As I marked my 57th birthday this week, the gratitude journal, now a daily ritual, began with "I'm glad to be alive!" This simple statement reflects my ongoing journey to regain fitness and lose weight.
A very experienced fitness industry leader said to me last year “that you can regain fitness quickly but dealing with fatness is harder and takes longer.” How true.
Following a challenging year overshadowed by a prostate cancer diagnosis, I found myself seeking comfort in less active pursuits. Binge-watching Netflix and hibernating while I got my head around the diagnosis dominated the latter half of 2023. Worse, I became fixated on Nutella, the crack cocaine of ultra-processed food that weighs in at 80 calories a teaspoon.
However, with the 'all clear' and a newfound appreciation for life, I gently nudged myself towards fitness goals starting this month. Today, I'm proud to share that I've successfully logged a week of consistent treadmill workouts in my garage-turned-gym, a legacy left by the house's former owner.
These sessions are not just about regaining fitness; they're a mix of joy-sparking brisk walks and jogs sprinkled with spirited renditions of the eighties hits, much to the delight of my new neighbours. The release of endorphins during these workouts is addictive and curbs my appetite, a welcome side effect.
In Yorkshire, where I now live, the wind on the hilltops is so piercing it feels like it could strip the skin from your bones. Hence, I've decided to postpone committing 10,000 steps daily until February, when the weather is more forgiving. For now, the treadmill offers a more hospitable alternative.
Weight-wise, I'm steering clear of the scales until next month. Nevertheless, the increasingly comfortable fit of my very tight clothes signals progress. Getting back on the scales is a necessary part of the programme, but I'm giving myself some space to build up to stepping on them.
Nutritionally, I'm back to clean eating—colourful stir-fries, succulent chicken, and hearty salads with steamed salmon. The holiday treats have been shown the door, along with all starchy foods. My commitment extends to a dry lifestyle post-Christmas and focusing on staying well-hydrated. My food is all logged on MyFitnessPal.
The daily practice of gratitude journaling helps me. Each entry often centres around my children, whose support has been a pillar of strength, particularly as I tread the path back to fitness. Studies such as those by Emmons and McCullough (2003) have shown that people keeping a gratitude journal show increased optimism, exercise more regularly, and report fewer physical symptoms.
Similarly, the benefits of treadmill running are well-documented. Regular use will improve cardiovascular health, weight loss, and muscle toning.
So, this is my January: gentle yet determined strides towards better health and happiness, fueled by gratitude, clean eating, and a daily stretch on a home treadmill. I'm not at my peak, but it's not bad for a 57-year-old.
Do you have a January fitness programme or are you making changes to improve you health? I’d really like to know.
Listening
Slow Horses author Mick Herron has been given many accolades in recent years. The one he finds most amusing is that he is the next John Le Carré. To me though, Herron’s lineage is Graham Green and the satirical comedy of a Hoover salesman who became a spy.
Rory Kinnear is at his peak in Radio 4’s new dramatisation of Graham Green’s Our Man in Havana.
Extract of the Week
Dickens has an extract for all situations. I spend a lot of time talking to my kids about financial resilience. I taught them the magic of compound interest when they were very young.
I send them quotes from Warren Buffet. I remind them that if the Tories keep winning elections there will be no welfare safety net to help them in retirement. Like all children, they roll their eyes at this home spun wisdom. So they should too. I’m exposing them to the moral vacuity of materialsim at too young an age! Thank heavens they also read books to form their own opinions.
In the dialogue between young Paul and Mr. Dombey, Dickens exposes the limitations of wealth. Through Paul's innocent question, "Why didn't money save my mama?" he critiques the era's materialistic values and the stark contrast between the purity of a child's view and the adult world's complexity.
Dickens, through this simple exchange, evaluates life's values beyond material wealth. He wrote it 170 years ago but it could have been yesterday.
Dombey and Son, Charles Dickens
On one of these occasions, when they had both been perfectly quiet for a long time, and Mr Dombey only knew that the child was awake by occasionally glancing at his eye where the bright fire was sparkling like a jewel, little Paul broke silence thus:
"Papa! What's money?"
