The Weight Episode
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Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to a new episode in the Sweet Paul podcast called Chasing the Sweet Things in Life. Hello. Hello. It's episode 23. 23. Yeah. And I'm not sure what to call this episode. We can call it Big Boy. Big Boy.

We can call it... The weight issue. Fatty McFatty. Yeah. The weight episode. The weight episode. The pleasantly plump episode. Okay. Yeah. Chubby chasers? The chubby episode. We can call it many things. We don't know yet. But as you might have guessed, it's all about... The struggle. The struggle of weight. Yes. The struggle is real. It's sort of a big topic. Yeah.

It is, and especially these days, because what are people supposed to do? We're stuck at home. Yeah. And all we do is, I mean, we cook three times a day. Snack six times a day. And there's a lot of snacks, and I've been baking cakes and...

Mostly throwing them away. I mean, I have one slice. You have one slice. As a treat. I have maybe like four slices. And then, yeah, we throw the rest away because, you know, there's only so much we can actually eat. But, you know, I've been testing some new recipes and stuff. Yeah. I've been trying to baking bread, but I'm out of yeast. So hopefully, if you hear this, please send us yeast. Oh my God. Yeah.

I'm going to try to make sourdough. I never made sourdough bread before, so I'm going to try to do that. Yes. Yum. So, yeah. So, speaking of food. Speaking of food. Start from the very beginning. Starting from the beginning. So, when I was born, I was an extremely skinny baby. Really? Yeah. I was skinny and ugly.

And a friend of my dad's who came and visited my parents at the hospital to congratulate them and look at me said that he had never seen an uglier baby ever. Oh, my God. Yeah, I was super thin. And I was actually thin up to second grade in school. Did you look like one of those babies that...

You know when babies are sort of like slender, they'd look like miniaturized adults. Like they're not like pudgy. Yeah, I wasn't. No, no, no. You just look like a small person. You know how babies are like, yeah, they have those like fatty little arms. You weren't like that. I didn't have that. Here's the crazy thing. I cannot remember any like baby or newborn pictures of me.

Oh my God, they were like, she's going to break the camera. I think they were just like, this baby is not photogenic, so let's not take any pictures. Seriously. Yeah, there are pictures of me when I'm like... I don't believe that you were ugly. Two, three, and I'm super cute. Yeah, yeah. Because I have like...

There's a picture of me. I must be like maybe two, two and a half. And I'm wearing this little onesie. Yeah. That has kind of like little ruffles on the front. Yeah. And I'm wearing a little necklace with a little locket. And my hair is curly. So it's kind of like Shirley Temple. Yeah. Yeah. So cute. So I got cute really fast. But...

I cannot remember seeing ever any baby pictures of me. Yeah. So what happened was that... How are you as a baby, by the way? I don't really... I don't remember any stories that my parents told me about being... You know, there's a lot of things I wish I could ask. Like, I wanted to know what time of day I was born so I could figure out my more accurate astrology. But yeah, there were...

I don't really remember being told if I was a good baby or a fussy baby. I'm the baby of the family, four years younger than my brother. But I was a very outgoing child. My brother was more shy. Okay. And I'm sort of less outgoing now. And my brother is like a teacher. So it's very strange that you often become the opposite of what you are as a child. Yeah, I mean, I was skinny and ugly, and now I'm fat and beautiful. Okay. Yeah.

But I also... My brother played every single sport. He was very fit. He was actually... Felt too skinny. Like, my brother...

couldn't wear like i guess like husky's jeans were like the cool jeans when he was a kid and i think he was too skinny to wear them so it was sort of the opposite of me where i was always a pudgy kid so you know people who you know we'll talk more about this but

There are skinny people who wish they could gain weight and there's heavy people who wish they could lose weight. So there's two sides of the coin. Yeah. Apparently, I was a very good baby. I didn't make any... I was a good baby and little kid. Yeah. More or less, I didn't do anything wrong. But what happened was that... So I started school and my grandmother...

So, you know, I brought lunch to school. In Norway, we don't get a meal. You bring your own lunch. You get milk, and I think we got a piece of fruit. From the school? From the school. But you bring your own, like, lunch. What would your normal lunch be? Like an open-faced sandwich or something? My normal lunch, yes, yes. My favorite was eggs, like boiled eggs. But I stopped doing that because, you know, when you...

