Full Figured Tips From Deborah Gregory!

Hey Beautifuls!

Tilane Jones here, just stopping by from UrbanBeautyCollective.com. I wanted to give you some goodies from our recent exclusive blog post from award winning author, Deborah Gregory. The fabulous Ms. Gregory is the author/creator of THE CHEETAH GIRLS and CATWALK (Delacorte Press). CATWALK: STRIKE A POSE , the second novel in her purrlicious new fashion-forward tween teen series, pounces on book shelves September 8th and has been optioned by the TEEN NICK network for TV series development.

As a former fashion model, Deborah shares some plus size tips and favorites. Check out her advice below.

PURRLICIOUS AND PLUS SIZE, PUHLEESE!

“Yesterday, I was plopped on the quaint wrought iron bench outside of my favorite Bagel Shop on First Avenue in Manny Hanny (that’s New York to non-fashionistas) with my pooch, Cappuccino, relishing a tasty turkey burger bagel dripping with chipotle sauce. Sarah, one of the ubiquitous neighborhood “bench warmers” who indulges in the same morning ritual-sans the bagel or coffee (actually, the only thing I’ve ever seen her consume with gusto is gossip), turned to me and chirpily commented, “You look like you’ve lost weight!’

The truth is, I have been on a diet for the past seven weeks-my first in three years. I hadn’t planned on embarking on the pound-reduction plan until I hit bottom with a resounding thud-literally. Seven weeks ago, I was running errands, climbing out of the danky underground with my hefty shopping bags so slowly that the agitation from the agile, impatient ones behind me was so palpable it raised the (real) hairs on the back of my neck. “Keep it moving, BIG girl!” shrieked one of the limber losers. Given my agitation at being singled out for slowness it’s not surprising that I became distracted, lost my footing and tumbled to the bottom like Alice in Wonderland disappearing in the rabbit hole. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt, but the fall from grace woke me from a deep slumber.

See, I’ve been a fashionable plus size person for twenty years-after having spent the previous years as a five-foot-eleven-inch, 130-pound slenderella who even modeled, for one memorable year, in Europe. In my opinion, the transition from slim to sizeable was, well, seamless. Sure, I had less dates-but frankly, I needed the rest, okay and I’m looking for quality not quantity. But that morning, I faced a hard truth-no way would I be comfortable being physically debilitated because of my size and clearly that was the direction I was moving into. That day, I started my ad hoc diet then (basically three meals a day and one snack). Four weeks later, I weighed myself and was shocked to see that I weighed 285 pounds-and that’s after four weeks of dieting-which means I was teetering close to 300 pounds and didn’t even realize it!

As the saying goes, too much of a good thing is exactly that. So I shared this truth with Sarah and revealed my goal weight: 185 pounds. She looked at me in disapproval. “If you weighed 130 pounds when you were a model, why not go back to that size? You would look fabulous,” she coaxed me.

I answered her truthfully: “Because I don’t want to ever weigh 130 pounds again!” I honestly, truthfully, want to weigh 185 pounds-not a pound less! Sarah was reticent about my decision, but I’m not. After having been thin and obese, I can honestly say, I want to be purrlicious and plus size, puhleese!

At the moment I’m a size 22 and weigh 275 pounds-and I’m 90 pounds away from my goal weight, but still completely interested in looking fabulous. As a matter of fact, I have just received my box of fall clothes from London, England that I ordered from my absolutely favorite designer in the whole world: Anna Scholz. If you don’t know who that designer is, do yourself a favor and check out her website: www.annascholz.com. After having worn her clothes for ten years, I can tell you this: buy less and pay more and it will pay off in fashion dividends. What I ordered for fall: 1. A pair of fabulous black fitted crepe slacks with a flared bell bottom. 2. A pink and black boucle wool singled breasted coat. 3. A long burgundy t-shirt with a black bull dog wearing a rhinestone choker! And the piece de resistance: a matching long scarf! 4. A black satin double-breasted trench coat with ruffled edges. 5. A black pullover sweater with puffed sleeves accented with pink hearts. Meowch, indeed! The one thing I have learned from my weight journey from 130 pounds to almost 300 pounds….”

Click here to finish Deborah Gregory’s exclusive blog post.

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Until then, stay beautiful, sisters…

Tilane Jones, Managing Editor, www.UrbanBeautyCollective.com