Shape-shifting and Wild Folk
Today is what I am calling my ‘a-knee-versary’. This time last year I was nervously knitting while nurses and doctors came and went, prior to having a partial knee replacement. A few months previous to this I had visited the surgeon, who advised that he would be able to do the op, in the light of my desire to become, once again, more active, BUT, he said-
“What I am about to say you won’t necessarily like to hear- you need to lose weight. And, it is difficult for a woman of your age to lose weight, I know.”
Hmmm…… should have said person, I thought……..
Anyway, thing is, I have a good friend, Anna Grime, from Solva Woollen Mill. She told me about the Blood Sugar Diet, from Michael and Claire Moseley. I bought the book, and started on the diet that same day, convinced that it would not work for me, despite the fact that it has worked for thousands of other humans, because I, somehow, have a unique metabolism ( oh the vanity)….and you can’t lose weight without exercise, can you.
And so began a steep learning curve.
The only way I could do this was to make a project out of myself and turn the attention I usually give to work to myself. I made lists of food to buy, put aside time to cook and most of all paid attention to what I was making and what I was eating, and boy did I learn a lot about myself.
After a couple of weeks of not eating carbs or any sugar I was high as a kite and sharp as a razor. All my senses were wired, in a way I remember from being a child, and my mood had changed completely. I began to learn about my relationship to food in such a different way. The very air seemed brighter and I realised that I had been living with a low-level depression that fed on sugar. A side effect of this was weight loss………not a bad side effect.
The start of this new way of eating coincided with beginning to work on Wild Folk with Tamsin Abbott, and the irony of working on a book about shape-shifting while doing that very thing was not lost on me. Watch the promotional film we made with Seven Fables to see just how much I have shifted in shape. She wasn’t deeply unhappy, this woman I was, but she grieved the loss of the ease of walking she had known. Carrying a weight both mental and physical, on a knee that was broken by arthritis, she’d not been to see the seals each year for 9 years or more, the hill being too steep.
Walking had become difficult, a strain on the heart as much as anything. I went for short walks every day, but longer walks, and wilder were too much. And there had been times when this was rather heartbreaking in a different way. But, day by day of learning this new relationship with food, and the foods that suited and the ones that didn’t began to so change everything. I won’t go into it in depth here as I have a book I want to write about the experience. Enough to say that when I returned 3 months later the surgeon didn’t recognise me. He booked me in for the op on 24th July.
I was a good patient. I rested, did my exercises, recovered quickly, had the sublime care of a good physio friend who stopped me doing too much too soon. Walking on two crutches became one, then none and slowly I made my way back to the top of the hill.
I love this film, made at the same time, by Chris and Davina, with music by Molly Howell.
Feather, Leaf, Bark & Stone from Seven Fables on Vimeo.
One year on, a year and six months since I began and I am striding through the heather with a purpose. I have been up low fells, down to see if the seals are gathering, now walk into St Davids and back and it seems such a short distance. I cannot really find the words to say how my heart feels to be walking these pathways again, with the ghosts of old friends, cats and dogs, and the many selves I carry inside me. Layers, years, rememberings.
There’s so much more I could say. Things I love about being lighter of soul are: having a lap big enough to fit three cats on, seat belts in cars being comfortable, my feet being so much smaller, buying clothes that I want, rather than settling for clothes that fit, putting on socks without it feeling like I am wrestling them on to my feet, walking with ease up hills and down dales, and so many more things. I should start making a list when they occur.
I can’t recommend the book enough. The recipes are wonderful. My copy is a little ragged and it’s the second copy ( messy cook) There is a supportive online community out there if you fancy following in footsteps. I talk a little more about it in this episode of Ramblings. And I write this mostly to try and become part of the narrative that says it’s all about exercise. Because it is, but it’s also much about food, the right kind of food, and not eating the processed and packaged shit that is shoved at us loudly in supermarkets. Take away the packaging and plastic and the processed and you find there is very little actual food in our local supermarket. And all of the shelves full of crap are manufactured and transported at great cost to our health and the health of our planet. There are tales to be told here, and changes to be made. Sugar is a drug that is hard to kick, but when you do it is pretty amazing.
We are not encouraged to pat ourselves on the back and congratulate ourselves, but right here, right now I am doing just that, aware as I am how utterly lucky I was to be able to pay for this operation myself. ( I went on many occasions to NHS specialists, and each time was told I was too young for the op, as the pain grew worse, coupled with the depression and all that accompanied that- until I decided that I could wait, until I became old enough, but I might die before then I and I wanted that movement back!)
