Friday was one of those days when I would have been better off staying in bed! I've been trying to stay off the computer and break my 'addiction' and I was very good on Thursday and didn't even switch it on. First thing Friday morning however I thought I'd check quickly before going to life drawing and I wish I hadn't. Someone had taken exception to me pointing out that putting on weight can lead to a lack of inspiration (for drawing) and I/we should continue off list. My blood immediately started boiling and as a result I missed my bus! As I reached the garden gate the thought of turning around and giving up on the day crossed my mind and I tried to fight off thoughts from previous experience of when one thing goes badly, a lot of others things do too. Then the bus flew by. Exactly on time. The driver must have been a non-smoker and didn't need his end of route ciggie.Life drawing started fine but by the end of it the heat from the fan heater had not only got me but the others too. I felt quite sick - and not just from looking at the body piercing on her right breast! Not only that but the model couldn't keep still and her position kept changing so I just stuck with the one drawing adding the different body parts together! I suggested we get more male models as they don't need the fan heater on!
I wondered whether the e-mail might have had a male-female element to it too as the writer was male. Men are less likely to tie their body weight to their self esteem. For instance, if a woman feels her clothes are tight, she might worry, but a man might blame the tumble drier!
Weight has been on my mind these last few weeks. It might seem from this post like I'm feeling miserable but actually I'm feeling great! I've taken time out from the blog to concentrate on painting the house and getting odd jobs done that somehow fell by the wayside last year. I've also got to the weight I've been aiming for (no sympathy or applause please, we're only talking pounds here as I'm very short!) and have been treating myself to some new clothes - something I very rarely enjoy doing.
My weight was constant at just over eight stone from the time I left school (and those stodgy puddings) to the day (I'm pretty sure) I took up quilting in 1999. I was the same weight after having two babies. But at the quilt class there was a tea percolator in the corridor and for the first time in years I started drinking tea. (I used to only drink water). Fast forward to September 2003, sitting around at home in Kuwait having lost my motivation to even go out the door. Mark asked me what was worrying me and I realised it was because I was feeling so fat, I was at my heaviest weight and I was eating no more than usual.
That's when I decided something drastic needed to be done and I went on the Atkins Diet. The weight disappeared with incredible ease! This leads me to where this meandering post is going. I don't eat wheat, drink coffee or alcohol anyway, and I don't smoke so the diet suited me. But as soon as I drank tea, the weight started to go up. When I try to lose weight and drink tea, I can't. So I hunt around on the Internet for any evidence of this having a scientific basis - nothing. Last week, watching a programme on weather changes and the effect it had on early man I was struck but a statement that man, as hunter gatherer, used to live on a diet of meat. When the migrating animals disappeared and people had to plant crops and live off farmed crops their life expectancy dropped dramatically.
I have very little time for much of what scientists say. I disregard their latest theories and statements and look instead at the 'facts' they later tweak or discover to be wrong. It gives a better clue to how much these trusted people really know. To cut to the chase, I find it absolutely incredible that even today we don't know what foods are suitable to put in our bodies! Every other creature on earth has a chosen habitat and specific diet, but not us. Surely that, if nothing else, should be known by now with absolute certainty?
Today, with all the accumulated knowledge of generations before us we can't decide whether oily fish is good or bad for us and more importantly we can't explain why record number of people have cancers, asthma, heart disease, allergies etc., etc., etc. The one thing everyone does seem to agree on is tea is good for you. Well, I'm not so sure. You heard it here first!
12 comments:
Felicity: When I studied anthropology twenty years ago, anthropologists who studied hunters and gatherers discovered that most of these relied more on GATHERED vegetative material than on meat. Since gatherers followed the plant material as it was ready for consumption, they were constantly moving from place to place. Meat, it was felt, though quite evident in the archeological record, was far more scarce since tools were primitive and a successful hunt was more often rare. Whether these findings were changed over the years since I studied, I don't know ... but if I had to guess, I'd presume that the male model of 'hunter' still dominates the production of films while the female role of 'gatherer' is treated with less attention. Anyway ... I feel your angst about dieting ... since I passed my mid-century mark, I've carried more weight than I ever have -- and can't ever seem to get rid of those dang 8 pounds that follow me like a caboose! You are not alone in this struggle, my friend ...
BTW, your sketches are still magnificent!!!
Felicity, I saw where and a few others recieved that horrible email and I was just appalled and felt so bad for you all.
Please don't let life and these weirdos get in the way of your wonderful talent!
I caught a whif of that email scandle and I'd like to tell that rat b$%^** a thing or two. Ignore em! You are an awesome person and I love reading your blog and seeing your posts. Keep your head up proud!
I enjoyed reading this post very much and I do relate to how you feel when one things goes wrong. I also totally agree with you about food.
You might consider eating what the Japanese eat as they have the longest life expectancy. That will change as more of our fast food outlets become entrenched in their lifestyles. KJ
Felicity - great drawings & great posts! I find it interesting that you stated you can't loose weight and drink tea. Fascinating statement that deserves more investigation - I'll come back to you if I find anything out on this subject as it interests me as well. Veronicah / Quilter / NZ
As I sit here drinking tea tonight, you have me thinking. Then again, I have pulled wheat, dairy, soy and corn from my daughters plate, to see if it makes a difference in the recent seizure activity.
Hope these looney birds don't get you down. Certainly not worth the energy. Save it for your wonderful creative self.
Lin, thanks, that's really interesting. When we see today that animals such as lions that rely on meat, eat only every few days it does make you wonder if it was a practical or even possible to live like that. The gatherer must have played a more important role than thought. And yep, it's those last few pounds that drive me crazy too!
Thanks Teri, Lindsay, Sugar Mouse, KJ. KJ, you have a point there!
Veronica (welcome!), glad to hear it interests you, and I'm not the only one wondering about it and please do let me know. Been thinking about it a couple of years now.
Thanks Robin and good luck. Hope you can find the cause very soon.
The choice of leaving the hunter and gathering state was possible the greatest mistake humans ever did.
I too can't shake of the dreaded internet poison, I wonder if there is some kind of treatment, shock treatment would be preferred.
Mattias, I've tried forcing myself to surf the Internet for hours and hours to make myself sick of it but it doesn't seem to work! I'll bet it's not long till there is an Internet cafe on top of Everest. It's a losing battle, resistance is useless!
I also agree with KJ on her take about Japanese food. I know that ancient Chinese regarded food as medicine, not just something to fill their stomach, so they ate according to what their body needed. The other thought I had was that perhaps the kind of tea you're drinking is not something suitable for what you need (?) I have no idea, but don't disregard what is IN your teabag.
Well, I can certainly relate to the weight loss blues. I don't drink tea, but drinking diet sodas doesn't seem to help either.
Please don't let people like that emailer get to you...there are some people who just love to pick a fight wherever they go! Reading your blog is such a pleasure so I hope you don't completely cure your addiction to the internet!
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