Experience Rating: 💋 💋 💋 😘
A few weekends ago, on a whim, I sent in an application for a modeling program. I figured that would be the end of it. Spending every weekend of my childhood watching America's Next Top Model is not exactly impressive experience. In a bizarre twist of fate though, I heard back. They were paying for my test shoot and a studio had agreed to take me on to build my portfolio. Whaaaaat? I did a lot of research to sus out the scam, but everything seemed legit, so I booked an appointment and spent all of last week prepping.
Okay, I always try to eat healthy, as long as it is not sacrificing flavor. That is surprisingly not hard to do, if you look for good recipes. My upbringing rebuffed low-fat/sugar-free foods, because sometimes that "diet" food is actually just as bad for you. Instead, my parents championed eating real food with fresh ingredients, lots of vegetables, and protein. There is nothing wrong with having dessert, but the mantra that goes along with that is "Everything in moderation." No need to go crazy on the kale or the cake end. I also think it is really important to know your own body, which should come as no surprise considering my body is insane enough to have a "pizza allergy." It's not about dieting, it's about eating well and knowing what works for you.
When I got the news about the photo shoot, I did some research to see what models eat to prepare for thee camera. Just because it is "healthy" does not mean it doesn't bloat you, for example. The results of my search? No beans, cruciferous vegetables, high-sodium foods, dairy, or, obviously all the greasy delicious cheat stuff. Instead, the move was to swap those items out for rice, salmon, ginger, tea, avocado, fennel, lemon, potato, lettuce, corn, almond milk, grapes, and dark berries, very specifically.
Well. All righty then. I'll take the challenge.
The Weekend Before:
Saturday Night at McCrossen's Pub - Philadelphia, PA
Rating: 💋 💋 😘
Saturdays are usually my day off from working out, and I did not change that with one week to go until the shoot. When I went out to dinner with my family though, I did know I could not order anything that came with fries, because they are too tempting. No way could I see them on my plate and not take a taste...or inhale them all. Thank God, because every other person in my family got fries and apparently they were amazing. I definitely would have succumbed. Instead, I demurred when Reilly offered me a piece of her flatbread appetizer (too close to pizza and I am NOT ready to be bold again so soon) and I did not borrow any fries from anyone else's plate. Mom enjoyed her chicken sandwich, though she'll get aioli instead of mayonnaise next time, and Reilly cleaned her bowl of pasta. Unfortunately, my Dad felt it was better last time we were there. My Mom said the sandwich buns were stale, and my dad found the burger overall 'disappointing'. With that in mind, I didn't regret skipping the sandwich and fries route after all. Instead, I ordered the salmon entree, which was a little too salty, but the tomatoes and asparagus were juicy, hot, and perfectly roasted. It all went great with the sticky jasmine rice. The tomato crema on top was not too overpowering, but added just the right amount of salty-sweet flavor to tie it all together. In addition, I had one Downeast cider with the meal. It was a little more sour than I prefer, but still sweet and fizzy and fresh. Curious pairing with the salmon, but I ordered my drink before picking my entree, so that's on me.
Saturday Cheat: Mom and Reilly had slaved away in the kitchen making a chocolate bundt cake, and I could not neglect their efforts. When we came home from the city, we watched Judy (fantastic film!!) and enjoyed the homemade dessert. The cake was rich and super moist, with chocolate melting on my tongue, and the scoop of vanilla bean ice cream alongside my slice melted into all the nooks and crannies of the cake and added a lovely touch of sweet.
Sunday at Chez Magee
I started the day with a super fun cardio dance workout, followed by a bowl of Irish oatmeal with banana and strawberry slices. This isn't rocket science, but it's just so much better and fluffier when cooked on the stove in milk, rather than when I make oatmeal with the hot water from the coffee machine at work like I usually have to do if I want an oatmeal fix. It was heaven. Then I ate Chobani Coconut snowball flip Greek yogurt for lunch (I love their flips!). Dinner was rigatoni with homemade pork meatballs and marinara as well as butter lettuce with avocado and champagne vinaigrette. Garlic bread mopped up the leftover sauce. It might not be what Heidi Klum eats, but hey, vegetables were involved.
Sunday Cheat: Mom generously gave me a dark chocolate hard pretzel - but dark chocolate is healthy and full of antioxidants so HA! My Dad brought up their marriage vows and wondered why he never gets anything from her secret stash when they promised, "What's mine is yours." According to my mom, he did not read the fine print. Her candy is an exception to that rule. I sadly did not have any cake though, and I only regret not being able to take the cake back with me to New York!
The Week Before:
Weekly workouts : I did not change my exercise routine at all in light of the shoot. My workout schedule includes: meditation on Mondays, thigh/leg/glute workout & yoga
on Tuesdays, HIIT & yoga on Wednesday, ab challenge & yoga on Thursday, a special yoga challenge on Friday, and a dance workout on one weekend day. I change my routine every month, and let me tell you, that HIIT workout will not be following me into February. It SUCKS! The rest are all fun though. I don't have time for the gym these days, but I really enjoy curating routines from the following youtube accounts:
-Yoga with Adriene https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene
-Boho Beautiful https://www.youtube.com/user/cexercize
Breakfast: I did not really eat anything different than usual. I hate eating the same things two days in a row because booooring, so I rotate my mornings between granola yogurt bowls with craisins, diced pecans, and almond flakes; Belvita biscuits; and Irish oatmeal with craisins, pepitas, and honey. I have to eat breakfast at work with my schedule, so I need things that are easy to pack and go. Honestly, this week was so busy at work that finding time to sneak a bite of my breakfast was a struggle. This is never good cos after a while I get hangry, but I try my best to be cheerful and eventually eat my morning meal. The light of every morning at work is my one friend from the office cafe makes me a large almond milk chai tea latte. Best ever. Helps stave off my appetite til lunch.
