Not now. Well, not necessarily. The ultimate time I remember being in this trim state was my senior year of college. 

My friend came over to my house. We were really just chilling before a big night out. I’m thinking celebrating the end of fall semester, when she would be graduating early.

I had on a tight fitted t-shirt. (Why do I remember that it was a J. Crew size small with a toucan on it?) Anyway, I was planning to pop a sweater over top before leaving, fussing around in the pre-nightlife routine.

She said, “Oh my god, you look so skinny!” And she meant this well, as a great compliment. I can’t truly remember if I said this to her or if I just recalled it in retrospect. But I thought… “Whoa, I haven’t been eating much.”

Part of that was because I was poor. I’m saying it that way to not sugarcoat anything. I had little money in general, funding my own living expenses — rent, utilities, books, food, etc. I also worked part-time regularly and during breaks to earn, but I could not keep up with the financial demand. Thank all goodness that my university tuition was covered by scholarship!

The end of a semester meant scappin’ to make ends meet. But I am not gonna lie… I had some dining out and partying habits by then, while also maintaining the facade… I’m cool. No big deal. Sure, let’s go to Monterrey’s for dinner and then out to Salty Nut Cafe, Sharky’s and Bar None.

Come December 2007, see if you can picture… My grocery trips were minimalist, grabbing staples of milk, sliced bread, peanut butter and frozen burritos. This was my design on high caloric intake at low cost. I took a calculator to the super market, like a real grubby nerd.

Also imagine… My external stress might have been at an all-time high then, as I was preparing for final exams and thinking about my last semester at USC and considering how my decisions would foreseeably impact the rest of my career and livelihood. I took all this shit very seriously. My tendency is to lose appetite when so high-strung.

So there you have it. The “skinny” sentiment was bittersweet. I’ll never forget this interchange. Today, as I experience more stress than I could have EVER imagined back then, I try to at least grab a smoothie.