Thanks For Noticing- No, My Eyelids Did Not Lose Weight

OMG! I have not made a blog posting in such a long time! No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth or get eaten by a giant bag of Cheetos...I was sitting on the couch eating the Cheetos while watching Bravo Real Housewives shows, wasting away. I finally have gotten back on track and this Hungry Girl is going to press on and get into that sparkly Trina Turk skirt dammit! It may say size 8 on the tag but I am going to conquer all the sizes in front of it and get back into it and the rest of the stuff in my fabulous closet.

So I was sitting in my weekly Weight Watchers meeting and we were asked to offer up what "change you made this week" or "did you try something new?" Usually I like to keep my opinions to myself. Talking in the meeting reminds me of being the kid in school who wouldn't shut up and had a comment for whatever the teacher said. That wasn't me you see, I wanted to get the heck out of there and onto my next class, go to the cafeteria, or get into the Tinkerbell Tank (may she rest in peace for she was sold for parts) to drive off to my minimum wage job being the Hostest With the Most-est seating patrons at the diner on my street. It wasn't glamorous since most nights I came home smelling like french fries, but it gave me spending cash to fuel my shoe and purse addiction. Ok back to the meeting because I know that's what I was originally trying to talk about but got onto a tangent that ultimately led me to talk about shoes-typical. The questions were, "change? something new?" and I thought to myself, well, yes in fact! I did make a change this week and I think it did change my outlook on life.  In my journey to get skinny and be able to look like Jennifer Lawrence, I have been trying all sorts of things to lose some pounds. Right now my Pretty Blonde Friend and I are going to the LA Fitness by work about 4 days a week, sweating on the elliptical machine but trying to look good at the same time, wile not falling over- I have a tendency to do that you know. All of this sweating has produced little in the actual moving of the number on the scale, however, I have been tracking my measurements and I'm losing inches.

Since I haven't achieved my smaller pant size yet, I decided it was time to make another change to help me with my perspective on this being healthy thing. The clothes aren't fitting the way I want them to yet but I know there is something I can be doing to make myself feel better. I came to the conclusion that taking better care of my skin and putting an effort into my beauty routine could help with this. One thing you must know about me is I have been fortunate to be someone who has never really had breakouts or had to wash their face. Now, in getting older I was noticing that stuff wasn't looking correct in the beauty department and I needed to do something about it. Lucky for me again, I work at the Fashion Mecca where you can also buy a multitude of creams, washes, blushes, brushes, lip gloss, concealer, and eye liner...just to name a few products. Here is how my conversation went with the gal at the beauty counter:
Beauty Expert: What did you do this morning to get your skin ready for the day?
Me: I used a makeup remover wipe to get rid of yesterday's mascara.
Beauty Expert: Ok and?
Me: That's all, gotta get the old and chipped mascara off first ya know...can't just keep adding on the layer.
Beauty Expert: Yes I know. So what else are you doing? What skin type do you have?
Me: Pale Skin?
Beauty Expert: Oh Boy....
This conversation lasted with a couple of more questions and a big face palm by my Pretty Blonde Friend but we made it through and finally figured out what 10 products I needed to have the face of an Angel.

That night I was so excited to do my skin routine. With all of the samples I got hooked up with, I forgot some steps and actually used a facial cleanser as a serum- no wonder it felt sticky.  The next morning I looked in the mirror before it was time to wash again and I couldn't help notice the immediate change.  I washed my face, applied some war paint for the day, and went out the door ready to show everyone the Hungry Girl with the new and improved skin that felt smooth like a baby's ass.  What ultimately happened that first day was people looking at me different. What did she change? Is her hair different? Is that Anne Hathaway? Yeah right I wish. I was talking to someone and the comment that came out of their mouth I couldn't have made up if I had tried, "You look great! Your eyes look thinner."  Thinner huh...well alright. It got me thinking that maybe all I needed for my outlook on life was to try something new sooner. This new change of taking better care of myself made me want to work harder at the gym and eat healthier.  It's amazing what a boost of confidence you get from a compliment, even if the compliment is stemming from the fact they used to think your eyes were fat. A compliment is a compliment.

