Thursday’s Workwear Report: Pleated Midi Skirt
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
A midi-length pleated skirt is a go-to for me this time of year, and I have been looking for something in this beige-y color to wear with all of the chocolate brown tops I’ve been buying.
The skirt is unlined, so I’ll probably be pairing it with a slip, both for coverage and because I’m a magnet for static electricity in the winter. (I have a collection of Jockey slips I’ve been wearing for years and years, but this one from Dillard’s specifically advertises itself as an antistatic slip and I’m intrigued.)
The skirt is $88.97 at Nordstrom Rack and comes in sizes XS-XXL. It’s also available in black.
Sales of note for 10/16
- Ann Taylor – 50% off + free shipping on everything!
- Brooklinen – Friends & Family – 20% off sitewide and 50% off select bundles
- J.Crew – Extra 50% off 3+ sale styles with code – includes lots of suiting, sweaters, and pants
- J.Crew Factory – Friends & Family, extra 15% off your purchase
- M.M.LaFleur – October Sale Event, best prices of the season (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
- Nordstrom – 5840+ new markdowns for women, up to 40% off
- Talbots – Friends and family, 30% off your entire purchase
- Theory – End of season sale is on with extra savings (new prices are marked)
Can someone explain Anine Bing to me? Is it one of those IKYKY brands among the cool / influencer kids? It seems so expensive and I am just tired of trying more mail-orderable clothes. I am more likely to mail order if actual stores carry the brand (e.g., you can get some Farm Rio at Nordstrom or similar department stores, even if our store doesn’t stock it; that way, there are some reviews and somewhere it is worthy of floor space devoted to it).
Commonly worn by sorority girls on campus, so you’re correct.
That’s a bummer–I thought of Anine Bing as a brand for adults.
I have 2 sweatshirts and 2 t-shirts. My impression of both is that they provide that sort of “lived in” feel and aesthetic but it’s not revolutionary by any means. I got mine from Bloomingdales when they were having a 25% off, and they sometimes have 40-60% off specific items. The t-shirt are very thin, drapey material. It’s like the luck of finding that perfect cozy piece at a thrift shop but it’s every time with nice graphics.
It seems very young to me. I also see the sorority girls wearing it.
It must be one of those brands the sorority girls appropriated from their moms, just like Goyard and Veja. All of this stuff was being hawked by 40-something influencers a few years back.
I changed size last year sometime and I’m realizing that I don’t fit in my prior colder weather clothes. My new casual clothes are cheap and hopefully temporary. But I need a really sharp outfit for an upcoming work event where former-colleagues-now-clients will be at and I want to look competent and professional. I’m willing to spend Me & Em $ on one outfit (figuring if I need to get it taken in, it will be worth the $ to do so and in the meantime, I will actually wear it). Help me pick! Likely a size 10-12. I’d prefer a midi dress (not mini or full length, unless their mini dresses would be knee length on someone who is 5 feet 4 inches).
What’s the event and dressiness level? (I’m confused by the mention of full-length or mini dresses—those options usually are only worn at a gala or something, not a conference or board meeting or something. )
I think that is just how the site sorts dresses.
I really like the following options from the me&em website. I took a quick look at Nordstrom, but found every option in that $200-300 range too casual.
https://www.meandem.com/int/stripe-tweed-midi-dress-red-multi
https://www.meandem.com/int/lurex-boucle-jersey-midi-dress-black
https://www.meandem.com/int/button-front-maxi-shift-dress-black
These are all great picks!
I need all of these. They’re gorgeous.
I seriously love their stuff. I wish it were cheaper!
Kind of similar at Boden: https://us.boden.com/products/women-etta-piping-detail-ponte-dress-dark-cherry-navy-d1815pnt
Beautiful but none of these are in materials that do well being taken in.
Can anyone recommend a pleated skirt like this that comes in a petite length, i.e. would actually be midi length on a 5’2″ person?
Oh man I hope someone can chime in. I’m so tired of rolling the waist band of my skirt to make it shorter like I’m in my HS uniform.
I’m 5’2″ and like mine from Grace Karin (Amazon brand).
Getting skirts hemmed is $$$.