Had that in your backpack for a few hours and you open it up. It smells. It smells, yeah. So I stopped doing that. Like ham and cheese and stuff like that. My grandmother would make it for me. And then it was also cute. My mom would sometimes do it too. And she would always draw on the... She would put like a little note. Yeah, my dad did the same thing. A little drawing and have a good day and stuff like that. But what happened was that... So, you know, I came home...

And, you know, I was always a little hungry after school. Yeah. Which most kids are. And they would, you know, I guess here they would get like a little snack or something. But what my grandmother did is that she made me a whole meal. Yeah. And it was more or less the same thing every day. It was boiled macaroni.

soaked in butter and then a bunch of cheese parmesan yeah not parmesan like jalsberg or something oh so it's more like a mac and cheese yeah yeah oh okay so you know eating that every day plus a few hours later we had dinner yeah

That was, you know, so I very slowly started gaining weight. And in, I would say like third grade, I was starting to become like chubby. Yeah. Did you love food? Like were you known as...

Yeah. Yeah, I always, all of my childhood, I loved food. I loved, you know, helping my grandmother and mother cooking. Yeah. They used to call me garbage disposal when I was a kid. Oh, my God. Yeah. You would eat all the leftovers. No, at school. Oh, at school. Yeah, I think because I would eat. If anyone didn't want their food, I would eat it. So, I always loved food. And it wasn't... It was kind of a funny thing because...

It actually wasn't hurtful because at that time it was kind of like, yeah, boys like to eat. It was like that. It wasn't. But you weren't chubby. I was. I was pudgy, but I never got made fun of because I wasn't really chubby. I was just pudgy all the time. But I mean, I did get told hurtful things from my father, actually. Yeah. Which is really strange because he was always a big guy. Yeah.

strangely ironically is i think part of why i'm attracted to bigger guys because my father was one but he said some pretty mean things to me yeah but i think that was just probably his he was just hanging his shit on me do you know what i mean yeah i got the same thing from my parents yeah and also from my dad yeah and i was it subtle or did he actually come out and say mean things

Sometimes he was just like a little jab, but other times he was just like, okay, you are actually now really fat. You need to do something. Oh, just straight up said it. Yeah. And I also overheard them talking about it. And I also overheard once a conversation my mom had with my grandmother. Yeah. She said that you need to stop like feeding him. Oh, shit. Yeah.

Oh my God, that's intense. So when did you first become conscious that you were getting chubby? I would say, so what happened, and this is really bizarre, and the more I thought about it, the more bizarre it is. I think it was third grade when someone in class said out loud that Paul is fat. And my teacher, which I highly respected and loved,

Said that no he's not fat. He's just like husky. But if he gains more weight. He will be fat. And I can still remember the feeling. I had inside when she said that. Because like all my respect for her. Just went away. All of a sudden I was just like not fat.

Yeah, that's awful. Yeah, and they had, like, a whole discussion about, like... As if you weren't even there. More or less, yeah. And I was mortified, and I think I went to the bathroom after and cried and stuff because I thought it was so, like, horrific that they would... And especially that she would, you know... Yes. ...interact in all that stuff. I thought that was really bad. Oh, no. But, yeah, so my grandmother kind of stopped the whole, like, you know, feeding...

But it was kind of too late because what happened was that I would ask my parents or my great aunt or my grandmother for some money. And what I would spend it on, I would go to the... So we lived a little bit outside of Oslo. So there weren't any stores around. But it was this little...

In Norway, we call them kiosks. Yeah. Which sells hot dogs, sodas, magazine, ice cream, candy. And there was one of those down the street. Girl. So, you know, I would go and buy stuff and I would hide it in my room. Really? Yeah.

And that's because you had some shame around. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I had shame from a very young age about my weight and, you know, not eating. Yeah. You know, but I just couldn't stop. I just chocolate and, you know, Coke and, you know, all that stuff. Okay. So you actually were like...

Yeah. Indulging. I was indulging, yes. And, you know, we now know that, you know, sugar is a poison. Yeah. And you get totally addicted to sugar. Yeah. And I will have to say that as a, you know, seven, eight, nine-year-old, I was addicted to sugar. Yeah. Completely. Yeah. And, you know, I was like, I mean, I did get teased in school a little bit. It didn't bother me too much because I always felt a little bit above everything.

The whole thing. Yeah. Do you think sort of your personality sort of developed in reaction to any of that? Like, were you considered like the funny one or the cool one or the fashionable one? Like, what was the balance to... In the beginning, I was kind of shy. And then I think I kind of turned into like a little bit of like the class clown. Yeah. In order to...

