Tears for Our Barbara

I am beyond words, immensely sad and can only think of this song.


Love you Barbara.

Bra Shopping Aversion

For my new clothes (still only a thought right now) to fit properly, undergarments are a definite must. No more "burn the bra" fanatics running around much anymore. Their b00bies are floating somewhere around their belly buttons by now. Or as Stacey from What Not To Wear calls them, "The Girls". You got 'em, so make 'em look proud.

I think I have a bit of bra buying aversion. My current ones are looking like shabby little rejects. The underwire is still there but there are little puckers and folds which used to be stretched thin by my ample chest. Some of the weight I lost was from my girls. I need one that fits and lifts and well you know the rest. I actually went into the bra store last week but chickened out. No time, no desire, overwhelmed. I had no idea where to start.

Years ago, there were only a few companies that made bras and the selection was limited. You usually went to Sears, found one of those matronly ladies named Olga, to help you pick out your box lined up in little pull out drawers. Buying a bra was more of a chore, sort of like going to the dentist or having a pap test. Necessary but not really a fun time. My experiences of bra shopping went more or less like this:

1. Go to store, grab a few boxes of Wonderbras. Hand boxes to the matronly Sears saleslady who kept the box while you tried them on.
2. Enter hot stinky changerooms, undress, look at droopy b00bs, put on bra, bend over to properly place The Girls. Matronly lady would call you dear and ask if you needed anything.
3. Buy 3 boxes of the same bra in white. Sometimes beige if you were feeling risqué.
4. Buy same bra for the next 5 years until it goes out of production (or in my case, get pregnant, get fatter, get breast reduction...)
5. Wear bra til it turns grey or underwires start to impale you.
6. Repeat steps 1-5.

But now. OMG. It's a candy store of bras and all sorts of sexy underthings. With cute teenage girls waiting to pounce as you walk into the store, looking you up and down and hoping a cute guy comes in so they can avoid having to help the old fat lady who they know will need to try on half the bras in the store and will probably leave with nothing. Wow, is that what is called a run on sentence? But my heart is pounding just thinking about going there.

I want my matronly Sears lady back. To hand me one of those white Playtex 'Cross Your Heart' bras or Wonderbra 'Lift and Separate' and stack the boxes by the cash register. I will look like I have a unib00b but I will have avoided the bra buying spree for another few years.

What's a girl to do. Shopping for a bra is just not something you ask your daughter to come help you with. Do I go to one of those bra fitter ladies who feels me up, measures everything, then tells me I am really a EE or HHHH or something udderly (pun intended!) ridiculous. When I had my breast reduction in December of 1999, I asked my plastic surgeon if he could just make me a C cup. He said he'd try. I went out after the surgery and following the 5 steps above religiously bought my C cup bras. I can't fathom any other letters of the alphabet.

But now I have to suck up my fear and replace my poor old bras. But where to start. Yup my first tried and true place when I am in need of advice. I Googled it. And one link led to another til I found what I needed.

The Bra Size Calculator 

It will calculate the bra size you need without the having to admit to the bra lady that you have no idea what size you should buy. There is also a bunch of other information on the site about standards, cup sizes. It will even convert bra sizes between US, UK and Australian sizes. I just did it and it says I need a 44C (US); 44D (UK); 22C (AUS/NZ) (which is a bit funny!). We Canadians use the US system but I guess if a store carries bras from all over the world it isn't so easy to find my real size! BTW, they also have conversions for EU, Japan, Czech Republic and a few more.

I have two weeks before my trip to Mexico. I need new bras. I will do this.

Maybe I'll just start at Walmart. One step at a time. And maybe I'll find a lovely beige one to get out of my white obsession.

Panties next I guess. Although I just picked up a few new packs of Hanes Her Way in size Medium. Joey will probably still make comments about my baggy panties but I just can't get past the horrors of seeing "The Thong". Maybe that can be my next intervention.

And for any of you who would love to see the Playtex Cross You Heart Lady here is the video. At the end they will also show you the Playtex 5 Pounds Thinner Girdle.


 

Dressing for My Body Shape-A Diamond in the Rough

As I jump into shopping for new clothes that fit my lumpy bumpy body, it is becoming a huge challenge. And I still have to get my nerve up to get a new bra, an entirely separate post! I did what I usually do when I am not sure. I Google. Which led me to some nifty sites which gave me a few clues as to how to dress.

