All for the Children! / Healthy Living

Well, it's been a while since my last post, so I have a few things to blab (blog?) about. First, I had a really great Memorial Day in Corning this year! I hope everyone else enjoyed their Memorial Days as well (I know you did, Miss Westchester! :)). My grandpa was a WWII veteran, and as soon as all of this pageant business is over I will be adding an American flag charm to my tattoo ankle bracelet [see, I'm absolutely addicted to ink, and I love tattoos that are symbolic for important things/people in my life, but I don't want to be completely covered in artwork. SO, my brilliant idea was to get an ankle bracelet tattoo to which I can add charms to represent things that are important to me] to commemorate him. He died two years ago on April 27, and I miss him so much everyday, especially when I make pasta (which I SWEAR I have not been doing since being crowned Miss Finger Lakes!!) because it is from him that I get my Italian genes.

For this Memorial Day, I got to ride on a convertible in the Corning Memorial Day Parade. I have never participated in a parade before, so it was very exciting for me! I had a little issue at first with my glasses; I was told by the eye doctor that I had serious corneal abrasions from wearing the same pair of contacts for too long, so I was forced into glasses for two weeks (I am absolutely BLIND!) At first, I refused to wear my glasses in the parade. It wasn't very fun, though, because I couldn't see who I was waving at. I eventually folded and put my glasses on, and it made all the difference in my day. I got to see all the beautiful little girls that were waving back at me and the cute little boys who were too shy to do so! I even heard one parent say to her daughter, "See, Miss Finger Lakes wears glasses too!" It made me feel really to know that at least someone else knew how I was feeling about wearing glasses, and I hope that I made her feel a little bit better.

On Sunday, May 31st (the two-year anniversary of the day my grandma died :'( yes, my grandparents died a month apart in 2007 and yes, I have a tattoo for her! A big one!) some of the Miss NY 2009 contestants and myself went to Albany to participate in the Children's Miracle Network Telethon. It is an annual weekend-long event during which CMN reaches out to the country in hopes of raising money in memory of past, in honor of present and in prepartion for future patients at CMN hospitals. Our responsibility was to man the phone lines and take down pledges from donators. This weekend, nearly $2.5 million was raised!! Our involvement with CMN as contestants is critical for several reasons. One, CMN is the national platform for the Miss America Organization. The moment she is crowned, Miss America becomes the Goodwill Ambassador for all CMN hospitals. As contestants, we know how important our younger generations are; they will be the future MAO contestants, after all! Second, for those of you who aren't aware, the MAO is incredibly focused on community service. By being involved with CMN, we are constantly giving back to our community and doing our part to alleviate the problems of a very special population, and as a social work student, that is something that I treasure very closely. Finally, as I've mentioned before, each contestant in this organization is required to have a personal platform. For many of us, the social issues to which we have committed ourselves may affect children that have been or may be treated at a CMN hospital. My platform deals with the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault. I know that these violences affect children regularly, as devastating as that is, and there may be a patient at a CMN hospital who is a child injured by violence. By helping the CMN hospitals raise money to treat these children, we we part of a very important movement and I am so honored to have participated.

So, I wanted to chat really quick about "healthy living"... yeaaa. I have been asked several times over the past couple of weeks by my co-workers, who are international students and are not really familiar with pageants, if there is a height/weight requirement to compete. I told them no, the purpose of the swimsuit category is to demonstrate a dedication to healthy living. To me, living healthy is eating properly, and regular exercise. I have worked really hard to keep myself in the shape for the pageant; I actually managed to lose almost 5 pounds in two weeks! At about 5'3" and 111 lbs, I'm very happy with my body and I am definitely dedicated to keeping it healthy! I eat a lot of vegetables; I LOVE brussel sprouts (I'm not even lying), asparagus, broccoli and fresh spinach. Chicken is also a staple in my apartment, as it is a lean meat and a great source of protein. Everyday I work, I have a wheat bagel, a strawberry-banana smoothie and lots of water. I even treat myself to a milkshake every now and then at home! There are little alterations that I have made to my regular, everyday diet to help me stay more fit, and I'd like to share them with you, as they really do make a difference!

- Switching from white starches to whole wheat/whole grain. This includes bread, pasta, bagels, rice, etc. This was especially hard for me, being Italian!
- My daily smoothie does not have any sugar added aside from the natural sugars found in the fruit.
- When I eat my vegetables, I slather them in butter... Light, omega3-enhanced butter.
- I eat my morning cereal (Cinnamon Pecan Special K is SO good) with SKIM milk... make the switch!
- Less than a tablesoon of LIGHT mayo on turkey sandwiches
- EAT BREAKFAST! Eating within an hour or two of waking up kicks your metabolism into gear for the day and allows you to burn the calories you eat throughout the day more efficiently. Two scrambled eggs and a slice or two of wheat toast for breakfast is a great way to start the day.
- Drink water, drink water, drink water. This is especially helpful when you're hungry, or want to eat just because you're bored (which I constantly suffer from...); putting something in your mouth and stomach can help to quiet those hunger pangs.
- Those milkshakes I mentioned? Skim milk and fat free vanilla yogurt blends ice cream/frozen yogurt :) You can't even tell the difference, I swear!
- There are other little tidbits and tips... DON'T drink dark-colored pop (soda, for those of you not from Rochester!) like Coke, Dr. Pepper, Root Beer, etc. The syrup stains your teeth and let's not even discuss what the sugar does to your teeth! For this same reason I don't drink coffee, ALTHOUGH I have read that it is a good idea to have a cup of coffee about an hour before a work-out session, because the caffiene will boost your energy and your metabolism. But I'm not a dietician or a fitness expert.

I also work out at least 3 days a week. I run 2 miles at about 6.0 to 6.5 MPH. I used to run a mile at 7.0MPHs, but my wonderful boyfriend told me that running longer is more important than running faster, so I slowed down a little and doubled my distance. Today, I ran 2.25 miles at 6.5 :)! I also do curls, shoulder presses, and lunges (which are GREAT for the butt!) I use 10 lb weights, and will be moving up to 12 lbs weights tomorrow. I've been working very hard to stay dedicated and disciplined during the time before Miss NY. I've had to cut back on some favorites, like pizza and mac and cheese.... trust me, I have three boxes in my cupboard that WILL be devoured the day after Miss NY, win or lose! I work in a cafe, ok, and we serve pastries EVERYDAY! It is hard for me to sacrifice a blueberry bagel (no cream cheese... yuck) for a wheat one, but Miss NY is very important to me and so is knowing that I have self-control and a strong will. So, hopefully the judges will recognize my dedication to healthy living! And, if not, that's ok, because the other outcome of working out so much is just knowing that I care enough about myself to stay healthy. Plus, I'm ready for swimsuit season outside of pageantry!

Thanks for your patience through my coaching, this was a long one. I will be writing again after Colonial Days!