Update after a very long hiatus

CurlyGirl · Post by **CurlyGirl** » Wed 02 Jul 2008 16:46

Hello all, CG is back

[Hey RRM!]
[Hey Oscar!]

It's taken me a few days to catch up with all the postings on the board since I suddenly went quiet and disappeared in 2006, and boy, it's nice to see that things are still "cooking" here (well, you know what I mean)!

What have I been doing for the last two years? It's a long story, if you have the time - maybe a chat over a bowl of strawberry-mango salad? I will save it for another time!

Just an update on me, livin' Wai. Before Wai, a couple of years ago, I was about 75kg (168lb for my American friends) at 1.74m (I think that's 5 feet 8 inches?). I was on a 'healthy' diet (wholegrains, veggies, organic dairy products, etc) but I felt pudgy and I had horrible skin! Well - I thought it was horrible, though my friends and family never seemed to notice it much. They always said my skin problems were 'in my mind'!!

Anyway, it was never cystic acne, but sandy bumps all over and the odd breakout on my forehead or cheeks, which of course I would 'fiddle' with (I was a little obsessive-compulsive) and then be forced to cover everything in thick make-up. In fact, I never went a day without wearing make-up. It was the only way I could fake having 'perfect' skin. It worked pretty well, but I knew it was a farce.

Well... now I'm 63kg, absolutely happy with my shape, everything is in proportion and sleek and my muscle tone is awesome (if I say so myself). I went through a period of weight-lifting (mostly squats and deadlifts, heavy) to become strong, but now all I seem to need is my regular walks, Wai-style (to empty the glycogen deposits so that I can justify my munch-food!). My mood is much more stable, and my emotions more palpable (in other words, not numb). My skin needs no make-up, even though I wear a little now and then to take things up a notch (for parties, etc), not for purposes of camouflage.

Raspberries, olive oil and raw salmon are my religion, but I have found that my skin is not very susceptible (not as susceptible as I originally thought), and I have been generous in my experimentation. Let's just say, I have tried almost all of Wai's munchfood recipes...

.

I am moving to another country soon (again!) so it will be interesting to set up a new supply network and find the best fish, eggs, fruits, and so on. I had the system all worked out here, and now... !! Oh, well! I will be seeing you guys, more regularly this time!

Lots of love
CurlyGirl

johndela1 · Post by **johndela1** » Wed 02 Jul 2008 20:00

welcome back

Post by **Oscar** » Thu 03 Jul 2008 10:10

Welcome back!

I'd more than happy (not to mention curious) to hear your story, but maybe that's more for an email.

Good to hear that things are going well healthwise.

claireelis · Post by **claireelis** » Fri 04 Jul 2008 17:36

wow nice to hear an update from so long ago

hope to 'see' you around!

CurlyGirl · Post by **CurlyGirl** » Sun 06 Jul 2008 21:45

Thanks, you guys.

Very glad to be back here.

Oscar - you'll hear the story. Hold on for me, pal!

Post by **Oscar** » Mon 07 Jul 2008 10:51

Okay, I'll try to curb in my curiosity

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Wed 09 Jul 2008 14:31

ha ha Oscar...

Welcome back curly girl!!!

CurlyGirl · Post by **CurlyGirl** » Sun 13 Jul 2008 18:18

Hey RRM! Thanks for the welcome!

So, in short, the last time I was active here at Waitalk was in 2006, when I was living in Scotland, studying for my Masters in Environmental History and Policy. I was already planning on getting out of academia when I finished, and trying to find a way to become a midwife.

So I returned to my homeland (South Africa) in mid-2006 and got a job as a newspaper sub-editor, to pay the bills.

We all gotta do that, right? But I didn't want to sign my soul over to the living dead for too long, so I busied myself with finding a midwifery school.

In SA, sadly, midwives have to go to nursing school first. This is backward, in my and many others' opinion, because midwifery cannot be learnt in a medicalised setting - it is a totally different model of caregiving, and does not belong in a hospital!

But I didn't have any other choice, at least given my finances at the time (nursing degrees are subsidised by the government here), so I decided to go to nursing school. In early 2008 (after 18 months as a sub-editor, reading midwifery textbooks in bed at night!), I started my degree at a university here in Johannesburg, knowing full well that it would be an uphill struggle for me to keep my own views about childbirth and midwifery 'untainted' in the middle of a hyper-medical, technocratic institution. (Those who know me already know how much I am suspicious of The System.)

