Thursday, August 26, 2010

Stuff your face

Photo copyright sualk61 via Creative Commons License.

I recently received an email from a reader asking me about my relationship to food as a model, or more specifically if I'm a foodie since I get to travel so much. Shamefully I realized over the weekend that I hadn't yet responded to that email (sorry dude) but perked up when it hit me that this deserves an entire blog post of its own.

While I have done fashion modeling work, I am more of a commercial model. The difference for those of you who are uninitiated in the subtle (evil) ways of the biz is that commercial models are used in advertising for anything from eyeglasses to, well, cars, while fashion models are the uber-tall heroin-chic exoticas on the runway and in the pages of Vogue, as well as in ads for high-end clothing lines.

What this really translates to is that commercial models can eat more than a carrot stick once a day.

We still have to stay slim and trim, of course, but we can be a bit more "real" looking than fashion models. This means I can more often partake in one of my favorite activities: eating. Part of me wishes I lived in Mauritania where fat is beautiful so I could eat pasta and fried chicken all day long. Alas, I have to make sure my auto show wardrobe fits throughout the season. Also, I don't want to be a total fat-ass regardless of my profession, but mmmmmm I do like delicious things.

I have some basic food rules: No fast food. No soda. Whole grain bread, brown rice instead of their empty calorie white flour counterparts. As little processed food as possible. I love going out to eat at locally-owned restaurants when I'm traveling, but that can get pricey and fattening very quickly. We often will request hotel rooms with a fridge and microwave and hit the local Whole Foods to stock up on heathy meals. (Usually healthy. One time it gave me food poisoning. That's a great way to drop some LBs fast, except it sucks, especially when you don't get paid sick days and have to spend hours on a spinning platform trying not to puke and/or crap on some knob telling you to smile OMGstabstabstab.)

I think most of the men and women who work the auto show circuit eat in a similar manner, at least most of the ones I've seen eat. However, I did witness a glaring exception to this rule.

Remember our old friends with Fiat/Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep? In the skin tight mini dresses that your taxpayer money paid for? Those dresses were so tight that if those poor girls ate a cherry tomato they'd look seven months pregnant. I was eating lunch in the quiet basement food court at the Javitz Center during the New York show and saw one of these unfortunate ladies and her sad little lunch: a small baggie of baby carrots (I think I counted four sad little carrots in there) and a single container of that yogurt that makes you poop. I can not fathom getting through a shift at the New York Auto Show, of all shows, on so little sustenance. I want to kick someone just thinking about it.

Truly, the greatest point of a show is when one of the girls buys a block of fudge and forces it on the rest of us so she won't eat it all herself. I don't know how anyone could possibly get through the complete derangement of the Chicago Auto Show without Ryba Fudge. It's my Xanax. No nuts please; I deal with enough of those at work.

PS - Can someone please remind me to turn on Safe Search when I Google images? You don't want to know what turned up with the combo of words auto+show+model+eating. Don't even think about model+eating+pie. Jesus.

12 comments:

  1. Rats. I was going to go completely random and post something about food, but now after reading your post, I'll have to wait a while.

    I agree with your choices, though, of avoiding processed foods and hitting up Whole Foods. You mention fitting into your outfits, but I'm more worried about general health.

    And I think you can eat tasty, healthy foods, too (though probably not on a business trip). You may just have to prepare it yourself and use good ingredients. Again, this is easier at home than on the road.

    hmmm... I shouldn't talk about food around lunch time.

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  2. I watched Food Inc the other day and I wanted to fast the next day. Way to go on your healthy eating and not starving yourself. :)

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  3. Several years ago, Jay Leno announced that Kate Moss was pregnant: "Which means she's eating for one now."

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  4. If any one ever asked me if i come with the car i alway spit back, NO usually i let the car come first!

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  5. Omgstabstabstab.... Now that's funny, and I imagine therapeutic

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  6. I'm with Drdirt - OMGstabstabstab - has to find it's way into the text dictionary somehow. I can see smilies made for it all over iphones already!

    I tried the image search, out of curiousity of course, I found Fat Barbie quite amusing, in a strange 'she had it coming kind of way' - probably just be me being jealous:) But OMGfatfatfat!

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  7. I saw those Fiat girls at the Chicago Auto Show. they were rail thin, and their dresses were so tight I could see the seams of their spanx.

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  8. Really funny post. I love your "basic food rules": no fast food and soda.

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  9. Haha! I'll weigh in (pun not totally intended) - I'm another product specialist, and I'd say a fortunate one since I love my job and our outfits are business suits. I'm a vegetarian (a true vegetarian - not even sushi), and I cannot say enough wonderful things about working shows where the hotel is walking distance from a grocery store. Some cities (*ahem* DallasPhoenixMemphis *cough*) make it almost impossible to find non-meat food to eat. Other cities (LA, NY, Boston, Philly, Chi-town, even Cleveland) are wonderful - I go to a store, stock up on healthy stuff and pack my lunches all week. Funny road truth - if the hotel doesn't have a mini-fridge available, ice buckets work, and so does the window sill, if you're in Detroit in January.

    It's probably a little sad that I judge cities at least partially by easy pedestrian access to grocery stores. Of course, I also judge them by easy public transportation from the airport to the hotel.

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  10. hey girlfriend,
    i heard you got booted off TTAC. so sorry... NOT!

    loves & kisses from *european*

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  11. Nice attempt at baiting, but I did not get booted off. I'll be back for auto show coverage in a couple of months.

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  12. Here in my country, fast food and soda is becoming a new trend of teenager. M* Do*nl and K*C is one of the most favorite place to hang out..

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