Sample Size Schmample Size

Yes, I know what you're going to say, "how come you haven't written in a while?" To answer your question, I have been busy. This hungry girl decided it was time to become an official adult with The Hubs....and bought a house. We sign the appears tomorrow but in the meantime, we went on vacation to Vegas (the eating and drinking Mecca!) and then I got a new job. Still in the same line of work but now I get to do ecommerce, wow that sounds fancy. In fact when I tell people what I do they immediately think it's something out of Sex and the City when Carrie is walking through the sample closet at Vogue, mmmm not so much. Sample closet, yes...Manolo Blahnik marry-janes, no. 

Speaking of "sample" and "sample size" who the heck decided that a size 2 is a "sample" of the population. For me a size 2 is a sample of my left ass cheek. So who's sample are they talking about? Definitely not mine. Especially again when sample size for shoes is 6,7 or 10! That poor Amazonian woman, she's gotta get her skinny britches into those tight fitting pants and she still has gun boats for feet. If she looks anything like Gisselle Bundchen then I don't feel sorry of her, especially since she's married to Tom Brady. It probably is Gisselle...it's Gisselle....yes they model everything after her because why wouldn't you? Ok, I'll stop.

Do you see what I mean here though? Not every girl out there has a body like her! Yet the sample of clothing that fits her is supposed to be the norm. It always frustrates me when I watch Project Runway and they have the Real Woman Challenege and there's always that one jerk designer who complains about the clothes not fitting the woman he's designing for because she's "not the typical size." I would say that most women like that poor lady crying on TV because you basically just called her fat are more of a typical size than anyone else. It's ok though, Heidi Klum comes to the rescue and tells that designer how horrid they're being and saves the day....she's skinny too though, arrrggghhh I can't win!

I think at the end of the day, you can't go off of what you see on the tag (I'm telling you what I tell myself everyday when I put my clothes on- I might be skeptical of it too but if I put it out there, I'm more apt to follow my own logic). Instead you have to wear what fits best and looks the best on. You're not defined by the number on your clothing tag- it's the person on the inside that counts.

Ok enough of the mushiness for one evening, all of this packing has made me hyped up. Now to pack those shoes I bought at the sample sale! See, I guess I shouldn't complain. The sample clothing may not fit but the shoes do. Now for some Project Runway. 

How Do I Overcome A Pinterest Fail?

What did people do before Pinterest? If you're like me you had an "inspiration board" that you put clippings, website print-outs, and whatever else you wanted on there to inspire you on what you wanted to accomplish in life.  I first learned about the inspiration board from an episode of Oprah. The show was about achieving outcomes you wanted and thinking forward. I remember this lady on the show saying she made an inspiration board about what she wanted in the new home she just saved up and purchased. I remember her saying she put a picture of a Viking range on her board that she ultimately saved up and purchased later. All I wanted when I was watching that show was to successfully graduate college and get a good job- perhaps I shouldn't have been skipping my sociology class that day to watch Oprah but oh well...I had to get my inspiration from somewhere.  It's funny to think about now because I am constantly on Pinterest looking at everything known to man, recipes, nail art, makeup techniques, and my most favorite, hairstyles!

I was never one to do up my hair in high school or really put an effort into styling it in any way.  It was before the times of Moroccan Oil and Chi straighteners that worked well to tame frizzy manes. I was always so excited to go to school the Monday after I had gotten my haircut since the hairstylist would blow it out and straighten it making my hair look like someone else's. I'd get compliments about it, how'd you get it to look so good? Is that a chemical process? Are you new here in school?- yes that one actually happened too.  I remember my friends chipping in one Christmas to buy my one of the first Con air straighteners that had the tooth-ed comb and you had to put water in it to steam your hair.  I was so excited to get it home and use it only to ultimately have it get stuck in my hair....I think my Mom still remembers the shrieks and crying that ultimately followed the 2 hour ordeal to get the damn thing out of my hair. So I think in being scared for the time being about using any type of hair styling tool, I went back to doing the same thing all day everyday...putting it up in a pony-tail and wearing it like that.

Now, with a website like Pinterest, all you need to do is type in "easy hairstyle" and you are given a multitude of options for what you want to do, videos, in depth tutorials, anything! So it should be easy right? We've come a long way from straighteners getting stuck in your hair and using socks at night to curl it.  WRONG! Welcome to what is known as "The Pinterest Fail" something you see on Pinterest and try to recreate it and it comes out wrong-really wrong.  Please use this website as a reference http://pinterestfail.com/

So in this month's journey to get better looking skin and look good all around, I picked one of my favorite do's on my Hair Loves board and thought I'd give it a go this morning since it said, "Easy 10 Minute Bouffant." Yeah right! It was not easy and it did not take 10 minutes, it took 30, and made me late for work this morning. I officially looked like I had a bird's nest on my head and chose to walk out of the house looking like that. I could have easy taken it down and decided to do what I always do which is a half up/half down look with a hair tie but I thought, I went for it on this one and I'm going to embrace it-frizzy birds nest and all.  Hopefully I will be able to one day achieve this style, but for now I am going to overcome my fail by laughing it off and doing what anyone else would do- blog about it and potentially put my new "do" idea on Pinterest called, "the difficult 30 minute mess bird nest."

No-I didn't take a picture, even though I know you wish I had :)

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.