Yesterday’s mouth breathing discussion make me think about this…. I’m 32 and have always been a mouth breather, especially when exercising. I don’t have a deviated septum, but I do have a very small mouth. I also snore, but have gotten a sleep test and do not have sleep apnea. But I often wake up tired even after a full night’s rest. The biggest thing I think mouth breathing has done to me, is that I have a mildly recessed chin and no real jawline to speak of, which I am very insecure about. It doesn’t inhibit my bite patterns, and no doctor has ever brought up any ways to improve this or even any concerns. Is there anything that could improve it at this point in my life? Jaw surgery is probably out of the question, but I’m not sure there’s anything else you can do at this age…
Is the chin and jawline because of the mouth breathing? Or maybe that’s a cause of it.
As one of the mouth breathers that commiserated on that thread yesterday, I feel you.
I don’t think the chin and jawline issues are caused by mouth breathing. It’s just genetics. Everyone in my family has a receding chin, and none of us are mouth breathers. It can be ameliorated by very aggressive orthodonture if you catch it by age 10-12.
It’s like someone else embodied me and wrote this post . . .
I have talked to many people and the only real suggestion was a huge jaw surgery with like six weeks of eating out of a straw. Ugh.
people meaning doctors
Depending on your personal case there can be some gains in jaw/palate size with braces. not huge gains, maximum like 1 cm and will certainly not fix the issue but can improve.
Myofunctional therapy can really help to train you to breathe properly too, but it’s harder to train yourself if you have bad anatomy.
One other thing. Surprisingly, my insurance would actually cover the jaw surgery! I was shocked. But then I decided I couldn’t really swing that kind of surgery anyway.
Me too! I spoke to my dentist about an expander, like my daughter had before braces in middle school, and he said that’s not an option for an adult.
Correct. For adults they need to IMPLANT metal into the palate to attach an expander, then you will feel when it CRACKS OPEN. Children’s palate isn’t fused yet so there is no bone cracking involved hence why the appliance can be attached to the teeth.
You people keep saying this. I had an expander as an adult that you could take out, you used a key once a week, and it definitely expanded my jaw. This was only a few years ago when I was in my late 30s.
That’s really dangerous for your teeth and not recommended
A neurologist specializing in sleep can let you do an in-home or in-site sleep study and see if you might be a CPAP candidate if apnea is why you might be tired. IMO apnea isn’t so much associated with mouth breathing as it is your tongue falling back and causing snoring respirations / apnic events, most commonly associated with sleeping on your back. If you don’t want to go to the CPAP route, there is an in-mouth appliance you can wear when you sleep that might also work. But the CPAP dudes I have talked to described switching to the CPAP as nothing short of life changing for them.
I recently paid $2,000 for a custom oral appliance to treat sleep apnea, and it is like a medieval torture device, causing me tooth pain after just a few hours of wear, despite multiple adjustments by the dentist. I think this device is way overhyped (because pretty much anything sounds appealing compared to a CPAP) and dentists are happy to sell it! Just a warning, although I’m sure it works for SOME people.
You can look into it with a specialist, but it’s also valid to gather the data/research/opinions and decide to accept yourself the way you are. I think we all have multiple things about ourselves that we wish were different or that don’t fit the ideal.
Yes, there are some interventions for other issues that I’ve decided not to pursue.
Generally I don’t like getting a feeling that people want to sort of bully me into going under the knife even if they mean well! Usually there’s at least some risk that something could go wrong that would be only my problem to live with.
It’s also fine to take the risks and go for what we want, but for me it has to be something I want, not just something other people want for me.
Not who you’re responding to but I feel you. I have struggled with various breathing problems my whole life and no one has mentioned my breathing beyond my freshman year roommate who said the snoring improved after my tonsils were removed.
Still I hate knowing that there are people just FUMING at me because of the way I breathe. Almost bragging about how noises could trigger them with actual rage because they’re so perfect and never had to struggle with asthma or allergies or anything. Like my very existence, the thing I need to do to stay alive is so unacceptable to them that it would inspire rage. When they talk about “oh someone breathing wrong fills me with rage.” Like, hi that actually makes you the jerk. Maybe it’s shouldn’t be so socially acceptable to hate other people for less than perfect breathing.
