I’ve written before that if it were not for my multi-vitamins I would be teetering close to death. I eat abominably. Take this for example: last Monday at work, I was running a small room for a rewrite. For breakfast I chose to eat a heaping serving of spicy sweet Thai Doritos (these exist, and they’re life-changing), two apricot fruit leathers, and a glass of Diet Coke. I loved it so much I did it again Tuesday. I was going to go for a three-peat on Wednesday, but writers had eaten all the chips. I was forced to eat a small Siggis yogurt and berries, which was actually pretty good. Siggis Yogurt is something Carrie Kemper introduced me to. It’s an incredibly dense Icelandic yogurt that tastes like some kind of tangy dairy cud, but it’s actually edible and kind of delicious.
At lunch I have a ritual where, before I can eat anything actually good from catering, like Sergio’s baked potato bar or cookie pie, I need to eat a small bowl of boiled broccoli. It works in two ways: It forces me to have something healthy, and usually after I eat it, I am disgusted by how bland it was, and am completely over food.
Jen Atkin is a hair stylist who has done my hair for lots of cool events, like my book cover. She also does Sofia Vergara’s lush Colombian locks, no big deal or anything. Besides being super talented, Jen also knows every hook-up and cool underground thing going on. She knows the best place to get juices (Pressedjuicery.com), the sneakiest secret gyms (can’t say) and also, the dopest way to have thick, shiny hair for no cost.
Jen was over my house recently and brought me a gift (this is very Asian of her, I’m making her an honorary Asian girl). The gift was: prenatal vitamins from Trader Joes. Not only will they scare the shit out of your boyfriend if he visits your house, it will make your hair grow faster, thicker, and keep your skin glow-y and smooth. At least that’s what it’s done for me, and I’ve not even been using them that long.
Also, these vitamins don’t smile like rotting organic material, which, though I love Whole Foods vitamins, I can’t take the daily ritual of holding back barfing when I open the jar of multi-vitamins.
Good for: Any lazy girl, like me, who wants a short-cut to healthy thick hair.
Okay, that is a totally brilliant idea that I’m kicking myself for not thinking of. I can’t wait to buy prenatal vitamins, freak out my husband, AND improve my hair.
I also reviewed Siggi’s for my blog in August. I think Thai Doritos are more up my alley, though, and I hope to track those down!
Dawn | October 18, 2011 |
This is such a smart idea. Too bad I’m not smart enough to explain them without coming across as a baby fiend if my husband ever found them. Hide them in my work desk, you say? Good plan…
Carolyn | October 18, 2011 |
This is a great idea that i definitely want to try! I’m always looking for ways my hair can grow longer, especially now that my hair is in that weird in-between stage :/ Thanks, Mindy!
ali | October 18, 2011 |
They also give you nice strong nails that grow fast! Other than the baby goodness it is really the ultimate vanity vitamin!
If you want to even outdo their awesomeness. You can get GUMMY ones. They are like little gum drops! I get them at Target.
hillary | October 18, 2011 |
pre-natal vitamins for non-pregnant women… sounds good to me!
Whitney Soup | October 18, 2011 |
yet another reason to wish for a trader joe’s in toronto!
Robyn | October 18, 2011 |
A) Your website is just as adorable as you.
B) Have you tried the Spicy Thai Kettle chips?! YOU MUST.
C) I like the drinkable Siggi’s, a bit less tart.
D) Thank you for this vitamin trick! I’m growing out my bangs and it is basically the worst.
Cirilia Rose | October 18, 2011 |
Just added to my shopping list. It will most certainly scare the shit out of my boyfriend since we have agreed on no kids!
Tina | October 18, 2011 |
The only thing keeping me from buying those vitamins (or any other in an opaque bottle) is that I’m afraid they’re the size of a fist & if there’s one thing I really hate, it’s trying to choke down a fist every morning. It says “gentle on the stomach” but what I really want to know is how gentle they are on a hair-trigger gag reflex.
Chaely | October 18, 2011 |
Oh, girl, let me tell you about my gross prenatal experience. I bought the whole foods prenantals, and was all excited to take them, because, prepping for babies! I opened the bottle, and THE SMELL. Oh, the smell. Best described as “an animal crawled into my compost pile to die”. I actually gagged, and threw it into trash as fast as I possibly could. I have vitamin PTSD now – every time I try a new bottle, I shudder in fear of that potential smell.
