Excess Baggage – 3 February, 2025

Alrighty, here we go with the January Excess Baggage wrap-up …

What worked …

First up, the positives, by which I mean the numbers.

• Step total for the month – 328,399 steps, so an average of 10,594 per day
• Mileage for the month – 262 km, so an average of 8.45 km per day
• The scales moved in the right direction by 1.5 kgs. This is less than what I would have wanted, but also all the effort I put in deserved, so I’m owning that and am okay with that. Besides, I’m now almost 8 kgs down on where I was at the beginning of November.
• My measurements have also, finally, started to move in the right direction. Finally.

What challenged me …

I’d love to be that person who can “lean” into things, who can stop when they’ve had enough, who doesn’t need to constantly be intentional and count and track and the rest of that, but I’m not and never have been.

I’d love to be the type who can just say, “I’ll eat less,” and wow, look at that, they eat less, seemingly without having to think about it. But I’m not and never have been. I also have a lot of weight to lose so a few adjustments here and there aren’t going to do it.

Instead, I’m this weird blend of contradictions and all or nothing. I’m super organised in my work because I have no natural boundaries and must physically put them in place. My natural state of being is to go with whatever direction things flow, to say yes rather than no, to figure I’ll make up for my excesses later, and I literally, I mean literally, lose focus in seconds. I know so much about the nutritional value of what I eat, but I have no natural awareness of what goes into my mouth. To be honest I have very little body awareness fullstop.

I’ve always been like this. When I embrace something, I merge entirely into it; when it’s over, it’s as if that interest never existed. As I said, all or nothing. Moderation isn’t part of my vocabulary. I wish it was. I wish I was that person, but I’m not.

The fact is I have to hone into that part of me that tends towards addictive and obsessive behaviour to get things done. It’s the only way I get things done.

That’s why if I don’t write things down, they haven’t happened; if I don’t have a to-do list, it won’t get done; if I don’t schedule my exercise, I’ll find something else to do; if I don’t count the calories or measure the portions, they creep; if I don’t weigh myself, the indulgences haven’t mattered. Not being aware of all these things got me to be this size.

At the beginning of this month, I tried to be the other type of person, the type I say I wish I could be. (Although if we’re being really honest with each other – which is what these posts are – as much as I say I wish I was something or someone different, I’m generally, mostly, happy with who I am). In taking my eyes off the detail, I lost awareness of what I had set out to do.

So, this last week, I went back to basics – the way I did when I began this journey – and:

• Tracked my food
• Planned my meals
• counted my indulgences

I knew we were going out for dinner on Friday night, so I factored that into the week’s plan – the way I did when I began this journey. It worked.

In just under four weeks we’ll be off on our UK jaunt and all bets will be off. I won’t be saying no to a pint in the pub, in fact, I won’t be saying no. So I have to make these next few weeks count.

Book of the Month

Instead of featuring one book this month, I thought I’d share with you some that have made a huge difference to me.

As well as cooking it, I’ve always been interested in the science of what and why we eat. Sweet Poison, by David Gillespie, literally changed my life.

It was 2008, and I was 41. I’d had a (partial) hysterectomy a few years before, and having been diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) over a decade previously when I was trying (and failing) to fall pregnant, my doctor had declared I was now pre-diabetic and would have to take Metformin for the rest of my life. Given that the drug really messed with me (as most drugs other than ibuprofen do), that wasn’t a scenario I was keen on.

Sweet Poison and Prof Jennie Brand Miller’s work with GI diets changed everything for me. I read and researched everything I could about sugar, ultra-processed foods, the glycemic load of certain foods, and how to mix them to lower blood sugar. I learnt how to read nutrition panels and identify and avoid hidden sugars. I began cooking curry pastes and sauces from scratch, and while I love a good condiment, I learnt which ones to use sparingly and just what was in things like tomato sauce. I quit sugar almost immediately.

My blood sugars reduced to safe levels, and I took myself off Metformin. Despite my love of baking, I still consume very little sugar or products with added sugar in my diet. My husband has Type 2 Diabetes these days (controlled with Metformin), so we both now follow low GI principles.

Fast forward to David A. Sinclair’s Lifespan. There’s a lot of science in this one, but if you skip over the eye-glazing stuff, there are some real gems here. It’s a book I’m finding myself flicking in and out of and beginning to employ the principles of long after I finished it. Ironically, the Metformin I was so keen to get off is now being touted by scientists as a wonder drug that can help keep us younger. Hey ho.

Others which have resonated with me over the last few years are below. Themes all of these books have in common are:

• A Meditteranean style of eating
• A don’t-lose-an-entire-food-group style of eating
• An eat-more-plants style of eating
• An if-you-move-more-incidentally-you’ll-probably-be-healthier-for-longer style of living
• A this-is-for-a-lifetime-not-a-season style of living

Nothing in here is ground-breaking, but it doesn’t need to be ground-breaking if the message reaches you when you’re most receptive to hearing and acting on it.

I’m currently listening to Tim Spector’s Spoon Fed (at the same time as I’m listening to Stanley Tucci’s What I Ate In A Year) and reading (thanks, Donna, for the recommendation) Ultra-processed People.

Wellness Reimagined Link-up

Why not link up below if you’re blogging about health and wellness? The linky will be open for 48 hours and is open to those bloggers who are tracking their health, wellness and activity.  

Meet Your co-hosts

• Debbie Harris from Deb’s World
• Donna Connelly from Retirement Reflections
• Jennifer Jones from The Retirement Phase
• Sue Loncaric from Women Living Well After 50

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