Have you ever bought a bathing suit and then covered it up with a T-Shirt?

Have you ever walked around in board shorts to hide your thighs?

Have you ever refused to get into the ocean/pool/lake/river because you were embarrassed to be seen in your swimsuit?

I’ve done all these things (and more). I’ve done these things at my biggest and at my smallest. The funny thing is, while I’m obsessing over the summer season and how I will look walking around in a bathing suit, there are millions of men walking around like this:

If these men have body confidence, why cant I?

After doing a bit of pre-season home shopping and stocking up on swimsuits, cover-ups and sundresses I’ve spent the last week in sunny San Diego and I have been in my bathing suits since I got here. I’ve walked around the city in tiny sundresses thrown over my bathing suit, just like the skinny girls do and its LIBERATING! Quick trips to the store or to grab lunch are so much more fun when you’re barely clothed and the sun is kissing your body. Not to mention, my tan is stellar!

Anyway, Memorial weekend means the beginning of summer, so lets put things in perspective. We’ve all got body issues, but at then end of the day… who cares?!

The good part about being single is that your food choices are all your own. I have friends who have to cook for their husbands and children and as much as I look forward to doing that (someday), I really do enjoy some of the perks that come with being a single girl.

Cooking for one is definitely a perk!

This is especially true when you’re trying to lose weight. I love to cook, but sometimes single serve meals are the fastest choice for me. They save time and they keep me from over eating, so I make them a part of me weekly meal plan. This means I’m always excited to hear about something new to put into rotation.

Last week, I was asked if I’d be interested in doing a post for Tabatchnick soup singles. I’ve been looking for a soup to bring to work, so this was right up my alley. Tabatchnick’s new line of Soup Singles each come in a single serving bowl that you can heat in the microwave or traditional oven . Soup Singles are also prepared with fresh ingredients that are lower in fat, sodium and fewer calories than other canned soups and frozen meals.

And, for people on a budget (like me), you can get 5 Soup-Singles for $5 at participating ShopRite Stores.

Healthy, Hearty & Affordable… Hooray!

It was the middle of summer 2010 and I was having a Pretty Day, one of those days where I just felt… pretty. I’d just had my hair done. I took a little extra time on my makeup before I met up with friends for brunch. I had on a bright yellow sundress and guys on the street were smiling and nodding at me as I walked by. My friends even mentioned that I was looking slimmer and after brunch, I ran to the bookstore and a guy in the non-fiction section asked for my number. I felt unstoppable!

On my way home, I got a text message from J.R., a guy I had been talking to online. J.R.’s profile said he was new to online dating, his photos weren’t very flattering, and he was constantly asking me for “more pics” which I can’t stand. To top it off, we had dinner plans the week before and he cancelled at the last minute claiming he was in a car accident and needed to go the the police station.

All of those things had my intuition on overdrive saying to leave him alone. The thing that kept me intrigued was that he had just graduated with his PhD. from NYU, I know that nerd/braniac guys sometimes come off better in person, so when he sent a text saying: Would you like to meet for a drink? I went against my instincts and decided to give him a chance. Besides, I was having a Pretty Day and I figured an impromtu date could only make my day better.

Boy, was I wrong.

Walking into the bar, I was immediately disappointed. J.R. was slumped down in a barstool wearing a wrinkled shirt and jeans; overall he looked pretty sloppy. He didn’t move. He didn’t stand up to greet me. He didn’t introduce himself. He didn’t motion for me to sit down. He just stared at me with this pinched expression that give him three chins. So I stared back at him.

“Are you gonna sit?” he said.

“I don’t know, I was waiting for you to be a gentleman and stand up to greet me… and maybe say ‘nice to meet you’?” I replied sarcastically.

“I would, but um… I hurt my hip yesterday,” he said.

Was this guy for real? I wanted to turn on my heel and walk out of the bar, but my manners kept me from leaving. I figured I could sit through one drink with him and then go home. I pulled up a chair next to him. He was on his phone texting with that same triple-chin expression on his face, so I just sat there quietly waiting for him to offer me a drink.

He didn’t.

I’ve been on more first dates than I can count and this was not the way things were supposed to go. I began plotting a polite escape when J.R.’s phone rang. “Excuse me,” he said pointing to the phone as he stepped outside. I quickly dialed my girlfriends number and explained the situation to her. “You need to get out of there ASAP!” she warned.

“Okay okay!” I hissed into the phone, “I feel bad, but when he comes back I’m just going to tell him that I have to leave,” just as I hung up the phone with her I got a text from him.

Now I see why you wouldn’t send me more pics, ur not cute at all and you’re huge! BYE!

I stared at my phone in shock. I could feel the heat rising to my face… I was angry. Not angry because of what he said but angry because I had spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to let this guy down easy and he hadn’t given the same consideration to me.

And to top it all off, he’d ruined my Pretty Day!

His hurtful words echoed in my head as I sat at the bar alone. After a full day of affirmations from myself, my friends and random guys in bookstores; it was all stripped from me in a single text message. I pulled my bag off the back of the barstool and walked out of the bar.

As I made my way back to the train station, I began to think about rejection. As Plus Size Princesses, we walk around with this constant fear of rejection because of our weight. But rejection is a part of life. The fact is that everything isn’t for everybody and even though I went through an entire day feeling like I was the Prettiest Princess in all of NYC, there was a man who wasn’t feeling me, and that’s okay.

Was J.R. a jerk about it? Sure, but if I had listened to my instincts and left him alone from the beginning I wouldn’t have exposed myself to his awful behavior.

For every guy who approaches me, there are a million who don’t. Rejection happens everyday and if I’m going to keep living my life to the fullest I might as well get used to it and get over it.

