Personal Blog

  • FASHION, Personal Blog

    The BEST Shapewear For Dresses! My Top 10 List of Shapewear Favorites For Dresses, Tops and Faux Leather Leggings Too!

    Looking for the BEST Shapewear for Dresses and Faux Leather Leggings and MORE?

    the best shapewear for dresses

    If you are looking for shapewear for dresses for the holiday season – look no further. In this post, I will share my top 7 shapewear for dresses with you and these are pieces I’ve been relying on for YEARS. Whenever I recommend these shapewear for dresses (or tight tops or jeans) to my friends, they ALWAYS come back and say to me “OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR RECOMMENDING THAT SHAPEWEAR TO ME!! It’s life-changing!!”- I’m not joking. I firmly believe the right shapewear for dresses and for tops and for jeans CAN BE transformative. I promise you’ll feel the same if you go out and buy some of my recommendations. You’ll stand more confidently and everything will be different for you after that. Confidence is a game changer. 

    So, let’s get started looking at my top 7 recommendations for shapewear for dresses for the holiday season, shall we?

    Shapewear: It's not just control top pantyhose anymore

    I remember when the only options for us used to be control top pantyhose. And I bought them all!!! Then I actually used to buy CORSETS from Frederick’s of Hollywood and I wore them under my suits! I kid you not! NOT very comfortable. Thank God for Sara Blakely and now other companies because there are some wonderful options. Let’s talk about it!

    My Top 7 FAVORITE Shapewear For Dresses and More. Stock up NOW!

    The Ultimate Back Smoothing Bra & Body Shaper by Shapeez

    The Ultimate BACK SMOOTHING BRA & BODY SHAPER

    This is actually one of the first body shaping products I bought and I think I heard about it via the Oprah show way back. Let me tell you something. This is by far one of the best things you’ll ever buy. If you get annoyed when you wear a tight top and you see the bra lines in back- even the slimmest of us have them, YOU GET THESE and don’t have to wear a bra because they are the bra (and ladies I’m a 36D, trust me they perform just fine as a bra!!) and the lycra tank smooths you out and holds you tight around the middle so you FEEL tight and– NO LINES — GAME CHANGER!!!!! You’ll wear more form fitting tops than ever with confidence trust me. I have these in the shorter version and the longer version and in black and in nude. The other great thing about them: when you get the longer version they are fantastic to wear with mid-rise jeans. You sit down and they can cover up that plumber butt situation. BONUS. This model above is wearing The Ultimate: CLICK HERE TO BUY. 

    SHAPEEZ THE DEMI LONG

    This is the Demi Long version, I have this one too and highly recommend it. Again, I recommend all the tank top versions but if you shop around their site, I can’t imagine anything they sell being not fantastic. And if you care for the product right they last forever, — meaning HANDWASH ONLY and hang to dry. 😉 CLICK HERE TO BUY this model. 

    Maidenform Shapewear Wear Your Own Bra Firm-Control Body Shaper 2556

    This has been one of my top go-to shapewear pieces for the past 5 years and I have bought it in nude and black again and again. It’s a best-seller at Kohl’s and I can see why. CLICK HERE TO BUY. This is an ideal piece of shapewear for dresses, I’m sure you’d agree. 

    Maidenform® Shapewear Wear Your Own Bra Firm-Control Body Shaper 2556

    As you can see this is a pants/shorts kind of bodysuit. And you can wear your own bra. This can be worn under jeans and a top, which I was doing for quite a while when my hormones were jacked and I gained all this weight around my middle– I had the odd situation where all my pants fit me everywhere but my waist and I was especially paranoid and uncomfortable with mid-rise jeans when I would sit down. One, because they’d ride down so low and I’d worry about my butt showing but I’d also feel that my waist would just be jellyfishing over my jeans waistband. Wearing these at least made me FEEL more tight– when I was feeling uncomfortable in my body. Fast forward to today where I’ve lost so much weight, I still use these but more for smoothing out lines under tight dresses and also I notice sometimes under faux leather leggings– some of them, you need to wear something like this or — I can’t describe it, around the crotch area it just looks WRONG. It looks like people can see your junk, you know what I’m saying? I feel that wearing shapewear underneath you keep your stuff private 😉 This is GREAT to wear under any dress, it’s great when you are losing weight and even after you’ve lost weight- I swear by them. Also— back to what I said above — another solution to low-rise jeans. No more worries about bending down and flashing your butt crack to everyone. 😉