"Gold, and silver, and copper. Guineas, shillings, half-pence. You know what they are.
"Oh yes, I know what they are," said Paul.
"I don't mean that, papa. I mean what's money after all?"
"What is money after all,' said Mr Dombey, backing his chair a little, that he might the better gaze in sheer amazement at the presumptuous atom that propounded such an inquiry.
"I mean, papa, what can it do?" returned Paul, folding his arms (though they were hardly long enough to fold) and looking at the fire, and up at him, and at the fire, and up at him again.
Mr Dombey drew his chair back to its former place, and patted him on the head. "Money, Paul, can do anything."
He took hold of the little hand, and beat it softly against one of his own, as he said so. But Paul got his hand free as soon as he could; and rubbing it gently to and fro on the elbow of his chair, as if his wit were in the palm, and he were sharpening it - and looking at the fire again, as though the fire had been his adviser and prompter - repeated, after a short pause:
"Anything, papa?"
"Yes. Anything - almost," said Mr Dombey.
"Anything means everything, don't it, papa?" asked his son: observing, or possibly not understanding, the qualification.
"'It includes it: yes," said Mr Dombey.
"Why didn't money save my mama?" returned the child. "It isn't cruel, is it?"
"Cruel?' said Mr Dombey, settling his neckcloth, and seeming to resent the idea. "No, a good thing can't be cruel.
"If it's a good thing, and can do anything." said the little fellow, thoughtfully, as he looked back at the fire, "I wonder why it didn't save my mama.”
Poem of the week
Listening to MPs in the Commons react to ITV’s dramatisation of the Post Office scandal reminded me of Brecht’s poem on the fashion of admitting guilt but not pinpointing the evidence of it! This week everyone is guilty but the other lot are MORE guilty.
I remember a brilliant answer given by Michael Heseltine some years ago. Asked whether he had ever made a mistake in government, he answered that he was humble enough to admit mistakes and politically astute enough not to recall what they were!
Brecht would have loved the political impact that the Post Office drama has had on elected representatives. And this poem from 1953, one of his last, contributed to the Academy of Arts and other cultural institutions being absorbed into the Ministry of Culture of the German Democratic Republic 70 years ago this week.
Wouldn’t it be momentous if poetry could win votes and change minds in Westminster too?
Unidentifiable Errors of the Arts Commission, Bertolt Brecht
Invited to a session of the Academy of Arts The highest officials of the Arts Commission
Paid their tribute to the noble custom of Accusing oneself of certain errors, and Muttered that they too accused themselves Of certain errors. Asked
What errors, however, they found it wholly impossible to recall
Any specific errors. Everything that The Academy held against them had been Precisely no error, for the Arts Commission Had suppressed only worthless stuff, indeed had not Suppressed it exactly, had just not pushed it.
Despite the most earnest ruminations
They could recall no specific errors, nonetheless They were most insistent that they had Committed errors - as is the custom.
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Glad you are starting 2024 gently and determined. Delighted you have the all clear Tom. Your Downsizing book was an inspiration and I reduced my mass by 5st. 2 new hips(11 months apart) and the post surgery immobility led to 3st back on. Desperate to impact this and reduce chances of diabetes. 2024 has started with RSV and chest infection over Christmas followed by norovirus. However, I am also quietly, gently determined not to give up fighting to regain my previous health and fitness. Thank you for all you do and your updates. Good Luck! 👍🏻 be kind to yourself X
I had a very similar journey with weight loss after the pandemic, which was sadly followed by a heartbreaking year in 2023, I am an emotional eater and the distress and stress quickly turned to calories and an expanding body. I too steered clear of the scales until last week when after one successful week back on a healthier lifestyle I felt strong enough to face it and strive to my previous weight. No good regretting, or punishing myself; it is what it is. Now I have to just look forward, lesson learned. Good luck on your journey, you are a true inspiration.