Weighing up my options.....

I joined Curves a month ago and today was my first weigh in and measurement day. I have been going 5 days a week (for the exception of one week where I went 3 times) and I have been changing my eating habits as best I can. So, as you can imagine, I expected some results. Unfortunately, I have put on…..wait for it…….1.5kg! Obviously it can’t possibly be the Curves gym routine, it has to be my eating habits, which the gym lady, let’s just call her Skinny Malinky, suggested immediately.

So, now my option is to either enjoy food and steadily put on weight (even if I go to the gym 5 times a week) or, as she says, “just drink a big glass of water before each meal and then you won’t eat as much”.

Has it really come to this? That we can’t just eat what we want and eat as much as we want. I hate that I have become this person who feels bad about eating chips or a slice of cake every now and again or eating a meal that contains starch….oh no, heaven forbid I eat bread…..bread is the devil’s food!

I never used to worry about this at all. Food was never an issue for me because I LOVE FOOD! Food has been my dear friend for 27 years and now it has just turned its back on me and is leaving its calories in my ass. My relationship with food has changed without me making the decision to change it and now I feel almost forced to change because I want my body back.

So, I guess there is my answer – I want my body back (the one I had a year ago) so I will just have to say good-bye to my other dear friends bread, pasta and awesome Mr. Potato and hope that we are reunited one day by candle light and a good bottle of wine.

I know that it all comes down to changing my mind-set and soon this will all feel very natural (it bloody well better start quickly) and then I will laugh at the thought that I once got excited about roast potatoes and cheese sauce.

…………….My goodness, I can talk a lot of bull poop…..I think for now I’ll just do the water drinking thing before meals. I take it back my starchy friends….tonight we shall reunite.

Pampering Vs Adventure

Adventure experiences might not be for everyone and if you are looking for a gift, whether it is for a 21^st birthday or a 50^th birthday, you will find it at Celestial Gift Experiences. A gift experience is a great gift option as it is something that will be remembered forever. For a 21^st birthday gift you might want to give your sister a full day spa gift experience and if your brother is into adventure sports you can join him in a tandem skydive. Celestial Gift Experiences is the perfect place to look as it has experiences ranging from adventure sports and party Hummers to romantic dining experiences and gift vouchers.

When it comes to buying a gift for someone who prefers the indoors to the outdoors and loves a good pampering, you can’t go wrong with the experiences at celestialgifts.co.za. Alternatives to adventure sports include Sushi lessons, dinner in the sky, a singles cooking evening, chocolate tasting or a high tea for two. These make great gifts for sisters, mothers, grandparents and actually anybody who has a taste for the finer things in life.

For the men in your life you could opt for a gift experience of another nature. A tailor made suit experience allows you to “create your very own bespoke suit and hand pick each and every minute detail. Each tailor made suit is cut to your individual specifications using the highest quality fabrics and craftsmanship”.  Also available is a tailor made shirt consultation. These would make a wonderful 21^st birthday gift as well a great congratulatory gift for your son who just got a new job.

A mini make-over is a lovely gift to give your daughter before her Matric dance and personal shopping experience is a special way to celebrate your cousin’s engagement. Body analysis and illusion dressing “is the art of bringing your figure into proportion visually by the clothes that you wear. During body analysis we take your body measurements and analyse which clothing styles are most flattering for your body type” – this gift experience is a great corporate incentive as well as a perfect gift for your aunt who can’t stop complaining about her weight.

Other alternatives to adventure sports are a Segway Spier wine farm and vineyard tour, a private off-road wine tour, a maternity and new born photo shoot or photo shoot fun, which can be done with your family or friends.

From an African feast and drumming and a farm house party weekend for 12 to a Rose garden breakfast, a Durban harbor dinner cruise and a professional recording studio session – Celestial Gift Experiences has it all. These are all wonderful gifts to give that special person in your life who just wants to sit back and relax (without the thrill) and have a memory to look back on forever. 

Finding the best gift online

Celestial Gift Experiences is one place where you can find the best gift for anyone and any occasion. If you are looking for a wedding anniversary gift, they will have many options available. Congratulatory and good luck gifts are also on offer, which include anything from motorsports to spa treatments and air adventures to wine tasting as well as many more unforgettable gift experiences.

There two types of people you might have to buy gifts for – either you buy gifts for close friends and family or you buy gifts for people you do not know so well. Either way, the gift needs to be the best gift you can get them and Celestial Gift Experiences is the best place to look when it comes to buying anything from a wedding anniversary gift to a good luck gift.

