I went to the Fuller Woman Expo in Toronto

I went to the Fuller Woman Expo in Toronto a few weeks ago and...
I LOVED IT. I ALSO ENDED UP IN THE FASHION SHOW and....
LOVED THE EXPERIENCE.

But I will start with the next day when I met... Monif C., http://www.monifc.com/ and Laura from Lola & Gigi, http://www.lolaandgigi.com/, at her Warehouse/Boutique (can't decide to call it a warehouse, it is way to nice).
Do you know them? NOOOOO? Well you should.
It felt so good to discover new styles, sexy and chic. At least I KNOW that I have less chance of crossing MY dress on someone else's body!!! And yes I bought the famous Monif C.'s convertible dress.
Monif C. is a designer and has a Boutique in New York. She sells online but I preferred to buy it at Lola & Gigi to save on shipping costs.
Check out their website and I'll hear your Oh Ah Wow.
Oh before I forget, check out my pictures on Monif C.'s website, I am so proud!

Far left: GPS(1) Cindy Bourassa (Miss Canada Plus 2005),
Far right: Monif and Laura from Lola & Gigi in a black dress.
(1) GPS: Gorgeous Plus Size

Have you seen this black coat?

Do you know what I love about that Monif C. dress? It suits Plus Size Women and NOT Small Size Women! This is what we want. Not a small size dress with more material!


It does take a little bit of practice to wrap the dress nicely and... some help at the beginning.

And here is the Fuller Woman Expo
and some of the nice and creative people I have met:

The coat I am wearing on the picture is from a brand new manufacturer from New Jersey, La-Dans Closet.
They have issues with their website right now but check them out regularly: www.la-danscloset.com (I bought that coat, loved the colour, the style).

Here is another coat from Designer La Tresa (left) my dear friend Emilienne on the right (she pushed me to go in the fashion show).
I was really excited to discover new stores and share what I found with you ladies.
Here are a few:
Sexy Plus Clothing, online store, "mobile" store and a location in a flea market in Toronto
Curvaceous Consignments, with 2 locations in the Toronto area.
Full Fabulous Figures, Labrador City, NL (where else could I have found her? Another Catherine.
Oval Clothing, Pittsburgh (carrying Petite Plus Size).

FOR YOU LADIES, I LOVE THIS ONE: MERMAID OR WHALE?

Recently, in a large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym.

It said: THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?

A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales.

They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselveswith shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Barren Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia.

Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs.

They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans.

They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis.

Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they don't have kids either.

Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a coffee with my friends. With time we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room it distributes outto the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are Enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, Good gosh, look how smart I am.

Gone – Goooooooooone

Did you notice? I did not change anything on BellesPlus in 2 weeks, nor answer any email.
Well I was gone. And when I say I was gone, I WAS GOOOOOONE. Camping. Just camping. I LOVE CAMPING.
This is the only moment that I forget about everything; I am “in the moment”. My “to do list” seems so far away and useless. You don’t even think about your life because..........
YOU DON’T THINK AT ALL!
The only thought I had so far is about you my Plus Size Ladies; Reflecting about body image and weight loss. I feel so good I forget to think about my body.
I JUST LIVE.
I don’t care about how I look as long as I am comfortable to walk around, go to the beach. And I don’t care about exercising because I walk around and go to the beach. And I see a lot of Plus Size Women like me walking the dog and going to the beach with the kids.

Actually that’s how I met Susan, at the beach, with her dog.
I had seen her many times around and she caught my attention. She was always active, I never saw her sitting. She was beautiful and natural. That's the type of big beauty I like, natural, not trying to be different, not pretending. Just natural.
I was shy (stupid me) to talk to her, but the last evening I could not go without introducing myself.
Susan was so warm; I instantly regretted to not have talked to her earlier. You can tell by her voice and the way she carries herself that she is a strong woman. She has to, with 4 boys and a dog. You see the island in her back, on the picture? She swam there back and force in the afternoon!
She looked so comfortable in her body, I wonder what she has that a lot of big women don't have? A loving family? a husband who would not want her any different? Or is it just IN HER? Susan, please share your secret with us.
You know what? She made me think about Africa. Over there, I was always surprised that Plus Size women would not look floppy and sad. But that’s because they had to be active, go to the market, walk to visit neighbors. And honestly also because it is a beauty asset to be big there (or used to, I haven’t been in Africa for 16 years).
Maybe that’s what life is about.
Having more of those moments.
Enjoy “being” rather than trying to “fit”.
I have found in my trailer an old magazine (body+soul, September 2007), you know the one that you read over and over, rediscover every year. I was reading an article (When less is more by Cheryl Richardson) where she talks about “addition by substraction” to add more meaning in our life.
“We look to improve our life by adding something: a bigger home, more social engagement, a new passionate hobby. But a high-quality life often has more to do with what we remove. A lot more”.