So last Tuesday in Weight Watchers I had shared about my new skin care routine and how it had helped me to see that I need to focus on the overall package. My little change I made has shown me that weight isn't everything and beauty isn't defined by how large or thin you are-it's by the smile on your face and your outlook on the world, and the friends you have like Pretty Blonde Friend and my Friend who looks like Nicole Richie (she's kind of a big deal). Enough of the philosophical mushy stuff...pass the popcorn...I mean, carrots!

 Me and my new complexion

I should start my own makeup business...I don't think I have enough here

Does Free Taste or Fit Better?

Oh my heavens I have not blogged in 3 months! To sum up what's happen in the past months:

1. Advocare challenge was awesome- I lost some pounds but unfortunately work took over and my skinny self became unskinny again. I need to work on that thing called self control.

2. This stylish chick had to drastically curb her spending in an effort to buy a new car. My car that I had been driving since high school finally bit the dust and it was time to buy a new one. Nothing like the threat of having to take the loser cruiser to work everyday to help you save for a new vehicle. 

A friend of mine told me today they thought my blog was funny and said they were thinking about doing a food blog. Oh yeah...blog...that thing you started and just like most of the other hobbies you begin, you hit hard at first and then the enthusiasm goes up and vanishes like a fart in the wind.  Another person actually left a comment just 3 days ago and I dawned on me that yes, in fact, people are still looking at this thing (thank you Pinterest) and I should keep writing.

As you may have read before, The Hubs and I frequent Chipotle at least twice a week.  Somehow Chipotle thought it would be a good idea to put a contest on for free burritos. Little did they know that The Hubs + Free Burrito = MUST DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO ACCOMPLISH AT ALL COSTS.

So as I was forcing myself to eat my free Burrito tonight followed by a Birthday Cake Oreo (who in God's name created those? They need to be high-fived/ punched in the face) I kept saying to myself, "mmmmm, free burrito."  Now- did the burrito taste better because it was free? Probably not but I think in my recent penny pinching days in an effort to have a car with a working air conditioner and All Wheel Drive, I have trained my brain to automatically think the better deal is...well...better.  

The burrito doesn't taste any different though. If anything, by this time it should not taste like anything since I have it all the time but for some reason I couldn't help but force myself to eat it and enjoy it.  I think most stylish deal hunters out there can relate that when something is relatively a good price, you think, "OMG! A must have and it's only "x amount" of money!"  However, say that sweater you're holding up is half your rent payment for that month, probably not so cute....until is goes on sale 60% off, then it's perfect!

My friend with the initials KT put in perfect terms for me the other day when I told her I really wanted to buy this TOPSHOP dress that was about $100 the other day, "Seriously, calculate how many burritos it would cost you to buy that dress and then tell me if its worth it." A. She knows me too well and, B. she knows me too well. I may not have the best math skills but I have an excellent knowledge of food costs versus fashion costs.

Thinking about it though, if that same dress was to be $19.90 tomorrow, I'd probably snatch it up.  Why is that? If it didn't think it was cute enough at $100 why is it all of a sudden amazing at $19? Is the power if the better deal always the deciding factor? I think for me the answer will always be yes!

For reference, I will post a picture of me and the new ride. You can see where all my cash is going these days instead of fashion.

Advocare 24 Day Challenege: Days 3, 4, 5, and 6

So I decided to lump all these posts in together because I have been doing pretty much the same thing everyday. I am SO EXCITED that when I get up in the morning starting since day 4, I don't have to drink that fiber sludge. I can just drink my little energy drink and take my supplement and be done with it. The fiber drink and I will meet again starting on day 8...yippppeee :(

Variety I am finding is key when doing this cleanse. I keep having to get creative with how to make eating veggies fun.  I seem to like tuna in a can even without all my Best Foods mayonnaise slathered all over it. People at work think I'm ridiculous when I bring my green polka-dotted can opener to work with me but I don't care.

On day 3, I actually made the Hubs go get me a burrito bowl from Chipotle, however, I didn't cave and get the normal stuff on it like I usually do. Day 3 had been a very hectic day at work and I just did not have the energy to cook myself something. Yes, that burrito bowl was a lot different then the one I made on day 2 but each tasted good in their own way. I was starting to notice that I am actually able to taste my food and different favors better. I consider myself a major food person and have a good palette but I think when you cut out crap, whole foods just taste better.

