Miss Piggy's Hooves
Well, I wore these darling shoes yesterday with pants, and
discovered that a shoe that makes the leg look gorgeous, highlights calf muscles and dainty feet when worn with a knee-length skirt make the same feet look like HOOVES when worn with pants. Like Miss Piggy's hooves, to be specific.
Today I am writing my sermon (and two funeral services) at home and looking like a blimp in a flowy Indian skirt and an ugly, tattle-tale gray summer shirt. So we're just very high on the self-esteem right now. I share this with you only to say: LOW SELF-ESTEEM IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO SHOP FOR MORE CLOTHES.
In fact, when we're feeling particularly unattractive, it's best to stay out of the stores, find creative solutions with garments we already own, make an extra effort with hair and make-up (or grooming), stand up straight, smile a lot, and just ride the Ugly Wave until it's ridden out. The Ugly Wave comes to us all. It never lasts forever. You will be cute again before you know it! You must believe!
On Sunday it will be slimming black, believe me, flattering heels and leek soup between now and then.
Why are so many professional caregivers so fat, do you think? Is it because we nurture ourselves with food, is it because being chunksters gave us more compassion in the first place, is it because we don't make enough time for self-care, is it because compulsive overeating is our passive-aggressive way of rebelling? Is it all of the above?
PeaceBang is back on the Self.com food monitor and back to the gym. She is deeply considering the wise and lovely activist and naturalist Jane Goodall's statement, "My idea of pure misery is large meals that leave me feeling full."
Oh, Jane. I will so try to remember that when I'm going back for seconds.
And by the way, I can't recommend highly enough Jane's new book, Harvest for Hope: A Guide To Mindful Eating. If you're like me and felt terribly confused by the difference between farm-raised salmon vs. wild salmon and you didn't really know what GMO's were, exactly, and you wanted a primer in grass-fed animal issues and sustainable agriculture in general, and you wanted it to be available to you in one highly readable book narrated by a truly admirable human being, well, you have to get this one. I think it might be changing my life.
discovered that a shoe that makes the leg look gorgeous, highlights calf muscles and dainty feet when worn with a knee-length skirt make the same feet look like HOOVES when worn with pants. Like Miss Piggy's hooves, to be specific.
Today I am writing my sermon (and two funeral services) at home and looking like a blimp in a flowy Indian skirt and an ugly, tattle-tale gray summer shirt. So we're just very high on the self-esteem right now. I share this with you only to say: LOW SELF-ESTEEM IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO SHOP FOR MORE CLOTHES.
In fact, when we're feeling particularly unattractive, it's best to stay out of the stores, find creative solutions with garments we already own, make an extra effort with hair and make-up (or grooming), stand up straight, smile a lot, and just ride the Ugly Wave until it's ridden out. The Ugly Wave comes to us all. It never lasts forever. You will be cute again before you know it! You must believe!
On Sunday it will be slimming black, believe me, flattering heels and leek soup between now and then.
Why are so many professional caregivers so fat, do you think? Is it because we nurture ourselves with food, is it because being chunksters gave us more compassion in the first place, is it because we don't make enough time for self-care, is it because compulsive overeating is our passive-aggressive way of rebelling? Is it all of the above?
PeaceBang is back on the Self.com food monitor and back to the gym. She is deeply considering the wise and lovely activist and naturalist Jane Goodall's statement, "My idea of pure misery is large meals that leave me feeling full."
Oh, Jane. I will so try to remember that when I'm going back for seconds.
And by the way, I can't recommend highly enough Jane's new book, Harvest for Hope: A Guide To Mindful Eating. If you're like me and felt terribly confused by the difference between farm-raised salmon vs. wild salmon and you didn't really know what GMO's were, exactly, and you wanted a primer in grass-fed animal issues and sustainable agriculture in general, and you wanted it to be available to you in one highly readable book narrated by a truly admirable human being, well, you have to get this one. I think it might be changing my life.
posted by PeaceBang at 1:59 PM
10 Comments:
Rather than "why are we/they so fat?" maybe the question should be asked of the ones who have lost weight recently "What motivated you to do it?" A different kind of why.
I am thinking of a few colleagues who, over the past few years, have lost 100's of pounds (and I mean individually, not collectively) and look fabuloso!
My weight loss has been modest (and even appears to be a bit transitory after the past month of lobster and ice cream), so I'm not sure it's significant. For me it was seeing colleagues younger than I with big gaps between their blouse buttons, and thinking "I am headed in that direction unless I make a change." I got really tired of looking in the mirror and going "Yecchh!" So you see, it's about image (in my case...)
