Well Done Foxy Flowers

Well done to the fabulous Foxy Flowers who won the Tubby Town weight loss competition for this week, with a whopping 52 tubbies lost.  What Fantastic Foxy Flowers.

It looks like the chocolates from Angel Bethany to the Sunnies worked their magic (see previous post earlier today). 

So let's have a card for the week coming for the Foxies.  Today's guest tarot deck is the Llewellyn, which has beautiful water colour painted cards.  I shuffled the cards and drew one at random. 

We have drawn the Ace of Pentacles.  Pentacles are to do with money or material / practical matters. Aces represent new beginnings and that hand coming out holding the Pentacle - well it does look a bit like a Sunnie doesn't it?  I sense they might be a bit phoenix-like in the coming week after this week's result, so no room for any of us Foxies to slack.  Otherwise this could well be the Sunnies week coming up.

Good luck to both teams but sending the biggest four-leaf clover to the Foxies (of course)!

Today is YOUR day

Some of the lovely ladies in Tubby Town have set up a competition where two teams compete over a 6-week period to see which team can lose the most weight.

I'm in the Fabulous Foxy Flowers team and we're a beautiful bloom of a pink and purple variety.  Our competitors are the yellow Sleepy Summer Sunnies. I wish both teams good luck and may the best team win - which of course will be the Foxy Flowers.

I must admit, being in a team and the thought of letting others down is helping. It's making me think twice about what I eat (ok, well drink).  I have been a bit casual with my Fat Pill-popping recently and this new team commitment has made me be more disciplined. So thank you lovely Tubby Town ladies for organising the competition.

After a good day tubby-wise yesterday, managing to stay within my Fat Pills allowance, I'm feeling full of PMA today - that's Positive Mental Attitude in Tubby Town speak. So today's words of wisdom from the cards will be drawn from my deck of 'Angel' cards. These aren't tarot cards, but are oracle cards with messages from the Angels.  Angel card messages are always full of PMA, and today's message is for all the lovely Tubby Towners - but particularly for the Fabulous Foxies this sunny Sunday morning.


I shuffled the cards and drew one randomly.  And what a lovely message from Angel Bethany. It says "When you take excellent care of yourself, everybody benefits. Give yourself a relaxing treat today, such as a massage, sea salt bath, or pedicure. And for the Sleepy Sunnies there's always chocolate"

OK, so I added the last sentence myself, but the rest came from Bethany.

So Foxies and all you lovely Tubby Towners, the message for today from Angel Bethany is that now is the time to give to yourself. Take care of yourself, open yourself out to rest and relaxation, and "don't allow yourself to be swayed from this important mission".

Go Foxies Go!

Back to Track

After a good start at the beginning of the week I have just fallen apart diet-wise.  Too much wine on Friday and a night out last night and I've just about blown my Fat Pills allowance for the rest of the week.  So, lovely tarot can you help me get back on track please. Today's guest deck is the Universal Waite, one of the first tarot decks I bought.

The first card I drew is The World, and what very good guidance this is.  This card represents the end of a phase in one's life and the threshold of a new one. In Tubby Town terms, this is the equivalent of drawing a line under the damage done and crossing over it. This is well illustrated by the card, where the figure is standing poised in front of the wreath - which represents the line - ready to cross over.

I then drew a second card for more guidance - The Knight of Swords.  This is me coming off track, foolhardy and rushing in headlong without thinking.  Ignoring my inner voice which is telling me to stop now, but - like the Knight - I don't.  Ignoring the consequences I pour myself another glass and eat another crisp.  Swords in tarot  represent intellect and rational thought, and for a fairly intelligent person I can be very unintelligent about dieting sometimes, especially when wine and crisps are involved.  And I know that I'll pay for this weekend on the scales on Tuesday.

All I can do now is follow The World and step over the line and embrace a new beginning today. What's done is done. Don't look back, don't make it worse, just move on and start afresh today.  Wishing myself luck!

It's Comforting

Today I am comfort eating. I know I am, I'm not hungry - if anything I feel a bit bloated - but I just can't stop myself.  After a slightly upsetting little event (nothing serious), I am consoling myself with food. I know it's comfort eating by what I'm fancying - chocolate ice cream, pizza, wine.  I rarely eat things like this (nothwithstanding the wine of course).

It's only lunchtime and I've eaten 12 Fat Pills already.  I need to stop and now as I've got no spare 'weeklies' left to cover any over-indulgences.

