Friends - the Family You Choose

 

I may have been unlucky in some ways, but MAN, have I been lucky in the friendship department!!

If you have great friends - cherish them! Make the effort to keep in touch, spend time with them, love them! My friends are as close to me as family - they are my family!!!!

I have the most amazing friends who I have RIDICULOUS amounts of fun with!!! These girls are gorgeous, smart, strong, good, fun people - and I have made this slideshow to share some of the fun we've had.

Thanks for your love, your support, your inspiration, your laughs - and tears, thanks for putting up with me for all of these years, and thanks for all the fun! I love you all sooooo much!!!!

You fill my belly with laughs, my face with smiles and my heart with joy!

Body of Love

Im 40 years old and for my entire life, I hated my body.

I have abused it, disrespected it, treated it without care, poisoned it with drugs, alcohol, bulimia, starvation, toxins and misuse. I have not cared for it, never ever looked after it. I have looked at it and swore at it, said horrific things to it, been disgusted by it, wished it away, wished it was something else, some other body. And I have vehemently hated it.

Yet my body has never failed me, it has never given up on me, it has never faltered. It loves me unconditionally. No matter what I do to it or say to it, it responds with steadfast love. My body is a miraculous piece of artwork, designed by God. It is perfect. It has never let me down. My body has been through many trials and tribulations, many physical feats. It has hiked the Andes mountains to 4200 meters above sea level where it received only half the oxygen it needs, with completely fatigued muscles, a torn, shredded ankle and carrying 20 kilos of excess weight. My body never failed me on that trip, although my muscles screamed, my ankle kept giving way and my breath came in laboured gasps, it kept putting one foot in front of the other, in front of the other, in front of the other…

When I reached the top of that mountain I had a special moment. I cried. I realised just how amazing my body is, how no matter what obstacle placed in front of it my body just kept going. It never quit on me. When the pain was so intense it forced air out of my lungs in a sharp gasp, it did not stop. Standing on top of that mountain, looking over the magnificent scenery of that beautiful place, I cried and felt a huge flood of emotion, of love, for my body. Gratitude and thankfulness for what God has given me. And awe.

My body is beautiful, it is loving, it is kind. It is strong. It gives me my hearts desire, it never complains. No matter what I do to it, it forges ahead, it never stops. How could I hate it? I adore it. I am so grateful for it. I am so proud of it.

I am so blessed to have a body that has all its intended parts, it is cancer-free, healthy and thriving. I am so very blessed to have a perfect, healthy body.

I will never tell it I hate it again. I will love and cherish it, and nurture it like the precious gift that it is.

We worry so much about how we look, what people think of us, what size our bodies are, what shape, what proportion, when what we should be doing is taking care of it, cherishing it, loving it and being thankful for it.

In my work I meet people every day whose bodies are failing them. Their bodies do not have all the intended parts, they are not cancer-free and they are not healthy and thriving. How dare I take my body for granted when the person next to me wishes they had my health, my strength, my immune system. How dare I?

The answer is I do not dare, I shall nevermore. I shall cherish, nourish and love my body and I encourage you to realise the beauty of your body. As your body has loved you, may you forever love it.. As your body has supported you unfailingly, support it. Love your body unconditionally. And as your body has you, never, ever give up on it.


 
Hope you enjoyed :-)
Below I have posted a bunch of pics I love about loving your body.

See you in a few kilos!  xx

Don't hate on thin girls - many of them are struggling with loving their bodies too!

 

 

 

Hahahaha, It's not quite right for this post but it made me giggle  :-)

SATC (Shopping and the City)

OMG, shopping when you are a voluptuous chicky can really be veeeery confronting! Shopping in the CITY, when you are a voluptuous chicky is much, MUCH more confronting - and upsetting!

I went shopping with my gorgeous, fit, young, friend on the weekend (yes, she makes me sick  haha), looking for some outfits for her as she has lost so much weight she needed new clothes. She'd gone from a HUGE size 14 (rolling my eyes) to a size 8-10 depending on the shop (love you - you know who you are!).

So we headed into the city and went to all the funky, cool shops, bopping away to the music, laughing and chatting and buying RIDICULOUS amounts of clothing in each store. Man can we shop! Haha

We shopped for four and a half hours! Yes, that's right, four and a half!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

That translated as HELL for a bigger girl.

