Reader Questions: Dieting

Hi Tina,

I am so glad I found your blog! I too am a 30 something who is trying to lose weight and look fashionable! I am excited to follow along on your journey and I must say that your outfits thus far have been adorable! I have a blog (Butterflies, Bows and Camoflage) that I have dabbled in and I recently started posting again to hold myself accountable with my clothing and now I think I will also post what I eat too, I am starting weight watchers as it has been successful for me in the past.

Do you follow a "diet" of any kind?

Thanks for the inspiration!!
Kacy

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Hi Kacy!

Thanks for the email and thanks for the link to your blog. You've got some really cute clothing. And your hubby is adorable.

I've done various "diets" from time to time. Generally I either count calories or I do Weight Watchers. Both work well for me as long as I stick with it. Lately I have done nothing but gain weight. I had even cancelled my WW membership b/c I just wasn't going to the meetings. BUT just Wednesday I started tracking my food again. I am just counting calories right now, but that's just b/c I am balking at paying the sign up fee for WW again. I'm hoping they have a free sign up available soon.

Tina

Are any of you following a weight loss plan?

If so, let Kacy and I know what it is and how you like it!

Reader Questions: Pattern Mixing

Hi Tina,

I have been enjoying reading your blog for several weeks now. I enjoy your daily outfits, and also your daily menu.

I'm pretty timid about mixing patterns and colors like I see you and many fashion bloggers doing. But I would like to try and get a little more daring. Do you have any suggestions on how to break out of my "everything must match" mold?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!
Caroline

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Hi Caroline! Thanks for following the blog. I'm glad that you enjoy the outfit posts and the meal posts. I am trying to be more consistent about including my meals.

I understand your interest and hesitation about mixing patterns. It can be a bit intimidating to start out. I do have a couple of suggestions that are baby steps to ease you into pattern mixing.

Add a Scarf:

Scarves are a really simple way to mix in some patterns without any commitment. If you feel inconspicuous or uncomfortable during the day, simply remove the scarf and stuff it in your purse. Easy peasy. My suggestion would be to start out by tying one on your purse. This way it isn't even officially part of your outfit, but it can help you get the feel of what types of patterns and colors go well with each other.

Once you are comfortable with a little pattern near you, you can actually add some to your outfit. A simple scarf thrown around your neck or tied in your hair can really jazz things up. If you start out with colors that match the colors in your main outfit, the patterns will mix in seamlessly.

• Picture 1: The scarf tied around my purse picks up the teal from my shoes and cami, while the circles mimic the polka dots on my cardigan.
• Picture 2: The floral scarf draped around my neck has the exact colors of my striped shirt and by simply draping it around my neck, I can remove it at any time.
• Picture 3: The scarf picks up not only the two shades of blue in my striped sweater, but also the black of my skirt. The rest of the outfit is so simple that the pattern mixing is not too much.

Wear a Graphic T-shirt:

A simple graphic T-shirt can add a little punch of pattern while not looking too much like mixed patterns. Pick a shirt with a simple graphic that color coordinates with the dominate color in your outfit.

• Picture 1: I picked a skirt with a very simple brown pattern and the added a graphic T-shirt with a very basic pattern in the same brown.
• Picture 2: Again, the pattern on the skirt is a simple repeating pattern with only 2 colors, so when I added the graphic T-shirt, it punches up the feel of the outfit without being over the top.

Some Patterns "Read" as Solid:

Our eyes ignore some patterns and just don't see them as patterns. The most obvious of this, is a fine gauge pinstripe. Men wear patterned ties and shirt with pinstripe suits all the time, and we can also mix patterns with pinstripes without any fear. Simple plaids and tweeds can often be treated the same way.

• Picture 1: The heavy black and white tweed of my skirt can easily be treated as a solid, especially by keeping the rest of the outfit in the same colors.
• Picture 2: This tweed jacket has 4-5 different colors in it but doesn't come across as an obvious pattern, especially when mixed with a floral skirt in similar colors.
• Picture 3: Can you even tell that these pants have a faint grey pinstripe on them? I can't. Enough said. Easy to mix.

Mix Bold Patterns in the Same Colors:

Once you feel more comfortable mixing simple patterns or "non patterns" together, try a bolder combination. If you keep the colors in the two patterns the same, the outfit will come together more easily.

