10 January 2017

I ATE'NT DEAD

I think that the phrase "I ATE'NT DEAD", which the Terry Pratchett character Granny Weatherwax would place on her body while she was having out-of-body experiences, has a parallel to where I'm at.

Me, at 73kg
I'm not dead, but I haven't been me in over a year. That's right, not a single outing in 2016, and not many blog posts, either. :-(

Yes, I continue to have long painted nails and long dyed hair, but I haven't done hair and makeup and dressed en femme in over a year.

In the past couple of months, I've begin making an effort to get my weight under control, with limited results. From a peak weight of 101kg, I'm now consistently between 95 and 96kg, but I don't seem to be able to get below 95. I look at a photo from when I was 73kg, and I like how I looked. I look at a photo from when I was 96kg and I can't stand how I look, to the point that I don't want to dress while I weigh this much, because I know that that is how I would look.

Today, I saw a post from Paula at Paula's Place, about why some people stop going out dressed, which referred to another couple of posts from others. Of the various explanations posited, I don't think that any of them cover why I stopped.

I stopped because life got too much. I think about it several times (or constantly) every day, but I couldn't cope with depression, an excessive workload, rejection within the trans community and a myriad of other issues. The biggest problem was a feeling that my wife and son, while not overtly rejecting my activities, don't like it and make me uncomfortable doing anything girly while they are home.

The only way I could see to work around my wife and son seemed to be to extend the house such that I could dress in a part of the house that was separate from where they were. After two attempts at getting planning approval over several years, it all came to nothing. I've recently been looking at a much scaled down extension that would still achieve the same thing, but with only me earning an income and having recently made an unexpected investment property purchase that will pay off in the longer term, we are now so financially stretched that I don't see much chance of building an extension for a few years.

So all I can do now is concentrate on losing weight, and doing any improvements I can to the house that we have, in the hope that somehow, something will make a difference and I will be able to go out again.

4 comments:

  1. It's good to hear from you, even if your news is not that positive. Strangely I was only visiting here yesterday wondering what had happened to you, so I am really pleased to hear you are sill with us! I hope that you will get some opportunities to be authentic this year, and that you will lose some of your weight so that you will feel like taking advantage of them. Whether you get out much or not it's always good to hear from you, how's the car going?

    I too am trying to lose about 10kg and finding it very difficult during the English winter, salads are not a lot of fun when it's cold.

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  2. Glad to see you’re still posting Alice, hope you get the chance to get out in the New Year. Yes it would be lovely to have a part of the house just for Alice, I have to do with a dark and dim cellar and have everything stashed away there. I’m in retirement since the end of last year, which means I can now grab a few hours a week to at least dress while MrsA is out of the house. Losing weight is a challenge, I’m just over the 100 kg mark and I doubt if I’ll drop any lower without drastic actions! I would love to dress more even if I’m restricted to underground, will see how things go.
    You what ever size you are at the moment must get out! You have before and you must in the future. I take it your wardrobe that fits is slightly restricted at the moment. With your lovely heel collection, just grab a pair and go for a walk even if it’s in boy jeans and top. Go for it girl!
    All the best,
    Love Abigale

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  3. I know just how you feel Alice. How tall are you, because 73kg looks fabulous on you? I am similar to your weight, at 97kg and have a target of 75kg. It is a real struggle as you have to live your life and I find I can be very careful what I eat for 6 days and lunch out on the 7th day leaves me back at square one. I currently have 1.6kg to lose to get back to where I was in October 2016 - before I went to Hawaii. I have a spreadsheet where I record my weight weekly against a target loss of 500g a week. If I can keep the diet going I can be at my target weight by 21 December 2017! Unfortunately I have two trips away before then, Newcastle in April (I live in Spain) and a boat trip down the Rhine in July (all meals and drink included).
    I have never been out dressed but have had one makeover that was wonderful. If I can keep the diet going I will be down to 78kg for my birthday in November, which would be a good reason to treat myself to another makeover.
    If you are on Flickr here is my link https://www.flickr.com/photos/79087054@N00/ and email address ashleyhelenmoore@gmail.com I would be happy to keep in touch so that we can encourage each other.

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