Most of these people think it’s just bad manners. They think we could breathe (or chew and swallow) more discretely, but that we are just rude and inconsiderate and weren’t raised right, and are obstinately refusing to do better. Meanwhile we have to breathe, drink, and eat just to stay alive and function.
Yeah I get that. And it’s like…no one wants to be a mouth breather so why be hateful? That whole thing about childhood abuse seems like just a way to call people trash for things they really can’t help.
I really would love if these people, who imagine that they move through the world so perfectly, would get a taste of their own medicine. Maybe we think you walk funny or your teeth make us cringe but we don’t get to pretend it’s an ok thing to hate you for.
I bought the tape you put over your mouth and more or less trained myself to breathe through my nose.
I haven’t done the mouth tape thing but a couple years ago I made a real effort to breathe better and did a lot of breath work practice and now don’t really mouth breathe. I also stopped snoring
I know there are women here from immigrant families… Is anyone from a culture where the children stay with their parents as adults until they are married?
I’ve been very close friends with an immigrant family for five years. When they first arrived, they were full of optimism and excited to adopt American customs, but life is a brutal for an immigrant, and that optimism has disappeared and been replaced with a bitterness. And so much anxiety. The dad has begun insisting that all his children will be doctors, will have arranged marriages, and will live with him for his entire life. Very firmly old country and not a trace of individual freedom for the children.
The oldest son – a high school sophomore – wants to be an Air Force pilot, but the father has planned out his whole life – chosen a local college, medical school, and hospital for him to practice at. The father supported the son’s dreams of being a pilot when he arrived, but no longer. He used to support his wife’s dreams of being a midwife, not no longer and she is a miserably unhappy, profoundly depressed SAHM.
I’m heartbroken for this family. I know America means the freedom to be who you want to be – and if you want to be a despot from the old country, then that’s America. The father just told me I’m welcome to visit any time, but not if I say anything to separate him from his children. So no encouraging the children to follow their interests, to find colleges that interest them, to help the mom find online English classes. I’m upset and don’t really know what I’m asking. Does someone have some experience where the rigid father doesn’t get what he wants and the children go out on their own and live their lives and have freedom? I feel like life is over for the mom and there’s no hope of her living her dreams 😭
My best friend is in this situation. She’s on and off no-contact with her dad. She has a secret healthy relationship with her mom. She’s a dentist (mine infact!) and so good at her job, living her best life in a fancy city condo as a childfree cat lady. Funnily enough her dad is more upset about the cat than moving out, but in general disapproves of all her life choices even though she’s killing it.
This story is familiar for lots of immigrant families over the centuries. America can be difficult for the first generation and not everyone gets to pursue their dreams. That’s true also for families here for many generations.
Unless he’s imprisoning them, the kids need to find their courage. That’s also a part of the American story.
They’ll figure it out.
+1. There are several families who have lived out this story among my family and friends in my immigrant community (for context, my husband and I are immigrants from different countries, so this is a multicultural immigrant community and not specific to one culture). Most of their kids ultimately decided not to follow the plan of their parents, and most of them have successful lives as adults. A few kids who did stick with it really didn’t do well; in hindsight, they were staying out of lack of confidence, not out of love and duty, and they did not end up in the medical schools (or equivalents) that their parents wanted. It’s a tale as old as time, and people just have to figure out their way.
Yup.
Also it doesn’t only happen to recent immigrants, although it’s more common in those communities. My husband has a friend whose ancestors came on the Mayflower (literally) and he’s spent his whole adult life miserable and unambitious because his parents decided he would take over a family business he had no interest in and he didn’t have the courage to stand up to them.
I don’t think there’s much you can do, unfortunately, but hopefully the kids figure it out.
I know you care a lot, but it sounds like you need to let this family determine it’s own path. The kids need to fight their own battles and decide how much of American culture they want to embrace. Maybe the mom really is depressed and feels lost, but maybe you are also putting your own career-driven lens on this situation, thinking it’s “over for her” if she can’t become a midwife. Her life still has value and meaning as the mother of her family.
This is literally a tale as old as time. The beauty of America is that they can leave and society isn’t structured in a way to make that prohibitively difficult/impossible. People can sometimes cling/revert to traditions when overwhelmed by new ones. Sometimes they get over it, sometimes they don’t. You don’t have to do anything in this situation other than be yourself, which will be example enough.