Yeah, to hide everything and kind of like make people like me. Yeah. And then, you know, when I discovered like that I really liked fashion, I liked, you know, beautiful outfits. Yeah. Then I kind of became like the fashion guy. Yeah. And yeah, I think I was like nine. And to get stuff, I would have to go and buy stuff in like the grown men's section. Yeah. You know, I couldn't buy like kids clothes. Yeah.

stuff like that yeah and yeah it was a so when was the first time you ever tried to control your weight so what happened was that i realized that kind of like my parents were like a little ashamed of me i could sense that yeah i could sense it and i have overheard some things that they didn't exactly say that but i could like that was kind of like my feeling yeah because you know my dad was always skinny

My sister was always skinny. My mom had weight problems. Yeah. She went up and down and was constantly on diets and stuff. But back then, I guess she was more on the thin side. And I remember there was this new kind of pants that came out that everyone was wearing. They were called Ball. It was a brand called Ball. B-A-L-L. And it was these...

They were kind of high-waisted. Yeah. And really a lot of volume, almost like harem pants. Yeah. But then they were tapered at the bottom. Yeah, like Z Cabarichi, or the American version. Okay. Yeah. And I really wanted to get a pair of those because I thought they were really cool and stylish. Yeah. And the biggest size didn't fit me. Yeah. And I do remember that one summer I was really good and...

Only ate like, you know, what you're supposed to eat. Yeah. And I went for walks and stuff. Now, did you talk to your parents about it? Like, did you, how did you figure out how to lose weight? Well, I realized that, you know, the reason I'm fat is because I'm eating all these like sugar and, you know, cheese. And I ate everything, you know. Yeah. And totally overeat. Yeah.

No, I kind of realized, okay, I need to. So that summer, and we were, you know, we had a cabin by the sea outside of Oslo. So it was easier to like maybe move more and, you know, eat right. We would barbecue every day. And so, you know.

And when I started school, I could buy one of those pants. So I fit into the biggest size. Yeah. And did you get like feedback from your family? Yeah. Yeah. No, no. They said, oh yeah, we can see you lose weight. And you know, that's great. But of course it came back like, because once I started school, all the sort of, you know, I don't know. I guess I was like a kind of like a little troubled kid, you know, always worrying about stuff and you know,

taking to heart what people said to me. So all the bad habits sort of came back. And when you gain weight, you always gain more. So I became even fatter. Yeah, because your body overreacts. But I do remember one time my mom had also gained some weight and she was like, okay, we're going to start...

So in Norway, we don't have Weight Watchers, but back then we had something called Greta Rode, which is sort of the same as Jenny Craig. Yeah. It's like a person. Yeah. And she called up and said, okay, so I want to do, so it's me and my son and I want to go to, they had all these meetings and you get like a teacher and stuff. Yeah. And the person said, well, we have a teacher and she has a son, his age, who has the same problem.

So we would go to these meetings and stuff and they were always said like, oh, you boys go and play in the garden or, you know, you know, they will weigh us. And then we were able to go up. We didn't have to sit in the meeting and listen to, you know, everyone talking about their weight problems. We would like go into the garden. Really? I was supposed to play. But what we did was that we went down to his stash of like snacks. Snacks. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah.

Hilarious. Yeah, I can really remember. It was this new snack on the market. It was called Nibbets. And it was kind of like, I guess it was made of potatoes, but they were like these little round circles that you can put one on each finger. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it said on the package that they were like low-fat. So we were like, oh, we can just, you know, low-fat. Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah.

Of course, what happened was that his mom found the whole stash. Really? I called my mom. Yeah. It's so funny because it's kind of like, it's not drugs. It's not like you guys were secretly fooling around. No, and we weren't smoking. Yeah, it was food. Yeah, it was potato chips and chocolate. Which sort of makes sense, but it just seems so out of control. I know. Yeah, it really was. It really, really was. So triggered.

Yeah, and you know, in summer, I refuse to take my clothes off. I would always wear layers. Yeah, of course. I would wear a shirt, and then I would always wear... A cardigan was always a good... A cardigan or a cotton vest. Yeah, totally. I would wear that all summer, and it was super hot, but I just refused to... Yeah, for sure. I think I went into the water with t-shirts. No. Yeah, I refused.

