Photo credit:  Andrecarol

We consume so many foods and don’t really know what is in them; yes I am talking about fresh vegetables and fruits.  Chemicals are still used all over the world on crops.  As many of you already know I am married to a wonderful man who just so happens to have a green thumb. 

My husband has created our very own veggie patch as well as some lovely herbs.  The reason I am telling you this is because they are chemical free and will no doubt be the yummiest tasting vegetables you will ever eat.  So I thought I would write a post on the benefits of having your own vegetable garden.

Whilst it costs money to set up and maintain your garden it can ultimately save you money with your grocery bill.  Not to mention the fresh produce you have in your back yard that you can come home from work, go outside pick your lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber, along with some parsley or basil to create a wonderful salad with your lean chicken, fish or meat.  On the other hand you might be feeling the cold like I am and come home, dig out some carrots, beans and even potatoes and leaks to create a warm comfort food soup, infused with a little chicken or beef or lamb it will warm the most fussiest of hearts.

The main point of this post is to show you that you can eat healthy and have fun watching your vegetables and fruit grow right before your eyes, then think of many different combinations to make a healthy, low fat meal that is also packed with nutrients.  This will assist you in losing weight because you have these foods at your doorstep (well in your back yard) anyway. 

Now I realise that some of you are not much of gardeners – neither am I really, however I see how my husband’s eyes light up when he plants something from a seed and it grows into a lovely healthy vegetable that we can eat.  I am more of a herb gardener – you can do this in pots and they look lovely on a window or balcony.

Photo credit: Mfoley25

By having herbs and vegetables in your garden you can really make the most wonderful meals and you will know they are fresh because you picked it from your own garden.  So why don’t you give gardening a go for the pleasure of watching something grow, for the peace it gives you, the health aspects and not to mention that gardening is a great exercise for you to do without you even knowing it – and it certainly doesn’t feel like you are slogging it out in the gym.  I hope this inspires you all to start growing something of your own.  I would love to hear your success stories.

Here are some helpful sites for you to visit that will help you set up your own gardens with the help from the professionals.

Suburbanfarmer

One Green Generation

Vegatable Garden Feng Shui

Photo Credit – Jacqui Motoska

My Husband and I on our Wedding Day 14th October 2006

Getting married can be daunting to anyone, especially a plus size woman.  When I got married I was a size 28 Wedding dress.  I did look lovely so people told me however it was not that easy to find things that suited the plus sized woman.

The dress was only part of it, I had to think about undergarments and shoes and even seating at the reception that I could fit in.  In any case, if you are plus size and getting married refer to the directories below to assist you in finding what you need.  Some great sites that can give you everything from your dress and right down to the table cloths at the reception.

 Directories

 www.brideonline.com.au

 www.easyweddings.com.au

 www.smartbride.com.au

 www.wedding.auz.com

For the plus size woman you need to think about fit and what will be flattering.  All women thin or large get nervous before the Wedding, although naturally when you are overweight you have so much more to consider.  You want to look your best and at the same time not give up on a style because of your weight.  This includes makeup and jewellery and even your hairstyle.

Plus size bridal stores

www.plussizebride.com.au

www.bbwcupid.com

www.idealbride.com.au

Churches

If you are going to get married in a Church her is a list of churches around Australia and even overseas.

www.australianchurches.net

Reception

We all want to make the reception look amazing and special, here are some sites and directories to look at to help you with this big decision.  Check out the venues that are great value for money and always compare what the venue offers in the price.

www.bestvenues.com.au

Wedding central

www.weddingreceptionvenues.com.au

www.theweddingdirectory.com.au

Victoria

www.weddingvic.com.au

Perth

www.westvalley.com.au

www.easyweddings.com.au

SA

www.weddingsa.com

Queensland

www.clios.com.au

NSW

www.brideonline.com.au

Tasmania

www.wedding.auz.com

Cakes

Photo credit: cupcaketastic

You can get married and not have an amazing cake; if you ever watched that movie “Because I said so” you will agree that the cake in the Wedding scene was amazing.  It was like 101 Dalmatians.  Rent the movie and you will see for yourself or take a look at the link above.  After all you want to make a statement about who you are and put your personal style to it – lets get creative girls.

 Cake recipes if you want to go it alone, or you may want to consult the professionals like:

 Elegant Occasions

 Directory – Bride online Victoria

 PS – Oakleigh Quality Cakes I do not recommend, my mother was dying in hospital and so we didn’t know what was going to happen – the whole Wedding may have been cancelled at a drop – so we cancelled the reception and tried to cancel the cake for which we paid for in full – they did absolutely nothing in regards to preparing the cake and they kept $180.00 of the $500 odd dollars I paid for themselves.  This was even after my explaining my mother’s situation.  I was horrified to think that someone would take the money off someone whom this was happening to.  As I rule I tell everyone not to go to them, not because the cakes are not nice but simply because they were too money hungry and not very sympathetic to my situation – one I classed as extreme.