• Picture 1: The pattern of the skirt almost exactly matches the background pattern of the skirt.
• Picture 2: The blue and white stripes of the shirt are the exact same colors of the blue and white of the skirt.
• Picture 3: While this is a fairly bold pattern mix (plus there is a LOT going on in this outfit), by keeping everything in the same two colors, the outfit still works.

Move On to Mixing Colors as Well as Patterns:

Once you feel comfortable with mixing bolder patterns, you can try also mixing colors. If you pick this in the same "style" of colors (neons, pastels, jewel tones, etc) then the mixed colors will seem to go together better.

Don't be afraid to try, even if you don't always succeed. Not all pattern mixing works. Just try again with another outfit.

• Picture 1: The sweater and the dress have none of the same colors as each other, but I kept the two patterns pretty simple and in the same jewel tone family.
• Picture 2: I thought this skirt and cardigan might mix b/c they both are a paisley pattern in th same colors, but it just did not work well at all. So now I know not to wear those together again!

I hope this helps you start mixing a few patterns in your wardrobe. Good Luck! And I would love to see what you come up with!

Tina

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If you have a question, feel free to email me at tminustplus (at) gmail (dot) com

Reader Questions: Plus Size Shopping

Hi Tina,

I'm Kelly from Washington state, near Seattle. I found your blog yesterday and have become addicted. I'm wondering if you ever order from Dress Barn? I have Dress Barn near me and I would love to see what you can come up with from their offerings. I've just gotten the bug to wear tall boots with skirts and dresses so I love seeing how you put them in your wardrobe.

Thanks!
Kelly

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Hi, Kelly!

Welcome to T Minus, T Plus! I'm so glad that you found the blog and that you are an addict. I have quite a few blogs that I feel that way about too, so it's really nice to hear that you like T Minus, T Plus too.

You have raised a really good question that actually brings up a something I've been wanting to post about soon. So I'll just do it RIGHT NOW! Thanks for the push. I have not ever ordered anything from Dress Barn (and you are the second person to ask me about that this week), BUT I HAVE A PLAN!

What is this plan, you ask?

I have a plan to shop at every single plus size retailer that I can find.

Let me expand on that, actually. I'm not going to limit this to just plus size retailers because there are an ever-growing number of "straight size" stores that are carrying expanded sizes. Basically, if they carry my size, I am going to try them out.

What does this mean? It means that I am going to buy something online and then review the quality, fit, shipping time, return policy, general style of the store, and cost. I'll do a video when I get the package and post it along with a written evaluation of those points.

The good news is that there are a lot more plus size options than there used to be. The bad news is that I have a limited shopping budget so it's going to take a long time for me to get to them all. If any readers have requests, I'll try to shop at those stores first. Or if any retailers decide that they would like me to review their products and send me some items to review, then naturally I will review those when I get them. Otherwise the reviews will just happen as I have the time, money, and find things I like at each store.

So, Dress Barn is on the list! Here is the entire list. Please let me know of any stores I have missed.

17 Sundays

Addition Elle

Always for me
Anna Scholz

AppleBottoms

Ashley Stewart
ASOS

Avenue

B&Lu

Betty Page Clothing
Bloomingdales

Carmakoma

CATO

Chic Star
CityChic

Clothes R Us

Coldwater Creek

deb

Dillards

Domino Dollhouse
Dorthy Perkins
Dots

Dress Barn
Elocin

eShakti

Evans Clothing
Fashion Bug
Fashion To Figure

Figuresque
Forever 21+

Fredericks of Hollywood
Ideeli

JCPenney

Jessica London
Jibri

Just My Size
Kiyonna

Kohls

Kmart

Lane Bryant

Love N Lace

LucieLu
Macy's

Marshalls

maurices

Missphit

ModCloth

Monif C

MXM

Nordstrom

Old Navy

One Stop Plus

Penningtons
Plus Size Fix

Rainbow

Roamans
Ross

Satinwoods

Sears

Shabby Apple
Shop Ruche

Shop Translated

Silhouettes

Simply Be
Size Appeal

Sizes to Fit

SONSI

Spiegel
SWAK Designs

Talbots

Target

TJMaxx

Torrid
Ullapopken

Walmart
We Love Colors

Yours Clothing

I hope that helps!
Tina

Hair Tutorial

Sara of Bombshell Beauty requested a tutorial for how I wore my hair here ---------------------->

I am never one to turn down an opportunity to take a ton of pictures of myself in bad lighting first thing in the morning, so you know that I immediately busted out my camera, propped it up in my medicine cabinet and gave up my mirror so that I could document doing my hair. Extra bonus? I spent so much time trying to get my camera timer to recognize my face that I was late for work. LOL All in the name of blog dedication!