Also, I say this kindly – but your tone reads as a little condescending toward this family. His wife and kids have agency, he may have reasons for encouraging the path he is encouraging, even if he’s a controlling a-hole, it’s not like that’s unique to immigrant families. Let them work it out. It’s not your job to come in and encourage these people to do anything specific. They go to school, they leave the house, they have access to whatever they need.
It read condescending/white savior to me as well. Let them live their lives.
+1
Maybe focus on the father a little – is there some way to help him, get him more involved with local groups, so he will maybe lighten up a little on the old country attitudes? Would he accept English tutoring with his wife, on the premise that it will help him do what he wants to do?
I don’t love that to help women, we have to Fix the Men, but it might be an approach to consider.
She should stay out of it, this isn’t going to help a thing. Respect that people have different approaches to life.
Are these people your friends?Please forgive me if this is out of line but it seems like you’ve taken upon yourself to be some kind of ambassador for their assimilation and that’s probably not thing you should put on yourself even if you’re a wonderful well meaning person, which it sounds like you are. Realistically you know that every family and every person’s immigrant experience is different and you cannot do much more then be a good friend to these people if that’s what you are.
From prior posts, I think it’s a refugee family that she was providing aid for and helping to get settled in the US.
It’s really not any of your business, honestly.
This sounds like an abusive situation and I’m very surprised at the responses so far vs the ones from the other day about the intense spouse fight. I would offer resources to the mother in a discrete way and let her know she doesn’t have to live like this.
yes i am surprised people aren’t up in arms that the mom isn’t allowed to pursue english classes?!? like that is a form of control/abuse.
Some of you really love using that word.
The difference is the advice yesterday was to the spouse and the advice today is to a friend (? neighbor? acquaintance?) of the family. There’s a threshold question of whether OP should be involving herself in this at all.
I mean, unless OP is going to financially support the mom, she does have to live this way until her children are earning money and can take her in.
Dad having all these plans doesn’t mean reality will bend to his will.
I am from an immigrant family and the kids will figure it out! My sibling and I did become a lawyer and doctor, respectively, but one other sibling is a failure to launch and the other is a SAHM. Parents were one track mind that everyone was going to law school or med school. Once we all got to college and beyond, we found our own path.
I think you need to stay out of it, honestly. This is a family issue, not your issue.
Is this specifically an immigrant/culture issue? I could see something similar play out in an ultraconservative, perhaps rural family.
Oh yes, because ultraconservative rural families often insist their children grow up to be doctors and lawyers :)
Mine certainly did. They somehow believed our small town doctor would be happy to take on an apprentice (with just a homeschool background) who could take over the practice once he retired. Really shook them when I went to a secular college for an actual STEM degree, with no intention of becoming either a physician or a lawyer.
It’s not specifically about being a doctor or a lawyer. Insisting your kids be X will mess them up if they don’t want to be X. The issue is trying to take away the child’s choice. And yes, lots of white families who have been in the US for generations do this too.
One of my college friends had an immigrant father that was super rigid about her choice of profession. She ended up estranged from him for a few years post-college, then went to grad school for a different profession and did very well. I think the best you can do in this kind of situation is stay open and available to the family members if they want your assistance.
Hopefully a fun question… do you have any unexpected wardrobe worshorses, that you bought on a whim/with low expectations, but it turns out you wear them all the time? Will post my response as a comment below
I once bought an embroidered Chinese bag at a gift shop at Animal Kingdom at WDW. I did not carry it for a long time, maybe a year or two, and then I used it for something and people would fell all over themselves complimenting it. On more than one occasion, I got compliments from Starbucks employees who saw it on the passenger’s seat next to me. Literally, every time I carried it, someone complimented it. I finally threw it out because it was falling apart. I have searched everywhere for a good replacement and have not found anything but cheaper, far less beautiful versions.
A r-dom linen three-quarter sleeve tee that I bought a decade ago has proven so perfect for air travel to warm destinations — somehow it is the perfect weight to guard against excessive plane AC, but breathable for humid arrivals — that it is now a running joke whenever I send a “we’re on the plane!” selfie to someone I will be wearing the same tee!