After a few months, I couldn't take it any more. I woke up one day and realised, as Oscar once told me, that apparently I needed to give myself that experience, create those circumstances in my life, so I could learn something. And I'd learnt my lesson. Midwives need to learn their art and science in a place that is nurturing, that respects their autonomy and in so doing, teaches them to respect women's autonomy in pregnancy and childbirth. Midwives need to graduate from school with plenty to give, plenty of enthusiasm and passion - yet many nurse-midwives end up totally drained and brainwashed, with nothing left to give by the time they set out as independent practitioners.

So - I got accepted earlier this year at a midwifery school in Maine, which teaches direct-entry midwives (i.e. no nursing school first) within a traditional, respectful, ecological philosophy. I've gathered the finances (enough to buy a small house, from the perspective of a South African girl like me...) to allow me to attend this amazing school for the next three years, starting this August. So - come, August! Come soon!

claireelis · Post by **claireelis** » Sun 13 Jul 2008 21:59

midwivery sounds like a lovely profession - its really nice that you'll be able to follow your dream

Post by **Oscar** » Tue 15 Jul 2008 10:58

Cool CG!

So you're going to exchange the quite-south-eastern-hemisphere for the quite-north-western-hemisphere.

I'm sure you'll going to find what you're looking for.

I'm wondering what your diet looks like at the moment. OJ, whole fruits, both? Munchies every day/week/month? And how is the availability in SA?

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Wed 16 Jul 2008 10:59

Great choice.

CurlyGirl · Post by **CurlyGirl** » Fri 18 Jul 2008 11:35

midwivery sounds like a lovely profession - its really nice that you'll be able to follow your dream

Thank you, Claire.

So you're going to exchange the quite-south-eastern-hemisphere for the quite-north-western-hemisphere. Wink
I'm sure you'll going to find what you're looking for.

Thanks, Oscar! I actually looked on a globe the other day and found that where I'll be in Maine is actually on a lower line of latitude than London is - and here I was thinking I'd be so far up north, I'd practically be in the Arctic Circle.

Oy!

I'm wondering what your diet looks like at the moment. OJ, whole fruits, both? Munchies every day/week/month? And how is the availability in SA?

Lots of OJ, and like RRM, it is usually what I consume during the working hours of the day. At weekends I usually have whole fruits, made up into interesting salads - like raspberries, blackberries, melon, goji berries and coconut oil - that I nibble from every hour (this is because I have more time at weekends to make these concoctions!). Then 'veggie' salad (chives, tomatoes, cukes, OO, vinegar) in the early evening. Then a walk, then munch food (round about every second or third day). Then raw fish and/or yolks (I take the yolks with a little OJ) in the evenings a little bit before bed.

The availability in SA, as is to be expected, is fantastic with regard to fruit, because we have such a great climate (like California!) for oranges and tropical fruits, like pineapples and papayas. We also have lovely guavas and starfruit and passion fruit. And these juicy sweet things called 'naartjies', which are like mandarins, I guess. Availability of fresh fish is also brilliant, in fact it's often said here that we have fresher fish in the big inland city of Johannesburg than people have access to in Cape Town -- not sure why, but we get the best pickings within hours of the catch. I found a great sushi restaurant near my home that sells amazing fresh salmon and tuna sashimi - it is truly incredible, like butter on the tongue. I get my fish from them, and the staff know what I have come for when they see me at the door.

Post by **Oscar** » Sat 19 Jul 2008 11:10

Right, I always make that mistake too...New York is on the same latitude as Madrid...

Guess we tend to 'ignore' Canada.

Ah ok, so your diet hasn't changed much then, if I recall correctly? How are the cravings on days you don't eat any munch food?

Food availability sounds awesome

CurlyGirl · Post by **CurlyGirl** » Wed 23 Jul 2008 14:37

Oscar wrote:Right, I always make that mistake too...New York is on the same latitude as Madrid... Guess we tend to 'ignore' Canada.

Hehe, yes, and what a pity that we do! I would love to live in Canada...

Oscar wrote:Ah ok, so your diet hasn't changed much then, if I recall correctly? How are the cravings on days you don't eat any munch food?

You're right. It's been pretty consistent. Hey, if you find something that works - why change?

^^
The cravings aren't too bad, since I've found some ridiculously yummy munch-foods that I always look forward to, so I figure, if I can wait till tomorrow or the next day to have that particular thing, it's no big deal. Having said that, I don't actually end up doing much 'bargaining' with myself - the sample diet is beautifull satisfying too. Once you get over the first month!! (And if you can avoid walking past pastry shops...)

Post by **Oscar** » Thu 24 Jul 2008 10:57

Seems you're coping well

I myself am glad not to have any cravings anymore, makes things easy and relaxed.