Lunch: Honestly, the whole work week was super hectic, so lunch was a blur. Mostly, I had a lot of smoothies and sushi rolls. I am constantly craving sushi, which is probably an issue, but whatever. It's the only raw diet I have any interest in. Salmon and avocado rolls? Loveeeee
Dinner: Monday I slapped together a quinoa bowl with sun-dried tomatoes and sunny-side up eggs, and then I cooked Lemon Pepper Chicken with sautéed asparagus and oven-roasted sweet potatoes for the rest of the week.
The Lemon Pepper Chicken was not quite to par so I threw away that recipe. Honestly I think I am going through an anti-chicken phase. I eat it all the time cos it is yummy, cheaper than other proteins, and keeps better in the fridge than, say, fish. So there's the problem: I eat it all the time. Ugh. Maybe it was not the recipe's fault after all. Also, the first time I had this particular dish, I bit into a piece of lemon that got smashed into the chicken while cooking. That kind of ruined it for me all week. Psychological warfare a la citrus. I could not look forward to dinner because I kept remembering that yucky, bitter squish.
Sautéed asparagus is always a fun side though, and I am obsessed with the sweet potatoes. They were my favorite part of every dinner, and so easy to make too! You just cube up two large sweet potatoes, toss with pepper, salt, garlic powder (to taste), and two tablespoons of olive oil on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and pop into the oven to bake at 400 until crispy - about thirty minutes. I will be making them a lottttt going forward.
The most exciting dinner though was Thursday, when I snagged a Winter Salmon Salad from a tasting at work. It was huge and delicious and the salmon was crisp perfection. Only downside? It was my first time eating tangerines ever and no. I do not like them. I'll just listen to the Led Zeppelin song and leave the actual fruit for someone else. Way too tart.
Thursday Cheat: It was Shannon's birthday on Thursday so obviously we had to be festive!! I ran over to Magnolia bakery on my lunch and got two cupcakes to bring home as a surprise. I was a bit miffed though because I went in with four different cupcake flavors I was considering, and they were out of all of them! The universe can be so rude! Shannon's favorite cake is chocolate chip, with a classic chocolate with buttercream frosting as runner up, so that helped guide me for hers. I picked out the chocolate cupcake with yellow frosting and a cute little candy flower - simple and lovely! The one cupcake I was sure I would not get for myself? The Hummingbird. It has pineapple in it and I do not like pineapple. So, what did I do when I got to the counter? I panicked at the unexpected limited options and ordered the Hummingbird! Why??? It was the cupcake I knew, I guess. It was okay though. I bought a pack of candles from the bodega on the corner on my way home, and after dinner and Shannon's tv show I presented her with her birthday card, my lovely voice raised in song, and her cupcake. It was a very fun night! Shannon enjoyed her cupcake, and I had to cut the Hummingbird some slack. It was banana, pineapple, and pecan cake with cream cheese frosting and pecans on top. Delicious. The pineapple merely moistened the sponge of the cake, but the flavor screamed sweet banana bread, and I was super pleased with that. I would prefer buttercream over cream cheese, but the generous amount of gooey-thick frosting was still super yummy, and the pecans were the perfect touch. Cheers to Shannon!
The Day Before:
Beauty day! When all was said and done, I felt like Nemo after he got sterilized by the Jacques Le Shrimp in the dentist's office fish tank - glowing, fresh, and new. All the cells in my body were dazzled.
I started the day with a bowl of cereal and my dance workout, then set to work scrubbing my hair clean, applying a hair mask, applying an anti-frizz serum, and detangling. I also had to pluck my eye brows, shave with a fresh razor (always a glorious experience despite the fact that I consistently cut the point of my knee), exfoliate with a sugar scrub, do a Collagen face mask, clean and trim my nails, and coat them with clear polish (I NEVER just wear clear, but rules are rules). Then I had to pick out my seven looks for the test shoot. Anticipation was building.
We also had the Escape Room Adventure for Shannon's birthday celebration, with our victory party planned for Lady M Cafe. So close to the test shoot, I could not risk dessert, but I figured I would get a tea or something. We did not end up solving the Escape Room, sadly. We were pleasantly surprised to learn how close we got when the guide walked us through at the end though. The guide was also super nice, and we worked well together as a team with a good mix of personalities between the logical and the goofy. Afterwards, we were disappointed to learn the Lady M Cafe had closed for the night, but the group got gelato from Eataly instead. The guy at the coffee bar very clearly did not want to make anything. My sister's friend asked for hot chocolate, the barista scowled and said they were out, and then he turned away. I took the cue and did not even bother asking for a tea. It was fun just hanging out and chatting though, even without a treat.
Day Of!:
Ahhhh! I woke up a little before eight, rinsed off, and threw on a pair of my favorite sweatpants (navy with red and white racing stripes down the sides, courtesy of Brandi Melville), my favorite oversized tee shirt that reads "Love Me Forever or Never" with a Rolling Stones-reminiscent lips graphic, a sweater and sneakers. For breakfast, I had a pod of muesli with apple slivers, almond slivers, craisins, and cinnamon. They sell the pods at the office cafe and I am definitely obsessed. It's almost ridiculous how much I look forward to eating them, but they stave off your appetite for a long time and taste so good! Then it was time to run.
Wheeling my suitcase full of outfits through the New York subway system was an interesting experience, but what can you do? I was on my way to my first ever professional photo shoot, and I was very excited and curious about the adventure.
How did it turn out? Stay tuned for my next post and see!
XX,
MK
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