What it's like to be a bestselling author and body image advocate

In our monthly series Working Girl Diaries, accomplished women with fascinating careers give us a peek into three days of their lives.

Body-positivity and fat-positivity are two important tenets of the HelloGiggles philosophy, and if anybody knows the importance of those ideologies, it’s Brittany Gibbons. The New York Times bestselling author of the memoir, Fat Girl Walking, Gibbons has returned with her highly-anticipated follow up memoir, Clothes Make The Girl (Look Fat)? In her new book, Gibbons delves into her love/hate relationship with fashion as a plus-size woman, all while discussing the emotional aspect of dressing as a fat woman and the role of fashion as a kind of armor.

Gibbons made a name for herself as a writer, model, body image advocate, and internet personality with her blog, Brittanyherself.com. She moderates the Facebook Community, The Curvy Girl Guide, and runs the digital media network Curvy Girl Media, where she hosts the podcast Girls Girls. On the podcast, Gibbons, co-host Meredith Soleau, and friends “talk about fashion, relationships, sex, parenting, and our bodies.”

Based in Ohio, Gibbons juggles her body-positive media empire while also being a devoted wife and mother to three young kids. Here are three days in her life!

Day 1

4 a.m.: I used to tell everyone that I was a morning person, but I was a liar. I am not a morning person; I’m a mid-ish morning person. But my husband Andy’s alarm argues otherwise, so until I sell him on this separate bedroom/duplex idea I have rolling around in my head, I use the “still sleeping, kids” time to answer emails in bed and watch the news.

6 a.m.: I am not sure at which age it clicks that brushing your teeth is, in fact, an everyday thing — but my kids are not there yet. I have one hour to pack lunches, find uniforms, negotiate breakfast, and get them out the door. I could be way more organized about all of this, but, you know, life.

8 a.m.: Do you hear that? Silence.

11 a.m.: My podcast partner, Meredith Soleau, comes over and we write this week’s podcast over lunch margaritas and tacos at the Mexican Cantina across the street from my house. Our table is a mess of guacamole, laptops, and glossy women’s magazines. The show gets funnier as lunch goes on.

12:30 p.m.: Meredith and I settle around the coffee table in my media room to record this week’s episode of our podcast, Girl’s Girls.

1:40 p.m.: I do a lot of my afternoon social media from the parking lot of my kids’ school. The car is warm, the seat heater is on, and I control the radio.

2 p.m.: I try to arrive to pick up everyday a little bit early. I am President of the Parent Club (crazy, I know) and I check in with the principal, check my mailbox, and go over any upcoming fundraising events with the secretary. We’re in the middle of planning our annual Adult Prom to help raise money for a new library and technology center. Convincing parents to put on fancy dresses and dance to ’80s and ’90s music all night is way easier than expected.

2:15 p.m.: My kids — Wyatt, Jude, and Gigi — greet me in the school hallway with a hug. Please never let that stop happening.

3 p.m.: The kids branch off to complete homework and I head into my home office to write. My second book came out the day after Christmas, and resting on my laurels lasts exactly one week before I’m back in the grind of working on another book. I’m laying out the outline and chapter break down of that right now.

5:45 p.m.: I meet my husband at basketball practice. He coaches our oldest (it’s so hot to watch him coach, you guys). The two boys take the court to practice basketball, our daughter heads to cheerleading practice, and I head to the bleachers to chat with my friends and take book notes on my phone.

7:30 p.m.: We gather our other friends with kids, and head out to a late post-practice dinner. The kids all sit at one end of the table, the adults at the other. We’re a party of 13 — I think hostesses groan when we walk in.

9 p.m.: The kids are tucked in and I head back to the office to write and moderate my Facebook Community, Curvy Girl Guide, for the next four hours.

Day 2

9 a.m.: We’re spoiled with late sleeping kids. The only reason they are even up is because I have to drag them out of bed for basketball games and cheerleading.

10 a.m.: We eat breakfast in the car. The kids — granola bars and yogurts. Me — some iced concoction from a drive-through that barely qualifies as actual coffee. I’m really trying to get into coffee; it’s been a slow process.

11 a.m.: Wyatt’s fifth grade team is victorious. He scored 12 points and I’ve never seen him beam this big. We gather our team friends and head out to grab burgers before the next set of games.

12 p.m.: We travel in packs, and I love the village we’ve built around our children. Three of the four dads in our group are coaches, and they huddle together at their end of the booth to rehash the game a few hundred times. I guiltlessly shoves fries doused with malt vinegar and salt into my mouth.

2 p.m.: Jude’s sixth grade team pulls in another win, Gigi rocked the top of the cheerleading pyramid, and my life is temporarily an upbeat Disney sports movie. GO TEAM!

3 p.m.: We’re back home, and tonight is my book launch party in the city. I’ve already decided on a faux leather wrap dress from Eloquii and sky high heels, so I strip off all the school spirit wear and jump into the shower to shave my legs for the first time in weeks. My life is very glamorous.

4 p.m.: Look up smokey eye tutorials on YouTube 20 times. Scrub face with make-up removing wipe. Repeat.

5 p.m.: My book launch party is at a swanky new wine bar in Toledo, planned by my friend Meredith. I just have to last four hours in these heels.

9 p.m.: I’m exhausted and walk barefoot to the car in the snow. Andy looks horrified but my exhausted glare let’s him know to not say ONE SINGLE WORD about parking lot germs or frostbite.

11 p.m.: Andy and I are eating ice cream in bed and watching the Cavs vs. Thunder game. Eating in bed is our love language.

Day 3

7 a.m.: I am up early writing my next book proposal in the office and checking in with Facebook and Twitter. Mira Sorvino just followed me! I text all my friends the screaming-emoji-faces and screenshots.

9 a.m.: I let Andy sleep in a bit, but now I’m pushing him out of bed because on Sundays we take outfit photos for my Instagram account — and he’s the best photographer around. I’ve already laid out the week’s featured outfits and have a general idea of copy for each post.

11 a.m.: It used to take forever to get a photo that I was happy with, but now Andy can get it in about three shots. I shall let that be a testament to the success of our marriage.

1 p.m.: We took the kids to our favorite millennial pizza spot, Pizza Cat. I can safely affirm that I have not cooked a single meal yet this weekend, and I’m totally okay with that.

3 p.m.: I spend all of my car time updating social media and checking in on my Facebook community. I hardly ever get car sick these days.

4:30 p.m.: Lazy Sunday, indeed. The kids are napping on the sectional around us, and we’re finally watching the last half of Atonement that’s been sitting on our DVR forever.

6 p.m.: I have quickly abandoned my plan to try and bathe our cat, instead playing Sims 4 for an hour or so.

7 p.m.: I begin ushering my kids into the shower — it takes so much longer than I assume it will.

9 p.m.: I’ve made a deal with myself to go to bed early instead of staying up late to write, only if I promise to wake up extra early to finish a new chapter. I have low expectations that this will happen — I’m notoriously terrible at keeping promises to myself.

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And see more here…