Naturally Curvy

About the Book

We all know that diets don’t work, yet most of us continue to be swayed by their promise. After all, who doesn’t want to be a little bit thinner? Who doesn’t want to zip her skinny jeans without (literally) holding her breath? You can’t blame a girl for trying even the most desperate of measures.

As a fashion and beauty journalist, Mimi Spencer spends much of her time surrounded by the catwalk elite, engulfed in the culture of thin. Fed up with years of deprivation and dieting, she created the anti-diet. In 101 Things to Do Before You Diet, Spencer shares her strategies for trimming and flattering every inch of your body and shows you how she finally lost those pesky last few pounds – and how you can, too.

The Long Story

This is one of the very few books I have bought after reading someone else’s glowing review.

Mimi Spencer has taken on the world of trying to get ‘trim, taut and terrific’ like many others, but she has done it in an anti-diet way through common sense. Flitting through everything from how to cut those extra calories to bum and tum flattering apparel, Spencer takes an all-around approach to getting you looking and feeling great.

I have to say, as someone who is used to reading books about either what I should be doing with my body or how horrible I’ve been to my body without realizing it, it was a relief to read a book that treated me like a person. And a woman.

The best part about this book is that Mimi Spencer knows that no matter how good or bad you look on the outside, you will never be the woman you want to be without feeling sexy on the inside. This is a point that so many books just plain ignore, and is something that really made me feel comfortable ‘listening’ to Spencer’s tips.

The ‘101 Steps’ layout of this book makes it a great ‘pick up, put down’ kind of book. While that doesn’t work for fiction, it does for this because it gives you plenty of time to really think about what Spencer is saying.

I couldn’t agree with all her suggestions – Tip 27: Buy a Corset should have ‘if you have $200 to spare’ attached to it – and found some of the fashion parts to be a bit boring. I don’t care if pointy-toed heels are fashionable; I think they look horrible. I also don’t have the money to get the clothes she suggests.

However, despite my brief boredom with a few fashion tips, I quite liked this book. Her tips are common sense and don’t leave you with any excuses while still being sympathetic because it’s all coming from a woman who knows. I look at Spencer’s picture and wonder what in the world she has to complain about, but the words say more than just looking at her ever could.

As a credit to how many studies she quotes and the kind of studies, I am not handing this book off until I get time to investigate some of them. A lot of the things quoted are recent and fascinating, and I’m looking forward to doing more reading.

The Short Story

I highly recommend this book from the standpoint that it focuses on self-love and common sense tips in all areas of beauty – both inside and out.

***
101 Things to Do Before You Diet: Because Looking Great Isn’t Just About Losing Weight
Mimi Spencer
http://www.mimispencer.com/
ISBN: 9781605298481
Length: 234 pages

…but I don’t want anyone thinking I have abandoned my blogs.

All my good intentions about getting back into the swing of things after my early Sunday morning emergency room visit didn’t quite go as planned. I checked in (previous post) and felt pretty good Monday. But, it was only one day and I didn’t get all I wanted done. By Monday night my side was aching something fierce, but I decided to ignore it and put it up to soreness from Sunday’s incident.

About 2am Tuesday morning, I was back in the emergency room – almost exactly 48 hours after the previous visit. They got me into a bed straight away and had me knock back a few painkillers so I could talk to them without squealing and squirming. It didn’t take them long to let me know that I wouldn’t be going home the following afternoon like before – they were going to take out my gallbladder.

I was bound and determined not to have surgery, after I had a long, soul-searching conversation with my husband. Any natural treatment would get my looksee before I considered surgery.

To give them a heap of credit, the surgeon was very understanding of how I felt regarding the surgery and went to the head of surgery to check out my options.

As it turned out, surgery was the only way for me. According to the head surgeon – who came to see me personally a number of times – my stones were simply too big to pass and would likely only get bigger. The infection/inflammation was the final sign (for them) that it was time to take my gallbladder out.

