Tag Archives: body image

An Early Morning Dip…( In the Sea!!)

Life Stressors, ,

Okay, so I have always loved being beside the sea, watching the tides come and go, acknowledging its raw power and yet, simultaneously, its ability to soothe and give perspective to life.

So, when I found myself in the privileged position of staying in a cottage right on the edge of the sea, I pledged to fulfill one of my “bucket-list” ambitions, a very early morning skinny dip!

Well of course I had made sure I could not be seen! Really, what do you take me for?? And.. yes, it is December and it would freeze the tatties off you when you are fully clothed, but I had made a promise to myself and there was no going back. Welllll now………………

That’s where the “dream” ends and the bloody nightmare begins! When you see these gorgeous women stride confidently into the waves they are NOT walking on the razor-sharp stones in this bay, so I kept my nice comfy slippers on( sponge filled ones). They are also NOT getting into water so cold it would strip the flesh from your bones! I had intended to walk into about mid-thigh height. Unfortunately as soon as the water hit my knees shock took over. I tried to yell but no sound came out; my legs started to shake and I was jumping around like a maniac. Meanwhile my nice spongy slippers had filled with water and, yes, you guessed, I lost my balance, falling ass over tit and going completely under the waves.

Dear God almighty!! Never have I felt anything like it, so cold it was painful. Even when I got into the hot shower, in an attempt to get feeling back into my legs, the skin prickled and stung.

What a tit! Bollocks to bucket lists! I don’t think they are supposed to kill you.

Mind you, if it hadn’t been me, and it had been caught on film, I think I may have just died laughing.

A Kind Word….I Think Not !

Diets, women

I would like to share something with you that happened early on Monday morning, just as I was getting ready to leave for work. I had checked myself out in the mirror and thought I was looking fairly presentable; make-up done, hair done and dressed appropriately for the meetings I had that day.

As I sat down for a few minutes my husband, who has lost a fair bit of weight recently himself, looked across with one of those “I’m being sincere” looks. That always means trouble!

” Listen pet,” he says, ” You know I don’t want to hurt your feelings but.. do you not think you should lay off the pies. Your double chin is in danger of becoming a treble and as for your tummy”.

At this point I interrupted, with a kind of, ” Oh my goodness dear, but have you met me before.” or something along those lines (you get the drift). But no, the poor soul has not heard of ” If you have dug yourself a hole, throw away the spade” saying, and on he went with his caring advice.

Do you know in the end I actually had to laugh ( that is strange for me). Yes, I have put on weight and quite honestly you couldn’t carry buns to me at the minute, so I took it in the spirit it was intended, and that is very refreshing and new for me in this particular circumstance. He genuinely hoped to help me, even if most women I know would read this and want to choke him.

If someone truthfully intends no hurt then why do we take a hurt?  No-one has to be that interested in you so, if like me, you have asked for honesty and help from people in the past how can you take offence when they try to do just that.

Oh, and it’s okay; he has survived to tell the tale!

Look Into My Eyes………….

Diets, women,

I’ve tried them all, seriously, ALL OF THEM !

And some have even worked for a time. Most recently I was hypnotised and simultaneously gave up “Dieting” once and for all. This seemed to be going really well and, honestly, I did feel somewhat liberated. But then the CD I listen to nightly stopped playing and I lost the thread a bit. So I traipsed off to the hypnotist again and he very kindly did it again and gave me a new CD. I left his office as happy as Larry and sooooo determined.

Now, 4 days later, I’m getting very concerned he has mixed up the cd’s and given me one to cure someone of anorexia! Dear God I could eat the chair I’m sitting on! I have blamed the clocks going back, the rain, being tired……….you name it, I’ve blamed it.

I look at my slim friends and have to admire their self-control, their discipline,…..but I also wonder why some folk can just say “no” to the excess calories and some of us just can’t seem to pass a chocolate, crisp or chip without wanting to reach out for it. ( Yeah, me and a few million others!)

I fully realise prioritising weight loss, self-esteem, self-respect and all those other selfs, all play their part in anyone’s success or ( dare I say) failure in this battle, but, I have to say, my slim friends suffer from all of the same life-stressors as me, so why do some of us feel the need to chow down like champions!

In the meantime I will continue with my “non-diet diet” and think health, not weight. It’s not about “skinny” any more. I’d just like to set down the small child I have been lugging about for too many years.

 

 

Further to A Camera Never Lies??

Uncategorized,

I found this image on a blog by Rebecca Hains and was struck by how often we would all love the ability to air-brush our lives, let alone our bodies. Indeed some of us run into trouble when we try to!

The trouble is it all seems okay at first, with the minor adjustments, just like when actors and actresses start with the small, non-invasive treatments to smooth out the lines; the bits they don’t like. But then that usually leads on to the big stuff; the total overhauls and re-inventions and where do you stop?

It reminds me of how annoyed my mum got when my dad told her abruptly, after seeing a less than flattering photograph of herself, “The camera never lies!”

Well, we all know how untrue that is. And just as surely as we know the various actresses do not have 5ft long legs and 20″ waists, we know that few people ( I would say none at all) have “perfect” or “problem-free” lives, so what is all the pretence about? I don’t think we need to “confess all”, or spill our emotional baggage at the drop of a hat, but it must be an enormous strain to have to keep up this image of “Walton Family” type lives.

Drop the act and join the rest of us mere mortals; trying our best to do the “right thing”, even when we haven’t a clue what that is.