MY DUDES!!!!!!!

I’m sorry I’ve been quiet on here and social media lately…

I’m working on BIGBIG BIGBIBGIBGIGBIGBGIBGIG things right now.

I’m SUPER excited, but holy hell I’m also SUPER exhausted.

I seriously can’t remember the last time in my life I’ve been this tired.

I mean, I know the end results of all my hard work are going to pay off, but sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of what the end results of our hard work actually are!

I definitely got to that point this week.

I fell asleep at 9:30pm the other night and woke up at 6am. As I dragged my feet to the bathroom in my pitch black apartment, I thought to myself, “What in the hell am I doing?? I want to move to an island and sleep in and scoop ice cream and run over my cell phone with a semi-truck.”

But then, with eyes half awake, peeing in the dark, I opened up my email and saw HELLA GOOD THINGS and had to remind myself that:

HELLA GOOD THINGS COME FROM HELLA HARD WORK!

Whether it’s working on yourself to become a better humanitarian, working on your career to become a more valued employee, or working on your art and passion to become a happier person…

These things take time, diligence, and HELLA HARD WORK.

And while I can’t share everything that’s going on in my life with you at the moment (in due time I promise), there are some important things I want you all to know.

1. I haven’t bought any clothing since I decided to do my Fast Fashion Diet.

I know it’s only been a week, but it’s been tough. I walk down 5th Avenue in Manhattan every day, and every day I pass by Forever 21, H&M, Zara, Express…you name it I pass it. I used to like wandering into those stores if I had free time to pick up something that tickled my fancy. Not anything I actually NEEDED, but cute accessories I might wear once on the blog and then toss.

But every time I walk by one of those stores now, I just remind myself there’s a young girl half my age in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Mexico, not going to school, and instead slaving away in unsafe working conditions to make that stupid garment.

This image is now burned into my mind.

But I’m also sort of scared to buy ANYTHING at the moment. I’ll do another post on that later and let you know how I’m progressing with my push towards Slow Fashion clothing.

2. My stress eating is increasingly becoming a thing of the past.

As a binge eater, stressful times in my life are my worst nightmare. I ALWAYS put on weight when things aren’t going 100% perfect (which in reality, is 100% of the time because nothing is ever perfect). I always reach for foods like chocolate, candy, hamburgers, pizza. Then I over exercise which just makes me 10x more hungry, and 10x more prone to an injury. But 2 things have changed my attitude lately.

The first one is the documentary FED UP. It has completely changed my relationship with sugar, which was the food I immediately reached for during times of stress. Learning that it’s not me and my binge eating stomach that wants candy, but it’s actually a reaction to the way sugar interacts with my brain, has been a revelation.

The second is a book I’m reading right now. I’m not going to share it yet because I never recommend books until I’m finished reading them. I’m only halfway through, but in a week I’ll do a full review on the blog.

But it’s a book about developing a healthy relationship with food again. While reading it, I kept having all these A-HA! moments.

And believe me, if anyone’s read a ton of books about food, weight, eating disorders and body image, it’s definitely ME! So reading a book where I still get an A-HA moment has become increasingly rare.

But one quick thing I WILL share about this book that I’m using daily is this:

People who have an unhealthy relationship with food have lost the ability to listen to their body’s natural hunger cues. I know I sure have.

So do this right now:

1. Make a fist.

2. Place your fist about an inch above your belly button.

Now….

Do you feel hunger pangs in that exact spot?

No?

Then you’re probably not actually hungry because that’s where your stomach is.

Yes?

Then you’re probably actually hungry because that’s where your stomach is.

I have stomach issues that sometimes cause me to feel hungry when I’m not. At times I can have a hard time localizing the pain because my whole stomach area just hurts, so this tip has been extremely helpful!

Having a quick way to remember where my stomach is has made it easier for me to get back in touch with real hunger versus stress hunger or pain disguised as hunger.

So I want to share this tip with you, maybe it will help you just as it helped me??

So yes, that’s my little Saturday catch up to you all!

I’m excited to share my news, my book review, my Fast Fashion Diet progress, and more when able :)

Also, just a quick note:

Because I’m currently on my Fast Fashion Diet, I’m trying my absolute hardest to not link to sweatshop produced clothing in my links below, and therefore you might notice the price range of clothes I link to has gone up.

Remember you’re not just paying for quality of clothing, you’re paying for quality of life.

And there’s a good chance I’m not going to get it right 100% of the time…I might accidentally link to something that’s sweatshop produced. So if I do, just let me know!

I’m trying my hardest…bear with me <3

#AlwaysLearning

LATER DUDES,

XX-HOTPANTS

Wearing

Lipstick : MAC Taupe / Pants and Top : American Apparel / Sweater and Sunglasses : Vintage / Purse : Etsy / Heels : Steve Madden

Photography : Spree Wilson