Yeah, I was always kind of a pudgy person. And then when I moved to Seattle in my early 20s... Why don't we take a break and we'll come back? Okay. We'll be back. So my story is, you know, I was always kind of a pudgy kid. And then when I moved, I was conscious of it. Like, I remember one summer before I started high school, my brother's girlfriend was like, you know, you should try to...

lose some weight or something i remember being feeling like pudgy because we were at the beach and how old were you then like 14 13 and i remember looking at pictures of myself like on summer vacation and being like oh you're thick yeah so got into high school here's the thing got into high school

And I remember the interesting thing about PE, physical education, is that they showed us some real practical things about like jumping jacks and pushups and ways of exercising that I started doing in high school and essentially never stopped doing. So that was actually a very good sort of path that they put us on. So I felt like in high school, I felt like I was, because I would go home from school and like,

Dance around for hours. I was trying to do stuff. And ride my bike and stuff. So I think my weight was pretty average throughout high school. And then when I moved to Seattle in my early 20s...

And again, became obsessed with, you know, came out and like all this stuff. That's when I was again conscious of my weight. And then that's when I started when the whole Atkins diet started. So, which was revolutionary at the time. So literally all of my 20s.

I didn't eat a carbohydrate. Yeah. Wanted to be the like young, skinny, smooth, cute gay boy. That was basically my entire twenties. Yeah. And then, you know, getting into the story about coming to terms with your own body that happened when I was eventually in New York in my 20s.

early 30s you know you sort of realize like your sort of attraction in men and I've always liked bigger guys and that's something that's a real thing and it's not something that anyone should be

ashamed of or it shouldn't be strange it's like everyone has their own types every type can go wrong in terms of like becoming fetishized but for me it's just like i just think bigger guys are cuter period so totally fully like coming to terms with that and then there was a point in my life maybe in my mid-30s where i was like i realized that

I wanted to be... Allow myself to potentially be a bigger guy. And at that time, I just started eating like a normal person. Eating carbs. And I ended up actually gaining like 65 pounds probably in like a year. Wow, that's a lot. Or maybe it was more... Yeah, but it was like a religious experience. Because I felt like my entire perception of myself changed...

And I actually felt amazing and more like myself. Unfortunately, my metabolism eventually swung the other way. And I couldn't maintain that weight. And I think a lot of it has to do with eventually the type 2 diabetes creeping in over the course of however long.

To where I actually couldn't keep weight on. Ironically. It felt like my body was betraying me. It was like. I finally come to terms with just letting my body be.

the way it was meant to be and then all of a sudden I was skinny again like it was just so like the irony of it all like I tried to be skinny my entire life never felt skinny and then when I finally let myself gain some weight then it becomes skinny yeah so anyway but it was fine because I sort of came through the other side and had like liberated myself from the dysmorphia of looking at myself like oh you're never skinny enough so I was free from all that

But yeah, I mean, I would love to be more filled out. And you just feel, I don't know, it just feels more like myself. Well, we are what we are. Yes. Yeah, but what happened to me was so in my late teens, you know, I came out and I started hanging out with more like autistic people. Yeah. And, you know, I always loved fashion. So, and I did a year of sewing school. So I started making more or less all my own clothes.

And this was like the mid 80s when everything was like oversized and you know. Yeah. Really weird. Yeah. You know all the shirts were like longer in the back. Yeah. In the front. Yeah. Yeah.

I had all that and I made all that myself and I thought I looked really like cool and fashionable but of course now when I see pictures of it I'm like oh lord yeah for sure and I would do like I would dye my hair you know fire engine red and it was like long on one side and shaved on the other oh my gosh yeah it was very that time yeah new romantic yeah and I was big and chubby up until 20

I was 28 when this girl that I worked with, she said to me that, okay, Paul, I signed us up for something. And she was a big girl too. Yeah. She said that I signed us up for something. And I was like, oh, that's fun. What is it, like a workshop? And she was like, no, it's Weight Watchers. And I was like, oh my God, not that again. Where am I going to hide my snacks? But yeah, we went and...

I got so into it. Yeah. To me, it became like a sport. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Because, you know, everyone got this book and we had to write up everything we ate. And it had all these little assignments and all these things to do. And you got points. And to me, it was like, I'm so into this. Yeah. In under a year, I lost around 60 pounds. Yeah.