Day 4's dinner was not planned out and I had to get savvy quickly. The Hubs brought home McDonald's. I have to say it was absolute torture. There the bag was, staring at me and I think it even had a smile. I knew there was delicious salty and fatty foods in there but I wasn't going to cave I had to be strong. Instead, like a crazy person, I went over and grabbed the bag of french fries out of Hubs' hand and just began to sniff them passionately. I think I took enough wiffs to get me through to the end. That night I make taco meat out of lean ground beef and served it over lettuce and added some bell pepper and black beans.

Day 5: I can't believe how salty I used to make my foods. When presented with either a cookie or a bag of chips, I would take the chips. I've never been one to like sweets very much but I love salty snacks.  I had a grilled chicken breast for lunch that had great seasonings on it but I found I wish it had more ooooommmph. I added some lime juice to it but really what I wanted to do was douse it in sodium! Why have I been doing this to myself? On the flip side, who knew sweeter things like peanut butter could taste so yummy and sweet as well.

Day 6: Today was the true test, would I be able to get through a weekend off without caving and going out for chicken wings and beer? I am glad to report that I was successful.  I learned today, however, that consuming 8 egg whites is a bit of a challenge. I could only muscle through a little bit of my breakfast. For the first time while being on this cleanse, I wanted to gag.  Well, aside from that fiber drink.

The Hubs and I went for a run and I couldn't believe the energy I had. I am getting better at running and hopefully will be able to make it the whole way around the track without having to stop like I do now. That energy I had kept me going so much, we went out again this evening and played tennis.

Ok so for dinner: The Hubs' favorite meal is spaghetti a and meatballs. I can't have real spaghetti right now so I decided to roast a spaghetti squash and make my sauce with ground turkey instead of meatballs. OMG!!!!! MIND BLOWN. I can't believe how good it tasted and more importantly, I couldn't believe the Hubs went for seconds! I will show pictures of the roasted squash and the finish product. I think I might need to go back to Fred Meyer and buy more squash because this is going to be a weekly special.

Advocare 24 Day Challenge: Day 2

I don't know if I am feeling super sluggish today because I couldn't sleep well last or what. It's hard to get a good night's sleep at my house in the spring and summer time. We don't have air conditioning and can't have the sliding glass door to the balcony open. The reason being, my giant baby, i.e. my kitty, likes to pry the screen door open with her claws and go out and party with her other kitty friends. That's not allowed. It could have also been that the Hubs took snoring to a new level last night and I felt like I was sleeping next to a freight train. I already wear earplugs at night and I couldn't figure out what more to do last night for comfort. I decided to just kick him and poke him until the snoring stopped.

Anyway, the alarm went off and the was the massive trek down the stairs to go drink my favorite fiber drink...not. For some reason it did not go down as easy this morning and I kind of wanted to gag. I still felt sluggish and could not move quickly enough to get a good breakfast going so I decided to drink a meal replacement shake again. I think tomorrow I will drink a Spark energy drink in the AM too, in order to avoid anymore crankiness.

Snack was the same again, hard boiled eggs and some mandarins. The whole day I had been dreaming about tonight's dinner...I was attempting to make my own Chipotle Burrito Bowl. I found a bunch of copycat recipes and could not wait to give them a shot. I will post pictures of tonight's creation below. 

At lunch, I had to get fancy again with tuna. I decided to just eat it cold out of the can and mix it with a little pepper. It wasn't as bad as people thought...I know, I just wanted to slather it up with some Best Foods but that will have to wait. I found out today also that there is only so much celery one can eat. I was supposed to eat a cups worth of a veggie with lunch and I had to finally push it away. No wonder skinny models are so...skinny, with the amount of time if takes you to chew up one fibrous piece, you're already tired from all the work you've put your jaw to.  Bitches.

So dinner: I am quite pleased with myself. I marinated the chicken over night so it would be flavorful and ready to grill when I got home. I made black beans, some sautéed peppers, and even the brown cilantro-lime rice they make! Hubs was quite impressed with my creation and it tasted decent. I am excited for tomorrow's lunch because I'm taking left overs.

After day two I am not really feeling deprived or like I am on any type of strict regimen which is good for me. I do not, however, feel any skinnier right now but I'm hoping that will come in time. I will report on Day 3 tomorrow!