Shop Your Shape
My Virtual Makeover
Style Makeover HQ
Tips for Clothing by Body Shape

They all identify the different body types with tips to dress. Horizontally, I'm a Diamond, maybe in the rough but trying to shine. I also found out that vertically I am Long Legs Short Torso. The Diamond or Apple shape is the opposite of the Hourglass figure: the rolly polly stomach with little butt and skinny leg. My pre and during photos show the point. 

After reading the suggestions to dress for a Diamond I now know why I had such frustration with shopping for clothes. Add in the short torso and it became a nightmare. I can't tell you how many times I have tried on a dress or top which has a belt or ties to go around my waist. It's a definite NO for my body type. Deep down I knew this so I feel a bit of vindication. I am going to print off this list of Do's and Don'ts and use it when I shop. It's a start. Here's the link to Diamond Body Shape Clothing.

Do wear...

• Ear-rings, necklaces and other focal points designed to draw an observer's eyes up towards your shoulders and face
• Shoulder pads to emphasize your shoulders. This may sound very 80s advice, but they really do work. However, they should not be be visible
• Semi-fitted and loose fitting clothes
• Good fitting, well adjusted bras
• Support underwear
• Tops and bottoms in the same colors
• Low necklines
• Un-tucked tops
• Tops and dresses that flow through the waistline
• Straight flat-fronted pants in soft, flowing fabric
• Straight and slightly flared skirts

Short waist: Do...

• Drop waists, mid length tunics and longer tops
• Low rise or hipster pants
• Deep V necks, open shirts, long necklaces or scarves
• Skinny belts or low slung belts
• Low to medium heels
• Vertical stripes
• Pants with cuffs. They shorten the leg line and draw the eye downwards

 __________________________________________________________________
Don't wear...

• Clingy fabrics
• Fitted clothes
• Fabric with large patterns
• High necklines
• Large lapels
• Belts
• Tucked-in tops
• Pleats
• Narrow or tapered skirts or pants

Short Waist: Don't...

Don't tuck in shirts or tops (If you do then blouse them up to help elongate your waist)
Avoid crop jackets, short tops
• Empire lines
• Avoid wide belts
• High waisted pants or skirts

 

When I went through all the clothes I've bought in the last 6 months, I was pretty spot on. The clingy stuff just does not work. I do wear a bunch of camisoles, BUT they are always under something see through. Belts or empire waist: Never. Here are some of the picks for me with a diamond shape and also with a short waist. I am to try to elongate my torso and also hide the stomach. They come from this website.

Suggestions for Diamond/Apple shape (above)

Suggestions for Long Legs/Short Torso (below)

So now I just need the smaller body to go with these clothes. Still confused but getting there.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been on a shopping expedition to find shorts for my trip to Mexico in two weeks. Do you know how hard it is to find summery clothes in the middle of winter in the middle of Canada? I refuse to pay $80 for a pair of capris which only look so so. My shorts and capris from last summer are a tad big. But I think I've resolved to just make do with them. I plan to spend most of my time in my bathing suit(s). I'll just have to suffer from the baggy bum syndrome. All I really care about is getting away to somewhere warm. On Sunday it was one of our coldest days this winter, -25C (-13F) with a windchill making it feel like -38C (-34F). 16 more sleeps and I will be lounging by the ocean, white as a ghost and sucking up the sunshine.

As I work on this diamond, I know that exercise is the only way that it will deflate. I made it to the gym twice last week, fighting and kicking both times. But I went. And I will keep going. I want to get back to the routine and the energy I need from it right now. I also forgot to say that I got a fill last Wednesday. A 0.1 cc fill, just a drop. I think it has helped but will need to give it time. I don't have the ravenous hunger I was feeling and can still eat almost anything. I had pancakes for breakfast on the weekend but didn't finish them. Small victories. It really is true that there is a sweet spot/green zone that when reached takes away all thought of eating or food. I hope everyone eventually gets there because it really does exist. Our own band G-Spot (that's Green-Spot for those who let their minds go elsewhere).

I may even consider a tummy tuck to suck out some of the fat that is so persistant around my middle. But I am just not sure I want to go that path yet. Maybe I'll think differently in a year or two. Till then it's off to get some good body foundation. Bra shopping is next. And I will have to see about some Spanx. Problem is they must be rather hot in the summer.

Spiced Nuts Recipe

I made a big batch of these nuts last month. They have a bit of a bite, so if you don't like things really spicy, reduce the amount of cayenne pepper.