A pair of hiking pants from Kuhl that are perfect for travel and my casual lifestyle. I wear them almost exclusively and found another pair on eBay after they were discontinued. They are my holy grail – fit the waist and the larger butt/thighs, the inseam/crotch fits perfectly, they have articulated knees, they look nice enough to wear out when needed, and the condition is still pretty dang good after 9 years of HEAVY wear, including on backpacking and river trips. I’ll be so sad when my last pair gives up the ghost.
I had those same pants and found several Duluth options that worked very nicely as replacements!
Links please??
Pick your fave leg shape in the Dry-on-the-fly or Flexpedition lines!
Here are a couple of versions to browse:
https://www.duluthtrading.com/womens-dry-on-the-fly-bootcut-pants-46708.html?color=SMQ&queryID=f2df630e402b015bfeb28b7b49d68ca0
https://www.duluthtrading.com/womens-flexpedition-slim-leg-pants-95703.html?color=DGY&queryID=b8758c6d4fdd93e6044e82ed4fb07f42
Pink leather sneakers. Bought impulsive while drinking champs in a fancy store, but have worked in so many situations that I don’t want to wear heels.
link pls
They are from Hogan. Lots of fun colors if pink doesn’t strike your fancy. Comfort and quality is on-par with golden goose, but at GG prices from 10 years ago.
Wow love those.
I impulse-bought an olive green leather handbag with burnt orange accents over the summer. It sounds hideous and as I was buying it, I was kind of thinking, “this is fugly but weirdly appealing.”
Well, it goes with everything I own. People compliment it almost every time I use it. It fits exactly what I need it to fit.
Is anyone taking non-hormonal meds for treating hot flashes, like Veozah? My hot flashes aren’t terrible but they are consistently happening and I’m wondering if treating them is worth it. Taking tamoxifen so I can’t take HRT but really reluctant to add another medication and deal with any side effects.
Is anyone here dealing with high cholesterol and have words of wisdom to share?
My lipoprotein A is in the 260s so doctor says it’s genetic and lifestyle won’t really fix it. I have been a vegetarian for 25 years, eat mostly healthy, exercise sometimes, don’t smoke and rarely have a drink or two. I have always been in the healthy BMI range (recognizing the limitations of that metric). I’m in my early 40s and have a family history of heart attacks in the 40s-50s for men and 60s-70s for women.
Doctor is putting me on a statin and advised to continue healthy lifestyle. I’ve added more fiber to my diet and cut out sugar. I’m still feeling very anxious about it all. I have young kids and don’t want to leave them before they are grown.
My advice is to listen to your doctor when they say it is genetic and you cannot fix with lifestyle. Make peace with that. I’ve known too many people that have almost gone to full blown ED lengths in an an attempt to fix it with a healthier diet, only to learn that the meds are the real answer. So, good to recognize, take the meds and you are already doing the right things.
This
Agree. My husband is one of those people who has a strong genetic component. Diet certainly helps, but it is never going to totally fix it. Considering his dad had his first heart attack at age 38, it’s not something we’re messing around with.
Same.
Agree. My husband didn’t want to go on statins, but his doctor finally convinced him that he had made impressive work of implementing all the recommended exercise, diet, and lifestyle changes but his numbers were just not responding as much as needed. The statins were necessary to get him out of the danger zone.
Let the statins take care of it! I’m also pretty healthy and have a genetic predisposition for high cholesterol (and Gilbert’s, had my gallbladder removed at 25). Statins brought my levels down in a month, with no discernible side effects.
There are several meds in the pipeline for lowering lipoprotein A, so hang in there!
https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/lipoproteina-an-update-on-testing-and-treatment
Cutting dairy will do more than cutting sugar.
This must vary individually, because the opposite was true for me.
Completely backwards.
Try keeping a food journal, if only for a few weeks. It can help illuminate what “mostly healthy” actually looks like and small changes that can help. For example, I decided to limit my coffee intake to just on the weekends and to switch out my breakfast cereal to more high fiber/low sugar options.
Look into L-carnitine. When my parents were vegetarian, docs recommended it to help with cholesterol since they would not be getting enough through their diet.
Good luck!