Advocare 24 Day Challenge: Day 1

Ok so I decided that I will blog about this cleanse adventure. If anyone else out there is on the fence about trying it, maybe this will help them either make the decision for, or against. All in all, today was a good day, I didn't keel over, and surprisingly enough I am not ravenously craving chocolate chip cookies or anything like that. The Hubs, however, did a really mean thing and brought himself home a nice big, fat, juicy, tasty, yummy, slutty...ok I'm sorry, enough adjectives... Chipotle burrito and it looked so good! I think if I could handle watching him devour every bite without trying to eat my own foot I should be good for the next 23 days.

So here's how it went:
Wake up: I had dreamt the night before that I had done everything wrong, I had taken the supplements too early with the day and in the wrong order, causing me to blow up into a big purple ballon like Violet Beauregard in "Charlie in the Chocolate Factory." Who knows why that image decided to come into my mind.

Lucky for me, it was just a dream and the nice fiber drink was waiting for me downstairs. After typing this out, I don't think "lucky" is the term most people would use when I'm about to describe to you what I got to consume pre breakfast. Aren't you just so excited to hear about it!? I bet you are.

So in "cleanse phase," the first 10 days of the challenge, you have to drink this thing called fiber drink in the morning before your first meal right when you get up in the morning as a way to get the body ready to start digesting. So you mix this packet of what looks like finely ground oats with 8 oz of water and there is your beverage. Seems easy enough. I had done some sleuthing pre cleanse on Pinterest for some tips and tricks on the challenge. Most of what I found involved this fiber drink. Someone suggested mixing it with a bit of Crystal Light to help it to go down easier. Another couple of people and even my friends (thanks JB and Mizzle) just said to chug that beast quick or you'll be sorry. So I mixed it up with a little bit of fruit punch powder and down the hatch it went. It tasted like eating straw with a hint of fruitiness. I had to stop mid gulps because I was starting to choke, I now understood why phrases like "chug it like you're chugging a beer" and "don't stop till you reach the end of the glass" came into mind, I could see it start to thicken and seize up, kinda like Jell-O mix coming to life and being gelatinous. I stirred it up some more and finally polished it off. It was probably the most unappealing part of my day but I got over it. I decided tomorrow's flavor of Crystal Light mixed in is going to be cherry pomegranate.

Breakfast/Lunch/Snacks:
I won't bore you with every detail of my eating. Basically, you have to eat every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism burning up the food. It's amazing though, after 2 hours would pass I would need to eat and once I did, I immediately felt better. The other thing I don't like about this cleanse is I can't have coffee. Yes...it sucks but I am finding its not a total deal breaker. In order to not have a massive headache today I started weening myself off it on Saturday.

I also won't forget to put in that you need to drink at least a gallon of water per day. I should just become the janitor in the ladies lounge at work so I don't have to keep sprinting from my office every 20 minutes to the facilities. That or I should move my desk and computer into the bathroom this week, but that might get awkward for some people. Just think of how efficient I'd be though! Well, maybe not. Don't think about me in the bathroom please.

Finally we came to dinner: my most favorite meal when it comes to normal food and the true test tonight for my ability to stick with it. Here I am face to face with Hubs eating his luscious burrito and I get to have for dinner, a protein, a vegetable, and a carbohydrate...sounds absolutely riveting doesn't it.

After debating for what seemed like hours but was only 5 minutes on what to have for dinner, I remembered a thing I saw someone post on Instagram about Paleo Egg salad. I had a can of tuna fish which sounded decent but of course, couldn't slather it with mayonnaise and make all delicious like normal. On Instagram, someone i follow used avocado as a way to bind their hardboiled eggs instead of using mayonnaise. It was worth a shot and at this point, my foot was also starting to look really good so i had to act fast. Yes, avocado, which is considered a healthy fat here, was not in the list of ingredients for dinner but this chick just couldn't figure out what to do instead. If anyone is reading this and starting to judge, I made it up to myself by jogging 3 extra laps around the track tonight. It's all good! Once my tuna mix was all yummy, I sliced up some bell pepper into wedges and spread my tuna salad on top. I was shocked at how much food there was on my plate and it actually tasted really good. I will post a picture of my creation since I was damn proud of myself.

So that's all for today. I have everything packed and ready to go for tomorrow. Something tells me, however, I'm gonna be dreaming about burritos tonight.

