well folks,
after 7 weeks in New Orleans filming VH1's Tough Love AND 3 weeks up at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, I am finally home.
phew!
you will be able to watch my transformative stint as reality show star on Tough Love starting April 15th Sunday night on VH1 at 9pm. Also, you can find out the inside scoop and some show gossip/ cast photos by checking out my VH1's Tough Love -Donna Sonkin fan page on Facebook.
you can see all of my new techniques and fun recipes by checking out my Donna Sonkin Holistic Health Coach and Chef on my Facebook page or visit my website DonnaSonkin.com
as for my time in both places...
keeping to my simple daily yoga practice and meditation kinda saved me. Nothing too intense just about 5-30 minutes of yoga and a simple meditation that at times was only for 5 minutes- sometimes 20 minutes. It's stressful having cameras in your face 24 hours a day. Just as stressful living in close quarters with new people. I made some wonderful friends (please follow me on Twitter @donnasonkin for cast mate tweets) I LOVED these gals.
I also followed a pretty strict food plan of what I wouldn't eat - except of course on dates... you have to bend a little:)... there were times where I had literally nothing else to eat but pizza because that was the ONLY thing available. In those cases I ate the pizza.
Up at school it was even more of a challenge because I HAD to taste EVERYTHING ! I mean, I was at one of the top culinary schools in the world. I needed and wanted to learn through my taste buds and I did. Every cream sauce, all types of braised meats, anything fried, also there were many healthy items so I tried my best to fill my plate up with vegetables and just have bites of everything else. It was a wonderful experience.
here was my basic protocol for avoiding packing on the pounds when schedule and stress collide to create what could be the perfect storm of diet disasters:
I got these basic ideas from an amazing book that I read by Canadian N.D. Dr. John Matsen - the book is called "Eating Alive Prevention Thru Good Digestion" he talks about avoiding non-food items
- coffee
- tea
- white sugar
- chocolate
- alcohol
- artificial sweeteners
- preservatives
- iodized salt (good quality table salt OK)
- tobacco
- gluten and processed grain products (quinoa, brown rice OK)
these items tax adrenals and stress the body out. if you are going through stress you want to make it easy for the body!
I made sure that I slept as best I could, donning a sleep mask, using ear plugs and anointing myself with lavender oil. occasionally I would take Bach's sleep remedy spray or melatonan.
of course the easiest thing to do is drink a glass of water and take a deep breath.
having certain foods on hand will set you up for success as well:
- sardines
- kale
- some fruits
- sweet potatoes
- good quality animal protein
- naturally raised eggs
- all vegetables
- good quality spring water - in glass bottles when available (my favorite is Mountain Valley Spring water)
now that you have the basics... there is no excuse for letting stress get the better of you. If I could get through this mania anyone can:)
much love,
xoxo-Donna