If you find yourself in the position of having to buy your boss a congratulatory 50^th wedding anniversary gift you need to look no further that Celestial Gift Experiences. Not only are there a wide variety of gift experiences available but there are also gift vouchers on offer. Gift vouchers are great because it allows the person you are buying it for to choose their own experience. On offer is the Pluto Voucher valued at R500, the Saturn Voucher valued at R1000 and the Mars Voucher valued at R1500.

If gift vouchers are not what you are looking then just check out the amazing gift experiences on offer. For your neighbour’s sister who just got engaged, you can give a moonlight spa experience, a horse back safari, or even a tandem skydive. For you bosses daughter who just turned 21 years old, you can get the wine estate picnic package, a hot stone massage or maybe a cruise for two. Maybe your child’s teacher just announced that she is pregnant; Celestial Gift Experiences the best gift options – you could get her a maternity photo shoot, a chocolate tasting experience or maybe just a Jazz brunch for two.

Buying gifts for people you do not know so well doesn’t have to be so tricky, even when it comes to corporate gifts. Celestial Gift Experiences has a wide range of the best gift ideas for you to choose from. Corporate incentives in the form of a Vaal River Cruise, a Harley Davidson Pillion, a F1 self-drive or a flotation tank treatment are great gift incentives to get any business team working hard.

Gift vouchers, gift experiences and a whole lot more - Celestial Gift Experiences has it all. A wedding anniversary gift, a birthday gift, a good luck gift or a bachelor party gift - Celestial Gift Experiences has a gift for every occasion. Your uncle’s daughter’s boyfriend, your boss’s wife’s sister or your son’s girlfriend’s mother – Celestial Gift Experiences has the perfect gift for everyone.

Anonymous Quote

The other day I came across this quote - "At the age of twenty, we don't care what the world thinks of us; at thirty, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at forty, we discover that it wasn't thinking of us at all."

In my humble opinion I think that this is a big bucket of cow poop. Firstly, I strongly dislike generalisations (unless I am making them) and secondly, well, I just don't like it. This person obviously wanted to remain anonymous because either they knew that they were talking absolute nonsense or they just wanted to create a reaction in someone like me.....well done Mr. Anonymous, you have succeeded!

Here is my amended quote - "At twenty, I knew the world was thinking of me; at thirty, I will still know that the world is thinking of me; at forty, I will definitely know that the world is still thinking of me." I cannot presume to know what YOU think of what the world thinks of you, all I can do is convey what I think and what I think, and what I have known for quite sometime, is that the world, the universe, is always on MY side IF I am on its side too.

By "universe" I mean everything that is in my world (people, plants, animals, myself) therefore, in order for the universe to hear me, I need to hear the needs of the universe too. I cannot expect love and happiness if I live my life treating others (or myself) with indifference and sadness. What I get from the world entirely depends on what the world gets from me.

One of my favourite Paulo Coelho quotes is, "When you want something, the whole Universe conspires to help you realise your desire." There is no better way of saying that and it is because of this quote and because of the life I have lived that I know that world is, and always will be, thinking of me.

Take a breath...

We all have something that we are aspiring to, whether it is a job or a romantic connection or losing weight, we all have things in our lives that we want to achieve. So, as a result we are looking forward all the time. We are looking to see how long we still have to go, we are looking forward to all the appointments we are going to, we are looking at what still needs to be done. Very rarely do we realise that last week today was the future and last week we knew we were going to accomplish something by today. So, I urge you to STOP and take a BREATH and look at what you have accomplished already.

9 months ago I was no longer a teacher but I was at the beginning of my journey to becoming a freelance writer. About two months ago I stopped and took a breath and realised that I was writing and earning money and I was, in fact, living my dream.

What an amazing feeling that was and I would not have felt that if I had not stopped for a moment and looked, not into the future, but into my present. I used to day dream a lot about how I imagined my life but now I go to bed and I dream about my reality and when I wake up I live that reality and my dreams are merely little voices in my head that gently call to me every now and again. I don't live in that dream any more, that dream lives in me.

Yes, I still have many things that I want to achieve but I cannot achieve them if I am not being active in my reality. I believe that only three things can make you lose your way - firstly, if you only ever look to the future and the present becomes your dream, secondly, if you only complain about your present and your future is nothing but a dream that helps you sleep at night and lastly, in the words of Paulo Coelho, "Only one thing makes a dream impossible: the fear of failure."

Dreams (aspirations) should just act as goals, they are not to be lived in. Your reality can only be a success if your dreams live in you and you live in the present.