I was rejected and I lived to tell the tale.

After deleting J.R.’s number from my phone, I decided to walk home. About five blocks from my apartment a man passed me and said “Good Evening, beautiful”.

I guess my Pretty Day wasn’t over after all….

Hello Lovelies,

I’m packing my bags and heading to San Diego for a bit of vacation… This New York rain is getting to be too much for me. I need some sun!

Anyway, I’ve got some fun adventures planned that I can’t wait to share with you!

xoxo,
CeCe

I’m going on vacation this week, so I started my swimsuit search a little early. With so many new swim lines coming out, Plus Size Princesses have a lot of options (especially if money isn’t an issue). But if you’re on a budget like me, cute suits at reasonable prices are the way to go and they’re not hard to find. Getting cute cover-ups from sites like ABC Distributing are also a way to go, to wear over your swimsuit.

I’m really trying to get away from the skirted swimsuits like the one I picked up last year for my Miami trip. I know they’re supposed to flatter/hide a bigger figure, but I’m over it. If I’m going to embrace my curves, I need to do it on the beach too!

Soooo I found three really cute suits on the OneStopPlus website:

The geometric pattern on this suit makes my waist/tummy look defined and it has a supportive bra cup. I also think that halter cuts are super flattering for PSPs, so this was a great find. I can’t wait to rock it on the beach!

The next suit I picked up was for the gym. I swim twice a week and I wanted a suit with more boob support. This simple suit keeps the twins contained while I’m swimming laps and I even tested it out during a water aerobics class. The bouncing and jumping wasn’t a problem at all….

Lastly, from talking to different TBGB readers online I’ve realized that girls who are above a 3X often have even more trouble finding cute clothes. When I was looking at the OneStopPlus site, I noticed that a few of their suits go up to a size 34! They were kind enough to send me an extended size suit. I asked a friend who is a size 30/32 to test it out and she had nothing but good things to say. This black suit with an adorable white bow is convertible. It can be worn strapless and the straps are adjustable! She said that she usually has to wear a bra with her suits, but this one provided lots of support. So, if you’re above a 3x or 22/24, you might want to check for this suit and the other extended size styles online.

I haven’t been inside of an Ashley Stewart store in years. For some reason, their clothes haven’t been appealing to me. But last week, they invited me to Brooklyn to hang out at their newly designed flagship store in Brooklyn. I met up with some other plus size bloggers including my style twin, StylishCurves.

Walking into the newly redesigned store, the first thing I noticed was all of the color!

They’ve done a really good job of revamping their style to include a variety of pieces that I would definitely wear. We all started pulling things off the racks so that we could dress each other. StylishCurves and I were both drawn to a strapless linen jumpsuit so we grabbed it along with some accessories and she was sweet enough to let me style her in a fabulous summer outfit (isn’t she adorable?).

Anyway, I had a blast with Ashley Stewart. I ended up getting the same jumpsuit in black and pairing it with a wide pink belt, silver hoops and a cute little clutch. I also picked up a bright yellow dress that I’ll be pairing with a white cardigan and pearls until the weather gets warmer.

Oh, and I can’t forget the adorable bra and panties set that I got…

I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for what Ashley Stewart has for the rest of the summer!

I can’t remember how I discovered “Ruby”, a television show about a 700 pound woman who has whittled herself down to the 350 pound range (I don’t know about you, but that puts my weight loss goals into perspective!). Anyway, I’ve watched the show pretty regularly since last year and I love it for many reasons including the fact that at 700 pounds Ruby was beautiful. I also loved that she had a long term boyfriend (Denny) when she was REALLY BIG.

I was chatting online with one TBGB reader last week about Ruby and she was wondering why Ruby can’t seem to move on from Denny even though their relationship seems to be pretty toxic. Ruby will say in one episode that she doesn’t think marriage is for her but in the next episode, she’s asking Denny if he thinks they have a future (i.e. marriage). Although she never says it, from what I can see, Ruby thinks that Denny is the only man that would ever marry her. If Ruby thinks anything like me, she probably figures that if Denny found a way to accept her at 700 pounds, loving her at 200-300 pounds shouldn’t be a problem. And that’s enough to erase all the reasons that Denny is bad for her.

As Plus Size Princesses, how many of us indulge relationships that are bad for us in fear that we won’t find anything else?

How many of us settle because we assume we can’t do better?

I know I’ve done it. The first time I fell in love, I knew the guy wasn’t someone that could make me happy in the long run. This guy had some major issues, but I loved him… because he “loved” me. I can remember laying awake at night listening to him describe our future together on the phone. He would paint these pictures of our life together, our kids and how happy we’d be and while it all sounded lovely, something inside of me knew that his issues weren’t going away and I could never deal with them for the rest of my life. I wanted (and deserved) more but I was scared that, at my size, I wouldn’t find “more”, so I stuck around. Oddly enough, in the end, he broke things off with me.

Of course as a PSP, dating is different. A lot of us live in fear that we wont find Mr. Right and get married, but there are plenty of skinny women don’t find Mr. Right either. But you can’t score points if you never get on the field.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Ruby feeling like she might not find the love, that’s a real and normal feeling at any size. My issue is that she’s only giving herself two options: A toxic relationship with Denny or Being alone forever.

We can’t continue to attach ourselves to men that are bad for us out of fear.

After my Mr. Wrong let me go, I was terrified. I felt exposed and alone, but soon enough I started to date and if you read this blog, you know I’ve dated lots of guys. Some were amazing and others were nuts, but I dated.

I put myself out there and I didn’t wait to lose weight before I did it. As the saying goes, “you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince”. So, if you kiss a frog and he doesn’t turn out to be your prince, let him go so you can go kiss some more!

RIBBIT!