    Spanx Suit Your Fancy Plunge Low Back Mid Thigh Bodysuit

    I have to give Spanx credit- this is one of the most brilliant creations on the planet for reals. If you have a dress with crazy skinny straps and a low neckline or low backline but you have (real) boobs and need and want to feel tucked in and lifted up– this is your dream. NOTE: when you buy this and put it on, do not judge it until you put your dress on over it. You’ll think it’s not going to support the girls. You’ll be wrong This is all you need. It’s PERFECT. I mean. So perfect. I want to marry it. You must buy it. In both colors. You’re welcome. So brilliant. CLICK HERE TO BUY. 

    SPANX Suit Your Fancy Strapless

    If you like the above and below options, you’re gonna end up buying a strapless option like this. That’s finally what I said to myself. Why not? ONCE YOU REALLY REALIZE HOW DIFFERENT LIFE IS WITH GOOD SHAPEWEAR, YOU INVEST IN THE GOOD STUFF.CLICK HERE TO BUY.

    Spanx OnCore High Waisted Mid Thigh Short

    NEVER would I have thought that a pair of shapewear like this would fit and stay put and be comfortable– but this does the job. Last night I wore this under a dress with a strapless bra and felt totally tucked in and comfortable and slim and AWESOME. You could wear these under a suit under jeans under anything really. CLICK HERE  to buy.  Sometimes I have dresses where I don’t need to wear a bra (believe it or not) and yet I want shapewear o the bottom, this fits!

    But Wait There's More!

    BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

    While you’re here, you may want to check out some of these latest posts and videos: Sexy Holiday Fashion For 40+ Females: CLICK HERE. Hypothyroidism and Losing Weight: How I lost 22 Pounds After Being STUCK for 10 Years! CLICK HERE. My Daily Makeup Routine: Tutorial CLICK HERE. Why Healthy Fats Can Be a Problem When You’re Trying to Lose Weight CLICK HERE.

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  • Health, Hormones, Personal Blog, WEIGHT LOSS

    Hypothyroidism and losing weight: How I lost 22 pounds after being STUCK for years.

    Hypothyroidism and losing weight: they aren't mutually exclusive. Learn more.

    If you are like me, you’ve probably thought that hypothyroidism and losing weight were indeed mutually exclusive things. I’m here to tell you that this is not true, and in fact that you can be losing weight with hypothyroidism. I’m living proof: I’ve recently lost 32 inches and 22 pounds (since June 1st of this year) and I have hypothyroidism. Having hypothyroidism and losing weight isn’t EASY, that’s true. It requires extra effort and some sacrifice. But if you are willing to do the work, losing weight with hypothyroidism is within your grasp. After reading this post, you’ll realize that hypothyroidism and losing weight can go hand in hand, if you practice the right diet and are supplementing (I’ll get into all of that below) and addressing your hormones. Let’s not wait any further, let’s get this hypothyroidism and losing weight discussion GOING shall we– that’s what you came here for, right?