This is my story of the day.
Catherine LG
Ottawa, July 18, 2009

The DIET series: #1

To go on diet or not to go on diet: That is the question!
I was reading Beth story on her battle to lose weight posted on her website/blog: www.theplussizemommy.com, sad but oh so common.
Since then I started to reflect on who do I know who have been on a diet (every single person I know!) and who has kept the weight off (nobody I know!)
Quite puzzling, indeed! (I love this word in English, indeed)
Are you like me? Each time I see an add to encourage us to lose weight I get skeptical. Especially those with pictures of a dieter taken before and after. I can't help to look really close to make sure the "before" and "after" person look alike (never too sure) and always wonder if they are still like the "after" or since then went back to the "before". Who knows....
As I said nobody I know as kept it off.
Well... there is actually 3 people who have lost weight that I know or that I can easily verify if they are for real and still on track, which might give us our 3 ways (no magic, sorry!) to lose weight:
- my friend Chantal has gone through bypass surgery and has lost a lot of weight. (I'll try to get from her the "before" and "after" pictures).
- Roslyn Franken (www.roslynfranken.com) offers counselling services based on her own experience(pictures of her "before" and "after" on her website), "Helping you make realistic, attainable AND sustainable changes for Healthy Eating, Postive Living and Effective Weight Management." (I can easily verify that she has kept the weight off, she lives in Ottawa).
and
- Louise' programme (in Vancouver area) at The Body Exchange is all based on.... Fitness (Louise runs bootcamps for plus size people in various locations in and around Vancouver, BC) and her last newsletter features Martin Hill who has lost 85 pounds! (I will tell you later if he kept it off)
Told you, no magic there, it's a lifetime battle and we, deep inside, all know it. Sorry Beth. But interestingly enough I guess a little bit of the 3 solutions used together would probably be ideal.
Ain't you excited? I have found the solutions that will solve our problems...
Okay, I know what you think: no energy to go ahead and do it! Yep that's the first part of the problem. We kind of know that there is solutions out there, that it won't be easy, that we'll have to work on it forever, BUT YET, most of us don't jump on it. WHY? why not take the chance?
Stay tuned, I'll address all that in the following articles.

This is my story of the day.
Catherine LG
Ottawa, June 25, 2009

The Two Rising Suns

Here is a text that I wrote a while ago, but after a discussion with a PS lady, it reminded me that it could be still useful.
Enjoy!

Recently, I received an email that outraged me!
A lady I know shared with me that she is always struggling with her body image.
AND GUESS WHAT? SHE IS NOT EVEN A PLUS SIZE!
In my Plus Size mentality I had never imagined that the “other” women were struggling too! Okay I am naive.
So that’s it, I AM AT WAR.
AT WAR with what we think about ourselves.
AT WAR with our self “Bad Mouthing”.
AT WAR with this idea of perfection.
I wish I had a perfect body too, believe me, whatever it means...
But ladies, today I have looked around and here is what I saw:
On each body I looked at (ladies of course), there was something that I would have exchanged: Too skiny, butt too small, nose too long, boobs too small, boobs too big, nice body but did not like the face, etc.... And yet, the lady with the too small boobs might think that only her nose is too long!
WOW that gets complicated!
Do you get the point?
Okay so stop for a minute and think: What if you had just moments to live and all those moments would form your life.
What it you were wasting all this precious time with your unhappiness.
Remember, as far as we know, we only have one life to live.
So here is an exercise:
Get in front of the mirror (a big one), lock the door and get naked.
I am not joking.
Then just PRETEND that you have the PERFECT body. No don’t close your eyes. Look at YOURSELF and BELIEVE that you have the PERFECT body.
Don’t we usually say that to be loved, you need to love yourself first?
What if all we needed to be loved and desired was to BELIEVE that we are BEAUTIFUL.
If it doesn’t work, go by pieces. Discover which part you really like and let go of others.
And BELIEVE that someone somewhere loves this part of you.
You don’t think so?
Listen to this:
When I was younger, one of my friends already had a lot of stretch marks on her butt. And you know what her boyfriend said? They look like two rising suns....
That was my thought for the week.
Catherine LG