I am struggling, so I consulted the cards for advice.  The deck I'm using today is my favourite Tarot of Ceremonial Magick.  This deck always gives me very, very strong, powerful readings - and I need all the strength I can get today.

The card I drew (randomly of course) - the Queen of Cups - corresponds with the zodiac sign of Cancer; she represents a very loving, romantic, emotional woman. A very kind, caring person.  Think Princess Diana - both strengths and weaknesses - and that's the Queen of Cups.

So, the cards are telling me to get control back of my emotions (Queens are generally in control in some way).  So, I need to get control of what I am feeling in order to stop the comfort eating.  As long as what I'm upset about remains a problem in my eyes, then the eating will continue. So, tackle the root cause and the eating will resolve itself.

This little problem isn't insurmountable. I can't change what happened so I need to just get over it as they say.  And it certainly isn't worth gaining tubbies over at my next weigh in.  The comfort eating isn't even making me feel better, so I need to replace it something that does.

***Light Bulb Moment!***

Yesterday I bought some new make-up which, in the event, I didn't get to use. So - I think I'll go and put some of it on now as I'm going out with friends this afternoon. The new make-up will make me feel better in myself, and will also keep my itchy little fingers out of the fridge.

Queen of Cups (or queen of something) here I come!

Beating the Wine Fairy

This post is a day later than I promised my Tubby Town friends as I went out with the Wine Fairy last night.  There are some very brave ladies in Tubby Town who have formed on-line abstinence groups. I'm not sure I'd go that far but I do need to get better control and rein in the wine a bit sometimes.

I love the new Tubby Tacklers system, but it does punish you on wine - which is worth 6 Fat Pills for a 250ml glass.  You'd think that that fact alone would be enough to make us cut back, but you know how it is - once the bottle's opened....rude not to finish it - right?

So, I'm going to ask the cards to give us some insight into why we do this, and what we can do to change. 

And what better tarot deck to use than the Alcohol Tarot - yes, there really is one.  It still has a full set of 78 cards made up of major and minor cards, but the suits are different types of drinks rather than traditional suits.  I have corresponded them with card (tarot and playing) suits and the elements as follows:

Spirits:   Wands     Clubs         Fire
Wines:    Cups       Hearts       Water
Lagers:   Swords   Spades      Air
Beers:     Disks      Diamonds  Earth

First of all, I looked at why we do this

Card 1: Our Conscious Mind, 7 of Spirits

This card is about fighting off adversity and threats to oneself and ones stability. This is the card of knowing and recognising the Fat Pills damage that wine, beer and cider can do. It's the card where we are in control and 'we're just going to have one'.....we know this one well, right?  It all starts off with good intentions.

Card 2: Our Unconscious Mind, 9 of Spirits

This is what really does the damage, this is the 'almost there' card. It's where we have been striving for something and have almost achieved it.  This is where we've been good all week and so tell ourselves 'just one more' won't hurt, and then one becomes another and another and another and before we know it we've sunk a bottle of wine and opened the next one.  This is the card that tells us that because we've done so well we can afford to do this.  It isn't even a conscious decision, it's our unconscious mind working. And that's why we are doomed to stay in the 'almost there' of the number 9 cards and never quite reach the completion offered by the 10s.

So what can we do about it?  I set out some cards asking for advice from the Alcohol tarot, and laughed when I turned the following cards over.  The cards just never lie, they really don't.

First of all, these are all major cards - indicating an issue of great importance to us Tubby Towners.  Secondly, these were all drawn randomly, I didn't choose any of these - but they say it all.

Card 1, The current situation:  The Drunken Fool.
Ha! ha! ha! say no more.  The Fool generally can go rushing headlong into situations without thinking.  Sometimes it's about being a free spirit and experiencing life's wonders and new things, other times it's pure foolhardiness, and I think it's fair to say that's what happens when the Wine Fairy gets us.

Card 2, What needs to be developed: The Magician
Depicted in this deck as the barman (of course), the Magician tells us that we have the knowledge and tools at our disposal to be anything we want to be, and do anything we want to do and make anything our own.  The Magician card means it's up to us to 'make it happen' and take things where we want them to go. It's a very powerful card and a good indicator of us making a success of things.  But the message of the Magician is - WE have to make it happen.

Card 3, What needs to be avoided: Death
Depicted here as 'the toilet bowl of death' - lol! The particular image here says it all doesn't it?  Don't overdo it lest you find yourself there. Normally the Death card represents unavoidable change and transformation, in this position here that means don't wait to take action, don't wait for events to drive you - take control yourself, and do it now.