My surgery didn’t happen until Thursday night, and I was pumped full of antibiotics and fluids in the mean time. It wasn’t a great time, but I slept a lot. Plus, I had three roommates – Lee, Steve and Terry – who were great for conversation (and not so great for putting the toilet seat back down – haha).

Going into surgery was a teary-eyed event, but my husband got to be by my side right up until they wheeled me into theatre. I wasn’t awake for more than five minutes after I left his company.

When I opened my eyes (and kept them open) his smiling face was the first thing I saw. When I saw him, I knew everything would be okay. I was quite out of it, but I managed to tell him repeatedly that I loved him – even though I was slurring a bit and trying to speak loud enough to be heard through the oxygen mask.

Waking up fully was a bit rude the next morning because it was only then that I learned I had a tube coming out of my stomach. I hadn’t moved much before that (thank goodness) so I had no idea. I managed to get to the loo carrying the attached bag and without looking at the tube in me (I couldn’t bear to), but it was a very painful process. I pestered them about getting the tube taken out, and a very gentle nurse was finally given the go-ahead later that morning.

Though the surgeon had told me before surgery that it wouldn’t be likely I would get out before Saturday morning, I didn’t want to hear it. I wanted to leave Friday night at the latest. Even after discovering the stomach tube, I didn’t change my mind.

My determination seemed to do the trick, though, because I was able to be discharged Friday afternoon. I was barely walking and incredibly sore, but I made it.

With the help of my amazing, supportive husband, of course.

It’s now Sunday and I’m feeling pretty good. My appetite isn’t great, but I eat little bit anyway to help with the healing. I’m still very store, but I can get out of bed by myself and do most things by myself now. Staying awake is easier, though I still take one or two naps a day.

I overdid it a smidge yesterday and have sore legs for it today, but I insist on getting exercise while I’m healing. Very gentle exercise, but still.

The space where my gallbladder used to be still feels a bit strange. I’m getting used to it now, but after spending so many weeks being hyper-aware of it, its absence is weird.

I could go into all the things this whole experience taught me – there are more things than you might think – but I’ll leave that for another time. I’m still sorting things out for myself.

And it might be time for another nap…

I’ve started reading the book Why the Chinese Don’t Count Calories by Lorraine Clissold not because I want to stop counting calories – I never have and never will – but because, while flipping through the book, I saw that Clisshold addressed more than just calorie consumption…

I’ve known that my (and Western culture’s) approach to food has always been wrong. Not innately wrong, but definitely steering away what the approach to food should be. I’ve also been searching for things to help me deal with the stress and emotional issues in my life.

Already, on the first page of the first chapter, I have had to stop to contemplate.

“When you eat, you should not worry.” – Sun Si Miao (581 -682 AD)

You may think I’m fairly easily impressed if the first quote of the book gives me pause, but… well… I don’t care if you do.

Sun Si Miao’s statement struck me as something so simple and yet so profound. Why? Because almost every overweight person always worries when they eat. Especially when it comes to binging.

“Should I be having this?” “I shouldn’t be having this.” “How badly is this going to reflect on the scale tomorrow?” “I wonder if this will go to my hips or my butt…” “Here we go again. I’m failing. I’m going to have to start the diet all over again.”

I have worried so incredibly often when I’ve eaten. Back when I hid my binge eating, I always worried I would be caught. Even after that, there were worries that I wasn’t making the healthiest choice of meal or worrying whether I would regret this particular treat in the morning.

How much nicer would life be if we could take a stance of acceptance instead of worry?

“Okay, so I had that brownie. I enjoyed it. I accept that. Back to the usual tomorrow.”

When I talked about the certain kind of peace last week, this is the kind of thing I was talking about – acceptance. And yet, I still never connected it with the nearly incessant worry I have done with so many meals.

I haven’t beaten the habit by any means, but I am going to keep trying to stop worrying less while I’m eating so I can simply enjoy the nourishment I’m putting into my body.

I have a feeling this book is going to make me pause and think a lot about things as I’m reading it. If they are all as meaningful and motivating as this simple quote, I will come out a much better person in the end.