I think people add weight to balance out all the emotional energy they get hit with all the time.
I think the added bulk has the mistaken identity of safety or support for the caregiver.
Dunno.
Dame O, I have been saying that for YEARS! I am glad to be validated by another sane person.
I think it's true: when I picture myself as small as I was in high school, I get nervous, like I would just blow away.
Weight, for whatever else it is, is SOLID.
For some reason, the relationship with food is different. I was shocked to find out from my mother (who has always been thin; she was shocked when she slightly exceeded 120 pounds in the last two years), that she doesn't think much about food unless she's really hungry or about to cook. She also hates the feelings of being full. She is a very slow eater, and typically saves part of her meal "for later." My brother, also naturally lean and very muscular, can eat like a beast at meal time, but rarely snacks. When he's not hungry anymore, he stops eating. He'll turn tasty food down. As for me, I'll eat until I'm stuffed, and swear I'll never eat so much again. I anticipate my meals. I definitely eat when I am bored, and if food is offered to me I'll often accept it, even when I'm not the least bit hungry.
Some people just have a different attitude about food - they eat to live and that's it. The people who live to eat and are constantly trying to reduce their weight can attempt to develop some of the habits of the other type of folk, but changing one's attitude about food is probably unrealistic for most people. That's why some people feel deprived when they eat less, and others don't - the latter just don't care about food that much.
That is my theory, anyway.
I'm finding the discussions about 'nutritional epiphanies' and patterns of eating, relationships to food, etc very enlightening. I've just begun a medically supervised liquid diet- very low calorie. The theory is to give myself a 'vacation' from food for a while, to eliminate those 'non-hunger' triggers. Today is day two- and so far, Im not hungry! I met with a woman last week who had been on the same program I'm on, lost over 150 lbs, and kept it off for 5 years! Gives me great hope. She did, in fact, change her attitude toward food, and no longer eats the foods that got her into trouble in the first place- no matter what!
I attended a health seminar, which I needed for my job, and was thinking the same thing about caregivers and weight gain. I like what dame said about adding the weight to balance out the emotional energy. That makes perfect sense.
For myself the key is total acceptance of where I am at, weight and all, then look for a way to improve myself, which of course is shedding the pounds in a healthy manner and excersising regulary. So with my busy schedule it's out with pb&j sandwiches, in with lean quisine and regular walks.
I have been deliberately trying to lose some weight, which is not some 10-lb. vanity--it's a medical non-negotiable. Portion sizes are my downfall. So I've pulled out one little weapon that has worked for me in the past. I say to myself whenever I am tempted to order/eat more than a reasonable portion: "It's OK to be hungry."
Believe it or not, that little saying has helped me many times this past month or so, since I got serious about the weight loss issue. And the good thing is, the tight clothes are getting looser, and I now have one skirt that is unwearbly too big. It's been several years since the last time that was the case. A few more pounds, and I'll probably be down one dress size. God willing, my Christmas gift to myself will be a smashingly gorgeous outfit from the "regular" petite department (I've been a WP for over 3 years now).
As ministers and church workers, we're loved and cared about by "our people," and they'd be devastated if we were suddenly incapacitated (or worse) because of weight-related illness. And what's more, we're loved and cared about by God. If self-love and self-care are not sufficient motivators to improve our health, perhaps remembering how precious we are to God and others can keep us at it when it gets difficult. PB and fellow PB-groupies, we CAN do it!
Thank you all for weighing in, forgive the pun!
You're inspiring! kiss, kiss!
I just finished re-reading an article in the July issue of O (the Oprah magazine) by Anne Lamott. In it, she says that "It's hard to remember that you are a cherished spiritual being when you're burping up apple fritters and cheetos". So we must remember that we are in fact, cherished spiritual beings, beloved by God, and not simply faulty digestive systems, etc. I've tacked that up over my desk-- words to strive by!
You wanna know the funny thing? I keep that whole weight as emotional energy thing in mind, and
as I lose weight with weight watchers, I find myself not needing the weight for emotional blocking.
I find myself letting go of the emotional energy more, just like I let go of the desire for food.
I don't consciously think about this, but I've noticed it happening.
And my key for eating when I'm hungry and not eating when I'm full is to say, when I look at something I want to eat, "This food is not part of my long-term goal." And that really helps as a reminder.
Dame O
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