December 31, 2012

Weight Loss: Resolutions

This is the time of year when we think about the last year, what is coming in the next year, what we want that year to be. We write our New Years resolutions; this year I will be a better person, I'll do more, I'll be more. "Lose weight" has been on my New Years resolutions list for quite some time. It's an audacious goal. This year I'm going to look at losing weight in a better way than I have been, a more manageable way.

Here are my goals for weight loss in 2013:

1. Write these posts
I have allowed life to get in the way of my deadlines as no doubt you can tell. I resolve in 2013 to do my very best to write a post every second week.

2. Weigh myself
I want to make myself accountable to my readers and myself by tracking my weight. I resolve to weigh myself and put my current weight in each post so you will be able to see my weight fluctuations loss. (Current weight: 93.6kg)

3. Keep going to pole dancing
I'm not very good at Pole dancing is a challenge but the people are lovely and I continue to make progress. It makes me feel more body confident; you wear little for pole dancing (because the more skin you have on the pole the better you grip) and I wear my skort when I do other exercise. I don't worry about what people think of me and so far no one has asked me what I am wearing.

4. Eat breakfast every day
I recently visited a dietician (more on that later) and my first goal with her was to eat breakfast each day.

5. Don't give up
As I've said before, had I not been writing these posts I would have given up by now. I think I've actually gained weight since starting this; Jenny Craig didn't work for whatever reasons, I may try it again but I'm working on more natural things at the moment; building my confidence and looking at how I eat. I've been pretty hard on myself so perhaps really this resolution should be 'be kinder to myself.' Which leads to....

6. Celebrate my sucesses
I beat myself up for the "bad" things I do. While there is a certain merit in recognising things that are not helping me get toward my goal, berating myself is counter productive; when I'm upset I eat more, I move less. I'm going to try to do something my psycho analyst spoke about in her newsletters: appreciation / gratitudes - at the end of each day look back at what good has happened, what I have done that is good for me. Then I can set myself up to do something good the next day. Every day counts, every time you take the stairs instead of the lift, every bit counts and it all adds up.

So, those are some pretty basic resolutions, small things that if when I continue to do them will have a big impact and help me towards my overarching goal; weight loss.

What do you think? What are your New Years resolutions? What little things have you built on to make yourself healthier and happier?

As always thanks for reading, keep at it and you'll see less of me next time.


Special thanks to: Ian Tilley PhotographyJenny CraigKiwi Pole Fitness

December 15, 2012

Carousel Cabaret December 2012


On Friday 14th December, Carousel Cabaret had their Christmas show at the San Fran bar with performances from Bonita Danger Doll, Phlossy Roxx, Ms Tittle Tattle, Galaxy Foxx, Willow Noir, Sabina Carmine and Gracie Hart.

Now this is only the second show I've attended, so I  had my reservations about what it would be like, as I felt the first show I saw (about the same time last year) was less performance, more get your tits out for the sake of it. But this show was thoroughly enjoyable, and I am looking forward to attending future ones.

The show opened up for us with 3 Christmas songs – a solo first by Gracie. She was then joined by Sabina to sing Santa Baby, and then Sabina was left to sing All I Want For Christmas. Their voices were wonderful individually as well as a duet, though their stage presence left a little to be desired. A little more – dare I say X Factor, would really complete the singing acts.

Piotr. Oh, Piotr, you were very good tonight. Good heckling, good amount of inappropriateness, and you moved on and didn't keep on talking when it should have been long past time for a performance. You had me in tears. In stitches. Top performance.

Miss Bonita Danger Doll from Christchurch - three words came to mind when watching her: beautiful, graceful, smooth. Stunning woman who had the audience hooked with boas, glitter in gloves and feather fans. She did all of her moves so smoothly it almost looked effortless. Wonderful start to the performances.

