Today was my first day where I made a commitment to myself of starting a new schedule in my life. My work days begin now at 5 am and I leave the house before 5:30 am so I can get up the hill for a good hike to catch the sun rise.
By the time it's 9 am it seems like I got most of my duties done. Including a commissioned, neon portrait that I just finished this morning!

I'm getting ready for New York & it's modeling world and more and more I start feeling the ultimate pressure of being absolutely skinny. I mean, often I need to compete with girls that have eating disorders (or most of the time ;) and super lucky models that are just skinny like a skimmed, string cheese. I certainly got blessed with a very tall skinny body too but not to this kind of extent.
I know this business is insane if it comes to your weight, height and age. But again, if I want to be playing this game I can do it in a healthy way and I can certainly work on having my own unique best body that I can possibly have.
Therefore I go on a hike for the sunrise in the morning and for a work out at the fitness studio in the evening.
And through out the day I try to eat very fresh, home made, fat free, gluten free, salt free etc.
Here are some of the dishes I have been preparing recently, they are all dedicated to my mom in Europe as she is always worried that I don't eat well. So mom, here is my food:

Culinary Mussel Dish:
This dish was super yummy, very fresh and had many different kind of ingredients.
I added a tiny bit of water into a pan and boiled it. Added some black mussels, broccoli, pees, carrots, lemon, green onion & pepper. Later on a shaved a little bit of fat free monterrey cheese & avocado.
All products I bought at whole foods and I was surprised how cheap you can get away with fish. I usually just buy very small amounts for myself. I bought 6 mussels for $1.16!!! And I made two dishes from scratch with it.
This dish tasted very good as the juices of the mussels mixed with Evian water (hehehe! I never use tab water) & lemon made a very tasty sauce. No salt is needed AT ALL!!!! No butter or no oil is needed at all. I get the essential fatty acids or oils from fish and avocado.
This dish only took about 5-10 minutes until it could be enjoyed. Mussels cook so fast, you just need to wait until they open up, which happens already after 2-4 minutes. And price comparison in major, versus f.e. Katana Sushi restaurant where they charge $18 for a dish of mussels.

Another beloved dish of mine is a mixed fruit dish. Very filling, refreshing and nourishing. Strawberries, pears, bananas & plums. Taking the time to cut all these fruits and mix them together is so worth the experience and much better than just eating one of them! Also, sooo much better than buying chopped fruit from the grocery store.
I mostly just drink water through out the day, but know I need to drink much more than I currently do. But to most dishes I enjoy a cup of peppermint tea. I don't drink ANY alcohol and have been alcohol free the last three years of my life. It was the best decision I have ever made and opened up many other channels in my life. I automatically lost a lot of weight when I quit drinking but it takes about 8 months to fully get out of your system.
I recently and finally also kicked one of my worst habits, namely smoking. ( I know I have been a very bad, European ,guilty model smoker). Therefore I am trying to replace this habit with healthy things such as my new disciplinary model schedule. I did go to the doctor and had her prescribe me "Chantix" (the non smoker pill) and I must say it is a major, major help in my life and relief to have found a medication that supports the addictive cycle I am breaking. Thanks to all my friends for supporting me on this, also the amazing doctor Laurel that gave me a free prescription, my wonderful boyfriend that offered to pay for it (as it does cost about $175 per month). But the price should never be looked at as high. This pill is worth gold and I would recommend it to anyone that has the same habit and wants to give it up.
Of course I would still be enjoying smoking, I really kind of dig it and love taking those private moments with myself of sitting outside and enjoying a smoke and re-evaluating life. But on the flip side, I smelled nasty, I was ashamed for my habit because I knew it was a bad thing and an addiction, I felt lowered self esteem for having something else control my life rather than controlling myself and I did feel more miserable whenever I smoked (guilty or a little more sadder) and my skin has certainly not deserved such treatment either.
Anyhow, I am off to the gym now.
Looking forward to seeing some personal results in my health that will be worth it for my arrival in NY.