All stocked up

I like to buy in bulk and SWOP came through once again. That’s 144 x 4 condoms! Should keep things ticking along for a good while.

I will note that I had a moments panic when I saw the colour – seems that Lifestyles have changed their packaging! Thankfully they are still the same product though.

John

The weather may be weird, but it’s nice to see the sun again!

For those of us living in South Eastern Australia I expect that I speak for you too when I say: how good is it to have sunshine again?!  Even better that it’s not blowing a gale and the rain has finally stopped.  I expect that in a few weeks time – if this trend continues as it’s predicted to – we’ll all be starting to look around and worry about when it’s going to rain again, but for now it’s a wonderful relief.

More seriously though Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing.  It results from spending an extended time without enough sunlight, leading to changes in the production of melatonin and serotonin, and also disruption of one’s body clock.

I think it’s fair to say that the winter here in South Eastern Australia in 2024 has been pretty unpleasant by our standards (thank you climate change) and it’s been affecting most people.

However – now we have sunshine and an absolutely stunning Sydney day on the way.  I hope you are enjoying some great weather wherever you are – and if you’re not, then you are always welcome to visit me and we can

John

Time to visit me in Sydney!

I grew up in Victoria and lived there until I was 28. I have a lot of fond memories of the state including rock climbing in the Grampians and You Yangs, sailing on Port Philip Bay, studying at Swinburne University, and the beaches along the south coast.

But I always had one big problem with Melbourne and Victoria – I really felt the cold during winter! So back in the year 2000 I moved to Sydney. I’ve lived here on and off ever since and while Sydney has it’s issues like any big city I do have to say – winter in Sydney is GREAT.

I just love these mild, sunny winter days. It’s great for walking and exploring, or sitting on the couch with a book – or someone else and a glass of wine!

So if you feel like getting away from Melbourne – or anywhere else that the winter has set in – then why not consider a visit to Sydney and share some time with me.

John

A night out in Newtown

I love Newtown in Sydney. It’s a bit grungy (still. It used to be a lot more so!) and on a Friday night it has plenty going on. From a wide variety of restaurants, to ice-cream shops, the Dendy theatre, to pubs, adult shops, and of course lots of people.

So last night – after visiting the excellent Sushi Train Newtown (on the corner of King and William St) I spent a couple of hours walking King St and taking photos.

Now I don’t consider myself to have the right personality for street photography – street photographers tend to be either really gregarious or pushy and obnoxious, so it takes me out of my comfort zone to take photos this way. It was fun though and I managed to capture some images that I quite like, so I thought I’d share some of them…

John

My body and how I want it to be

I’m pretty comfortable with my body – extremely comfortable really.  I am lucky to have been pretty healthy my entire life and had the opportunity and inclination to exercise and participate in sports.

However over time everyone’s metabolism slows and we are inclined to put on weight. I’m no exception and it’s something that I have worked hard at over the years to manage.

Another aspect that I wasn’t expecting is that in recent times I have developed a lot more upper body mass – muscle.  When I was in my thirties I was always lean and very light.  It was a real advantage for me when I was rock climbing on faces that were not an overhang (where absolute strength really comes into play and having a low centre of gravity isn’t so important).  It was also good for me when I was cycling and running.

Then about ten years ago for no reason that I know of my body decided that upper body muscle was new goal and my shoulders and arms filled out.  I’ll never be “big” like some men are, which I’m very happy about honestly, but I’m a lot more solid and stronger than I once was.

The last few years of physical work required by the business that I started during the pandemic has only built on those gains and I have to say that I remain very happy with my body in general.

However.  I am not overly happy with my bodies more recent propensity to build up it’s fat reserves.  So it’s time for some directed action to reverse the trend.

As someone who is tall and relatively broad, I can put on ten kilograms and it is not particularly noticeable, which is a trap.  It’s easy to ignore how my body is changing, especially since it’s only gradual.  But enough is enough.  It’s time for action.