Take the statin, that’s what it’s for, you’re already doing everything right.
I also have high cholesterol that’s genetic and totally unresponsive to lifestyle changes (and I tried a few versions!), and the answer has been statins.
Seriously, this.
By the time I married into my husband’s family, he was the only man left. The older ones had all up and died before reaching a ripe old age from heart attacks. I’ve only ever met female relatives.
Look up high cholesterol and perimenopause. The short version is that perimenopause can cause an increase in LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides as estrogen levels decline. Based on your age, this could be a component of what’s happening in your body.
Lipoprotein A is not impacted at all by lifestyle choices. It’s genetic, like your eye color. The current recommendation is to check it only once during your lifetime because it ain’t never going to change (failing new drug developments)! Trying to lower it with lifestyle choices will drive you mad. If it’s elevated, that’s an indication to pay closer attention to the factors that you *can* modify, which it sounds like you’re already doing. You don’t mention the rest of your cholesterol profile (HDL, LDL, VLDL, triglycerides) or your blood sugar/A1c, all of which you have much more control over. Give yourself a ton of credit for facing this in your early 40s, when there’s lots of time to protect your heart.
Anyone have favorite holiday cookie recipes to share? I’d love some new options for my baking this year.
I’m not really a baker, but I like Sally’s Baking Addiction gingerbread cookies. It’s forgiving enough that my kids can make it with me.
I love those chocolate crinkle cookies at the holidays. They’re very nostalgic for me, as are gingerbread cutouts and sugar cookie cutouts.
In general, you can’t go wrong with Sally’s cookie recipes. Every November or December, she does a cookie countdown with a new recipe every day. The exception is her cutout sugar cookie recipe. I’m not a huge fan of that one and prefer my own, though the frostings are solid.
i like her cutout sugar cookie recipe. i also really really like her m&m bars and they are super easy to make
Smitten kitchen has easy roll out sugar cookies that I use every year for cutting out shapes and decorating. For fancier cookies, Claire Saffitz’s brown butter chocolate chip cookies are labor intensive but really good, and can look extra impressive if you get those chocolate discs instead of chips.
NYT’s Mexican hot chocolate cookies. Mix the dough with clean hands (it’s very dry), wrap the room temperature dough around the marshmallows, freeze, and bake the frozen balls whenever you feel like it.
I’ve been making these almond thumbprint cookies for years and they’re always a hit: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/thumbprint-cookies/1852da77-2cff-4e8d-92ca-f745d626eb8f
Fun question! Some of the recipes that have made it into my rotation:
– Eggnog Frosted Chai Snickerdoodle Snowmen by half baked harvest (i quit doing the snowmen assembly and just do them as round cookies). Alison roman on NYTcooking salted chocolate chunk shortbread. Sallys baking additiction Cranberry Orange Icebox Cookies and Butterscotch Toffee Chocolate Fudge Cookies
I have been looking for a good wedding cookie/russian tea cake recipe so if anyone has one they like please share.
Bon Appétit’s triple ginger cookies. Chewy with a nice crust from rolling them in sugar (I use raw sugar for this). So, so good.
Washington Post nutella thumbprint cookies. Make them small, they are rich!
After many attempts of doing it on my own, I’m seriously considering a GLP-1. My weight keeps creeping upwards now that I’m in my 40s, and I am not feeling good in my body at all. I’m about 20-25 pounds overweight and my pants are getting tighter. Again. I have exercised and eaten well the whole time I’ve been on this trajectory. I’m considering going through an online option like Noom or Hers because I am very embarrassed that I haven’t been able to lose weight on my own and don’t want to have this conversation with any of my doctors. Good idea? Bad?
Talk to your doctor who knows your medical history. It’s a horrible idea to start a medication without proper guidance.
+1
Seems like something your real doctor should know about anyhow so they have the full details in your chart.
A GLP from Ro has changed my life for the better. I wonder what more I would have accomplished in my life, or at least how much more joy I would have experienced, if I could have stopped obsessing about food and my body decades earlier. I was also afraid to talk to my doctor, which is sad. I recommend getting the brand name, which in my experience has been more effective than the compounded stuff.