And I weighed at my lowest, like, I think I was 83 kilos, which is actually really low for a guy. And I'm tall. I'm 6'2". Yeah. But of course, in your head, you're like, you're still fat. Yeah, you're never skinny enough. No, no, no. So, you know, I would go, I would have to buy all new clothes. And it was great because I had this one really big job where I worked on a catalog for a clothing brand.

I did like all the prop styling for them. And instead of taking payments, they gave me clothes. Oh, cool. So I had a whole new wardrobe that was still like... And I remember a friend went with me to buy all those clothes. And she would constantly say, no, no, no, this is too big. You need smaller. You need smaller. Yeah. Because I was still like hiding and...

Yeah, the dysmorphia is insane. No, there was, in my peak Atkins, never felt skinny enough. I wouldn't buy something I wanted to wear unless I could fit into a small. Oh, my God. Isn't that? That's crazy. I was like, I'm not going to buy a medium. Can you believe? I mean, warped. Yeah. Totally warped in the head. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and I didn't realize...

how skinny I was until on a photo shoot, someone took a Polaroid and I was working at the setup and he took a Polaroid and I was in it. And I look at the Polaroid and I'm like, who's that guy? And it was me. You're like, who's that skinny guy? And then I was like, oh shit, I'm actually really thin. Yeah. When I look back at the pictures of me in Seattle on the Atkins diet, I was thin and I never thought I was. So yeah. Yeah.

So what happened then was that all through the years, I thought that, okay, I am fat and chubby and ugly, so no one wants to be with me. So I didn't really date until I had lost all that weight. That's when I started dating. And I mean, that is so messed up. Which is backwards. Yeah, no, I know. But I, in my head, was just...

People afterwards had told me that, oh my God, I flirted so hard with you. I really liked you and blah, blah. And I never realized. I was just like, no, that's not possible. Yeah. Because why would they flirt with me? No, no, no, that's not. So unless you told me straight out, I would never. I didn't get it. Yeah. So I lost all that weight and got a boyfriend.

And we actually lived together for 11 years. So crazy. I know. I know. But of course, what happened was that... So it stayed off for maybe like three years. And then it very gradually started coming on again. Yeah. And that's just what happens. It just like finds its way. And I thought I did everything right. But still, it just like...

Snuck back in. Well, there's... Yeah, there's a point where you have a certain body type and metabolism to where you're just never... There's certain things that aren't sustainable. It's just not possible, you know, for you to maintain...

It's always important to like be healthy and active and all that stuff. But to say, well, I want to be skinny like that. It's like, well, that's just not actually physically possible. And also, you know, I, so I lost the weight really fast. Yeah. So I kind of like cut corners a little bit, like,

Some days I would eat very little. And I didn't do it the most. That's not really sustainable though. No. That's the point. So it's kind of like that show, The Biggest Loser. Yeah. I mean, they're all fat again. Yeah. There's something, especially when you lose weight really fast, to maintain that you have to eat very little food. Yeah. And exercise a lot. Sorry, but who wants to live that way? You want to get to the end of your life and be like, I didn't eat anything I ever wanted and…

Yeah. But I did get into a small. Totally. And the ironic thing is that trainer on The Biggest Loser is the one that had a heart attack. Yeah, well, that's true. So... That is true. So, you know, when I moved to America about 13 years ago, when I moved here, I was a size 38 pants. And I haven't seen 38 in a while. Yeah. Because when you move here...

Of course. The problem is that, you know, everything is so huge. And your belly gets used to that really fast. So that is, you know,

I mean, a couple of years ago, I did lose a bunch of weight. I did Whole30. Yeah. Yeah, when we met, you were in that post-breakup fitness. You had a trainer. You were on Whole30. And I've never told you this. What? But when we first met, I was like, oh, you're fit. I actually expected you to be a lot bigger than you actually were. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Interesting.

Well, I'm sorry. Okay. No, but I mean, to me, you always look the same. It's like, like there's, you know, big guys, like it doesn't matter if there's a difference of like, I mean, for you, there's a difference of weight, but you know, you still have that like,

cute face and the you know you're never like it's not like oh you're a skinny person no like you're all you're i mean you're six foot two yeah you're built broad like you're you know so it's all the same to me no i appreciate that it's more about big boy energy than it is i would definitely like to lose some weight again and not so much because of the way i look it's more because of like health yeah and as you know you get older and i'm in my 50s

And you know, you feel your body changing and things get harder. Yeah, of course. You know, everything is just, you know. Of course. Everything is falling apart. Yeah. So whenever you're ready, I'll support you. Thank you. But of course, I'm not going to. That's entirely up to you. Yeah, no, I know. I know. I know. Because I nag you about enough things. I'm not going to nag you about your diet. Yeah.

