Sunday 2nd of October 2016
Now that the hurly burly of Rebellious Daughters and the UK edition of the Good Greek Girl has come to an end, I’ve started thinking about my next book. It will again be a non-fiction book as I just don’t understand how to write fiction.
I’ve gone to classes and workshops with fiction writers and heard them talk about how characters come to them and how their manuscript reveals itself as they write. When I’ve tried to write a short story, the only thing that reveals itself is the blinking cursor on the blank screen, taunting me as I struggle to come up with anything. So I’m sticking to my knitting and writing another memoir based book. This time, it will be about me relationship with my weight, body and food - a subject that has vexed me since my teens. Does anyone else remember the Israeli army diet or Limmits slimming biscuits?
As well as writing about my own experiences, I plan to speak to others and look at the theme from a broader perspective. It also will be part experiential as I will undertake various diets for the book. So far, I’ve gone pure paleo for a month and yes, I will be revisiting the dreaded Israeli diet for old times’ sake.
Because I am a big girl, people make certain assumptions about me including that I’m unfit. That’s far from the truth as I exercise regularly including two personal training sessions a week. So the book will also look at how big bodies can challenge conventional views. Again, there will be an experiential element and the book will chart my quest to qualify and hopefully compete in the 2017 Australian Powerlifting Masters.
Yes that’s right, powerlifting and more specifically, bench pressing. I’ve always been strong and love lifting weights. There is something simultaneously cathartic and meditative about lying on a bench and hoisting the bar over my head. The post workout endorphin rush is also fabulous for my mood.
Over the last few months, I felt I was plateauing with my bench pressing and wanted to really push for a new personal best. So I decided to see a personal powerlifting coach to work on my technique and have started training with Dave at a powerlifting club. I’m taking this seriously as Dave is a four time Australian powerlifting champion and has been head coach of the Australian team at the Commonwealth and World Championships. The decision is already paying off as last week I benched a personal best of 51KG only after five weeks of training.
Whether I’ll qualify for the Masters remains to be been but watch this space as I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.