Back on the Wagon - Again!

I think it is something many people can relate too - the struggles of losing weight.  We all know what we should be doing to be fit and healthy, and of course everyone is different.  You can't judge people on how they look because you are only seeing half the picture.  I am overweight, that I know, but physically I've always been fit and healthy on the inside.  Whereas a beautiful model friend of mine was shocked recently to discover she is the opposite - looks fit on the outside, but is not so healthy on the inside.  So yes, we are all different.  But we all want to look and feel good - it's human nature.

Lately I have not been feeling good about myself.  I could nearly say the black dog has been trying to make a comeback and I've been struggling to stop it jumping the fence.  It's a constant struggle, and the way my life is at the moment probably isn't helping.  At the start of 2016 I was doing so well with getting myself back on track.  Then I was made redundant and my life turned into an organised chaos.  I neglected myself and let myself fall back into bad habits as I tried to cope with the major change of going from full time $40K+ per annum work to casual 'am I going to make enough to pay the bills this week' work.  It's a scary thought, and at the end of the day I believe I am happier being able to do the work I really want to do, and having more variety - but the stress of ensuring I still made enough to cover bills and food is always there.  Initially I had a redundancy package to fall back on, but that soon ran out (it wasn't a lot), and then I resorted to selling some assets to try and reduce some debt, but I'm not in the clear yet.  Needless to say, as always my way of coping with stress is eating.  I know it should be exercise, and I know I always feel better after I exercise, but some days I just want to stay in bed all day and not do anything.

When I made the decision in Oct 2016 to have a hysterectomy, the added stress of upcoming surgery didn't help.  I was happy I made the decision, and thrilled to have the surgery done with no complications, but I had never had any sort of major surgery before other than having my wisdom teeth out.  Not to mention there were a lot more risks with having a hysterectomy.  Thankfully it went well but it meant two months of little to no exercise - which only fuelled my desire to stay in bed.  The body adapts very quickly - and it certainly did in my case in being lazy.  What didn't help was that I had stopped dancing as well, so what was once regular exercise became occasional.

For a while I tried losing weight doing 16:8 fasting - where you only eat during an 8 hour window, but like any weight loss, you need to eat less calories.  I was fine fasting for 16 hours, but for some reason I would still eat too much during the 8 hour window, and as a result didn't lose any weight (possibly even put some on).  It made me realise that I needed to go back to doing 5:2 as I know this worked for me - only having 500-600 calories 2 days per week. 

So today is back on the wagon for Day 1.  I didn't weigh myself but my last weight was around 81kg.  It's time for me to get back down to a healthy weight again.  No food restrictions are being set as yet, but I will aim to cut down on sugar.  My first attempt is to just get back into the habit of fasting again.  And exercise.  So here we go.. you can view my vlog for today here:

I'm still here

I've never been great at consistently writing in a blog or diary.  I found a diary the other day which I've been writing in for a few years and my last post was about 2 years ago - and the one before that was a bit longer!  I think maybe because I don't feel I have anything worth writing about I don't end up writing.  Especially when I'm feeling down or depressed - which is probably when I should be writing.

I can see on here my last post was in May, so that's not too bad as its only been a couple of months, and things haven't been too bad.  Mind you I'm still struggling with weight and depression. Especially in the past week or so.  The film work hasn't been too bad - I found out yesterday I was cast in another independent feature film which I was hoping to do (can't say too much yet), and am up to a total of 17 days on set, with number 18 today.  Still mostly student / unpaid films, but I'm happy with that.  However the last day I had on set I had to wear corporate gear, and the night before I got all my stuff out only to find most of it didn't fit.  It has been six months since I had the hysterectomy, and I'm finding I still get swelly belly - where my tummy swells by a good couple of inches (cause can be a few different things, including exercise).  I measured myself that evening, and then again in the morning and there was a 2" difference in size, so I wasn't seeing things!  At least by the morning I was able to fit into one of those outfits, but it was very depressing.

So yet again I'm on the vicious cycle - depression, comfort food, weight gain :(  I do have moments where I feel good about myself, and where I think "I can do this" but then that disappears and I'm back into the "I don't care" mode.  I've been on this cycle for many years, but at least now I can recognise the symptoms, plus I can talk about it.  There was a time once (in my late teens/early 20s) where I was so depressed that my friends had no idea that I was contemplating suicide.  It annoys me when people just say to talk about it or seek help - unless you have been down that sink-hole, you have no idea what it is like.  I couldn't see any other way out at the time, and I couldn't vision any future for me.  I didn't even think I'd live to see 30.   Thankfully, something happened to make me realise there was a future, and here I am today.

