Category Archives: real women

Smile for the camera!

Today was the last super busy/out of the ordinary thing for a little while.  I had a photo shoot for an article coming out in a magazine in December.  I won’t mention the magazine right now, although some of you do know that were on FB.

This actually stemmed from a contact through my blog back in February. I had a phone interview and sent them pictures. Then I never heard back, so I assumed they weren’t going to use my story. Then a couple weeks ago I was contacted again that they *did* want to run my story and wanted to set up an photo shoot by October 4th.  Cue panic!  I was thinking all kinds of strange thoughts like “Crash diet!” and “I am not at goal, I feel like a fraud“, “People are going to look at the pictures and think I need to lose more weight“.  I even thought about buying Spanx LOL!

Breathe, Lori. Just breathe.

Just when you think you are doing well on the journey of self acceptance and you get flown into a tizzy.  Last week was the coordination of a hair stylist/makeup artist, the photographer, and the clothing stylist.  They were going to dress me, which also freaked me out.  I really didn’t need to worry.

I had spoken on the phone to Nichole (the clothing stylist) and I kept telling her to err on the side of big for clothing. What is wrong with me??  I was so worried that if she brought my sizes, they would somehow not fit. Like the clothing I own is mislabeled or something.  Poor John. He had to listen to my insecurities.

Anyway, everyone arrived at my house on Monday.  Isn’t that nice? I didn’t have to go anywhere!  Nichole did a great job with picking out clothes and I had several outfits to choose from.  The clothing came from  White House/Black Market and New York & Company and one dress from Macy’s.

I had hair and makeup done. Diane was very professional and fast with the makeup.

I do have to say that hair and makeup are my least favorite part of these. Can you tell?

All photos are done by John and not the official ones, which I wish I could see!!

This dress was nixed by the editor when we sent sample shots today. I didn’t like the gathers, but others seemed to like it.  The hem was quite the problem (again, shortie). It was tacked up here.

Everyone loved this top but me. This picture and the one above are me before hair and makeup.

It’s actually a bit sparkly and very festive, but I wasn’t crazy about the fit or the color.  Watch this top will be the one the editors like LOL! If you can’t tell, we had to do a little fake Christmas decorating for the December issue.

 

This was one of my favorites. Note the white circle thing is a lighting prop brought by the photographer.  This sweater is  purple, although this shot doesn’t show it as well.

I had tried a skirt on, but totally fell in love the the pants and wouldn’t take them off.  Fit and Flare Short (and still a bit long…) $88. They were comfortable and made my booty look good. I actually could have put on the smaller size, but I thought they would be too tight. The stylist didn’t think so, but I just couldn’t do it (silly me).

Embracing my curves!

Love the color of the blazer. $118. It is a deep purple, or plum as it is called on the website.

Everyone made me feel very, very comfortable for the shoot, so I was thankful for that. Sometimes you forget how far you have come when you have lived with the loss for a while.  And I should never forget that!  I am never going to be a size 4 and I love my curves! (and so does John – although he didn’t care for the makeup  :mrgreen: )

I’ll let everyone know when the article comes out.  I wonder which outfit they will like?

I may have to get a pair of those  pants.  Can bargain hunter me find them for less than $88?  We shall see.

And in keeping with the last 2 Octobers – I will be posting a pink picture every day and ask you to click on the link below to help fund mammograms for those in need!

The Breast Cancer Site

 

Here is today’s shot:

And ladies – Diane said to *not* buy the expensive mascara (after I commented that I bought the cheap stuff). Most mascara is made by only a few companies and just packaged differently. So there you go – money saving tip!

Becoming an Outdoors Woman Part 1

Part 1 of 3 so you don’t have to spend 3 hours reading my post! I had a great weekend becoming an outdoors woman!  A nice 3 day weekend, too 😀

There are different BOW programs in other states and Canada, most sponsored by the DEC.  Classes range from archery, shotgun, kayaking/canoeing, campfire cooking, map & compass, hiking,  biking, fishing, and lots more! I would highly recommend trying a weekend!

There were women of all shapes and sizes – and ages!  The oldest woman there was 90 years old, and there was an 83 woman who did the air rifle class (who was affectionately called ‘grandma’).  She rocked! There were approximate 118 women at this workshop.

We stayed at Silver Bay way up north on Lake George – a YMCA facility.  It was beautiful!  This was the inn, which I was not staying in.

Front porch of the Inn:

What a nice way to destress and unwind:

This was my building:

Accommodations much better than my last outdoor adventure!  I was totally expecting to be roughing it.

