Skinnygirl Solutions by Bethenny Frankel - read an excerpt!

7/27/2019 Skinnygirl Solutions by Bethenny Frankel - read an excerpt!

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SkinnygirlSolutions

Your Straight-Up Guide to Home, Health,

Family, Career, Style, and Sex

Bethenny Frankelwith Eve Adamson

Illustrations by Bunky Hurter

A t o u C h s t o n e b o o k

Published by Simon & SchusterNew York London Toronto Sydney New Delhi


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TouchstoneA Division o Simon & Schuster, Inc.1230 Avenue o the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Copyright 2013 by BB Endeavors, LLC

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book orportions thereo in any orm whatsoever. For inormation addressTouchstone Subsidiary Rights Department,1230 Avenue o the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Touchstone hardcover edition August 2013

TOUCHSTONE and colophon are registered trademarks o Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For inormation about special discounts or bulk purchases,please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.For more inormation or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster SpeakersBureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

Illustrations by Bunky Hurter/Mendola Artists

Manuactured in the United States o America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library o Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataFrankel, Bethenny.

Skinnygirl solutions : your straight-up guide to home, health, amily, career, style,and sex / Bethenny Frankel with Eve Adamson ; illustrations by Bunky Hurter.

pages cmA Touchstone Book.1. WomenLie skills guide. I. Adamson, Eve. II. Title.HQ1221.F723 2013646.70082dc23 2013016625

ISBN 978-1-4516-6739-4ISBN 978-1-4516-6744-8 (ebook)


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DedicationThis book is dedicated to women. We struggle every day just to fndbalance, even when we rarely master it. We strive or airly simple things:

love, sex, health, amily, work, sleep, time, water, and trying not to look

like a total hot mess while attempting to achieve them. You have given meso much. Every day I learn something rom you, whether it is something as

simple as removing a stain or something as intense as coping with divorce.

I wrote this book to try to give you some o the solutions that keep me saneunder the most difcult o circumstances. I love you and I am so proud o

you or all that you endure and strive or every day.


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Contents

Introduction 1

Part One: Skinnygirl Wellness 7

Chapter One: Living Naturally Thin 9

Chapter Two: The Naturally Thin Quick-Start Plan 25

Chapter Three: Troubleshooting Your Weight-Gain Traps 39

Chapter Four: What to Eat 55

Chapter Five: Fast Fitness 81

Part Two: Skinnygirl Solutions for Daily Life 95

Chapter Six: Time Management 97

Chapter Seven: Homebody 131

Chapter Eight: Entertaining 179

Chapter Nine: Traveling Affordably, Enjoyably, and Without

Losing Your Mind 211

Chapter Ten: Do Everything Better 229


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x Contents

Part Three: Skinnygirl on the Job 255

Chapter Eleven: Career Planning 257

Chapter Twelve: Managing Your Career 281

Chapter Thirteen: Should You Start Your Own Business? 299

Chapter Fourteen: Money Management and Finances 323

Chapter Fifteen: Work-Life Balance 355

Acknowledgments 359

Index 361


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Chapter Four

What to Eat

People always ask me what I eat, and they also want to know whatthey should eaton certain kinds o days, in certain situations, on

holidays, at restaurants. In this chapter, Ill give you a glimpse into

what I eat, in case you need inspiration, motivation, or ideas or

those days when you have PMS or a hangover, when you go out or

Chinese ood, or when you panic because youre at an all-inclusive

resort and you can eat everything or ree. Ive got tips and menus

and strategies or every situation.

Ive personally eaten all these things and in all these combina-

tions, but truthully, Im not always so balanced. Some days, I might

eat an entire bowl o ried rice or lunch. Another day, I might skip

breakast. These are just my ideas or what might work or you in a

variety o situations, based on what has worked or me.


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SKINNYGIRL SOLUTIONS56

Your Basic Feel-Bad Day

On a eel-bad day, I want to make mysel eel better, and I usually

do that with comort ood. Whether Im depressed, anxious, irritable,

sleep deprived, or just had one too many the day beore, on a basiceel-bad day I usually crave salt, sugar, and at, and I tend to eat

things like eggs, salty snacks, and ice cream. Dinner is oten pasta

because its comorting.

Portion control is very important on these days, so I really watch

how much I eat o these decadent oods. Especially when I had too

much to drink the night beore, I know my body is trying to replenish

and hydrate, so I also keep at hand a ull glass o club soda with a

splash o juice. Heres what Im likely to eat:

BASIC FEEL-BAD DAY

Breakfast

Breakast burrito or wrap with egg whites and a whole-

grain tortilla. Keep the additions on the light sidesalsa

and vegetables, and only a little i any cheese and sour

cream.