I thought Ro was compounded? Is it cheaper than EliLilly direct? That’s what I’m currently on. Although I see they have the new Foundayo pill.
Nope, it’s brand name. I get wegovy from them.
just talk to your doctor! i was scared to talk to mine, but i did
I have followed this exact path and it has been great. I’ve lost 60lbs over the past year on Zepbound as prescribed by an online provider and feel better than I have in years. I go through LavenderSky health, which doesn’t have the same pricey subscription model that Hers or Noom use. I have to check-in with my provider on the site every 6 months or if I am requesting an increased dosage, but otherwise, I just handle it all myself.
Both my PCP and OB/GYN are aware that I’m on the medication, and despite a lot of the horror stories people who aren’t (and have never been) on GLP-1s, I haven’t turned into a muscle-less skeleton who has aged 30 years due to weight loss. My bloodwork looks great, my weight loss has been steady at about 1 lb/week, and I have now moved on to a maintenance dose.
I felt the same and did Ro online. Best thing ever. You still talk to a doctor through them, they aren’t judgy, you get your meds quickly and get started. Honestly, I see no difference between them and the care I get from OneMedical. Highly recommend just doing it online.
PS – I also wanted the actual brand not compounded, which they provide.
Ditto this. I started a couple months ago to address similar weight issues as OP. I wasn’t obese, but my weight had been creeping up consistently, and I was becoming very unhappy with how I looked and felt. I use Ro for name brand Zepbound, and it’s been a huge difference. I’m down about 15 pounds without thinking much about it (but feel like I look like I’ve lost more) and already am so much happier. The only downside has been price, since insurance doesn’t cover it for me.
I was in your shoes (except I have a lot more weight to lose) and my doctor was super understanding and happy to prescribe it for me! She said they’re great drugs that have been shown to have benefits beyond just weight loss. I’m glad I asked her about it.
I’m also considering it but we just can’t afford it. My husband is already on it and really needs to be – moderately overweight but with terrible genetics and lab work. I’m just a hair into the obese category and all my numbers are great, I’m active, etc. With the price of everything going up so much around us, we just can’t afford nearly $1000 a month out-of-pocket for these medications (not willing to try compounded versions) and they are not covered by our insurance – we’ve checked every possibility. Does anyone have any idea if the brand name drugs are expected to decline in price anytime soon?
Are you close enough to Canada or Mexico to buy there?
The oral version of Wegovy is much less expensive than that. I am on a low (maintenance) dose, and it is only $149/month at Costco without insurance. The higher doses are more expensive but still under $300/month.
Where are you seeing that rate? The cheapest I see on Costco’s website for Wegovy is $299.
It’s 149 at Ro plus their membership, but if you buy a year takes the total cost to 250/mo.
Lily direct is $450 a month.
My husband’s dose is $499 now, so for 2 people, that’s $900-1000 a month.
I’d at least schedule a visit with your doctor to let him/her know that you are going to be doing this. Like as part of an annual physical (where maybe they can get labs to help track how you are doing) and address issues like maintaining muscle. At best, they will be a partner and ally and assist you with in person things like bloodwork. Or they could be neutral, but not be caught flat-footed when you come in for an unrelated issue (flu shot, lingering cough, etc.) when you update your meds (which you should do — always be candid!). Sudden weight loss could get you flagged for cancer and if they know you are trying to lose weight, the discussion will go differently if they know about your meds.
Sudden weight loss does not flag you for cancer unless you’re all like “I’ve lost so much weight and I don’t know why!”
This place is the ONLY place where everyone insists that you’ll become a hollow skeleton within months and all your friends, family, and other physicians will be beside themselves with worry that you have cancer. That has absolutely not been the experience of the several people in my personal life who are on these medications.
Good medical care is hard to come by in my experience. My actual doctor didn’t like me using it for reasons she couldn’t articulate or elaborate on in a conversation that felt super judgmental. I later learned she’s a huge maha enthusiast and raw milk chugging idiot.
Enter Ro, who of course approved me. I’m 25 pounds down now at an officially healthy bmi. Someone will respond that am an ugly skeletal mess who looks like a cancer patient and probably deserves to die alone on the toilet for being lazy and stupid enough to try a glp one after my doctor expressed disapproval.
