LIVE BY DESIGN | What is it you want from your summer body?

The drive to the Tai Chi class earlier this week was a breeze. I sang “Schools out for summer!” joyously. What will the summer holidays hold for me this year-end? Driving home I listened to Clement Manyathela, last month’s Radio 702 award winner of the “Best Daytime Show.”

Clement’s topic was about the gym and the traffic near the gym having been so much busier in recent weeks as people focused on getting into their preferred shape before leaving for holidays. Clement announced himself as one such preoccupied person. He told us he has been running EVERY day. He has been using the machines at the gym EVERY day. He mentioned his weight goal of seventy kilos. And he wants a six-pack! That goal is eluding him.

He asked listeners to call in with advice. What could he do to get a six-pack within the next two weeks? He also asked what strategies people had followed to have a good time but not put on too much weight. One caller made me laugh with her trade off: “While I eat slap chips, I drink diet coke!”

I understand this preoccupation with feeling good about the shape I am in while knowing that food and drink indulgence is part of my having a good time. It’s a common preoccupation!

But what if you are told not to eat and drink the things you enjoy so much? This time last year I was prescribed methotrexate for my arthritis. The script included folic acid to counteract the toxic side effects. Indeed, there was to be a bi-monthly blood test to check on what impact the medication would have on my liver etc. and add this to series of cortisone injections and a three times a-day dose of ETIFLAM, an anti-inflammatory for pain relief.

The specialist instructed me to reduce alcohol to a minimum because the medication would be affecting my liver and alcohol will make this worse.

Like a good compliant patient I went to the pharmacy, collected everything, and waited for the medical aid authorisation for the cortisone injections. Once home, I did two things. Firstly, I read the small print of the medication leaflets. I also phoned family and friends who have been treated with methotrexate, a chemotherapy drug discovered to have a positive impact on the advance of rheumatoid arthritis.

One friend has benefitted enormously from the methotrexate treatment. My niece, however, who shares some of the same DNA as I, became seriously ill with the side effects.

I was about to leave Johannesburg for Nature’s Valley in the Eastern Cape. It is a village of 300 houses, nestled between the mountains and the ocean. Where the river meets the sea there is a lagoon which is ideal for safe swimming. The peaty water from the mountains mixes with the tidal inflow of salty seawater. It feels silky on the skin.

Several boxes of wine stood ready to be loaded into our SUV alongside the groceries and suitcases. I looked at them and wondered how my holiday might turn out if I had a negative reaction to the medication. I had been so looking forward to this holiday: sand, sea, cooking delicious food, enjoying sundowner cocktails and wine. This anticipated enjoyment was now at risk.

I opened my laptop. I penned an e-mail to the specialist and my doctor. I thanked them for my diagnosis which made sense of the symptoms I had experienced. I wrote that I was about to leave on a family holiday in a small seaside village which had no GP practice. I was worried about dealing with side-effects while away from home and without the reassurance of trusted GP support nearby. I informed my GP and the specialist that after much deliberation my decision was to delay taking the medication until my return to Johannesburg in the new year.

I had such a good time, possibly more than usual because a life of restraint loomed ahead in the new year. I ate. I drank. I cooked up a storm. Every day I swam in the lagoon. I met friends, read books, and slept long hours luxuriously. When I returned home in January 2024, after my indulgent holiday, I was both fit and also the heaviest weight that I have ever been.

Eleven months later and several kilos lighter I am packing for this year’s holiday. Less sugar made the single biggest difference to my health, my pain levels, and my weight. My summer body is in good enough shape. You’ll note my choice of language, “good enough”.

I am being kind to myself. I have had a year of paying attention to my health. By the way, I never did start the methotrexate. My choice was to try acupuncture and Chinese herbal medication and that combination has worked well for me.

Your summer body? What’s your holiday strategy? Personally, I will not eat slap chips together with diet coke. I’m the “in for a penny – in for a pound” kind of person. I’ll be eating double-fried potato wedges dunked in mayonnaise.

I accept I will return to Johannesburg heavier, and that’s okay. Sociable eating and drinking with family and friends are such a pleasure. The holiday goal is to return having had a really good time. Then my restraint strategy can come into play to slowly nudge away at the weight gain.

“It’s summertime, and the livin’ is easy.”

Holiday by design!

Mapi and I hope that you will have a really good time!

Enjoy.