Ladies I Love: Cocktails, Confidence & Staying True to You with Skinny Hangover!
Hello hello!! I’m oh so excited to continue this week of Ladies I Love with Skinny Hangover! If you missed my last blog on the topic, I’ll summarize for you here again. This month I decided that I wanted to spread love to other women in the wellness community that I admire. I truly believe that the world would be such a better place if we all decided to empower each other just a little bit more, spread more kindness/positivity and a hell of a lot less judgment.
The four ladies that I’m showcasing for this feature are all women that I genuinely enjoy following on Instagram (follow her here), gain such value from and love as people as well, and of course, Olivia from Skinny Hangover is no exception to that!!
Olivia and I met on the gram (I consider her one of my IG besties, lol) and she is a go-to source for real, relatable wellness. I always am on the same page with pretty much everything that she shares and she has done an amazing job of so truthfully and authentically sharing her health journey and showing that you quite literally can always have your cake & eat it too! Olivia not only makes herself & her health a priority, but she does so while not sacrificing her life and all while balancing a 9-5! Learn more on how she got to where she is today in the interview – enjoy! xx
On Starting Skinny Hangover Blog & Filling in the Instagram Voids
Q: Hi Mrs. Skinny!! I’m so excited to do this with one of my IG soul sistas!! We’re always on the same page and I love it. Let’s start with your tagline on IG, because it’s clever AF & relatable on all levels: “Making the transition from stuffed crust to cauliflower crust one hangover at a time.” Tell us a bit about how you began on this journey & what inspired you to start Skinny Hangover.
A: I started Skinny Hangover in May of 2018, after yet another night out with friends where I drank way too many heavy sugary drinks, ate way too much greasy food and was left feeling so defeated the next morning. I literally thought “OMG I am so hungover I just want to be skinny”…voila!
I had started on the health hamster wheel and fallen off so many times from college (2011) to present day and was so sick of nothing sticking. I would be super diligent and committed for 4-5 days, but when the weekend hit I would throw it all away and “start again Monday”. I knew my wedding was coming up in September of 2018 and obviously I wanted to look good. Being the social-media millennial I am, I figured having an Instagram account where I could check in with myself daily would help keep me going. I think I had about 20 followers for the first few months and had no clue what I was doing.
Q: One thing I admire so much about your platform is your relatability. Your content is real, authentic and very much so non-BS. Were you inspired by what you felt was missing in this insane world of IG & social media? Because in my opinion, you serve up exactly what has been missing on the gram.
A: Totally. I was consuming a ton of wellness content online, but everyone I followed seemed to live this aspirational and unattainable life. They weren’t working 45+ hour weeks at a desk and going to bars with friends. They were spending $200 on workout gear and hanging out in fancy fitness studios all day, with maybe a cute glass of wine once a month. Their content was beautiful but it felt pretty far off from what I felt like I could apply to my own life.
So I created a place that felt real and authentic for the average girl to figure out how to get healthy, longterm!
I think it has resonated with girls in their 20’s or 30’s that were looking for the same thing I was.
On Confidence & Doing You, Always!
Q: One of the reasons I love Skinny Hangover is because you live a healthy life with zero sacrifice. You’ve spoken in the past about how to take the path of not beating yourself up if you don’t have a ‘perfect’ day or even a few days when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle and having absolutely no guilt. What are some tips on how we can always channel this mentality?
A: Without getting too preachy, I think we all need to give ourselves way more slack as women. Yes I know what is healthy and will eat that way most of the time but that doesn’t mean I have magically stopped craving tacos/pizza/candy. If I have a day where I do indulge, I’ve learned that what you do AFTER is the most important.
Acknowledge that you enjoyed a food (or foods) that you don’t normally eat and move on with a big glass of water, some light movement and make your next meal healthy but enjoyable.
Let’s say I let myself have a big warm bagel at the office on Bagel Day for breakfast. I don’t starve myself for lunch as punishment and I also don’t continue to binge for lunch and dinner because “the whole day is wasted”. I say “Damn that was a good bagel, but now I want a salad for lunch”. And I’m back on track. Easier said than done but it’s all about finding that balance that works for you.
Q: Speaking of being relatable and real, I feel as though you’re one of the most confident women on IG, and inspire women to do THEM. You do you, and what is best for you always with zero hesitation, which I absolutely love. Have you always been this confident, or did it take practice? And what advice would you give to someone who needs a bit of a confidence boost?
A:
Confidence is something you just have to fling yourself into until you feel it. Fake it til ya make it.
I was so scared to even speak on stories when I first started, let alone show my face or pose my body in workout clothes. But the more I do it the more I realize 1. Nobody is really even paying attention because they’re way too focused on themselves and 2. If somebody wants to talk about you, let them! It will only benefit you in the long run. I do what makes me happy and fuels me creatively.
Once you figure out what you love, don’t stop doing that thing!
On Cocktails & Self Love: What More Do We Need?!
Q: We couldn’t have Mrs. Skinny Hangover on the blog without a peek into your fave skinny cocktails!! What’s a good skinny cocktail to order for a GNO, that isn’t just your boring old vodka soda? Even though I’ve probs ordered about 1M of those in my days…LOL
A: Haha good question! I do love a glass of Pinot Grigio or Cab Sauv, but for cocktails when out I love either a skinny margarita (good tequila, lime juice, orange extract, liquid monk fruit, ice & sea salt) or the famous Healthy With Nedi Martini (vodka, muddled cucumber, muddled mint & fresh lime). Cheers!
Q: And finally, in the honor of the month of love & lifting ourselves, and other women up, what do you love about yourself?
A: I love my work ethic! Working a full time job in advertising that often exceeds well over 40 hours a week + the time commitment of the ‘gram is NO JOKE. I’m pretty proud of myself currently that I’m able to balance it all and still have a life outside of everything as well. Oh, and I like my hair! Haha
THANKS to Olivia from Skinny Hangover for coming on. It’s a breath of fresh air to have someone like her in the wellness space, always authentically sharing their truth and journey!! Now I’m off to go make a skinny marg, any day calls for a celebration right?! CHEERS!
xoxo
Alysia (Purely) Pope
PS, If you liked this interview, check out this one with my bestie Jordan from @dancing.for.donuts. We cover how she stated her social media consulting company (& where she found the confidence to do so) and so much more!
