On the days that I've been skipping (see: Tuesday), my outfits have pretty much been like the one above: straight-leg pant, long cardigan, heeled bootie, layering top and either a long pendant necklace or a scarf. It's a look that covers all the parts I want covered, and gives the optical illusion of making me look leaner than I am right now.
In contrast, we have the outfit I wore on Thursday.
I finally managed to wear the button-down under a dress! (Hrm, the collar appears be tucked under more than it should have been.) I've worn this dress before, but most of the pattern was covered up under a cardigan. I am really in love with the pattern -- up close, the top part makes my shoulder line look stronger than it is -- but looking at the whole thing like gives me pause. Maybe that wasn't the right belt?
On the plus side, it had some really nice flow, and I loved the grey tights and black Vince Camuto boots with it. On the minus side, it is not nearly as slimming as Wednesday's grey pants and gold cardigan combo.
I am trying to make my peace with that -- do all outfits need to be optical illusions, or can I live with the fact that sometimes I just look heavy? I don't know the answer. I see other bloggers wearing their curves and shapes with pride, and I am torn between envying them their freedom, and silently re-dressing them so they look slimmer in the camera. ("Oh, that would be perfect if you lost the belt!") It's a vicious circle; as confident as I am about who I am, I feel more comfortable in my clothes when I think I am fooling the world in an optical illusion outfit. Then I feel bad for copping out like that, that I should be proud of myself no matter what size I am. But I'm not, and I don't want to be this size. So I change back into an optical illusion outfit, and I stop beating myself up.
See what I mean by a vicious circle? Oh, the terrible things we do to ourselves with negative self-talk sometimes!
Anyway, I worked another optical illusion to my advantage yesterday. This was dinner:
We ordered salads and pizza, our weekly too-tired-to-cook meal. (How do I know it's weekly? The delivery guy complimented the way we redecorated the living room. He has been to our house enough times that he noticed the change. Yep!) So I dumped the salad out of the container and put in a nice big bowl, and I put the pizza on a smaller plate. And it worked; I ate the half the amount of pizza I normally would!
It also occurred that I probably need to stop fighting the weekly pizza ritual so much, and find ways to work it into the Foodstyle so it is a regular indulgence instead. Repeating the trick above will be a good start, and replacing the salad with a healthier one will be a second. I don't like their salad anyway. I bet if I mix up a bag of chopped lettuce and veggies the day before, when I have cooking energy, I could dump it into a bowl just like I would if I bought the bag at the store. Hmmm, that would work!
What tricks do you have for including unbreakable habits into your meals? Any optical illusion outfits you like to wear?
I think I'd like the second outfit better with a black shirt underneath. I also wore a button up under a dress yesterday for the first time. I really like the style.:)
ReplyDeleteMy only trick is that I pretty much try to plan way ahead for the indulgence meal. My first choice is to only do it on Saturday. Because Saturdays are when I run longer and am busy doing housework and other things that make the day more active. But you know this week, my brother called and wanted to meet me for a bite to eat - unplanned! - so I went and ordered a big ass salad that was delicious and ended up being 2 meals for me. Sometimes, I just have to tell myself 'no' as in I really want to eat 3 pieces of pizza but NO I will have 2 and a salad :)
ReplyDeleteLove that first outfit - totally what I've been wearing to work lately.
Thursday is Pizza night at our house. The cleaning lady comes on Fridays so Thursday dinner needs to be fast so we can put laundry away and pick up.
ReplyDeleteSince I'm employing the cleaning lady I economize by serving frozen pizza. You're doing your part to reduce unemployement by tipping the Pizza guy!
I usually grocery shop on Sunday so I try to have fish on Monday before it goes bad.
I like that first look - A LOT.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the dress, maybe I would have skipped the belt and rolled the sleeves up :)
LOVE that top outfit! I think the bottom one is just looking a bit off to you because the dark tights/boots throwing the balance off with that white shirt underneath. Super cute dress, and you are looking svelt!
ReplyDelete