Thinking about doing a cleanse

I'm finally coming out of hibernation mode and feel like the springtime air makes me want to eat more healthy. Some of my other motivation happens to come from the glittery, shiny beacon showing itself from my closet. Her name is Trina and she's a mini skirt that I haven't been able to wear in ages. Trina's gold and black chevron patterns sparkle and shine and make my ass look fantastic. The only problem is, Trina has a nice little 8 under her name tag and she's massively outnumbered by double digit named tagged friends. I want to show her off, her place in being on me, not in the closet!

So I bit the bullet and bought the Advocare 24 day challenge bundle. Usually I don't do we'll with massive calorie restriction diets but I need a big jump start. I have seen others be successful with it so I hoping that I can be too.

Along with my intent to be healthier, Hubs and I have tried jogging nightly. I keep getting teased by him though because I barely pick up my feet and I don't know if the jog/ hop I do around the middle school track by our house counts even as exercise. My heart and lungs seem to think so since I stuff huffing and puffing after only a minute of this little number. Yes...I'm probably the most out of shape person you've met in your life. I just have to keep remembering the words my friend JB tells me all the time, "Fit not fat! Fit not fat!" However, the fit-not-fat mentality that I repeat in my head gets muscled out by "MOTHER OF GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?" At any rate, my legs and butt hurt like an old lady's so I hopefully am doing something right.

So here's to being fit, not fat, this summer!

Why Can't My Outfit Be as Cute as My Video Game Character's Outfit?

True story: When the Hubs and I first started dating, he confessed to me that he loved playing video games. I said I liked playing them too, thinking that we were talking about the same type of game. Turns out "Super Mario Brothers 3" was not the type of video game he was talking about. Hubs was obsessed with "World of Warcraft" or WOW as most people call it and played in something called a guild and wore a funny headset with a microphone so he could talk to his cyber buddies.

In an effort to have him think I was truly interested in his game playing, I would go over to his place and sit there and watch him play. This was before the use of a smartphone was the in thing and you could easily check your email or check Facebook while trying to seem interested in what your significant other is doing at the same time. I could only play so many games of bejeweled on my hot pink Motorola Razr before it crapped out and died. It just so happened that the same year we started dating, my sorority had a Halo 2 tournament to benefit our Choose Children philanthropy. We stacked TV's in the living room of the sorority house and created teams. To be honest, I don't remember what the winning fraternity took home for a prize, perhaps it was just the title of "Massive Ownage."

Oh look, video games, something I should show interest in! I thought to myself since I was dating a walking, talking Gameboy. Once after everyone had gone home after the tournament, I decided to take a seat on the couch and take a crack at Halo 2 for myself. What seemed like 30 minutes turned into 5 hours and the sun was coming up, I may have even had a test in one of my classes that day too...My God, what have I just done? After telling Hubs about my all nighter of playing the MasterChief I think he may have realized he found the perfect girl for him and he needed to keep me forever. "What'd you think?" I remember him asking me? My reply was, "I liked it but I don't like that you can't customize the MasterChief's ensemble, I need more choices to make it my own." The look I got accompanied by an instant face palm led me to be sat in front of a computer and the WOW icon was double clicked to start.

"Here, you can make a character on here and start playing it." I don't think Hubs realized the Pandora's Box he opened after that. "Ooooo I could be an Elf with a pretty dress, or a cow with a jeweled nose ring! Look at this Orc! She can wear a purple loincloth!" I think I may have spent an hour trying to figure out what character I would be and what dress and shoes she was going to wear. Shockingly enough that's not much different than how I get dressed in the morning now. Once I decided what to be in the game and what to wear, fashion choices didn't stop in the virtual dressing room, no! The more quests or missions you did, the more chances to get new clothing and shoes you had....Ahhhhhh! Fashion!

If any of you have seen the "Big Bang Theory" there is an episode where Sheldon introduces a WOW like game to Penny to try out. I'm not going to say I got as bad as finding Cheetos in my hair and then eating them, but I may have not gone to class for a whole day and needed an intervention...sorry to any UW professor of mine who may be reading this right now.

Sometimes I wish I could quest more in life in order to get new items and trinkets to adorn myself with. Most people would categorize that as working but I choose to see it differently. I guess I am presented with a new quest each day that I go into work: try not to buy anything and navigate safely through all the fashion. The fantastic outfit you have on right now gives you all the strength and stamina points you need to survive this day.

For those of you who didn't realize how much of a gigantic nerd I am...you're welcome.