It pretty much rained all morning, but it really did not rain much in the afternoon, which was lucky!  We had a nice lunch. It was buffet style with salads, soups, and sandwich fixin’s.  I decided on egg salad, a salad-salad and some baked potato soup.  Tres delicious.  Oh, and a pear in the background.

Then it was time for my first class.

We spent time learning about how to prepare for a hike, what to bring and the types of equipment available for various hikes.  Then we did a short hike on one of the trails.  My class had about a dozen women in it.

It was very well marked.  There were white diamonds on the trees to mark this specific trail, plus a really nice branch pathway, which you can see at our feet.

Poison ivy anyone?

Even on well used trails, you have to be really careful.

We ended up near the lake and saw the kayak class:

I want to do that one next time!

Even though we are close to July, it is still really, really green around here.  All the soaking rains recently helped with that.

We did around a 2 mile hike.  It was nice.  Very easy terrain.

Then it was dinner time!

And dessert:

They fed us well this weekend.

And I went out for more pictures of the grounds:

The ubiquitous Adirondack chair!

I had to use the zoom lens – this kitty wanted no part of me :mrgreen:

Ladies Mantle:

You all expected flower pictures, right? 😉

Allium with some asian lilies in front.

Then I listened to a talk on invasive plant and animal species.  That was really interesting, and I should mention more about it some time and how we can all help prevent the spread.  I found out I have one in my garden!  The burning bush – oh no!

Then my sister got there!

44 and 43, respectively.  LOL!  I think I am the bigger goober.  We had a least 5 times where people asked us if we were sisters.  I was saying to Colleen that almost never happened before I lost all my weight. Now it happens all the time.

Next post tomorrow will be Wild Infusions and helping my sister set up her deer hunting class (she taught).

Go Glamour!

Woke up to cooler weather this morning, so thought I would do a 5 mile run.  My legs are actually a bit stiff from yesterday’s strength workout, and I won’t even talk about my upper body and abs (thank you plank!).

Preworkout snacky:  Mini wheat bagel.

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My goal was to finish in under 55 minutes. Did 3 miles pretty easy, then realized it wasn’t so cool after all and the sun was out.  Actually, it wasn’t all that hot, but it was still kind of humid.  I took a water stop after 3 miles then proceeded with the last 2.  My time was much faster for the last 2 miles as I pushed it to come in under 55 minutes, as I was not going to make it based on my time after 3 miles.  However, I managed to finish in 54:33!

I was soggy when I got home.  I am getting so tired of having to wash my exercise stuff every day – I need to buy some more things!  I just love jogging in my trisuit, though – best.purchase.ever.

I saw John had some coconut out for his waffles, which gave me an idea for breakfast:

oats1

  • 40 grams oat bran
  • dash of coconut extract
  • small banana
  • 20 dark chocolate chips
  • 2 tsp peanut butter
  • sprinkle of unsweetened, toasted coconut.

Tasterrific!  Those chocolate chips were 1/2 of a serving (which is 1 tablespoon), so about 35 calories.  That is almost 2 calories per chip.  Pretty scary, huh?  Love them, though!

Got right to work.  Lots of files today.  I have to say that I do not like my backup account very much.  The account rules are almost the opposite of my main account, so I have to really slow down to do those files.

Stopped for a yummy lunch:

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Fried egg sandwich on a toasted Arnold sandwich thin spread with Laughing cow.  Nummy!

Props to Glamour for putting this woman inside their magazine:

Isn’t she fabulous??  This is what real people look like, and it is so refreshing to see someone ‘normal’ grace the pages of a magazine dedicated to glamour!  And how happy does she look?  This photo got such a positive response, that I can only hope that it becomes the norm and not just an attempt at creating a buzz.  I’d almost (maybe) buy the magazine if it didn’t go against my too-much-paper ideals.  Annoyance factor that she is considered plus size….. at size 12.

What we need is for teen magazines to start putting pictures of real women and girls in their issues to help stop eating disorders and body dysmorphia before it starts!

It almost gives me hope.

Back to the food now!  I made the most yummy salad for dinner:

salad2

Grilled chicken with a chopped apple and some feta cheese on a spring mix base.  Dressing was a POM wonderful vinagrette that I have made before.  This was fresh and yummy.  Sort of my home take on a fuji apple salad from Panera.

Football is on tonight!  WooHoo!  I may bake some biscotti and play with a new recipe to hopefully post tomorrow.

Question:  Would you rather see real woman in magazines and on TV, or do you like to escape reality when you read or view the tube?