Lunch Hal o a sandwich or a piece o pizza.


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What to Eat 57

Afternoon A small bag o baked barbecue chips.

DinnerComort ood like angel hair pasta with red sauce and

maybe a glass o wine.

Evening snackSmall cup o ice cream or rozen yogurt with sprinkles, or

a ew more handuls o chips.

On a Famished Day

Some days, you just wake up really hungry, so ocus on volume.

High-volume, high-fber oods fll you up without the dense at and

calories in more decadent oods that need more portion control. You

can eat more and still end up in balance. You might also be amished

on days when you work out a lot or have demanding physical activity,

whether work or play. On days when Im snowboarding, Im am-ished. Heres what I might eat:


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SkinnyGirl SolutionS58

FAMISHED DAY

Breakfast Whole wheat pancakes or an egg-white omelettewith a lot o veggies. On the run, oatmeal is a fll-

ing option. Add soy milk and resh ruit or volume.

Lunch

Whole wheat veggie sandwich with cheese and

avocados or tuna salad, or a Cobb salad or

Caesar salad. I might or might not eat the whole

thingi it has a lot o bacon and blue cheese,

I probably wont fnish it. On a ravenous day,

I might just tear right into a big bowl o ried rice

because I cant wait.

Afternoon A Skinnygirl Daily On-the-Go bar or hal a brownie.

Dinner

Two spicy crab sushi rolls and a salad, or crab

cakes with a green salad. I might just make a

mishmosh, like a bowl o soup, a sweet potato,

a salad, and some hummus and crackers.

Evening snackI Im still craving something sweet, I might have hal

o a large chocolate chip cookie.


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What to Eat 59

On a Sick Day

When you wake up with a sore throat or a queasy stomach or that

all-over eeling that things just arent right in your body, pamper your

system in an easy way. When Im sick, Im not very hungry but Ill

drink juices and smoothies and eat soup to ush out whatever virus

is trying to take hold. Its good to hydrate when youre sick. When

I want something sweet, Popsicles are perect. Sometimes I just want

comort ood and salt. This is what Ill typically eat on a sick day:

SICK DAY

Breakfast Fruit smoothie.

Lunch: Vegetable noodle soup, Popsicle.

Afternoon Green/apple juice, or watermelon.


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SKINNYGIRL SOLUTIONS60

DinnerChinese ood, like vegetable mu shu, steamed dump-

lings, brown rice, and spicy sauted broccoli.

Evening snack Another Popsicle, or maybe resh ruit.

On a PMS Day


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What to Eat 61

Hormonal PMS days arent egg-white-and-salad kinds o days. These

are salt-sugar-at days, so I keep my portions down but I have what-

ever Im craving. I dont hold back on dairy during PMS days eitheras Ive ound that calcium is good or PMS symptoms and cramps. I

Im eeling bloated, Ill eat lighter than this, but this is a typical hor-

monal day o eating. Heres an example o what this might include:

PMS DAY

Breakfast

Homemade blueberry pancakes with real maple

syrup, or whole-grain cereal and a Starbucks deca

misto with soy milk. (To be totally honest, one morn-ing I had PMS and I ate hal o a gigantic piece o

chocolate cake with lots o icing.)

Lunch

A veggie burger or a turkey burger on a whole

wheat bun with low-at cheese, ketchup, and

mustard, or i Im craving something sweet,

maybe just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

on whole wheat and a cup o soup.

Afternoon

A kiddie-sized cup o ice cream or rozen yogurt

with sprinkles or a ew dark chocolate almonds.

(PMS days are sugar-craving days or me.)

Dinner

Whole wheat pasta with pesto sauce. I Im going

out, I might want the salty/spicy taste o Thai ood,

or I might order in Chinese and eat it on the couch

with a heating pad and a side o Advil.

Evening snackA small cookie or a ew bites o a brownie or chips

and a glass o wine.


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Chapter Six

Time Management

People oten ask me about how I stay organized, how I ft everythingin, and how I balance work with my personal lie. I wont pretend its

easy. One o my greatest struggles has been work-lie balance. Doing

it right means managing your time, getting organized, and maximiz-

ing your minutes. Phone companies know the world is measured in

minutes and that well never stop needing more o them. Time man-

agement is step one.