 The Wedding Directory

 House of Elegant Cakes

 www.fantasycakes.com.au

 www.weddingpages.com.au

I could go much more into details however the directories I have chosen will really give you all you will ever need.  Here is a list of things you may need and I can assure you that they are all in the directories.

 ¨      Bridal gown

¨      Lingerie

¨      Groom’s Suit

¨      Groomsman

¨      Bridesmaid

¨      Mother of Bride

¨      Father of Bride

¨      Mother of Groom

¨      Father of Groom

¨      Flowers

¨      Cakes

¨      Receptions

¨      Jewellery

¨      Hair

¨      Make up

¨      Invitations

¨      Thank you cards

¨      Gift ideas

¨      Honeymoon

¨      The rings

¨      Cars

¨      Catering

¨      Hiring of equipment

¨      Churches

¨      Celebrants 

• 1. I am witty
• 2. I know how to laugh
• 3. I have a big heart
• 4. I am open minded
• 5. I am fun to be with
• 6. I am interesting
• 7. I have pretty eyes
• 8. I have style
• 9. I have an imagination
• 10. Not afraid to try new things

Ten things I love about me is something that I thought you would benefit from.  Try it yourself write down 10 things you love about yourself.  If you can do this then you are doing ok.  Sometimes we forget what is great about us because of the black cloud hanging over our heads all the time.  It is in the media, at work, in life.  All we tend to think is I am overweight, and nothing else matters after that.  When ever I feel down and feel like I am falling into that trap I write a few things that I like about myself.  It helps me to be positive and how ever hard it is to get away from, you have to try because no one out there that is negative about you will give you a break. 

Only you can do this, and if you do it often enough it actually starts working.  You start to smile in the morning again and when you think you can’t do something you think back on the things that you are good at and then start to realise that you can do what ever you want.

Someone very dear to me always says positive things to me, like every email sent starts with and I quote “Hello cute one” or “Hi beautiful woman” and for those brief moments I do feel good about myself.  She has always encouraged me to write and do something with my writing.  I finally am doing that.  It was her encouragement that led to my doing this website.  If you are lucky enough like me to have someone special that will be a positive force in your life, then you are truly blessed.So try to find that one person to be your compass, to find you’re way to loving yourself and to give you the inspiration to be creative and smile and be happy.  And please do try the 10 things I love about myself, keep a diary and refer to it when you are feeling down and out.

In 2006 I was planning my wedding.  I can not even begin to tell you what hell I went through trying to find undergarments for my wedding dress.  I bought this strapless bra thinking it would be great, well it curled up at the back (and I know you girls out there can relate) and was impossible for me to wear.  The other thing is that I needed to find a girdle much like a bike pant; this is because my legs rub together and I didn’t want to have this horrible rash on the sides of my thighs – especially on my wedding night.  I mean come on, was this nightmare ever going to end?

Then one day I found this great lingerie store and it wasn’t far from my sister’s place.  So I rang her to tell her that she should come with me.  I met her at her place and we had the usual coffee and a chat before we left.  We finally got there and I was practically in tears thinking I am not going to find anything in this store.  The sales lady was terrific and she really listened to what I was saying about the bike pant girdle.  She brought out a couple and told me to go and try them on.

I went thinking this is going to be fun.  You wouldn’t believe this material, double elastic and I can tell you that this was going to suck every bit of fat inside them and then hold on to that fat for dear life.  So anyway I started to take off my pants and tried to get into this thing.  My God I was sweating as I tried to pull them over my thighs and trying very hard to get them over my hips.  I called out to my sister to come and help me, she came, but my sister is a little frail so she couldn’t pull these things up.

My sister in frustration called the sales assistant and she came over to see if I needed help.  WELL YAHA, hello I did need help.  I told her that I can’t get the girdle over my hips and so she came in the dressing room and told me to pull from my front and she would pull from the back.  It was the funniest sight you would have ever seen, but here we were struggling like two maniacs pulling with all our might.  Finally we got the damn things on and I thought to myself thank God.  Hmmm look how this sucked all the fat in like a vacuum, I was pretty pleased with myself — until about five minutes later I started to feel a little light headed and thought I was going to faint.

I called for my sister and told her that I couldn’t breath, you guessed it, it was because of the tight girdle I was wearing.  It was so tight that I just couldn’t breath.  I started to weaken and my sister said “Get those damn things off will ya?”  I did it with great difficulty too.  It was hilarious the way my fat just jumped out like icing on a cake as it spills over the sides.  That was me all right spilling over the sides of my girdle.

The sales lady was giggling and we were all giggling until I realised that I couldn’t wear these things.  I would faint in the middle of the ceremony and that would be a disaster.  So the sales lady told me that they have a lady that makes these to measure and that all that was really wrong with them is that they had the reinforcing with double material.  She would simply have these made with only one layer of elastic.

And boy was I relieved because I could actually breath in my dress now.