I saw it on Instagram, some influencer preaching the benefits of canned sardines as a super ketogenic food. I don’t really care if it’s true. I’ve been on a nearly ketogenic way of eating the last two months or so- I just eyeball everything and if I want to eat carbs, then I eat carbs- and at the risk of sounding like a doctor, I can say that I’m in a perfectly stable (ketogenic??) state.

I don’t feel hungry. I have constant energy. I work out regularly within the safety zone of my shoulder injury. My weight has stayed in the same 74-75 kg range, even as I found myself again comfortably fitting into size 28-30 pants though I can’t really wear them anymore because my thighs and glutes have become more substantial.

So I know it’s working and most importantly, I don’t over-think it like I used to. I have more important concerns than agonising whether to have shredded lettuce with a miso-yuzu dressing or pan-fried eggplant slices with my gochujang-spiced Wagyu beef mince.

Most of the time, food is just fuel and nourishment. But it doesn’t mean surviving on nothing but boring steamed vegetables and grilled chicken. Every so often, you discover that little things like canned sardines and smoked seafood make for a tasty canapes-like meal.

Trouble is, in less than 12 days, it’s the holidays and it’s giving me a bit of anxiety. There’s no itinerary, more of a food schedule.

Dec 19: pre-departure dinner
Dec 20: catch-up drinks and maybe dinner with two of my closest friends
Dec 21: Buffet breakfast at the hotel/ lunch at the mall with cousins
Dec 21: Dinner when we arrive home
Dec 22:Catch-up lunch out/ another dinner
Dec 23: Catch-up coffees with close friends
Dec 24: Noche Buena, alcohol
Dec 25: leftovers and more food
Dec 26: Family Reunion