Super Skinny Me vs How To Look Good Naked

So I watch a lot of crap on TV. Some of it being the above shows.

I guess as humans we find some indulging in reality shows and love watching other peoples misfortune or great success stories. Those that either want to make us vomit or rejoice.

I love watching How to Look Good Naked, while I don't think that Gok hugging an almost naked woman is all that acceptable, I love the confidence he gives to these women. Many of the woman are larger and curvier than the average 'make over' woman on TV. I love the fact that he makes them realise how skewed their perceptions of themselves are.
I love his show 'Miss Naked Beauty' aswell where he strips the females of their make up, clothes and curtains they use to hide behind and makes "natural" role models out of them.
Yes, Gok's shows' are make over shows but the body issues he deals with are the ones we all go through.
There's always a body part we don't like as much as the rest of our bodies. And while Gok does make overs, he makes it acceptable (the way it should be) to Not be perfect.(Unlike other make over shows that try copy celebrity styles.) And that no matter your size or shape, you can look fabulous naked if you just feel it, walk it and live it!

And then I watched Super Skinny Me. I found it revolting, disgusting and rather appauling that there was actually even a show like this made. I don't care if it was under controlled circumstances, I feel the producers and/or researchers didn't do thorough investigations on their subjects beforehand.
The show is about 2 female reporters(age 29 & 37 - both size 12) who embark on a project to loose weight and drop to a US size 00 (UK 4 - equivelant to the size jeans a 6 yr old wears).

They go through serious dieting or starving as I would call it. One woman drinks nothing but lemonade, then goes onto a detox centre and does more colonics than is reccommended, follows a ridiculous exercise program on very little calories and smokes.

The other starts off on a better eating plan than the other and then goes onto soup and also follows a ridiculous exercise routine on very little calories. And her boyfriend is completley unimpressed by this experiment.

Trainers, nutritionists and doctors weren't too happy with the whole idea of trying to get these woman to drop to size 4's.

At least the program was only for 5 weeks. However it didn't come without it's consequences. The 37 yr old landed up having to stop the project before the 5 weeks because mentally she was starting to think like that of a person with an eating disorder and the psychiatrist (yes, they had to send her to a psychiatrist) advised she stop before she goes too far. The show did not research this womans history- she had issues around food and her body as a child - which could trigger bulemic behaviour.

The 29yr old did go onto finish the 5 week program and did get into a size 4.

What makes me so mad about this show is probably the fact that they showed it can be done in 5 weeks, they did raise some of the issues around loosing weight rapidly and only a few of the long term effects - those of which we could see in the show was the pins and needles, the fatigue, the lack of social life, etc. They could've done more to highlight the serious consequences.

I had a neighbour who was bulemic & anorexic throughout her teens & 20's and probably is still today. She was anemic, had terrible teeth, and her skin had started Rotting from he malnutrition.

Yes, people with eating disorders have serious issues and need help, but show us how you change the perceptions of these people about themselves, not how people can get to be like them.
Show us the very real consequences of such terrible eating habits.

So yes, while I learn almost nothing from Gok's shows - I walk away feeling excited about a woman that can look at herself in a mirror. And it makes me feel good. Happy that these women walk away with a newfound love for themselves.

I learnt nothing but poor eating habits from Super Skinny Me and walked away feeling rather horrified and disgusted - sadenned by it all to watch women potentially destroy their minds for the rest of their lives.

Now DSTV will be airing SuperSkinny vs SuperSize and I don't know if I can see another bag of bones.

Almost Time

I have so many mixed emotions and thoughts right now. It's been like this for a few weeks. My due date is November 2nd. My baby has dropped just about all he needs to. When my midwife said I can expect our boy to arrive anytime soon... I got anxious and nervous... yes I always knew he could come in October, but hearing it became more of a reality.

I am so afraid that I land up with post partum depression, that I miss the movement in my tummy so much (even though it hurts some times).
I am afraid of the new little body that I have to look after. And what his arrival will mean for my relationship with my husband.
I know that in my tummy my boy is safe, I want him to stay there, but I also know that the longer he stays, the more the placenta calcifies and he can't stay there forever.
I want him to come out now so I can meet this precious miracle but don't want him to be exposed to all the nasties in this world.

I am very emotional at this point in time... and I'm struggling with my thoughts and emotions because it feels as though I don't know what I want right now.
I'm guessing this is a fairly normal reaction.

And like my DH said, all we can do is enjoy the last few days of being pregnant, because who knows if we'll fall pregnant again. There might only be this once... so enjoy it while it lasts.

Either way, we're ready to meet our Son!

A Sad Day

Well, I was Saddened today when I read that Sharon's Beta started dropping the day before her intralipid.
My heart sank and I have no words to comfort her! She's been around this side too many times.

Sharon, I'm truly sorry that you and W have to go through this again. If I keep asking "why" and feel so heartbroken for you, I don't even want to know what you and W must be going through!

And today you may feel like dying, tomorrow you'll probably feel the same! My only hope is that you and W will be able to pick up the pieces and move forward. Whether with more treatment, or none at all.

This really can't be easy!

We're thinking of you and holding you in our hearts!

Blackened Hearts

Over the weekend we spent time with the family. I struggle sometimes to communicate with E’s family because I know that when it comes to my own parents, I can debate as much as I like without there being any grudges as we just love debating, especially my mother and myself.

