Excess Baggage – 7 July, 2025

Alrighty, the wellness post/excess baggage update.

Given we’ve just clicked over into the second half of the year, in the interest of checking in against targets, let’s recap the year’s Health and Wellness to-do list:

The underlying theme of these targets was consistency and commitment. Turning up even when I didn’t feel like it. Replacing dodgy habits with better ones. Making my dodgy back stronger with every step.

On the plus side:

• I’ve kept up with the adulting side of it all, ie those pesky medical checks one must do when one hits one’s fifties.  
• I’ve nailed my mileage challenge – I use Fitbit totals rather than attempting to remember to switch on Map My Walk (or the equivalent) to ascertain “boots on” miles.
• I’m on track regarding my annual step targets. For the past nine months, I’ve averaged over 10,000 steps a day (my previous longest streak of consecutive months was five months back in winter 2020).
• Late in May, I set myself a mini target to complete thirty consecutive 10,000-step days. Not only did I achieve that, but as at the time of writing, I’ve now done 45 days in a row with more than 10,000 steps. It’s become an obsession.

Where I’ve struggled to get traction is on the diet side of things. Again. Still. While I know I’ve been away for a total of nine weeks so far this year, when I’ve been home, I haven’t kept up with my tracking or food planning and have struggled with the all-important mental side of things.

July Goals

My goals for July are to consistently get back to the habits I was creating at the end of last year:

• Plan menus weekly
• Track food and exercise
• At least four alcohol-free days a week
• Average 10,000 steps a day
• 2 x strength/resistance sessions a week
• Stick to the principles of the CSIRO plan in terms of portion sizes and allowed indulgences
• Regular weighing (I know this one is controversial, but it really works for me)

Food Noise

Knowing how my head works and how I obsess about food noise, a close friend of mine (who is properly qualified – and I mean properly – in this field) has been sending me literature (she knows I love this stuff) on GLPs (commonly known as weight loss jabs) and how they help with food noise.

Sure, the hint is an obvious one, and it’s coming from a good place, and I’m tempted, but I’ve jumped into my own research and am reading everything I can on the subject – both scientific and anecdotal.

This led me to Food Noise, by Dr Jack Mosley.

Dr Jack Mosley is the son of the late Dr Michael Mosley, who was researching the impact of the growth of GLPs before his untimely death. Dr Jack is picking up where his father left off.

The book begins with the premise that for some of us, many of us, food noise is a real thing. We don’t eat because we’re hungry, greedy, or lack willpower; there are a myriad of other reasons behind it. If you know it, you know it. If you don’t, please refrain from mentioning it in the comments.

As Mosley explained, while GLPs offer definite advantages, they also have downsides associated with them. As my friend also explained, GLPs have been used for treating diabetics for almost a decade, so there’s plenty of data on their use.

Studies have found that the food noise comes back once you’re off them, so it’s essential to get your head in the game and change behaviours regarding diet and exercise while you’re on them. This helps prevent muscle loss and ensure you’re still getting adequate nutrition. There have also been plenty of reports where people are presenting with symptoms of malnutrition while they’re taking the drug. (Robbie Williams revealed he was diagnosed with scurvy while he was taking GLPs.)

Naturally, there are also immediate side effects. Aside from the tendency to feel ill (although not everyone does), other people have spoken about how, along with their appetite for food, their appetite for other pleasures had also been diminished while on GLPs. For some, this is a small price to pay for an end to food noise; others don’t notice it at all.

One food writer I read said how she’d always been associated with writing about food, cooking it, planning it, and feeding others. When she was on the jab, she lost her appetite and with it, her creative identity, the joy of family meals and social outings with friends.

Mosley handled all sides of the debate well. Also in the book are recipes written by his mother from the Fast 800 plan designed to help you get the right amount of nutrition while you’re on the jab and support transition when you come off it. If you’re contemplating going on the jabs, I’d read this book first.

As for me? It’s a no, although that’s a personal choice at a specific point in time. I’m sensitive to most medication (even cold and flu medication sends me a tad doolally), so I’m not about to pay for the pleasure of feeling ill every time I look at food. I am, however, more worried about losing my appetite for life. Plus, knowing me, my head still wouldn’t be in the right place.

Good food is (to me) an essential part of living a good life, and I derive pleasure from cooking. The challenge is reaching a point where I’m eating mindfully rather than mindlessly.

How, though, do I stop the food noise? I’ve come up with a few ideas I’m hoping will work, and I’ll report on their success next time (thinking positively).

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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