use a heavy-based or cast iron frypan). Cook the cabbage on each side for 3-5 minutes until blackened and set aside to cool.

For the dressing – pop it all into a jar and shake until combined and the sugar has dissolved.

When the cabbage is cool enough to handle, roughly slice it and place in a bowl with half the dressing, the peanuts and the herbs. Season to taste and toss to combine. Serve with the remaining dressing on the side.

Next week…

I’m off to Auckland on Friday to attend a wedding. There’ll be food-based activities all weekend and I intend having a few wines.