I have mentioned before on this site that I have kept a journal since I was 12. What started as a small homework book that I was presented with at senior school morphed into something else a complete note of my life and research for over 3 decades. I also have every one of those note books and journals and over the years have structured them a little differently – one day I will write a post her and talk about them in more detail.

One of the things I have mentioned previously is Morning Pages which appear in another book authored by Julia Cameron – you can read about them HERE and HERE

Julia wrote this book as a way of those who are overweight or prone to binge eating writing their way thin. That is not why I love the book, so let me explain.

Since the surgery that I had in 2016 I have put on some weight mainly caused by medication. I also have a condition which slows my metabolism down and for which I have regular blood tests and take medication for; and I also have a variety of food triggers that I never used to have.

I record my medical symptoms and medication doses and changes. I record the blood results,and understand if my Thyroid is well controlled and I also record what I eat, because that helps me understand what I am eating that causes issues. I was advised of this by the surgeon in 2016, but it was easy to see that actually it was not a consistent pattern – so whereas I thought my trigger was gluten and perhaps dairy foods it was evident that it was, but not consistently.

This book is in two parts. Part one focuses on the tools – Morning pages, journal, walking, four questions, culinary artist dates, Halt and the body buddy. Part two focuses on situations and solutions, which looks at a variety of other things – trauma, health, fresh foods, water, exercise, clothes, mirrors, foods as a sedative, snacking, eating patterns etc.

It is a very interesting book and not written as a diet book per se, but as a way of reflecting on eating & foods. I bought it initially as I was curious and interested in her approach and certainly think it is a well worth exploring book.

I have written previously about the element of Thyroid issues that I think is hereditary, which is tricky to prove because it is a very common condition. I do have family members that all descend from the same family line and random people do have the condition and a variety of other linked ones too. I have a theory of which ancestor was the cause of it because it is very rare that you see a photograph of a female in the latter Victorian years carrying extra weight, but we have one and all the family members that have this thyroid condition descend from her. Now, if that lady had kept such a food and health record it would be very fascinating, but we must remember that in those days the drug, treatment and diagnosis did not even exist. It is something that I will write about in the future if you are interested.