Please note that you may not need to follow all of these steps to achieve this look, but you'll miss out on the Tina Experience if you skip too many of them.

On with the photo overload...

There is a bonus video on how to make sausage curls in separate post b/c this one is already way too huge with photos.

Reader Email

Hi! I'm from Canada and I have to say that deep inside I always knew that down in the states I would have a lot more choice for clothing and your blog just proved it to me! Congratulations! As an engineer and a project manager that is how I would like to dress on daily basis.

Now one thing I wonder is do you manage to wear your heels all day long? I always find myself unable to walk with them in the afternoon! :-(

Finally, I love the fact that you list the stores where you by your pieces. May I suggest that you have a section on your blog with you favorites shopping spots? I know I would definitely use it to plan my first of May shopping spree down in the States!

kudos for your blog,
Yemella

Hi, Yemella! I can't say that I've ever been shopping in Canada, so I'll have to take your word that the shopping is better here in the US. I live in Dallas, which is known for it's shopping, so I guess I am quite lucky.

Heels can definitely be killer on your feet. So, I try to be aware of how my feet feel and what I'm going to be doing. I don't wear sky-high heels two days in a row, or even two days in a week usually. And I try to wear flats 1-2 work days and then all weekend too. That way my feet get a chance to recover. And honestly, I can get away with heels b/c I don't walk too much at work; I generally spend 10 hours at my desk with 1 or 2 trips to the kitchen and bathroom. And if they are bothering me, then I take my shoes off under my desk. If I know I am going to be walking, I try to pick a fashionable flat and comfortable shoe. And truth be told, if there is a lot of walking to be done, I will choose comfort over cuteness. I always wear tennis shoes to amusement parks or to the fair, etc. Comfort is s must in those situations!

As far as my favorite stores, I shop at alot at:

Target (Ts, workout clothes, dresses, blouses, jackets, shoes)
Lane Byrant (everything, intimates)
Old Navy (dresses, jeans, skirts, blouses)
DSW (shoes)
Kmart (online - skirts, blouses)
Avenue (boots, intimates, skirts)
Goodwill (jewelry, skirts, dresses)
JC Penney (shirts, jewelry)
Macys (formal dresses, suits, jewelry, shoes)

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Do you have a question? Drop me an email!

Answering Reader Emails

I love your blog! Sometimes I feel like I'm the only plus sized girl out there, you are such a comfort. I am ready to rejoin WW and you have been such an inspiration to me, and I wanted to thank you for sharing.

OK, here's the personal part... I hope I don't offend when I ask this but how do you wear skirts without chafing? I love the look of skirts, but I end up with raw skin when I try to wear them.

Thanks for any help you have,
Wendy

Hi, Wendy! Thanks for your email and the blog love. I follow blogs that provide me with inspiration so it really means a lot to me that you feel the same way about T Minus, T Plus. Weight loss and healthy living is such a personal journey, so I hope that WW helps you find your goals!

That is a personal question, but I am a very open person, so I am happy to discuss "chub rub" as my friends and I so lovingly call it. Before I get down to the details of this answer, I think it's important to point out that a lot of women have to deal with the issue of thigh rub no matter what their weight. When I weighed 120 pounds less than I do now, my thighs still touched at the top. I was a young, slim girl and was not at all over weight, but I still had to deal with it. So please excuse the "chub rub" name; it's just what we call it.

I don't usually have to take any precautions at work against chub rub since I don't really do much walking around. I go from the parking garage to my desk and that's pretty much it. However, at this point I'm going to interject a little story:

I once met a man at a wedding in Indiana. He lived in San Francisco and I lived in Austin and we started a long distance thing. Our first real date after the wedding where we met was in Las Vegas where we met up for the weekend. I wanted to look cute, so I wore skirts. We did a lot of walking up and down the strip in the summer heat. I started sweating and my thighs were rubbing so much it was killing me. I was too emabrassed to tell him that we needed to stop walking around so much. As a result, my thighs were rubbed so raw that they developed scabs.