I used to think fnding time or my riends and mysel while

building my career was hard, but then I became a mother, and now

those days seem like a party. Being a mother equals guilt. You will

never have enough time with your amily. My riends and I used to

count the days until something exciting would happen. Now none o

us has time or that, and it eels like something exciting (or challeng-

ing) happens every minute. I used to mark my menstrual cycle in acalendar and it really elt like a month between periods. Now I get it

every fve minutes. Time is whipping by. Im constantly on the verge

o not getting it all done in time, and yet, somehow I do. Its never

easy, but its defnitely possible.


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How to Manage Your Time

For me, time management is about three things:

1. Being OrganizedI you arent organized, youre going to waste time, period. Youll be

looking or things or trying to remember what you were supposed

to be doing. I you dont know whats supposed to happen next, you

wont be ready. I you dont know where something is, youre going

to waste time looking or it. You can be the best multitasker in the

world, but i all youre doing is making up or lost time due to dis-organization, youre stressing yoursel out or nothing. Fastidious

organization is the most important way that I save time. Anyone can

become organized. Disorganization is just a bad habit. Three sec-

onds o putting something away now can save you an hour looking

or it later, and spare time spent organizing a drawer or a closet or a

shel instead o staring at a television will be worth every second you

invest.

2. MultitaskingI hardly ever do just one thing at a time, unless its spending time with

my daughter. There are a million ways to get two or more things done

at once. As I write this, Im on a plane to Australia. I used as much

time as possible to sleep because thats important, but the minute

I woke up, I chose to work on this book instead o staring at a movie.

Multitasking is controversial because people say that nobody canreally multitask very well and i you try, you wont get things done as

quickly. Im not sure I believe that, because Im continually multi-

tasking, and I get a hell o a lot done every day. For me, an idle mind

is the devils playground. This year has been unusual or me because

Ive had some time o, but when I dont have enough to do, I just

torture my sta with new production ideas. I think I do things better

i Im doing three things at once. Multitasking energizes and invigo-

rates your mind, so you think more clearly and sharply and you movemore quickly. It seems to me like when I have one thing to do, I get

nothing done, but i I have orty-two things to do, I get it all done.


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Time Management 99

Ideas beget more ideas. I you can get good at it, youll eectively

double or triple the minutes in your day.

Some complex jobs really need your ull attention and you needto be able to recognize when thats the case. Writing a book chapter,

creating a presentation or work, brainstorming, cooking something

complicated, or assembling an entertainment center need all your brain

power, so put away your smartphone and get on with it. Also, dont

multitask when youre pushing a stroller, holding a baby, crossing the

street, using something sharp, like a saw or scissors, or doing anything

else that could be dangerous, and dont do stupid things while you need

to concentrate, like checking your e-mail every three seconds or obses-sively tweeting. Thats not multitasking. Thats wasting valuable time.

Thousands o tasks you do every day are relatively mindless, so do

a ew at a time. Here are some examples o how I multitask and how

you can get more done, too:

When youre on the phone, walk around the house declut-

tering. Put things back where they belong. Dust, or wipe

down the counters in your kitchen or your rerigerator.

When youre waiting or a call or a meeting to start, or you

are on hold, organize a drawer or delete contacts rom your

cell phone.

When youre watching TV, do your sit-ups and push-ups or

a ew yoga poses.

For dinner, make whatever needs to bake frst (like bread,

cake, or casserole), then make the side dishes on the stovewhile the oven is going.

I youre a passenger in a car, write your blog, make your

lists, or edit your book.

When youre waiting in line, answer e-mails.

Make playdates at parks so you can spend time with your

child and socialize with other moms at the same time.

Get a manicure while youre getting a massage. They can work

around each other. You just relax. You can also spend timewith your child while getting a manicure. I take Bryn with me

and she gets a manicure too, or she colors or plays on my iPad.


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MojitosPeachSangria


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Chapter Eight

Entertaining

As a ormer event planner, I love planning and hosting parties,but I also want to enjoy them and I dont want to spend the whole

night cleaning up aterward. Anybody can have people over or

drinks, but it takes a certain level o attention to detail to throw a

really successul party.

The most important thing I learned about parties long ago is that

having a theme pulls a party together. It doesnt have to be an obvi-

ous theme like Mardi Gras or luau. You dont have to be tacky or

kitschy, but do set a tone. It can simply be an idea you have in your

own mind that nobody else even knows, but it can help you keep

everythingood, cocktails, music, lighting, dcorconsistent, and

it will give your party a particular ambience and style. Your theme

might be romantic, or estive and un, or vintage, or edgy and mod-

ern, or elegant and sophisticated.The theme should be the frst thing you choose when you are

planning a party, but its not the only decision, o course. I worked

or years producing events rom celebrity weddings to parties or

the Emmys and the Grammys, and Ive learned a thing or two about

entertaining. This chapter is ull o my best event-planner insider

secrets and party-planning tips.


