Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The group of people that I am working with here on the set of Winnie might be the nicest group of people that I have ever gotten to work with. Every one of them is polite, respectful, professional and fun! Thank God, because we are stuck together most days for 12 hours or more! They’re so interested in Weight Watchers. They ask me so many questions about what I eat and how I stick to it. Ends up feeling to me like we have a meeting almost every day on set! My friend in the wardrobe department is fascinated that I still write down everything that I eat. She just can’t get over how dedicated I am to it. I keep trying to tell her that keeping track of my POINTS® makes me feel like I know just how far I have left to go in my day and what I can work in. It got me this far and I am not giving it up now! That just wouldn’t make any sense!
Categories:
Friends, My weight loss, Work
Thursday, August 05, 2010
I can’t believe what I am about to say…I have been so homesick lately that sometimes I even lose my appetite. That is something that has never really happened to me. I miss everything about home, and food just doesn’t excite me at all. The only thing that I look forward to each day is a local chocolate bar (with a POINTS value of 3) that a South African leader introduced me to over here. It is the highlight of my day. I stash them with the wardrobe people on set and they give me one a day with a few almonds in the afternoon. Chocolate has never really been my thing, but these days, it is just the thing that makes me happy!
Categories:
Food, Work
Monday, August 02, 2010
My sister is here in South Africa visiting me. It is good to have her here. When she walked off the plane, she looked great. She has been following Weight Watchers for some time now, and having been away for a while, I could really see how much weight she had lost. She looked so happy and healthy. It made me excited that we could spend our time together staying healthy.
I asked my sister to bring along a few food things that would remind me of home. Things you just can’t get here in SA. She carried English muffins and turkey bacon on a 21-hour plane trip for me! (Now that is love!) I have missed those two things so much. I only have a few weeks left. Having my sister here will help the time fly. She always makes me laugh, and I am super-proud of her success on the plan.
Categories:
Family, Food, Work
Friday, July 23, 2010
It seems that my stylists really love to put me in the highest heels they can find. Stilettos, most of the time. Now, every girl knows that a nice heel makes her look good and feel sexy, but if given the chance, I would go barefoot for the rest of my life! Something I am just realizing is that I don’t mind wearing those heels now that I have lost weight. When I was heavier, those shoes really hurt my back and knees. Now with less weight on me, I can deal with them for a lot longer without so much pain.
Categories:
General, My weight loss
Monday, July 19, 2010
Words can’t describe this past week. We had to film some scenes in the Transkei, a remote area in South Africa. Just getting there was close to impossible. We had to take a flight and then drive for 3½ hours through the South African countryside. We knew it would be an interesting week when we found out that the lodge we were staying at would have "running water." Yes, running water — it’s a real perk in this part of the world.
Everywhere we looked, there were animals. Cows crossing the street, blocking our car, and monkeys in trees. Never saw that before. The food was tough this week. The catering company was having trouble getting their food to us. Good thing we decided to stop at a gas station before getting to the lodge. We brought some peanut butter, some crackers and nuts and a few other snack items. Those little snacks saved my week. Preparation is always the key!
Categories:
Food, Work
Thursday, July 08, 2010
I have a new breakfast that I am eating every day. I am so in love with it. I make an egg-white scramble with smoked salmon and mozzarella cheese. I don't know what it is about it but I can't stop eating it. I make a little wheat toast with jelly along with my egg whites. I know one reason I like it is that it keeps me full for a long time. I can't afford to get hungry right now with the long days of filming. I need to have good energy so I can concentrate and perform. This breakfast is working for me!
Categories:
Cooking, Food
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
I am so excited. I found a really great Italian place here in Johannesburg that makes great pizza. It was unexpected, but we came across it a couple of days ago. It is a "build your own" pizza place. I created my own pizza with light cheese, chicken, mushrooms and jalapeños. You know I like it spicy! The slices are really thin and tiny. I usually eat 3 small slices and some salad. The one thing I notice here is that the portion sizes are so much smaller and healthier.
Little by little I am really getting a good set of healthy restaurants that I can count on in SA. We even found a chai tea latte in a local bookstore that I like. I have a kitchen, so I am able to make meals if I want to, but you have to have your "go to" restaurants wherever you land!
Categories:
Eating out, Work
Thursday, July 01, 2010
It seems that my days are getting longer and longer lately. The production of the movie is underway and I am going for costume fittings and rehearsals. At night I am also in the studio. It’s hard getting to the gym. My schedule is crazy right now. I have gotten a couple of workouts in, but not nearly as much as I’d like. I set a goal for next week to get three workouts in. I usually like to do more, but it feels tough right now to do any more than that.
The thing I can say is keeping me on track is how good the fruits and veggies are here in South Africa. I have never tasted such fruits or vegetables in my life. I am snacking on a lot of fruit and making good choices even on these long days. Sometimes that is all you can do!
Categories:
Food, Work
Monday, June 21, 2010
OK, so I got a bunch of food into the apartment and can’t figure out the POINTS values. The nutrition labels in South Africa are completely different! They are hard to read and in place of the calories there is number of kilojoules. I started to laugh as I was looking at all of this and thought to myself "I’m not going to let all this hard work go to waste." It took a little research but it turns out that there are 4.2 kilojoules per calorie. So now I have to divide that before I can figure out the POINTS values. The one thing I have realized is that I am eating mostly foods that don’t even have nutrition labels anymore. I eat veggies and fruits and lean meats, so that is keeping my math to a minimum.
Categories:
Cooking, Food
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Arrived in South Africa a few weeks ago and am already feeling better than when I was in France for the Cannes film festival. I will be here for a while filming Winnie, a biopic about the life of Winnie Mandela. I am feeling better because I am not living in hotels anymore. Here I have a kitchen and am going to be able to cook some of my own meals. Being able to grab a fresh piece of fruit from your own fridge when you want one is a luxury that I was missing in France.
My main challenge was to get on the right schedule. I am still a little off and awake at all hours of the night. I learned that when you are jetlagged and awake at night a good place to go is the gym. That is certainly a new habit for me!
Categories:
Work
|