    What Most Women Don't Know About Hypothyroidism and Weight Loss.

    best diet for hypothyroidism

    What most women don’t know about hypothyroidism and weight loss is that (and this is strictly my opinion and my experience talking- but backed by my doctor’s experience and opinion backed by her extensive research/data)– your hypothyroidism is far LESS the reason for your inability to lose weight than you think. WAIT, WHAT? read that again. It’s not a typo. So many women think hypothyroidism and weight loss is a perpetual cycle of going nowhere and the reality I discovered is that- -it’s not the hypothyroidism situation that’s the problem. We’ve all been focusing so much on our thyroid and ignoring what we should be focusing on; INSULIN RESISTANCE. Crazy right? I remember my last functional medicine doctor saying something to me like “I don’t know if we’ll EVER be able to truly repair your thyroid….” and I was devastated…..I think that’s because we’ve all read and heard so much about hypothyroidism and that it means you can’t lose weight. So when we find out we are hypothyroid- which MOST OF US ARE– we obsess about fixing that. And we read everything about thyroid and fixing the thyroid– has this been you? Is that what drew you to this post? I get it. I was there for YEARS until this year. Or actually until last October when I hired my new doc and she said “it’s not your thyroid that’s the problem with you losing weight, it’s your insulin”. 

    Why Insulin Resistance is the REAL problem, not necessarily the thyroid situation.

    So, please know as you read this post, I’m coming at you from my own experience– and my own experience, if you are new to this blog is this: for the past decade or so, I have been on the weight loss STRUGGLE BUS. Even though I am a fitness fanatic, love working out and even enjoy eating healthy and dieting – and even though I have constantly been on a diet for the past decade (literally nonstop) and have worked out for 6-7 days a week 1-2 hours a day- I was always 20-25 pounds overweight. A lot of people thought I was “fine” because I was just “curvy girl” but I FELT every pound. I could not lose. Even when I started seeing functional medicine docs and getting on bio-identical hormones, I’d lose 3-4 pounds but gain it back. I had a brief period in 2017 when I did the HCG diet injections where I lost a good amount of inches (not pounds) but I gained it back (my doctor explained when I met her that until I fixed my hormones, that would continue to happen– I’ll be interviewing her on my YouTube channel on these topics so stay tuned, she can explain it better than I can for sure)– I just strugggggglleeedddd!!! And last year the end of the year was the LOW POINT, I clearly had some major ESTROGEN DOMINANCE going on (see before photo below)– MY BOOBS went up a whole size and I just couldn’t fit in anything. I had to go up 2 sizes in jeans and workout pants– it was the worst feeling……BUT when I hired my current functional medicine doctor and did my first consult with her she told me I had to give her 6 more months of working on my hormones — and during that time I was laying off the hard workouts, I was in a REVERSE DIET and I was prepping for the “right” to diet again. You see, I had to take a break from dieting after all those years. But in that consult, my doctor told me my primary issue to focus on was FIXING MY INSULIN. And I later learned that when women enter into perimenopause their bodies essentially automatically become insulin resistant– so all of us should be moving in this direction as we experience hormonal imbalance that comes with aging…..

    The Best Diet For Insulin Resistance and Weight Loss (and Hypothyroidism!)

    hypothyroidism diet plan

    I’ve told you my background. I was truly desperate to get to NORMAL. I was willing to do anything and probably at the point where I thought that nothing would work. I felt like a freak to be honest. I felt broken. I mean, here I was eating organic healthy foods all the time and working out and I was overweight. I could only wear 1/8 of the clothes in my closet. I was not comfortable naked or on a beach. I hated it. When my doctor finally told me in May of this year that I was cleared to diet again I was like SOCK IT TO ME DOC and she emailed me my macros and they were…..keto. KETO??? WTH?? Y’all. I was so not into this you have no idea. I had made fun of keto. I thought it was a joke. I thought it was the diet that people who aren’t serious about being healthy do. But the doc gave me all this data to support why it’s good for women over 40 with insulin/hormone imbalance and so I begrudgingly decided to do it. FAST FORWARD TO TODAY I am 32 inches and 22 pounds lighter. I literally do a double take in the mirror about every day. I look better now than I did in my twenties. I’m 4lbs away from my goal weight. It’s been the easiest “diet” to do– I eat a diverse selection of amazing tasting foods– my husband is NOT keto and we still enjoy cooking together and eating together without having to do ‘his and hers”. I drink alcohol. I haven’t cheated once. I don’t feel the need to “go off” this diet. It’s my lifestyle now and in fact I’m becoming a certified keto coach early in January so I can coach other women with a certification behind me. I’m so passionate about getting the word out because I TRULY BELIEVE THIS IS THE MISSING LINK FOR WOMEN AGED 40+ with hormone imbalance– because you probably have insulin issues and when you go keto– BAM– you solve that problem! EASY PEASY. All those years I spent wasting my time chasing down how to solve thyroid issues when it was all about INSULIN– funny thing is when I FIRST got my first set of bloodwork done it showed I was insulin resistant and I remember that was the one time I did research and cut out corn/potatoes gluten etc and lost 10lbs FAST……and a year or so later I added that all back in. ;-( I forgot about it. I never will again. NOT EVERY WOMAN HAS INSULIN PROBLEMS but– if you are that woman who cannot lose weight— you — I’m telling you- you’d be crazy to not consider RUNNING DOWN THIS PATH. Grab my hand, I’ll run with you and be your guide. I know this can change your life like it did mine. WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE ABOUT INSULIN RESISTANCE AND KETO AND SUCH? HOW CAN I HELP?