Card 4, Where you're heading: The High Priestess
Again, the depiction here made me laugh, that's us - wine glass in hand, partying away, and thinking how good our dancing is after a few glasses. Ha! ha! ha! And of course we look absolutely ridiculous don't we?

Well, the cards have certainly spoken here. Not only is alcohol generally high in Fat pills, but we end up looking silly and of course regretting it the next day. So my lovely Tubby Towners, today's the day to take back control. It doesn't necessarily mean abstinence, but it means paying more attention to the Conscious Mind (the 7 of Spirits above) and don't let that Unconscious (9 of Spirits) mind take over.

Cheers!

Finding Your Lost Mojo

This reading is for the lovely ladies in my Tubby Town club who posted on-line today about their lost mojos and struggling to find it again.  Here's some guidance from the tarot on how to get your mojo back.

To do this reading I decided to use the lovely Vanessa tarot deck, which is very cute, quite girlie and modern. Very appropriate for our lovely mojo ladies.  This is the message from my tarot cards for you today:


I shuffled the cards and drew 5 at random in the following order:

What to concentrate on: King of Cups



The King is a 'court' card and these represents people or their characteristics.  Kings stand for completion, reaching the pinnacle of a situation. Cups represent emotion, love, feelings and also creative / intuitive energy.   This card is telling us to imagine how we will feel when we achieve our goal.  We need to remember where we are trying to get to and re-focus on it.  This seems to have been forgotten recently.



What to let go of:  7 of Swords
The 7 of Swords is often referred to as the 'deceit' card, and this fits perfectly here - deceiving ourselves that:
The extra glass of wine won't hurt...
Just one more chocolate bar will be fine...
I'm ok counting my points in my head...
Leftovers and crumbs don't have points...
or the famous "I'll start again tomorrow".....and when tomorrow becomes today then there's the next tomorrow to start again...

Interesting that this particular card came up in this position, reinforcing what we already know - what we need to do, or rather - stop doing.


Which card most closely resembles me at the moment: 3 of Swords
This card is commonly associated with unhappiness, pain, sorrow, dark moments.  Another truth from the cards. Losing our mojo is a horrible feeling, that loss of control often accompanied by despair and frustration - sometimes also a feeling of helplessness.  The 3 of swords has to be acknowledged and confronted.  Let it go and move on. Sometimes this card can be saying that it's time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take back control.




What's holding me back: Page of Coins
Pages are also 'court' cards, but are the younges and represent ideas, embryonic situations or characterstics.  Coins are associated with money, material and practical matters, and in terms of timelines are a very slow-moving suit.  What is holding us back here is intention, represented by the Page, but not backed up by action. Thinking about things to much and not doing anything about it.

What can push me forward:  Queen of Swords
The Queen of Swords, another 'court' card, is very clever and intelligent; she also cuts through the crap and can be quite ruthless when she wants to be.  We need her drive, determination and single-minded approach to get going again. In other words, what can push us forwards - is ourselves and our will to succeed.


So there it is lovely mojo-seekers.  The message from the tarot is that we need to:

• Remember and focus on our goal
• Stop deceiving ourselves
• Stop feeling sorry for ourselves
• Stop thinking about it and start doing it
• Take back control, and be single-minded about it.

With thanks to TABI (Tarot Association of the British Isles) for the spread used.

Plateau!

Well, I have been pretty good since I re-joined the Tubby Town club in January, but the past 3 weeks the scales haven't been shifting.  A lesser woman would cave in to chocolate, but not me. I have my friends Will Power and wine to console me!

I've been measuring myself and I am losing inches though.  There's a pair of jeans that I lived in from mid last year up until recently that are just too big now.  So I am making progress even though nothing is showing up on the scales.

What is my problem?  One that many will envy me I know - tarot-wise, it's the 10 of Cups.  I am really, really happy.  The 10 of Cups cards represents the ultimate relationship, family and domestic bliss.  I am too chilled and so my adrenalin and metabolism just aren't speeded up enough.

It was my card last year, and is my card for this coming month (April) in 2011.  I'm not arguing with the 10 of Cups. 

But I'll take this card with a slower weight loss any day rather than the devastation that The Tower brings to one's life, albeit often accompanied by a big, fat (oops, sorry for pun) weight loss.

Here's hoping for a better result on the scales at Tuesday's reckoning day.  I'd like a Tower on the scales, but nowhere else in my life please!