Oh my god, yes, thank you. Oh, and another thing is that I often get asked on social media where I buy clothes and stuff. So I just wanted to talk if there are any pleasantly plump people out there listening. I wonder if we should do that as a part two. That's like a big conversation. It is?

Yeah, we can maybe do that. Should we do a part two? Yeah. Let's do part two because then we can have people... Ask more questions. Asking more questions about it. Part two, the big boy style episode. It can be women too. Yeah, exactly. Because the principles are the same. Yeah. Yeah, let's try a part two. Okay. Okay. So let's take a break again and then come back with some questions. Okay. Okay.

Okay, and we are back with a section called What's Up, Sweet Paul? What's up, Sweet Paul? Okay. Manuel from San Bernardino. Love the podcast. My question is, what can we always find in Sweet Paul's fridge? Ooh. That's an appropriate question. I know. Well, what can you find? You can always find half and half, of course, for our coffee in the morning, of course. You can always find eggs, of course.

Because we eat three eggs every morning. Every morning. Butter. Good butter. Good butter. Good organic butter. Oh my God. I want to shout out to Vermont Creamery who sent us like a care package a couple of weeks ago.

They sent 15 packs of their amazing butter. Yeah. Delicious. Which is now in my freezer. I take up a little at a time. Yes. And use. And they sent some of their cheeses. Amazing. Vermont Creamery order today. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, guys. We always have olives and olive brine for our dirty vodka. Yes. That's our favorite cocktail. It's Kettle Wham.

On the rocks. Olive brine. And extra dirty. And olives. Filthy. Filthy. We have a filthy martini. That's a favorite. Those are the things we always have. And then it's just honestly a bunch of in-season vegetables and protein. Yeah. Yeah. We always try to have like a bunch of vegetables. So we are now, we order Imperfect Produce. Shout out to Imperfect Produce. Yes.

So we get a box every Friday, which is filled with, and it's amazing because it's actually a company that will buy up. Imperfect produce. Yeah. Stuff that's not pretty. But tastes amazing. But is so delicious. Yeah. And also overstock of like dry goods and meat and cheese and stuff like that. So we get a box of that every week.

And then we do Butcher Box. Butcher Box, yeah, which is delicious, organic. Is that once a month? Once a month, yeah. A box of protein, which is really delicious. Yeah, it's amazing. And then we go now when we're in this Miss Corona, we go to Trader Joe's once every two weeks. Yes. And then normally we would also go to the farmer's market, but that's the gist of it.

Okay, next question. Kathy from New Zealand. Hello from the other side of the world. Yes, it is. Great podcast. Totally enjoying you too. Paul, I heard you visited New Zealand a few years back. Did you enjoy it? And most importantly, when are you coming back? Oh my gosh. I enjoy New Zealand a lot. The nature is, I mean, it's amazing. Yeah. I mean, everyone talks about how amazing that place is. It is so beautiful and...

This sounds crazy, but there is so much nature. Because it's not like an overpopulated country. There's plenty of nature to go around for everyone. Is it considered an island? It is an island. Oh, it's an island. Yeah, yeah, totally. The people are kind of like Scandinavian in their way. The food was amazing. So much good seafood.

I mean, New Zealand lamb is like world famous. Yeah. And I remember I was so happy and proud because I went into this like kitchen store that sold like, you know, knickknacks for the kitchen and cookbooks. And I had just launched like an English cookbook called Pasta a Passion. And it was there in the store. Really? Yeah. And I was like, oh my God.

And my friend that lives there, she was like, oh my God, this is his book. He's from Europe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I had to sign all the books. It was really cute. Oh, cute. Yeah, I have really, really good memories of it. Did you go there to shoot? No, I went on vacation because I had a friend, Miss Randy, which goes by Didi. Yeah. Because, you know, Randy in English is, you know. So what did you do?

While you were there, did you just like... We went on little trips. They would show us around. I think we were there for like 10 days. Does most of the tourism revolve around nature? Yes, definitely. Their house was on the hill overlooking the Black Beach from the movie Piano. It was incredible. Yeah, it was lots of walks and...

Just seeing... I mean, it's so different. Yeah. It really is. Yeah, I mean, it's like Iceland. It's like essentially another planet in terms of the terrain. Most of it, yeah. It's unique to its own island. Yeah, absolutely. The vegetation is...