    But Wait, There's MORE!!

    BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

    If you found this post helpful, you’ll probably like these as well: How Can A REVERSE DIETING PLAN Help With Weight Loss? CLICK HERE.  How to Reverse Insulin Resistance Naturally. CLICK HERE.  How to lose weight after 40. CLICK HERE.  To get my FREE Keto Kwik Start Guide– CLICK HERE
    bit.ly/KellysKetoKwikStart

    Also– join my FREE Facebook group- A YEAR OF YOU FIRST where I’ll be hosting weekly Facebook Lives with Q&A and giveaways and more: CLICK HERE. 

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  • KETO, Personal Blog, WEIGHT LOSS

    Eating 1200 Calories and NOT Losing Weight? Here’s Why.

    Still eating 1200 Calories and not losing weight? Read on to learn why.

    eating 1200 calories and not losing weight

    If you are eating 1200 calories and not losing weight, I understand why you are frustrated. You’ve probably been told that eating 1200 calories and not losing weight is not possible– you must be doing something wrong. You’ve probably told yourself you need to add more cardio. You’ve probably thought about even cutting those calories lower- am I right?  DON’T! If you are eating 1200 calories and not losing weight, there is a reason! Based on what I’ve learned, 1200 calories is TYPICALLY too low for most women ESPECIALLY if you are working out in addition to eating 1200 calories. Where this idea came from about the 1200 calorie a day diet I don’t know- but use this blog post as your red flag. The reason you are eating 1200 calories and not losing weight is because you are likely undereating and overtraining like I did for years — you PROBABLY. need to slowly up your calories through a reverse diet (I suggest you do this through a qualified trainer….I recommend Alex Mazzurco who I used– you can inquire with her here) and heal your body. You’ll be surprised how your body will recover and rebound when it is FUELED!! We’ll get into that later in this post. Just know that LIKE YOU– I too was once eating 1200 calories and not losing weight. I too was frustrated and angry. But I learned why it wasn’t working. In this post I’ll share what I’ve learned has worked and how I have now transformed my body at age 52 and recently lost 24 inches and 18+ pounds and am still losing and will likely hit. my goal weight of 138 in the next month or so! EASILY– the way it should be. Weight loss should be a death sentence and 1200 calories a day is close to it. Let’s dive in and learn why 1200 calorie a day diets are not a good idea anymore, shall we? 

    1200 Calorie Diet

    Why you are eating 1200 calories and not losing weight.

    Before we go any further, I want to say that I’m writing this post from MY EXPERIENCE. Everything here is written in my OPINION. I’m not writing this as if this is in medical journal– this is my opinion based on a lot of reading and data and information from trainers and doctors– so you do with it what you will, my goal is always to help you make better informed decisions, not to suggest that I am the only right perspective out there. 