Spiced Nuts

1 large egg white

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

½ tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground cumin
1 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
5 cups of mixed nuts (ie pecan halves, cashews, walnuts, almonds)

Heat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. In a very large bowl, whisk egg white until soft and foamy. Combine all other ingredients, except nuts, then whisk them into the egg white. Stir in nuts until well coated. Spread mixture in a single layer onto 2 rimmed ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from oven. Using a metal spatula, stir and separate nuts. Reduce oven heat to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and return nuts to bake until medium brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; toss and stir again. Place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool. Nuts will crisp up as they cool. Break up any nuts that stick together. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

**I buy the big bags of unsalted nuts at Costco and then mix and match whatever I have on hand. You could also use peanuts. I haven't tried it but this would probably work well using chickpeas. Just watch they don't burn.

Unspoken, I Love You's

Sometimes you read a post and just know you have to write something. Again, lovely Drazil got me today. Her Candy for the Soul post hit a spot. If you didn't read it, go now. It's about showing love without the words.

As many of you know, I am a bit older than most of you. Not much, but a bit. LOL. As a kid, I don't remember anyone in my family saying "I Love You" but I had a great childhood. Sure I was fat but it was an ok childhood. I do remember my mom giving my dad a quick kiss when he went to work and also her giving us a kiss goodnight but I don't remember those words.

'I Love You' became very important as I grew up. I remember waiting to hear those words from a boyfriend, but none did. Until my DH came along. He said it first. And I still remember that butterfly feeling in my stomach. Someone actually loved me. Of course I said it back and still do. As my kids came along, I knew it was very important for me to tell them 'I Love You' as much as I could.

But never from my mother and never from my father. I knew they grew up in an era that avoided those words but never really understood. I don't remember my MIL or FIL saying them either.

Then a few years before my mom died at age 79, she said 'I Love You'. It was probably the hardest three words she could ever say to her 5 children. It was an innocent comment from my son that gave her that courage.

My mom used to call about once a month on a Sunday. I wasn't always home and one day, my son picked up the phone at 2 in the afternoon. He had been sleeping, so really wasn't very talkative. After a few minutes the conversation was over but it wasn't until the next Sunday that I learned what was said.

The following week, my mom called and when I answered, her first words were, "Do you know what your son said to me last week"? Now all sorts of things were going through my mind of possible swear words. I mumbled a tiny no and hoped she would quickly get to the point about how I was such a bad mother. Then she tells me that as my son finished talking to her, he said 'I Love You Gramma'.

OK. I didn't really know what to say since we say it all the time in my house, even now that the kids are older. It wasn't til months later when I was visiting, my aunt told me that her and my mom had been practicing saying 'I Love You'. It didn't come easily but 4 of us 5 kids finally heard the words over the coming year. She kept practicing for another year to be able to say the same to my one sister. But she did. It took all her effort but she said 'I Love You' to us all and to her it was probably one of the biggest accomplishment of her life.

So how was it that we all survived and did well without hearing 'I Love You' all the time. As I think back, I realize there were many ways we were shown love without the actual words being said from both my dad and mom. And those are the memories that will continue. Just like Drazil's candy story, she will remember this with good thoughts of her dad because that is just his way of saying 'I Love You' without actually saying the words.

Sometimes in life it isn't always about the words we say. It's those unspoken actions that let those around us know that they love us. The touch, the look, the little things they do for us. Maybe it isn't always necessary to say 'I Love You'. Maybe it really is about those little happenstances that show true love.

OK, you guys. As we head towards Valentine's Day, I hope you see the love around you. I feel the love coming back at me when you send me amazing support.

So I send an 'I Love You' back out to you all.
 

How Will You Spend Your Dash?



Click on the photo above to read
 what the author has to say.

I always marvel at how some of you write such heart warming poems. You are truly talented and I enjoy poetry immensely as it feels like it comes from the heart.

Last week on the BYOC, there was a question asking what would be your last meal if you were on death row. I think a few people might have been wigged out at the thought of death, which made me remember a poem which particularly touches me. A few years ago, a manager where I worked dropped dead of a heart attack just before his 44th birthday. He was playing old-timers hockey and poof, he dropped dead. At his funeral, they read this poem:

                                                                   

The Dash Poem

"—"
by Linda Ellis ©

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth

and spoke of the following date with tears,

but he said what mattered most of all

was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time

that she spent alive on earth…

and now only those who loved her

know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;

the cars…the house…the cash.