It’s easy to see why Willow is Miss Burlesque NZ. Her performances are well acted, entertaining and have thought, and tonight – shock, put into them. Her re-enactment of the Virgin Mary and her umbilical baby was a macabre but brilliant performance.

It was a tough performance to follow, so while Miss Tittle Tattle’s show was good, it needed that something extra to make it more interesting (perhaps a more upbeat song?).

Phlossy Roxx kicks off the second half with a sensual, almost belly-dance feel performance that is filled with sparkle and the hint of more – which is what, as a viewer, I want in a Burlesque performance.

Galaxy Foxx does something completely different to everyone else tonight – a 20’s swing and Charleston in a banana hula skirt! A nice change up and a very energetic performance.

Tittle Tattle comes back on to finish up the show. Overall, it was a fantastic night with great performances by all involved. Merry Christmas!

December 10, 2012

A Christmas Carol

To celebrate Christmas and 200 years since Charles Dicken’s birth Ray Henwood is doing A Christmas Carol as a "solo dramatised reading" at Circa theatre. It's the prefect time of year; the show runs until Christmas.

Unlike the panto (Cinderella this year) this show is for the slightly older crowd. Children may wonder where all the other characters are; Ray Henwood is the storyteller and then every character. At times he reminded me of Gollem as he talked to himself between characters but he managed it well with different facial and voice expressions.

The scenery was simple but well utilised, although I do wonder why they bothered to have a table when it was only used once. The lighting was integrated with the set to help create the different scenes and characters. The overall impression was simple but effective.

It wasn't what I expected from A Christmas Carol. I am glad that I read about it beforehand or I may have been disappointed as I had imagined a large production. Ray did an admirable job at keeping the audience engaged and remembering all of those lines (although he did refer to a book to maintain his role as storyteller). The greatest thing he has given me from this performance is the ability to see humour in the tale and being able to find something new in a story so well known is a gift.

Show Run: 7 December − 22 December
Tickets: $46

December 3, 2012

Bare and Back Again

The weekend of The Hobbit premiere Middle Earth Burlesque held their first show a blend of dance, song, comedy, and of course burlesque. I say first because they've bought the website so I'm hoping there are more to come (there are two more movies, we can hope). I was skeptical before hand that a) the concept would work and b) I would like it. The organiser Sadie von Scruptious was quoted as saying that people either loved the idea or were very unsure about it, I fell into the latter group. But you know what? It did work and I loved it.

The evening started in true Tolkien fashion with a poem (well done Sadie on remembering all those lines) and it went just about everywhere from there. I discovered that Orcs dance to metal and wizards dance to disco. There somehow managed to be three Arwens or at least three elves who looked a lot like her. Including Lila Loca's hilarious multimedia Middle Earth dating show, it was so good I sincerely hope she resurrects it for another show. That much preparation deserves to be seen more than once. Speaking of preparation I hate to think how much time and energy went into the exquisite costumes worn by all the performers.

I finally got to see burlesque comedy duo Fanciforia Foxglove and Siren Sweetsong perform on of their acts. They were worth the wait! I should have known by her name but I was surprised that Siren Sweetsong could really sing. Fanicforia is probably the most comfortable with being nearly naked on stage of any burlesque performer I have seen. Those two really commit to an act.

Other acts of note included Miss La Belle as a surprisingly convincing and attractive dwarf. The most beautiful display of belly dancing I have ever seen from Pip E-Lysaah as Shelob. Her students also did an amazing job as warrior elf ghosts (who looked more like gypsies) balancing swords on their heads as they danced.

The sound and lighting guy had a lot of work to do but I do wish he hadn't had some songs so loud that they felt like I was being hit in the head. I also wish that the background music had been softer or the microphone louder so that we could have heard Gracie Harts song about Gollem. He did however do an admirable job of handling the video for Lila Loca's act, it went very smoothly.

There was a hint of other fandoms as well; a certain other wizard appeared at curtain call. I would love to see more themed shows like this.