So, thanks for the rec! I will head down to TJ’s tomorrow!
Amy C | October 18, 2011 |
See, I’m a doula so my bookshelves are full of Pregnancy books and I love getting a rise out of the boys who enter my room when they come to take a look at my cool sliding closet/door.
So to throw those in as well? Sounds like fun to me!
xo
Melina
Melina | October 19, 2011 |
i like siggi’s but i really am a fan of TJ’s greek yogurt mixed with sweetener instead. they make a good one!
lynn @ the actor's diet | October 19, 2011 |
LOVE Siggi’s yogurt! Have only found it at Whole Foods though, not Trader Joe’s, will keep looking.
Barbara | October 19, 2011 |
Not to be weird, but do these affect your cup size? You can comment based on someone else’s experience and not your own, since that would be weird.
Tiffany | October 19, 2011 |
I so want to try this, but at the same time, I feel like I’d be so tempting fate.
“Oh, prenatal vitamins? BLAM! Here’s a baby! Hope you like your glossy hair now!”
Allyn | October 19, 2011 |
Just wanted to say you are cask strength awesome! They’re filming The Office at MY office on Friday, and even though it’s a colossal pain in the ass because I have to leave extra early since the parking lot will be all jacked up and I’ll have to park about ten miles away, I’m hoping for at least a celebrity sighting, so if I see you I’ll say hi.
…or wave hi.
…or think it.
Shit, tell them to give us insurance peeps a crack at that craft table. When they filmed part of Hop (that utterly inane Easter bunny flick) here, I didn’t see any celebrities but I did see the craft table and sweet fancy Moses!
Okay, I’ll stop babbling now. Enjoying your site, and grateful to Jezebel for pointing me here!
~c | October 19, 2011 |
The yogurt sounds good and prenatal vitamins, eh? (I’m Canadian)
Who knew? Will have to try them.
Claire | October 20, 2011 |
I don’t want to be a buzzkill but aren’t prenatal vitamins nutritionally bad for women who don’t plan to be pregnant?
lauren | October 20, 2011 |
A girlfriend of mine did this. It does, indeed, improve your hair and nail growth.
But be warned – it makes your bikini, underarm and leg hair grow twice as fast also, which I personally don’t find worth the trade.
Brooke | October 20, 2011 |
Oooooh, really good point.
GelTea | October 24, 2011 |
This scares me.
Magnet for Foolishness | November 12, 2011 |
Trader Joe’s has the BEST stuff! Get everything they have with pumpkin in it!
Adam | October 21, 2011 |
Wait wait wait…just one question. Will it make ALL your hair grow faster and thicker, or just the hair on your head? Hey, don’t look at me that way, we tend to be hairy in my family. I don’t want to end up with really luscious leg hair, you know?
Figgy | October 23, 2011 |
I have three kids, I KNOW it wasn’t vitamins that got them here.
GelTea | October 24, 2011 |
Dearest Mindy-
Please please please tell me that this works on boys too. Good news, I have a Trader Joe’s right next to my sneakest (but not so secret) buffet-style gym. If I don’t hear from you before my 5pm workout today I may be taking pre-natal’s and watching re-run’s of roseanne with sunglasses on….don’t judge. I think Jen (I user her first name like we are friends hehe) did a great job on your hair and congrats on your book. I go to websites like NPR at work just in case upper management find themselves thumbing through my internet history. It was their review which lead me to your website but my friend Rachel at Berea College said you were her girlfriend’s roommate in college. So, we are basically friends, Mindy.
I am now adding your website with NPR, Harvard Business Review, and Entreprenuer.com…upper management will not know what to think!
Take care,
Zack
ZACK | November 2, 2011 |
So I am just reading your blog for the first time today. Stopped to comment about lotion and now I see this. I love the Trader Joes Pre-Natal vitamins for this exact reason! I’ve told several friends about them, and had to dash my mom’s hopes after she saw them in my bathroom.
They make my hair grow, they are gentle on the stomach and they make my pee an interesting shade.
(As for leg hair, god, I can’t tell how much fast that grow. Cup size: I stayed the same.)
Sara B | November 4, 2011 |