Salad Days

A colourful mixed salad on a white plate with a pot of white dressing

At the age of 68, rather than writing myself off (literally), I decided I still had a lot to offer the world of employment. I was prompted to this by friends who refused to give in to age and have built successful careers after retirement – made me feel a bit ‘undynamic’, actually. But it […]

On the matter of bras

The older and flabbier I become, the more my bras matter. I know I should be less flabby. Of course, that’s the answer, but as you will have read here, it’s not that easy for me. Consequently, over the years, my bras have grown larger and less sexy. I’ve even bought some of those extensions […]

Fat Girl Fat 3 – dieting makes you fat

After my latest research, I am depressed – or I would be if I weren’t a Buddhist and as such, an optimist. I now understand a lot more about my body. My frustration arises from the knowledge that I have, as suspected, damaged my body through continuous yoyo dieting, allegedly for good. But I still […]

Fat Girl Fat 2 – Childhood

In December 1929, during a wild storm, my mother was born. By the time she was eleven, the country was at war and food rationing had been introduced. She told me that during wartime, she was permanently hungry. Even though the family kept chickens and goats and grew vegetables, things such as butter were almost […]

Fat Girl Fat – 1

I once watched a program (Thirty Something, 1980s and 90s) where four friends each listed how they saw themselves. You know: Mother, wife, teacher, that kind of thing. I don’t know why it has stayed with me but occasionally, I will formulate my own little list, and it never starts Mother, wife… even though I […]

I Give Up

In November, I gave up some bad things. These are foods of course. Foods and drinks that I like so much that when I start to consume them, I find it difficult to stop. Those SGI Buddhists reading this will recognise that this was my determination, at the beginning of the month. The three items […]

A series of Unfortunate Occurrences

I have had so many misadventures in the past four weeks that I could almost write a book about them. The  reasons for my disasters may be as follows (disasters is  a big word when the following events are compared with falling off a cliff or drowning in a lake): 1, My dreaming, creative mind […]

Tripping (not the kind that takes you up, but the one that plummets you down)

Recently, through chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, I determined to change my eating karma and lose weight. This declaration of intent was partly because of a second pulmonary embolism and the subsequent need to take anti-coagulants for the rest of my life – I am now on Warfarin. For the uninitiated, Warfarin, as well as being rat […]

What I’d like to know is…

If I’m honest I’m looking for an excuse to be fat. My issue is that there is so much information in the media about what is and is not good for us, but there are many exceptions to the rules. My grandfather for example, ate all the wrong things, took no exercise, was almost spherical and […]