Thar she blows! She blow-w-ws!
Latest photos below.
There's a whale sanctuary offshore here (the Pelagos Sanctuary) and there are regular whale-watching tours over the summer. Whales like this part of the Mediterranean, the Ligurian Sea, possibly because it's a bit cooler than other parts. In fact, there used to be a town nearby in Roman times called Costa Balenae, i.e. Whale Coast.
The whale rangers (if that's the right name for them) insist that there is a white whale out there, too. Although, they say it's actually somewhat pinkish rather than the pure white of the legendary whale of Herman Melville's outstanding story.
Since only the rangers seem to have spotted it, and we all know the tradition that sailors tell tall tales, I keep an open mind.
(By the way, if you haven't read Melville's Moby-Dick I invite you to do so. Or reread it. In my opinion, it's the finest novel in the English language.)
I mention this as (a) it's in the news and (b) I want to talk about slimming as I keep being asked about my regime and (c) I'm tired of being a pink whale myself.
I've mentioned this before but when I really need to get weight off I use the Slimming World healthy eating plan.
In brief, you can eat loads and, ideally, you'll eat a wide, healthy range of foods, enough to keep you full (which is where most diets fail) but obviously you'll cut down on (but you don't need to eliminate) the fermented and processed sugars (like cheese, bread, alcohol, chocolate ...) and fats (bacon rind, butter, you know the stuff). There are plenty of substitutes for sugars and fats. This tends to get me a pound or two off each week on average (0.5 - 1 kg) and so after a few weeks or months that makes quite a difference.
My problem is that I got very overweight after my leg was damaged in 2018 and then, just as I was walking properly again, the pandemic came and locked us all indoors. By the end of 2020 I was huge and so losing the 30 kilos (5 stone) I needed to takes time. Every time I go away I lose some control of what I eat. For instance, I went away for four weeks in May/June and, two months later, I am still trying to get back to where I was before I went. Ideally, I want to get to my perfect weight and then it doesn't matter so much if I gain a bit after going out for a pizza with friends or going on holiday as it'll not then take months to get back to target.
I've got about 30lb (13 kg) to lose at the moment.
So here are my honest Pink Whale photos. Tonight, in a newish dusty pink tee-shirt, accompanied by my blue whale (whom I am going to call Baloney), I look like this with no shaping undergarments. Yes, that's my bust in a normal underwired bra, no enhancement, and that's my tummy now.
And me in 2022. Not as big but not slim either.
Anyway, that's me being a pink whale.
If you see any other pink whale, just be glad it's not those pink elephants again.
(These animated psychedelic pachyderms are, of course, from Disney's 1941 classic, Dumbo; another masterpiece.)
Sue x
I tend to burn rather easily in the sun, and I have very sensitive skin, prone to various ailments, so I tend to go very heavy with the sun cream. When I was on holiday in Xante, many years ago, the guy who ran the beach taverna dubbed me the 'White Turtle' after I was seen with just my pasty white, factor 50 back sticking out of the water, as I snorkelled, looking for actual turtles. It put me in mind of the whale in Moby Dick. One day I must read that novel again. You are right, it's the finest book ever written.
ReplyDeleteWell done on your weight loss so far. I think you look great already and a little chubbiness can be both very attractive and also useful in creating a female illusion, especially a cleavage. But you know what your ideal weight for you is, and I know you will achieve it.
My own weight loss is going slowly and steadily. At the moment I'm just in the obese category and my target is to be merely overweight by the end of the year. I've got to lose 5kg to do that. Then I will aim to slowly get back to the healthy weight.
What a rude guy. Remind me not to go to Xante!
DeleteYou have to be careful with today's fiercer sun, so factor 50 is a very good plan. You can now get Ultrasun in the UK and their Family factor 30 is better even than most factor 50s. I swear by it.
I have a lovely tan right now but that's mainly from ambient sun rather than direct sunlight, so my skin browns slowly and gently.
Thank you for the kind compliments, Dee. Always encouraging. I know you'll make it to your target, too. Slow and steady is the best policy. We should set up our own TGirl slimming club!
Sue x
ReplyDeleteGood luck on healthier eating and keeping your body as you'd like. Not an easy thing to achieve in today's world of hidden sugars, fats, and whatnot.
FWIW, I find bread and beer the things that make me increase my weight. Not that I drink anymore. A shame given my love of a delicious slice of bread, with a slight touch of margarine. Oh well. Maybe just as a treat once a month and a good walk afterwards.
Mrs J tells me that diets tend to work if you log all the input as calories- not sins or points - and you make a long term commitment to maintaining the right amount of calories. As a scientist - and her pesky evidence 😉 - she's quite scathing of some of the 'diets' that are popular with various 'thinfluencers'. Pretty much as said regime is boom & bust.... with the latter not in a fab, curvy way.
I'll not name the company that has her ire, as their approach is amazing as a business. But for people, it's guaranteed to make them come back 'cos it doesn't work once they leave it.
On an unrelated note, a UK diet programme have gone bust recently, given the rise in popularity of the appetites suppressant jabs available privately. So things change.
Thanks, Lynn. Yes, today's processed foods are designed to make us fat, partly by our craving more of them. I too find bread and beer to be the worst trim tum killers. But I do have a bit of bread every day as it's undoubtedly healthy, too. Beer is less essential! You could replace beer and wine with spirits that are less fattening for the same boozy kick.
DeleteI notice that Weight Watchers, which was once the UK's biggest organisation for slimming, has filed for bankruptcy. Mrs J is right to criticise fad diets, as do I, but calories are a blunt instrument as, to find the calories, they quite literally burn the food and count the calorific output. But the body doesn't 'burn' food in that flaming way, so it's not a great system, according to some researchers such as Tim Spector at Kings College, London. I'm curious as to her bugbear, though. WW? SW? Or other?
Sue x
I did take issue with Slimming World on the one time I attended their meeting. Everyone has to tell the room how they have done with their dieting that week. One woman had put on a couple of pounds. She had been ill, suffering from a horrible cold. The group leader then said that she should have reduced her calorie intake to make allowances for the calories in the tablets and cough medicine. Could they not cut her some slack on a week when she was poorly and feeling rough? And is it wise to worry about dieting when your poorly. I fully subscribe to the old maxim, 'Feed a cold. Starve a fever.And give an Aardvark little pieces of chopped earthworms.'
DeleteI understand the situation you were in, Dee, but I interpret it differently because calorie counting is not a thing with Slimming World at all. The Slimming World consultant was likely explaining that modern cold remedies are chock full of sugar, so if you have treats (which they refer to as "syns") - and a few treats a day are recommended - then having your usual syns plus cold medicines could inadvertently take you over your syn allowance, which might explain the weight gain that week. Sue x
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