On a typical day, I'll tell you that I really love my job. The day I got to interview Bethenny Frankel, I'd tell you I really really really LOVE my job! As a huge Bethenny fan, I couldn't wait to meet her!
I quickly realized that it wasn't just meeting her, I was actually deeply interested in what she had to say! The full interview will be published in May's National Macaroni Kid, so stay tuned, but here's a little sneak peek to tide you over!
If you've watched Bethenny's show or read her books, you'll understand where my questions came from. Bethenny portrays such a confident sense of self, especially in terms of food, health, body image, and fitness. I was curious to uncover how Bethenny's attitude, especially towards eating, remains so positive and healthy. Bethenny is a true depiction of "everything in moderation," from cocktails to sweets, fitness to fries. So, I asked her to tell us more! And, I was right, this "Skinnygirl's" got a great message we can all learn from:
K: "As far as health and diet, you seem to have a great outlook on that. You seem to eat what you want when you want, but you stop when you should. That’s not so easy for a lot of women. What was your transition to 'Naturally Thin,' a more positive outlook?"
BF: "I was just done with being obsessed and extreme; dieting and doing spinning and step classes everyday. Always being on a diet and always saying ‘tomorrow, I’m gonna be good’. When I didn’t eat the way that I wanted, binging and then the next day, not eating. It was very extreme and unrealistic. It doesn’t work. I used to always be on a diet and work out everyday. Now I work out maybe twice a week, I’m never on a diet, and I’m 20lbs thinner and 10 years older. So go figure! (no pun intended!)"
K: "So did you just decide one day to give that up?"
BF: "I was going on a trip to Italy and I wanted to be able to have the Gelato and the pasta and not be terrified of a full-fat cappuccino and a small pastry. I just logically said 'there’s got to be a better way, a way I can taste everything...taste, enjoy and indulge, without eating everything in sight.' People are always trying to figure out how to deprive, rather than figuring out a way to indulge. That’s the problem."
K: "Do you have a method to teaching Bryn this healthy attitude?"
BF: "We don’t even talk about it, it’s just the way that we live. She eats cupcakes. There’s no ‘food noise.’ We have no noise about food or exercise in our house, it just doesn’t even come up. Everybody indulges, but we’re not, ya know, shoveling french fries in our face and having anxiety about it, there’s just no energy about that. There’s zero worry. I think it’s the mothers that are like ‘oh my god, don’t put that in your mouth, you need to be on a diet’ or the ones saying in front of their kids ‘I’m so fat, I look bad.’ Even when I hear girls say ‘I’m on a diet, I’m starting tomorrow, I was bad today…that’s just bad training, you would never hear me say that."
...Bethenny then had her assistants make a note to cover these issues, and the language surrounding food, on one of her talk shows (starting this summer, can't wait!) So we'll be hearing more on these topics and more from Bethenny! Definitely check out Bethenny's Skinnygirl Daily, a variety of fabulous products and great resources for On-The-Go Nutrition. My favorite is the Wild Berry Vitamin Power Packets, in case you're wondering!
It was such a highlight to meet Bethenny and to share her words of wisdom with you! We can probably all stand to be a little more like Bethenny; enjoy indulging, just don't "shovel french fries in your face!" For more on Bethenny, visit her website Bethenny.com.