And, you know, if you've seen Lord of the Rings, that whole series, most of that was shot in New Zealand. Yeah, because you're like, where is this magical place? Yeah. It's in New Zealand. Yeah, exactly. Would I ever come back? Yes, if the opportunity arises. I would definitely love to come back. Yeah. I can't even with that flight. From LA, it's 16 hours. No, it gives me anxiety just thinking about it. So, I don't know, Cathy. I don't know if you'll be seeing us there. Yeah.

Maggie from Dallas. It's such difficult times for us all. I'm trying to stay really positive and not go down a long, dark alley. How do you two stay positive? And I love the pod giving me life right now. Oh, so sweet. That's nice. Thanks, Maggie. Well, we're very lucky. I feel like we have no choice than to stay positive. Well, yeah, yeah. In some ways, it's like we're just very lucky because we're here. We have each other. We're in a beautiful place in a beautiful part of the country. We have the dogs.

And so we have a lot to be grateful for. You know, we have friends who live in tiny apartments in Brooklyn and it's like, we're just so grateful that we're here. So that helps. Yeah. We have to honestly, right now, everyone just has to count their blessings and, you know, be. Yes. And not focus on the situation too much, not watch the news all day while looking at Facebook all day, getting attention,

Not only the sort of fear and anxiety, but also just the anger towards this administration that is acting like a third world country. Absolutely. Smoke and mirrors, this country. Smoke and mirrors. Yes. So try to focus on the good family and friends side.

you know, projects, reading, trying to do all the things that you felt you never had time to do. Order a puzzle, like order a board game. Like you just need to try to... In some ways it's distraction and in some ways it's productivity. And also, you know something, there's been a lot of like, you know, you look on social media, everyone is baking, everyone is crafting, everyone is like doing projects, everyone. But don't feel bad if you don't want to do any of that stuff.

Yeah. Like, you know yourself best and whatever makes you happy, that's what you need to do. And don't feel bad that you haven't baked a banana bread or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If like not caring and snuggling on your couch and watching the housewives of all day long. That is fabulous if it makes you feel comforted and happy. Yeah.

If it makes you feel depressed, then go take a shower and go for a walk. Because just, you know, so you have to know what's best for you mentally and try to walk down the right path.

But yeah, taking a shower, put on a clean outfit, go for a little walk, just like something new and different. So your mind can get like 10 minutes of something else. Yes. Instead of the walls like, you know. Closing. Yes. So stay safe, Maggie, and stay sane. Yes. Karen from finance. Oh my God. This is so fun. She actually wrote that? Yeah. Karen from finance.

I saw your vegetable craft video online and I laughed my head off when you called one of them Karen from finance. Oh my God. My name is Karen and I work in finance. Oh my gosh. Thanks for making my day. Lots of love. Well, the thing is, is we didn't make that up. No, we didn't. Karen from finance.

is actually a drag queen. She's a drag queen from Australia. Yes. And I just think the whole, you know, because Karen is like, you know, Karen wants to speak to the manager and Karen is like a type. Yeah. And so when I heard that a drag queen is called Karen from finance, I thought that was the most brilliant drag name I have ever heard. Yes. So jealous. Yeah. So I did this video where I put, I cut out eyes and lips and,

From fashion magazines. Yeah. And I glued them on vegetables. So you have a little family. Yeah, it was really funny. It's good if you're alone. You have someone to talk to. Yeah. And I gave them all names. And one of them was Karen from Finance. Yes. I love...

Oh my gosh. That your name is Karen and you work in finance. That's so fabulous. Yeah. That's next level. Yeah. So thank you Karen for finance. And look up the drag queen. Yeah. Because maybe she's your doppelganger. Oh my gosh. Well, thank you everyone for listening to us. Yeah. We'll try to do a part two. We'll see if there's enough to talk about for a part two. When we'll get into, you know, maybe style and...

tips for the pleasantly plump if you have any questions for us about pleasantly plump or food or you know isolation or whatever you can send it to us in two different ways you can either direct message us on instagram or

Sweetpole Magazine or you can send us an email podcast at sweetpolemag.com please rate us write a little review it's always cute and subscribe so you get notifications when we're pretty consistent but once in a while we might skip a week life takes over and we're just like okay we can't do it right now so stay safe stay sane

That's it. That's it. Stay safe, everyone. Bye. Bye.