But now as a Personal Trainer as well, I know even more about what I should be doing, and feel like I'm not setting a good example for my clients.  I know what I should be doing, I'm just not doing it.  I know I need to stop making excuses and get back on the healthy train - eating well and exercising regularly.  I may fall off again, but that is life and I just need to accept that and have strategies in place to deal with it.  So, I raise my glass of sparkling water to life and say 'bring it on'!

Life as a Suit Character

We have all seen them.  Whether at a theme park, a shopping centre, at a sporting or outdoor event or festival, it is not uncommon to see someone dressed in as a Suit Character or Mascot.  I'm sure, like me, you have a photo of yourself taken with one, whether you were aged 5 or 50, as it doesn't matter what age you are, we still love these characters!

As an actor by trade, I have spent many years performing and parading as various characters - whether it was popular cartoon characters in a theme park, or company / team mascots at sporting (or other) events.  A lot of people think doing this work is great fun, and 99% of the time it is, but it is also hard work and not as easy as it looks.  But if its something you've wanted to know more about then read ahead:

You can't be claustrophobic - You are in a confined space and whilst the head area usually allows breathing room, it is often strapped to you and you have limited vision.  But you can't let this affect how the character acts or moves.

Be prepared to sweat - most suits are made of a thick padded material.  So it's like wearing 5 winter coats all at once.  But as they say - if you can't handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

Ideally you are only in the suit for a maximum of 20mins at a time, with a 15-20min break - but if you are working for a private or corporate enterprise (that don't really know the rules of suit character / mascot work) they may think it is perfectly acceptable for you to be in the suit for up to 60mins at a time.  Whilst this is not really acceptable, unfortunately it is common practice.  I personally believe it becomes a workplace health & safety issue - if you pass out whilst in costume because you haven't had a suitable break, then whomever hired you becomes responsible.

You must research your character - corporate mascots may be okay, but if you are playing a particular character that is already established then it is your responsibility to find out more about them.  What mannerisms do they have?  Do they have any signature moves or habits?  Then, as an actor, you must physically overact your character.  You have just put on a suit which is larger than life, so when waving to children your moves need to match!

You must NEVER talk when in costume - this is one of the reasons you have a minder / chaperone.  Not only does talking in a suit sound terrible, but it also can ruin the image of a character to the audience - especially if you are around children.  Your chaperone should be doing all the talking.

You need a great chaperone!  We've already established you are hot, you can't see well, you have to be physically energetic - but you can't do all this without a chaperone!  A great chaperone should be helping you get in and out of the costume, checking their watch to ensure you have your breaks on time, and also have researched the character.  They will be talking to the children for you and sometimes answering questions.  It comes across as very unprofessional if they don't know who the character is or can't answer questions.  They also need to point out when children are waving or are next to you - as you can't always see them, and ensure that when you are walking / roaming around that the path ahead of you is clear as it would be very embarrassing if you ran into something.

The worst thing about being in a suit is when some member of the public thinks it is funny to hit you on the head (whether they have malicious intention or not), the feeling is like someone is actually hitting you directly on the head.  A good chaperone will always be watching you to ensure this doesn't happen, but sometimes even a great chaperone will miss a sneaky hit from behind.

But despite all this, I have always found it a very rewarding role, and absolutely love what I do - to the point where I'm even considering putting together a training course for people wanting to do suit character / mascot and chaperone / minder work.  It's not regular work (unless you're working in a theme park - and they have excellent training systems in place), but if you are wanting add this kind of work to your acting resume, it can be lots of fun!

Some of the characters & mascots I have played over the years include:

* Mascots: Care for Kids, St George Dragon 'Happy', Broncos 'Buck', Literacy Planet 'Word Monster'; Easter Bunny; Quest Newspapers 'Questy'

* Suit Characters:  Rugrats (Angelica & Chucky), Dora Explorer, Eliza Thornberry, Wiggles (Wags the Dog, Henry Octopus & Dorothy Dinosaur), Ice Age (Sid), Sylvannian Families (Freya), Spongebob Squarepants, Curious George (Man in Yellow Suit), Minions (Kevin), Paw Patrol (Fire Dog Marshall), Three Little Pigs (Red Pig), Blue's Clues (Blue)

You can view some photos on my public facebook page under the acting photo album:  www.facebook.com/missrachealleigh