    The reason you are (probably) eating 1200 calories and not losing weight is– if you are like I was for years– you are probably UNDEREATING (1200 calories is incredibly low, that’s the lowest anyone should go for daily caloric intake) and OVERTRAINING. 

    If you are exercising daily 4-6x a week and burning even 200-250 calories, you are overdoing it and your body is in WTH mode. 

    Whether you call it “starvation mode” or cortisol-is-getting-jacked-up mode or whatever, things are NOT GOOD. Your body is not being taken care of…..and ultimately, IT WILL FIGHT YOU BACK. 

    You’ll start to gain weight around your middle. That’s the cortisol/stress reaction. It happened to me. Your body and your mind are STRESSED THE HELL OUT that you are so active and UNDERFED and then — you are probably wigging out every day WORRYING ABOUT YOUR WEIGHT– so you are adding extra anxiety– and THAT is affecting your cortisol. This becomes a hurricane of bad hormonal activity underneath the skin. 

    If you add in anything else like taking antibiotics, birth control pills, anti-depressants, or any other kinds of prescribed drugs….that plus any kinds of fake foods with bad chemicals…..that plus all the lovely environmental factors affecting our hormones….you’ve got a tsunami of madness going on preventing your body from performing as it should. 

    Crazy right? IT ALL ADDS UP. But see, this is the BIG PICTURE stuff that we all don’t think about — for years I ONLY thought about my workouts and my calories. 

    It took me years to understand the “bigger picture” part of things…..how much my anxiety and my STRESSING OUT ABOUT MY BODY and losing weight was ADDING TO THE PROBLEM and jacking up my cortisol and messing up my hormones. I didn’t realize that because I was on The Pill and Spironolactone, my testosterone was suppressed and that was making it very hard to lose fat. I didn’t know that all the antibiotics I was on were creating a nightmare in my gut. I didn’t realize that 2 hours of training a day was overtraining. I didn’t realize how much of a binge eater I had become. I didn’t realize a LOT. I hope that by sharing here– I help a lot of YOU wake up. The more we talk about these things the more we can get past them. 

    The bottom line is this– starving ourselves or close to it and overtraining and being obsessive about our weight loss is a road to destroying our health. I was DESTRUCTIVE to my body for years and had to UNDO a lot…..I want to SAVE YOU TIME!! Don’t make the mistakes I did! Stop eating too little! Eat more! Lift heavy- focus on rest and recovery and self-care…..you’d be amazed what that will do for you. 

    In my future blog posts, I will go into greater detail on what that looks like. In other words– how do we get away from this diet culture that’s been around for decades of 1200 calorie diets (there is nothing wrong with a diet ok??) and get to a place where we respect and understand our bodies more and give ourselves more GRACE and TIME and understanding and stop the whole COMPARISON thing…..these are all lessons I have learned and practices I’ve adapted that have helped me tremendously in my “new” life. 

    I’m not the overwhelmingly insecure woman I was 3 years ago. I’m happy to share how I got here. So be sure you are subscribed– I’d love to take you with me. 

    Tell me where you are right now– are you currently dieting and eating a really calorically LOW diet? Does it freak you out the idea of a reverse diet and healing? Or do you know that’s what you need? What questions can I answer? Let’s stop treating ourselves like crap and running ourselves in the ground all for the sake of losing weight. Fitness is supposed to be FUN. I’m losing weight now and — I’m eating foods I LOVE, enjoying adult beverages, working out actually less than ever, loving my life and feeling GREAT..this is how it should be!! No more feeling dead to the world and stressed out all the time! Cheers to that!!! 

    1200 Calories Meal Plan

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    But Wait There's MORE!

    BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

    If you enjoyed this post — it’s highly likely you’ll want to check out these ones as well. I recommend the following: Why I Said NO to the 75 Hard Challenge: CLICK HERE. And How to Lose Weight After Age 40 CLICK HERE. And My KETO Transformation CLICK HERE. See you soon! 

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