It's ok to be a complete shit show and still be happy.

Do you have the time, to listen to me whine about nothing and everything all at once? Also enjoy a pic of my dog, and evidence of air fry canned potatoes.

Sing it loud, gen x-ers / elder millennials - I promise you will feel so much better.

I’m done.

Stick a fork in me, I’m done.

Striving for fake perfection is over. It’s exhausting. I am exhausted.

The tank is empty, yo.

And so from this day forward, I will not care about what people think of me, or what they say about me. As it’s been said before by clever people, these things are none of my business, anyway.

Created by Chantelle Ellem

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From now onwards, I will genuinely care about fewer things. These are the things:

• My kids health and happiness.

• My family.

• My friends.

• My dog and cat.

• My business to an extent, but if everything turned to shit as it has in the past, I’d find something else to do. I’m fortunate to have resourcefulness as a skill.

• Being a good human to the best of my ability.

• Other things I’ve forgotten (ADHD flaws) but they are probably important, and worthy.

I dunno about you, but I have been riddled with anxiety about everything and nothing all at once. And I’m bored of it. Having ADHD does not help.

I’m a Mum with two kids, an elderly cat, and a bouncy German Shepherd puppy. The guilt over whether I am screwing them up or not, is unbelievably high.

Lunch box guilt. Man that was strong this morning.

I said to my kids they could choose their own lunch items at the supermarket yesterday. After lunch boxes coming home barely touched for months, and years if I’m honest.

They chose things mostly void of nutrition. So I shoved in a bit extra for the nutrition. Not because I know they will eat it or be grateful for it, but SO THEIR TEACHERS WILL NOT THINK I AM A LOSER MUM WHO CAN’T FEED HER KIDS PROPERLY.

Bento style lunch boxes have ruined us. Ruined me.

All the little spaces that have to be filled up with snacky, filling, nutritious things. Things that I have zero skill in making. Things that my kids won’t eat anyway.

Also, why are we so obsessed with a less than perfect Uber rating?

Ten years ago, would you have cared what a taxi company thought of you?

Probably not.

What else? The ridiculous pursuit of thinness. And this one’s for my mate Bridget. Bridget beats herself up over not being able to become thin. When you live in a fat body, becoming thin is on par with asking a goldfish to climb a tree.

Bridget, you are perfect as you are. You know this and you know the goldfish theory too. Give yourself a break. Have a cup of tea and marvel at all you’ve achieved.

Can you change your body composition? Yes, you can. Is it easy? Hell no. Is it simple? Also no.

So that’s it.

Join me.

Join me in accepting a life less than perfect, for a life that is just good and happy and full!

If I can be a total shit show, and believe me I am, and still be happy, so can you.

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Here’s a picture of my dog.

Pic of Luka (Lukie) taken by Tama from Ironside K9

He has his own instagram account (littlelukapup, I need to change the name actually, as he is neither little nor a tiny pup) and until Saturday I had been STRESSING over making his life mega awesome. But the rising anxiety of having him up on a puppy pedestal has been a lot. I had been treating my dog like one of my children in an effort to stretch my people pleasing to dizzying heights.

But guess what.

Dogs, especially dogs like my Lukie, don’t have a lot of respect for soft Mums.

They need a strong, confident leader instead. So, I enlisted the help of a trainer who knows sheps. Tama from Ironside K9 swooped in, showed me some things, gave me a confidence boost, and with a few more lessons, I hope to get my mojo back.

It’s ok to be a shit show, be happy, AND ask for help when you need it. And unless you are moving house, most people really want to help out. Just ask.

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Can I air fry this?

Evidence of the canned potatoes that I found in my emergency kit (we’re English and Irish, they are important!). I was curious to see how they would roll in the air fryer, and with a bit of butter and salt, they were the absolute business. Chef’s kiss!

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Thanks for reading this newsletter. I really appreciate the time you give to me for this and I hope you get some value from it. If you have any questions you can reply directly to this email or if you’ve landed here from a link, email lou@sweatypals.nz. You can also follow me on Twitter here, and instagram here.

Please remember nutrition is an interest of mine, I am not a registered dietitian or nutritionist, and information shared here is through my own personal study or a peer reviewed study I have nerded out on reading and sharing with you.

Lou xx