What matters is how we live and love

and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard…

are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left.

That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

to consider what’s true and real,

and always try to understand

the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,

and show appreciation more

and love the people in our lives

like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,

and more often wear a smile…

remembering that this special dash

might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy’s being read

with your life’s actions to rehash...

would you be proud of the things they say

about how you spent your dash?

There have been many funerals since that time. It seems I am now at the age where funerals outnumber the weddings or celebrations. But at each one, I think about the dash. There is usually something quite profound in the eulogy, a remembrance, an anecdote, a story. Something that makes us remember the good that was their life. I remember at the funeral of my MIL, 10 years ago, her son told about how "mom" could bake. Her date squares were infamous. As her son mentioned a few of his favorite foods, many of us mumbled a treat we particularly remembered. You could hear the whispers throughout the church. It was part of her dash.

In talking about the Dash poem, the author wrote: Living a dash that you can be proud of doesn't mean trying to be perfect and changing yourself to fit the mold of what people tend to think of as a "good" person. To me, it means doing the best you can every day to live a life which may someday allow you to leave behind a legacy of kindness, love and laughter. 

Sometimes I forget my dash. Other times I think about how I should do more to be kind, to be loving and to have laughter in my life. I'm still working on my dash. I'll post more in the coming days as I have some thinking to do about my dash.

Just throwing this out there, but how's your dash doing?

It’s Possible to be FIT and FAT

Last week this article appeared in our paper. Here are a few points from the article:

It’s possible to be FIT and FAT

• Chubby exercisers are healthier than skinny couch potatoes. Being skinny isn’t the panacea for all that ails you. When it comes to health and well-being, the numbers on the scale don’t tell the whole story. In a 2003 study by Steven Blair, moderately fit women of all weights had a 48 per cent lower risk of dying prematurely (from all causes) when compared to unfit women — even the skinny ones. The conclusion, said Blair, is that it’s entirely possible to be fit and fat.

This is the photo that accompanied the article.

Funny but the guy looks like he's sleeping!

• In a society where the Biggest Loser is the biggest winner, that message needs more play. Being skinny isn’t the panacea for all that ails you. When it comes to health and well-being, the numbers on the scale don’t tell the whole story. Before chubby people from coast to coast let out a cheer, these results in no way suggest that it’s OK to pack on extra weight. High blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and breast, colon and endometrial cancer are all more prevalent in the overweight population. But for those who struggle to reach their goal weight, exercise can ameliorate a lot of the risk factors associated with obesity.
• This is an important message because not everyone can be slim. The same can’t be said for fitness. Its benefits don’t discriminate. So while there are those who think that fit and healthy comes only in small sizes, there are plenty of studies out there that say differently.
• Before concluding, it’s worth making clear once again that the fit and fat principle doesn’t give you licence to let unnecessary pounds accumulate. The studies offer hope to those who haven’t found success reaching their goal weight. So while it’s a given that there will always be small, medium and large sized bodies, exercise benefits all sizes equally.

This is just my opinion but I feel it is actually true. Over the last 35 years I have exercised almost continually. In my twenties I was in the Armed Forces Reserves and this included a lot of running and keeping fit. It was also when I first joined a gym. Into my 30’s, more gym memberships, and yes I actually went many times a week. I felt the burn many many times. In my 40’s I used the gym a bit, but invested in home equipment. I also walked 5km (3mi) almost daily. I did try running but hated it, so I defaulted to walking. A few times I just gave up as not an ounce of weight came off my body. But I felt great. Into my 50’s it is back to the gym during the winter and back to walking outside during the warmer months. 

I used to wonder why I did all this work when I would see all my skinny relatives and some friends sitting on their duffs. Their only exercise was pushing the buttons on the remote. I do have friends who do workout/run/walk/exercise, some big, some small. But I knew I was different and even with the extra weight, I knew the exercise was really important.

Currently I am at a BMI of about 27 which is “still” overweight. To get to what everyone considers a “normal” BMI, I would have to lose 15 pounds. If I get there, I get there. The numbers don’t really mean a lot to me at this point but it is a personal choice to keep losing pounds. If I don’t lose any more, I will work through this and decide if that is what I truly want.

If I choose (and it is my choice).
If not, I will be one of those Fat but Fit people that studies like the one above talk about.

But don't call me Chubby...

What do you think?