PLEASURE PLEASURE PLEASURE
I feel guilty! I have not even visited BellesPlus for weeks. I have abandoned my creation.
So wrong. But I was just so tired.
Or maybe you know how sometimes life seems stagnant but YOU KNOW that something is going to come out of all that “just living” moment.
You can’t think for days, your brain feels empty and then, it strikes you. The “OF COURSE” moment. Everything comes clear.
It came a few minutes ago, as I was reading a small article: Plus-Sized Yoga Classes -- Seriously?!
Life is too short, I don’t want to feel uncomfortable anymore and if it takes to go to a plus size yoga class, why not? I personally won’t go because at 46 (my point is coming) I HAVE DECIDED THAT I DON’T CARE ANYMORE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE THINK.
I always say that the only thing I look for in life is FUN.
Well I have discovered that I look for more than fun, I LOOK FOR PLEASURE. Every single minute of my life. PLEASURE PLEASURE PLEASURE PLEASURE (Sing it and Dance it to make it real).
No more of stopping my PLEASURE because of what people think. I DON’T CARE, now that I am on the other side of life.
I started reflecting on pleasure last week when at a conference with my coworkers, I had a blast dancing with one of my a little bit older than me coworkers (I am trying to be polite in case he reads it although just the idea of him on BellesPlus makes me laugh). HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO DANCE AND HE DOESN’T CARE. We danced with others all night. But you should have seen the young ones, dancing precociously to maintain their image. Oh gosh, I would not like to be 20 again! (I swear)
I probably made a fool of myself (although I think I am a good dancer), but I had so much PLEASURE.
And in all faith I truly believe that PLEASURE is bringing me LUCK. Everything I have asked the Universe (seriously have you read The Secret?) is happening since that evening of pure Pleasure. You know the type of moment where you forget that you exist, you just ARE and LIVE.
A bit too.... psychic for you? I can be like that some times, but you know what I think? No matter what you say, what’s important is to believe in it.
This is my story of the day.
Catherine LG
Ottawa, June 11, 2009

Living Your Dream Without Borders!

I just met Andi (by email) when she contributed a great addition to our stores, Equestrian Collections.
I figured she was riding if she was so interested in this store! Dah!
Well, I want you to discover Andi and her passion. I find that truly inspiring.
You know what the lesson is, right?
Live your dream and don't look back, nothing must stop you and certainly not your weight.



I will let you read what Andi sent me, it says it all!


"The spotty one in the pic's is my old guy, now 27, who I've had since he was 2 - and I'm still riding him. I started riding very early - I remember having riding lessons before I remember starting school (and I'm now over 60).
I used to do more competitive stuff like showing and I've done both English and western riding, trail riding, cattle penning, driving, some eventing and jumping but now mostly like just trail riding, doing clinics and generally messing about with the horses.
I've been a samurai rider in a Japanese movie and have had riding holidays in England and in Spain.
Am I obsessed about riding? Well maybe.
Before buying Bar all those 25 years ago, I'd be cleaning my tack that I still owned and my son would tease me, singing "A dream never dies, just the dreamer..."
I've always been a "traditionally built lady" (as they say in "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" books) and for years had to suffer through trying to find suitable riding togs, but then I discovered 1824 - and Kerrits (my all time favorite riding pants - they fit, are comfy and wear forever! And come in cool hound's-tooth patterns and colors, and in both winter and summer weight.) Anything else you want to know?"

Well if you do want to know more about riding, send me an email and I will forward it to Andi.

And THANKS ANDI for sharing your passion with us.
So long..

This is my share for the day.
Catherine LG
Ottawa, May 20, 2009