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Get the Music Right

Music sets the whole tone o a party. The right music can make aparty and the wrong music can kill it. I the music is too manic, it

can make everyone anxious, but i its too mellow, everyone can get

tired. When choosing, consider your guests. I you are thirty but your

guests include sixty-fve-year-olds, they might not appreciate your

avorite kind o music. Personally, i Im in a nightclub and they play

house or techno, I get anxiety because I associate that with every-

body doing drugs. Play hip-hop, however, and I cant stop dancing.

I used to love disco. Its a personal choice but Im not going to playhip-hop at every single party. It all depends on the theme or mood

Ive chosen or the event.

You also need to decide where your music will come rom.

You dont have to hire a band or a DJ unless your party is a major

event. Instead, make playlists on your iPad or iPhone and put it in

a dock. You can customize the music or your whole party ahead o

time. You can design a playlist to match your theme or the mood

youve chosen. I you arent sure, start with light jazz or classical and

then move into dance music, i thats your thing. I you arent sure

what will go over well, have some options and ask the guests i they

like the music or i they want to hear something else. Every party has

someone who wants to play DJ.

Another option is to use a service like Songza or Pandora. Just put

in a song or artist that typifes the mood you like, or a kind o music

(like Top 40 or adult contemporary or disco), and Pandora willplay a custom-made radio station or your party. I it plays any

songs you dont like, just click the thumbs-down symbol and Pandora

will eliminate that song rom the station orever. The more you tell it

which songs you do and dont like, the more it will refne your station

to suit your mood and personality.


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Entertaining 181

Get the Lighting Right

Nobody looks good with bright overhead uorescent lights, andnothing attens a party quicker than bright lights. Think about how a

club or candlelit room eels when the lights get bright. It destroys the

mood. Dim lights make everyone look better and candlelight is sexy.

You dont have to rent lighting. Just put your lights on dimmers, add

candles, or use lamps instead o overhead lights.

Have Signature Cocktails

O course, you could invest in a whole bar ull o liquor, but when

you put a bunch o dierent bottles out on the table, the table gets

sticky, the caps get lost, people spill when they pour, and its expen-

sive. Its also very collegiate. Instead, a ew pitchers o signature

cocktails are easier or people to serve themselves, and they will eel

like they are participating in the party. Put out appropriate glasses,

garnishes, and buckets o ice. Cute cocktail napkins and interesting

cocktail stirrers could be un. Also put out pitchers o water with

lemons and limes and water glasses. I the tap water is terrible, buy

jugs o spring water.

I you set up your cocktail area on a table, see i you can put it on

risers. Its awkward to lean down to make drinks.

Match your signature cocktails to the theme or mood o the party.

I you need ideas, ip to the end o this chapter or dierent partythemes and appropriate cocktails and recipes.

t h e P e r F e C t i C y M A r t i n i

I used to wonder how the great steakhouses and good martini

bars get those little bits o ice oating on the top o their drinks.

I tried, but Id end up with an ice rink on top o the glass. It tookme orty-two years to fgure this out, but I fnally discovered that


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i you rinse your glasses and put them in the reezer, then when

the drink hits the ice on the glass, you get the bits o oating ice

on top.

I guests are making their own drinks, keep the selection limited.

You dont need every kind o liquor or mixer. You dont need gin i all

the party guests are under sixty-fve, unless you have a riend who

drinks it. You dont need rum unless everybodys rom the Caribbean

or it fts the party theme. I you have whiskey drinkers at your party,

include a bottle o Scotch or bourbon. Otherwise, keep it simple.This is really all you need:

White Tequila

Vodka

Dry vermouth

Club soda

Tonic water

Lemons and limes cut up in a bowl

Olives in a bowl

Light-colored juice, like pineapple, graperuit, and/or orange

White wine

I its your house and not mine, you could include cranberry juice,

sweet vermouth, grenadine, cherries, and red wine, but I suggest not

ruining your party or lie by serving drink elements that can stainyour carpets and urniture, not to mention someones clothes. I

someone spills, they will want to kill themselves and you will want to

kill them. Save the cosmos, manhattans, and red wine or when you

are at a restaurant.

Also prevent messes by putting coasters out everywhere. Coasters

are a must i you dont want to ruin your urniture.


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Skinnygirl Solutions by Bethenny Frankel - read an excerpt!

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