So Saturday we spent the day with E’s family at some camping. But real close by was a fully fledged white Afrikaans family, (please bear in mind E’s family is fully Afrikaans and my father is Afrikaans), This family had with them a little coloured boy who spoke the most amazing, fluent Afrikaans without an accent even. Clearly he had been adopted by this family as he called the old lady “Ouma” and his siblings “Boetie” & “Sussie”.

This little boy who was running around was totally oblivious to his skin colour being so different to the majority at the camp site and to the hatred he would fuel shortly.

I sat and listened how E’s father got so heated and was utterly disgusted at the white family that went and adopted a coloured boy. How it was such a huge fucking disgrace to have this little boy mingle with this family. How he refused to accept that they could not adopt a white baby.

My DH was adopted by this racist arse unfortunately.

Needless to say I got up and walked away as I was getting so upset at the pure narrow mindedness and racism spewing from his lips. I went for a very long walk, DH came to look for me after a while as well. I spoke to him and burst into tears as I said
“It’s just another fucking child that needs a home and love…”

It breaks my heart when I see people judge a child so harshly, it’s not his fault he was born, it’s not his fault his family didn’t want to keep him, it’s not his fault he was adopted by a family willing and wanting to love and care for him and give him a home.

I grew up in a household where racism just didn’t/doesn’t exist. And I have made it very clear to my DH that our son will know no racism either. And that I won’t shut up the next time his father feels the need to spew crap from his lips.

Just before we left to come back home, his father wanted to start on again with the racist remarks, and my fantastic husband shut him up very quick as he didn’t want me anymore upset.

So to anyone else out there that feels the need to hate something or someone so much in life… just think about the beautiful, precious moments you loose out on when you blacken your heart so much. You take away so much from yourself and others when you live a life being miserable about something.

Life is far too precious to live it under a storm cloud.

Our Wedding Day

So I said I would add some pictures. We still haven't had any printed out because we can't seem to choose the few we want printed from the 1300 we've been given on disc.

You will notice some of the pictures to be very bright, this was because we held our ceremony at 12:00 on a Sunday.

We only invited 32 guests. This is my second marriage and we didn't want to invite the whole world either. I went total opposite of my previous wedding where I wore a Wine Red medieval dress to a cream dress, but at least I looked like a goddess. :)

E looked all snazzy too, I didn't ever think the cream suit would be good, but I think we matched well and makes the photos prettier.

The chapel was ideal for our small party and it was a beautiful chapel with a glass paneled roof and stained glass windows. I'm very seldom a fan of stained glass, but this just looked beautiful. During our vows there were turtle doves sitting on the roof, my family being the religious folk they are, saw this as a sign of a blessed marriage. But I already knew that. I have a fabulous husband!

The venue itself is a gem hidden in Mountain View, Johannesburg. They don't advertise online much at all but we just knew this was where we wanted to get married once we had been there.


What you see here is just a fraction of the actual size of the gardens. The gardens are well kept and even in the middle of July did they manage to keep it green. The Mountains which form part of the venue and gardens are at the back.

If you want to visit: www.shepstonegardens.co.za



This was our decor, we had a ton of space to play with and Gabriella from Signature Events did a fine job of making it look all pretty! She really listened to what we wanted.

www.signatureevents.co.za




Our choice of flowers where Tulips, I wanted them submerged in the water, but they were struggling to get nice sized Tulips, so we went for the white Roses and Tulips due to our colours changing from White, Silver and Teal. To White/Cream, Teal and Silver.

I loved my Tulip boxes (if you can see them in the previous picture) I'm a simple woman who doesn't like arranged flowers, I like them as free and floppy as they come.




If anyone ever ever needs a cake whether it be for a wedding, a birthday or just an occasional cake for dessert. Or even confections. I HIGHLY recommend Miz Goozberry. This woman has some of the most divine flavours ever. My mom had suggested her and I wasn't so sure about using her until my planner seconded the suggestion.



We opted for an Old English Toffee Mousse Cake:
three layers of chocolate sponge filled with Belgian chocolate mousse with pieces of Old English Toffee - covered in White Chocolate Ganache.

Instead of giving gifts to our guests on the tables, we had Berry supply us with her Old English Toffee (you HAVE to try this!), Coconut fingers and Lavender Shortbread all individually wrapped and placed in pretty boxes on our cake table.

She's based in Benoni and has just finished 3rd Nationally in some cake competition they recently held.

www.mizgoozberry.co.za




This is one of my favourite, it was at the end of the day. Against the rocks of the mountain and I just love the colours from the plants. I plan on having this one printed really large and framed for our lounge.






Below are just some more pictures of some of the areas we were able to have photgraphs taken.













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Our rings are so unique that the chances of it ever being duplicated is almost impossible. I even opted out of having a second ring done because I didn't want to spoil this one.
The Rings were made using a technique called Makume Gane. This is a Japanese technique fusing 25 layers of metal to create the patterns. We had ours etched aswell, so they actually have texture.
www.ivan-bancroft.com @ Village Walk, Sandton

Just before I end this, if anyone ever needs a caterer, www.taste-explosion.co.za
We had a 3 course plated menu, with 2 options for dessert and mains at a cost of R275pp (it's like unheard of)
And everyone at the wedding raved about their food. The portions are rather large, not everyone managed to consume it all.
I struggled to find a caterer, very few listened to what I asked for and I'm grateful that Amber and Richard were able to deliver what we needed right from the get go.

And lastly, a woman has got to show her shoes! I walked 5 malls, browsed many websites, dragged my poor husband around with me till I found them. I also got them from the last place I would've thought of: YDE in Cresta. All the other bridal shops just sucked!

They aren't your conventional bridal shoe, but then again, I'm not a conventional bride.