I’m not going to tell anyone how to lose weight.  Your personal history, medical issues, food culture that you grew up with etc are all going to effect what does and doesn’t work for you – this isn’t medical advice of any sort!  For me what I know is this: carbohydrates are my enemy – and as someone who loves few things more than rice, pasta, potatoes (in all their forms), and bread (I literally ran a bakery once), that’s a real blow.

I know that if I am going to lose some weight and keep it off then I need to be significantly reducing, or better yet eliminating carbohydrates from my diet.

So that’s what I’ve done. Along with reducing my eating to two meals per day, implementing intermittent fasting (I eat my two meals at 1.00pm and 5.00pm), increasing my exercise, increased my water intake, and supplementing electrolytes, magnesium (which I’m always low on and leads to muscle fatigue), B group vitamins, and a multi-vitamin.

Here’s what’s happened so far:

  • I’m not hungry between meals
  • I had headaches for the first couple of days.  Adding the electrolytes, and B group vitamins fixed that
  • I don’t have any cravings for sweet things.  In fact I don’t have any cravings at all and when I get to a meal time I’m still not hungry
  • When I exercise I have a lot more energy.  I typically swim 1000 meters two or three times per week and feel exhausted afterwards. This week I’ve consistently swum 1500 meters and get out feeling like I could do the same again.  I’m also walking fifteen kilometers per day rather than my usual nine – and still feeling fine afterwards
  • And the result in terms of my weight: I’m down by 1.5 kilograms.

More importantly though I can see the change in my body when I look in the mirror and I like where it’s going.  To anyone reading this – please don’t feel that this post is making any demands on you.  It’s nothing more than my personal journey to reach a body shape that I am happy with that lets me do the things that I want to do.  I see women of all shapes and sizes and I enjoy all of your bodies!

I hope that for anyone undertaking, or considering their own weight loss journey that it might be helpful and provide some inspiration.

John

At my daggy best!

Finding myself in Sydney on Monday (a rarity for me, as I’m usually down in the Southern Highlands for the first few days each week) I decided to go for a walk. Headphones to listen to an audio book and my favourite walking shorts – little did I know that somewhere along that 10km walk the entire crotch of my shorts would disintegrate! Luckily I was wearing black underwear. Anyway – now I need some new shorts!

John

The benefits of manual labour are underrated

Due to spending too much time lifting heavy things when I was a child growing up on my family’s farm I have had a life time of lower back pain.  Soft bones and too much heavy work don’t mix (which is why we have child labour laws!) and the result for me is disks that are not as thick as they should be, potentially leading to nerves being pinched, sciatica, back pain, incapacity – the list goes on.

After a particularly bad episode in 2015 I discovered that the extra core strength gained from swimming was very helpful, it reduced flair-ups and kept me mobile and mostly pain free.  That was a remarkable discovery.  However it never solved the problem entirely and I still needed regular massage and still had occasional bouts of crippling lower back pain.

That was until during the pandemic.  When I couldn’t do sex work I started a little business allied to construction work (which I could legally go out to do).  At the time it was literally just something I could do to stay busy and bring in some income, but I soon realised that the physical labour involved in loading up and unloading my machines and the physical work itself had an unexpected benefit: it fixed my lower back problem.  Completely.  Not just improved it or lessened the occurrences but fixed it entirely.

The core strength that I get from lifting loading ramps, and tools, “active” sitting on machines, and doing the inevitable bit of hand work required like swinging a crowbar gives me enough core stability that the pressure is taken off the nerves in my lower back and I can live and work pain free for the first time in over twenty years.

Culturally, in Australia “manual labour” is seen as being “less” when compared to professions that require formal education.  And it’s true that working with your hands for a living isn’t going to pay like being a doctor, banker, or consultant of some kind, but there is a lot to be said for honest labour with tangible outcomes *and* the strength and fitness that comes from it – and ultimately for me the physical wellbeing and lack of back pain that I derive from it.

I spend about half of my time each week in Sydney as a sex worker and the other half out of town helping people build their dreams.  Two very different trades, but ultimately one supports the other and I am very glad that I made this discovery. I’m a better sex worker for also doing the manual labour – and I don’t have to go to the gym to build a few extra muscles (if you like that sort of thing)!

John