Time to get back to work now. I’ve walked Pi today, a city walk, down a pilgrim pathway, in the footsteps of ancients.
I’ve cooked supper for friends ( it’s in the Wonderbag- amazing time and fuel saving devise that looks like, and can be mistaken for, a cat bed) who are coming to help me celebrate my ‘a-knee-versary’ and need now to get on with the bird book. And much of this I have said before, but I know it has inspired others to begin on this pathway. I think, perhaps, Michael and Claire Moseley have saved many lives as well as saving the NHS a great deal of money as people begin to live in a healthier way. His passing is a great loss.
Oh, and, Wild Folk is almost 300% funded now. The blads all sold ( see previous posting) and the book is in the design stages- and I am trying to get to the end of the copy edit. You can support the book through this link. Soon we will do a cover reveal…. there is also a special subscriber edition that comes with amazing dust jacket. Publication date is midsummer 2025 and we hope to get subscriber editions into your hands before then.
And, just so you know I don’t spend all my time taking selfies in stolen sunglasses: these are four new images soon to be scanned and made into prints for Aquarelle. The originals will be for sale through Seven Fables, once they are framed. And, John has framed the poor sainted child of a badger.
As for the sunglasses, a good look, I think.
I love, love, love this. Having, for different reasons, trodden a similar path, I know that sudden lifting of the clouds, the lightness not just of body, but spirit. I’m so happy you’ve been able to take this journey and keep on walking. And you will have so much more creative energy too, for which we will all be thankful.
Congratulations! You look fabulous, but the main thing is the improvement in your health and mobility. At 68 I am about seven months away from a delayed retirement so I am going to hunt down that book so I can be fit enough to enjoy it. And chase my granddaughters. Thank you x
I’ve found mine second hand.
Jackie, your journey is as inspiring as your work. Thank you!
Fantastic news. Glad to hear you are rambling in those Wild Places of West Wales. My daughter has collected, read and loved your books from an early age and through her so have the rest of the family. Thanks for the recommendation. I might just buy a copy.
Oooooo feeling inspired!!! I’m going to get this. I long to change my relationship with food and perhaps this might be a path.
Appreciating the sharing and loving your work.
So grateful to the adorable Phil for introducing me to your world at Rheged.
With admiration
Nix xx
Amazing Jackie. Loving the new look and how you got there. ❤️ Kathy
Happy Akneeversary and many congratulations. Thank you for the post. I am very fortunate, at 72, to still be able to walk my 10,000 steps a day but still need a nudge to stay clear of the sugar and unnecessary carbs., which as you point out are so addictive. Dear Michael Moseley, such a sad and premature end to a life that has and will benefit so many others.
Enjoy the seals!
You look fabulous and you have inspired me to dig out my copy of this wonderful book again. I followed it to the letter a few years ago and it transformed my life back then. Old habits do sometimes creep back into our lives and I think maybe it’s time to remind myself how effective it was and how good the change made me feel. Thank you xx
You look incredible, and beautiful and fierce as ever. Inspirational – I may even buy the book.
Hi I had a full knee replacement about 5 years ago. Did all the exercises and the op has changed my life but now the other knee is playing up and I need to lose weight. Your story is inspirational so I am going to try this way of eating out to see if it helps. I’m 77 so hoping it’s not too late. Well done you. x
you look fabulous. congratulations, and thank you for your wonderful art.
What an uplifting journey.
You’ve inspired me – just picked up the book.
Congratulations Jackie – thank you for your honesty and humour and for sharing so poetically a journey that is daunting for many of us of a certain age! Your celebration is well-deserved – enjoy walking the hills again in your special place.
You have been and continue to be an illuminating soul in my world.
Keep on keeping on!
Thank you x
He was right to say it’s harder for us women “of your age” i.e. Post menopause, to lose weight. Because it is. Simple biology. But yes, it is possible, and you, my dear, are an inspiration.
Stride up the hills, and down to the beach of the seals, and glory in your recovery.
xxx
Missed you at the Bookshop Band gig Sarah. Hoping you are ok.
You are my inspiration
That’s very kind. Been doing this for almost 2 years now. It’s different from a ‘diet’. It’s a different way of life, that is much richer.
A wonderful and inspiring story – thank you for sharing and for paving the way for others to share self appreciative stories – important for womankind and so for humankind
Thank you, you gave me excactly what I needed right at this moment.
Just ordered the book.
Kisses,
Ulrike