Rivals!

When it comes to books, I find that some people are very snobby. “Have you read the latest by *insert name of obscure author here*, the composition of characters is just marvelous, the imagery just sublime and by the end of it it really made me question the whole question of where did squirrels come from”

  Ok that book might not exist, but you get my point, My favourite books are “Great Expectations” (it’s a really good story) any “Adrian Mole” (makes me laugh as much today as it did when I was 11 years old) and “Rivals” by Jilly Cooper!

My well worn, well read copy of "Rivals"

I didn't realise quite how well worn it was!

  Now before the book snobs turn their nose up and other people wonder what on earth this has to do with weight loss, this is it! I love “Rivals”, because it’s the tale of a group of people (Venturer) bidding against another group of people (Corinium) for the right to run their local TV station. The leader of Corinium is a dirty horrible scoundrel who cheats and lies to try and get his way. On the day the license is awarded, the leader of Venturer (Declan) is convinced that they haven’t got it and as he’s about to walk away, he’s called into a room and told that yes they’ve won it. He's also handed a sheet of paper, with the names of all the people who work for his rival, saying what a good bloke he is and how they’d rather work for him. He’s told that whenever he feels down he should look at this piece of paper.

  Alright, I’m probably not selling the book and I probably should have issued a spoiler alert, but today I was reminded of that piece of paper and the fact I have my own version.

 Today has been really tricky, with a few issues raising their work related head and I found myself really REALLY angry. The sort of anger that has enveloped me only twice in my life. Most people will refer to themselves as chilled and relaxed, but I really am. One of my best qualities (apart from my awesome sense of humour, beautiful eyes and cracking pair of boobs) is the fact I very rarely lose my temper and if I do get mildly annoyed, I forgive really quickly and move on. Today was not one of those days.

  I tried to employ every technique I could to cheer myself up, but not even singing “I’m in the Mood for Dancing” helped. So I headed off to the supermarket. I was an angry shopper, screaming children in trollies annoyed me, people wading through the packs of strawberries looking for the longest best before date drove me mad! I figured I may as well just fill my trolley with pizza, garlic bread and a vat of Ben and Jerrys and just head home.

  And then I remembered the weekend I’d just enjoyed. The weekend where one of my best friends made the journey from Weymouth to surprise me for the first of my 40^th birthday celebrations… 

the weekend where all my friends joined me for afternoon tea, prosecco and cake. 

The weekend where we stuck our heads in a Las Vegas showgirl cutout and laughed. 

The weekend where I spent a gloriously hot Sunday at Wollaton Park with my friends, godchildren and dogs. The weekend where all of my friends scribbled notes on polaroid pictures.

  This weekend and the memories it created were what was important. So my trolley remained pizza, garlic bread and ice cream free. I came home I made myself a prawn salad and prepared my overnight oats for the tomorrow.

  I know when I step on the scales tomorrow I’ll have put weight on, but it will be pounds created out of fun and laughter. Today it was back to normal and the love and fun I'd felt over the weekend was the thing I needed to prevent my anger from really screwing over my diet for all the wrong reasons!

Doing it Like Dickens

I love Charles Dickens, he’s one of my favourite authors. I like the following things about him

1.     He writes good books

2.     You can always guess whether a character is going to be good or bad.

There’s none of this “oh my Dad didn’t understand me growing up, which is why I treat everyone like rubbish” nonsense, he goes for names that conjure up images of who they are. For example, Mr. Fezziwig (jolly character, described as a happy man with 3 daughters, who wore a powdered wig and a waistcoat)

Mr. Jagger’s, described as a burly man with a large head and large hands, prematurely bald with big bushy eyebrows. I always think he’s a bit spiky and hard for Pip to get to know, but ultimately he’s a good bloke...

and Scrooge, even saying the word sounds mean.

Sometimes stereotypes are good and sometimes they aren’t!

After a long day, I sat down with a magazine and realized it contained the headline

“The Body Debate – Curvy & Happy vs Skinny & Sad”

  I’ll save you the bother of reading it, I’m assuming their research went like this…

However, and here’s the bit where I feel like Einstein talking people through the theory of relativity or Patricia Fielding suggesting Carrie Bradshaw wear Manolas (probably more the second one) I reckon we are happy with whatever body we feel most comfortable in.

  I for example feel far better and more confident when I’m a bit slinkier, some people are perfectly happy with a fuller figure and some slinky people wish they could put a few pounds on. It’s whatever’s right for you.

  I remember saying to a flat chested friend, after she’d had a baby that I bet she loved having bigger boobs. She was horrified that I dare suggest such a thing because none of her couture fashion fitted her temporarily ample bosom. I was horrified, she wouldn’t like having bigger boobs, because I love mine!

 So here’s my scientific research