Firstly, all the cute clothes I lusted over would look crap on me. Secondly, many of the sales assistants ignored me or looked down their noses at me - not one of them actually asked me if I wanted assistance. In 4.5 hours of shopping. Seriously?! Thirdly, the clothes that I thought wouldn't look so bad, didn't have my size.  And fourthly, and most importantly, the clothes that had my size (or so I thought) didn't fit me. It's really upsetting pulling up a size 18 pair of pants and not being able to get them over your thighs.

Then there are all the mirrors.

OMG, to see my ass, my thighs and my double-chin from every angle almost brought me down. At one point I caught my profile and just stared at my chin. "Wow, I really look awful." I realised to myself.

It was very sobering.

So, what to do?? I'll tell you what to do - you say "Fuck it!".

It is what it is.

Getting down on yourself isn't going to help you - in fact, it's more likely to make you want to reach for that chocolate or a bag of chips. It might make you fall off that wagon and go hell for leather!

You accept it - "Yep, I'm overweight", you try to use factual words rather than abusive words ("I'm overweight", not "I'm fat"), you be nice to yourself - "Hey, I've lost 7 kilos, I'll get there", and you find the joy - "I'm having so much fun with my friend!"

I enjoyed picking out clothes for my friend and encouraging her to try different things, I was so happy for her in how great she looked and how good she felt being healthy. We had great chats and laughs, and i spent 4.5 hours of quality time with one of my best friends.

So did I have a terrible time? Nope. I had a few moments of getting upset, but I sucked it up and looked at the good stuff.

We all can do that - whether it is weight, health, relationships or circumstances. It's easy to go to that negative place and focus on all the bad stuff, but its way easier and doable if you see the good stuff. As cheesy as it was, that song was right-

 "Always look on the briiiiight siide of life...." 

See you in a few kilos...  xx

Forgive Me Father For I have Sinned

Yes, I am guilty! I have committed the ultimate sin!!! I have gained 2.5 kilos.

Fuck.

One week ago I had lost 7 kilos!!! I had gone from 108 kg to 101 kg - wooot!!! And then I let my attention slip! Losing 7 kilos made me feel so elated, successful, empowered! I had finally lost a significant amount of weight in  healthy way for the very first time - I was really proud of myself. My weight loss app on my phone told me I would reach my goal of 80kg by March 2013 - that's 28 kilos in less than 6 months! I felt like it was easy. I had support and congratulations from my friends and co-workers. People were sharing their stories, talking to me, emailing me and seeking my advice. Most amazing of all, they were telling me how my blog has motivated or inspired them. I felt so good, so happy, so right.

And then I took my eye off the prize.

I lost my focus...

...and I gained 2.5 kilos.

So, tonight I am confessing my sins!


Today, I resisted eating all of this delicious food at work for our Melbourne Cup luncheon - not one bite!!!!

 

And then tonight, I ate half a batch of cheesecake mixture, and then started on the chocolate mousse.

Ugh.

In the last few days I have eaten 2 cheesecake mixtures and about half of a batch of chocolate mousse (I threw the other half out just before writing this blog post). That's about 20,000 kilojoules.

Yep, I calculated it.

Kinda wish I had worked that out before eating it.

I also had people over on the weekend and drank champagne, and ate Indian take away (although I did pick the best thing I could I suppose), aaaaand I drank 3/4 s of a bottle of Moet to celebrate the purchase of my first ever new car - Pearl.

Pretty Pearl

These bad eating days have caused SEVERE temptation to go back to my old habits and starve myself to make up for it. But no, I will not do that to myself. They have made me hate myself, and they have made me feel really down on myself. Eating badly is not just bad for your body and physical health, it ruins your mental health too. I feel disgusting inside, and I feel sick.

So yeah, Ive been bad, really bad, and it's time to fess up and its time to STOP!

Tomorrow I will eat correctly, I will not starve, I will not skip a meal - and I will begin exercise again. I had a goal to be under 100 kg for my birthday on the 19th November, and now it doesnt look like I will make it. When I was 101.2 kg with 19 days to go it was going to be easy, now it's not likely. Oh well, shit happens, and this isn't about losing weight for a date, a holiday or a birthday, it's about losing weight from having a healthy life and feeling the benefits both physically and mentally.

We all fall down, we all lose track - but we ALL can do it.

And I will.

See you in a few kilos!!!