But here’s the thing missing in your post. You exercise and eat healthy, sure me too. But every single time I attempted a calorie deficit, tracking every bite, I was unsuccessful.
I don’t know what heck food noise is. It was hunger. Literal hunger that made food and fighting the urge to eat more the only thing I could think about. This was true with big deficits, small deficits, high protein, high fiber, high volume, non processed, low carb, making room for treats, cutting out all sugar, intermittent fasting, blood sugar stabilizing and every other way that I tried for decades.
The glp-1 is probably cheating. But I’m a whole different person. I can move on for the first time in my life to goals that dont involve my weight. I can’t be food shamed anymore. I can’t be body shamed. I think about my career, my family and other goals that don’t involve food and eating.
Looking back the effort to control my weight was the missing piece of why I fell short in so many other areas. I lost jobs and friendships because I just couldn’t put much effort into anything besides trying to control food. It was no wonder that the biggest failures were always tied to my lowest weights. The efforts it took to keep that weight down just took up all of my disciplinary bandwidth and a huge amount of my cognitive load. There were times when I attempted to just disregard my weight, stop with the deficit and try to eat normally. The weight piled on and I was told that body was unacceptable to my husband and my parents. The shaming never stopped, even if it was couched in concern or mimicked education it was constant.
I literally have no idea how other people manage to lose weight without a glp-1 and keep all the other plates spinning. Mine came crashing down every time. I just don’t need to worry about it anymore and I really can’t imagine ever going back. It’s such a huge burden lifted to not constantly worry about the calories or your body or food.
Amen to all of this.
There are similar vibes with breastfeeding lactivists. “You just need to put baby to the breast more, it’s supply and demand, mama!” They seem to have no conception that the same actions that worked easily for them (or even not so easily, but they ultimately worked) do. not. work. at. all. for other women. For many of you, you exercise and eat well and your weight is where you want it. For the rest of us, we exercise and eat well too and our weight stays elevated. I PROMISE you I’m doing the same things you’re doing. I have access to and use all the same workout apps, calorie apps, recipe books, and everything else. We do the same things and get different results.
Any favorite creamy paint colors for a living room or bedroom? We’ll paint swatches in our house but there are so many options that look identical on the paint wheel. I’m scared of it looking too white and unfinished.
It’s worth it to figure out if you want warm or cool before browsing color chips. Does your existing furniture, flooring, and window treatment scheme have a cohesive undertone?
My goal was “bathed in vanilla,” and the right color for this in my house was Benjamin Moore White Dove.
Sherwin-Williams has big stick-on samples of their most popular colors in the store. They are not free, but it is what finally helped us decide on a color. It also helped me to google that color and see it in real rooms. I know monitors, lighting, etc. are all different, but it still helped. We have used Alabaster White in two houses now. It looks super creamy going on but reads brighter once it’s on the walls.
You can get those from Samplize for a bunch of paint lines including SW, BM and FB.
Setting a plaster by Farrow & Ball, a pale beigy pink that is so flattering and a great backdrop for any color scheme.
https://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/best-white-gray-neutral-paint-colors
My favourite white that isn’t too white is Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace.
We have Sherwin Williams White Flour, which I’m very happy with – doesn’t come across too harsh and doesn’t clash with our honey and brown oak trim.
BM Swiss Coffee
if you have a tailor — how often do you go? what do take with you? how much do you pay for average things? I have a few things (including a dress with a fairly voluminous hem) that need to be shortened so I’m feeling like now is the time to make a relationship, and I’m daydreaming of having everything look great.
Mine is at my dry cleaner (I don’t actually recommend this, it just worked out for me that mine also employs a seamstress that does great work for my needs.) she mostly does hemming and taking the waist/butt in for my pants. She has also reduced the volume of the skirts on some of my dresses so there’s less flare.
I’m short so I have to get most pants and special occasion dresses hemmed. Sometimes I’ll take in the waist too. I mentally add the cost when deciding to buy something. Beyond that I only tailor if the item is a high quality staple. Most things I buy aren’t worth it.
Dry cleaner handles most minor mending. Tailor handles major alterations. Depends on the year but DH and I probably go a combined 2-3 times per year. She charges about $100-$200 cash per suit, but does fantastic work.