What do Subo and I have in common? Well, it goes something along the lines of the look that Simon Cowell and the audience gave when Susan Boyle stepped on stage, and the looks that I was given today by two lycra-clad ‘not-so-lovelies’ who were taking a gentle stroll through the car park at Asda today….
I remember watching Susan Boyle walk on stage. I had no real opinion as to what she might sound like, as years spent in recruitment have taught me never to judge a book by it’s cover…some of the smarter looking applicants have quite frankly been what I would term ‘oxygen-stealers’ and some of the more interesting looking characters have shown such depth. And interviewing pre-op transexuals with size 14 court shoes – I was only 17 years old at the time…it was an interview I will never forget, a man who farted whilst I had left the room for a short while only to return to the fuggy haze of his bowels, a man who bought his girlfriend along for moral support, and a beautifully groomed lady who though that it was perfectly acceptable to use the word ‘c*nt’ in an interview, have taught me that it takes all sorts to make the world go round!
The look that Simon had on his face said it all though…
…and what made it even worse was how enraptured he became when she started singing. Talk about seeing dollar signs in his eyes…
It was more than a little cringeworthy! I read an article at the time by a lady called Tanya Gold, who summed the situation up nicely. I won’t repeat the whole article, although you can read it here if you wish to, yet some of the points made are worthy of a mention. Tanya asked, “Is Susan Boyle ugly? Or are we?” This was the powerful opener which led into a tirade about the scene-setting, the discussion with Ant and Dec where it was revealed that Susan was unemployed, single, lives with a cat called Pebbles and had never been kissed.
When she walked on stage people openly laughed and giggled, and one person gave an unpleasant wolf whistle. When Simon asked Susan how old she was, and he heard her reply of, “I’m 47 years old” he rolled his eyes. She then did some strange hip wiggle and Piers Morgan winced and looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than on the judging panel! Amanda managed to remain neutral…with the aid of Botox no doubt (according to Tanya…I of course would never assume such a thing!). And then Susan sang. And people had a bum hole clenching moment when they realised how stupid they had been!
The judges were amazed, the audience was amazed, and I remember having goosebumps. I wanted to punch the air with joy on Susan’s behalf. Finally, someone was showing up these judges, and competitions, for what they were! I remember reading this, from the article, and laughing, “When Susan had finished singing, and Piers had finished gasping, he said this. It was a comment of incredible spite. “When you stood there with that cheeky grin and said, ‘I want to be like Elaine Paige’, everyone was laughing at you. No one is laughing now.” And it was over to Amanda Holden, a woman most notable for playing a psychotic hairdresser in the Manchester hair-extensions saga Cutting It. “I am so thrilled,” said Amanda, “because I know that everybody was against you.” “Everybody was against you,” she said, as if Susan might have been hanged for her presumption. Why? Can’t “ugly” people dream, you flat-packed, hair-ironed, over-plucked monstrous fool?”
There is an assumption, which hopefully is well on the way to being challenged, that only those who fit a certain criteria can reign triumphant. As Tanya quite rightly pointed out, men who look different aren’t challenged or judged in the same way as women. “Alan Sugar looks like a burst bag of flour. Gordon Ramsay has a dried-up riverbed for a face. Justin Lee Collins looks like Cousin It from The Addams Family. Graham Norton is a baboon in mascara.”, she states. And it’s true, I have seen so many examples of this.
I worked for a large transport company who had a UK MD who had an unpleasant personality and unpleasant looks to go with it. He was foul and was forever being helped out of scrapes by others. He somehow ended up with an OBE…I bet the person dishing those out didn’t know he’d punched a customer for daring to look at his wife (we had to come to a ‘special arrangement’ with that customer!), and was a know leering sexist pig who was forever raging around the office calling everyone ‘c*nts’! You had to work there to believe it!
I am running away with myself…well, slowly walking away as I can’t build up much speed at 30st+…back to the point. So, Susan was judged for her appearance, which is something we can all empathise with. Today, two women in lycra were walking along the road at Asda. I slowed down to let them cross, and they looked at me then looked at each other and said something. They then looked me in the eyes and both shook their heads at me, with a look of disgust on their faces. Now, I know that I have probably been a little over-sensitive in the past, but I am not stupid either…what they were doing and inferring was quite bloody obvious.
I actually laughed, stuck my finger up and speed up so they had to jog across the rest of the road. The ironic thing was that they looked pristine, not a bead of sweat or hair out of place on their fully made up faces. I however looked a state as I had just finished 45 minutes on the treadmill, a boxing session and weights. I was on my way to Asda to buy food for the eating plan that has helped me lose over 13st so far.
My message to them…”Bitches, I have already changed my life for the better…you toddle off in your fancy lycra outfits, with your non-sweaty sweat bands and your untouched bottles of water. I am off home with my healthy food haul to complete another 15 minutes on the treadmill. And when we meet one day, maybe in a gym, I will whoop your asses!”
Never judge a book by it’s cover – or the movie poorly adapted from it; never judge a bottle of wine by it’s label; and never judge a fat girl in a 4×4 or else you might just get run over!
We attempted a bit of a lie-in, which the dog and postman tried to ruin, but we are made of tough stuff and managed to stay in our nice warm bed! My other half decided he wanted a ciggie and so we got up earlier than the alarm again, and I was on the treadmill before 9.30am. We then mooched for a bit and had breakfast, which was interspersed with more treadmill, some boxing and some weights. The horses were then checked – our cheeky Shetland has managed to ditch his muzzle, so I need to try and play ‘hunt the muzzle’ tomorrow…just the thing I wanted to do on my birthday! It was then to Asda and back home to finish my workout and then to relax. I finished the rest of my Martina Cole book, ‘The Graft’ which was good if a bit predictable towards the end. Tonight we are watching ‘Zero Dark Thirty’…my other half’s choice…let’s hope it’s a good one!
Breakfast: Banana and two Alpen light bars (1 x HEB).
Lunch: Two sardine melts (1 x HEB, 6 syns, 2 x HEA).
Snacks: Two packets of Snack a Jacks (9 syns).
My food was lovely today! Brekkie was the usual, and lunch was a bit of a favourite too! I mashed up some tinned sardines and mixed with chopped red onion and cracked black pepper. I put this on toast, topped with loads of tomato and spinach, then put my cheese on and gave it a blitz in the microwave to melt the cheese…tastes gorgeous and the sardines give me an oily fish fix which is a cheaper way of getting it than my usual salmon fillets. Dinner was turkey mince, browned with garlic, chilli flakes and Cajun seasoning. Then red onion, pepper, courgette, radish, spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms added. There are leftovers for lunch tomorrow too. I did go a bit overboard with the Cajun stuff though…my nose is still running from it!
Exercise: 4 x 15 minute treadmill sessions, 1 x 5 minutes boxing, 1 x 10 minutes BodyPump.
Today was a tough one! I just wanted to relax and slob out for the day, but knew that if I let myself so it today, that it would just continue…so I jumped on the treadmill and got started. The boxing was great and my other half held the pads whilst I took out all of my frustrations! It is a lot harder than it looks and really wears you out…five minutes felt like fifteen!
That’s it from me today, have a wonderful evening all,
Weight Loss Bitch xxx