EEEWWWW, right? Not exactly a romatic thing. This brings up my first suggestion. I think it helps to try to keep dry. So, don't run out the door in a skirt if you are still damp from the shower. And if it's hot outside and you know you are going to sweat or do lots of walking, it's probably best to take some extra precautions.

Tina's Chub Rub Buster #1:

A friend of mine taught me a trick when I came back from that trip to Vegas. She told me to use antiperspirant on my thighs where they touched. I tried my regular solid deoderant and that was a mistake. It just blobs up. Yuck! Then I discovered gel deoderants. Perfect! I use Arrid Extra Dry b/c it's always been my favorite, but I am sure other gel antiperspirants would work too. Along the same lines, there are some sports products for runners that are specifically for thigh chafing, but I'm inclined to think it's just antiperspirant with a different label.

Tina's Chub Rub Buster #2 (aka The Big Guns):

Sometimes antiperspirant isn't enough, especially if you're going to be doing a lot of walking or it's really hot outside. That's when I pull out the big guns.

I bought these spandex shorts several years ago at Target. They are not Spanx or any kind of tight, tummy-sucking thing. I hate those things and I only wear them for fancy events. I think that these were with the "ballet" stuff. They are just stretchy shorts and are super comfortable. Rand thinks that they are hideous (the grey color probably doens't help with that) but he loves that I'm not constantly asking him to slow down (I need to walk more slowly when I'm not wearing them to help prevent chafing). By simply putting a barrier between my thighs, the rubbing no longer bothers me. I wear these a lot!

I have been looking for another pair of these and haven't seen them at Target, but I bet they could be found at a store that carries a wider selection of workout clothes. Just look for something that is not cotton, since a nylon or other wicking material will be better for hot days.

I hope this helps, Wendy! Thank for the email.
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Do you have a question? Drop me an email.

Thank You, Goober!

Rand's Daily Outfit Assessment: "I don't like the pastel shirt with all that heavy grey and black." It's a blue skirt. "Okay fine. I don't like the pastel with all that grey and blue. It looks off."

While I don't agree with Rand's reasoning about why this outfit looks off, I do agree that it looks off. Looking at the picture, I think maybe it's that the jacket is a bit too big in the shoulders and the sleeves are a little too big. So it looks like I am swallowed up in a big blog of grey wool, rather than just sporting a funky grey suit jacket. I can't decide if it's worth it to me to get it tailored. I have a lot of suits, so I know how much it costs to get a jacket tailored. I could do the sleeves myself, but the shoulder repair would be expensive. Do I really want to shell out a ton of money for a jacket I bought at Goodwill. So you tell me (and be honest!): Is the jacket worth getting tailored?

What I Wore That Made Me Feel Shlumpy:

• blue wool skirt, rolled at waist to be shorter (Goodwill)
• pastel scarf worn as shirt (Goodwill)
• black tank, not seen (Ross)
• grey suit jacket (Goodwill)
• pink pumps (Nine West)
• faux pearl necklace and earrings (Ross?)

What I Ate That Was Stopped By an Email:

I've mentioned several times over the last few weeks that I am really struggling to stay on the healthy track. I am really trying to get my focus back on healthy options more so than dieting and weightloss. But I've been hitting a few road bumps. Okay, a lot of road bumps. If the road bumps were Little Debbies and McDonald's chicken sandwiches. sigh. Yesterday, as I was staring at the POUND of Twizzlers that I was almost through consuming (breakfast and snack, thank you), I got an email from Heather aka Goober. The topic? Healthy lifestyles. She saved my day. I really was sitting at my desk trying to figure out if I could stop and get a McChicken sandwich on my way home without Rand finding out. And then after our email chat, I didn't do it. I would have been too embarassed. So thank you, Heather. You pulled me back into the healthy eating zone. And I needed it.

• breakfast: Twizzlers
• lunch: buddig sandwich, snap peas, string cheese
• snack: more Twizzlers
• dinner: lemon pepper chicken, oven roasted new potatoes and brocolli
• dessert: english toffee crunch bar (Weight Watchers)

Don't forget about the birthday giveaway.