Diary of a model
Lily spends her days as a model, rushing from shoot to show and then to another casting. On Amayzine, she tells you all about what her life is really like. Under a different name, of course, but that means she can share all the juicy details. This week: December is hell for every model.
December is for many one of the most enjoyable months of the year. Lots of days off, cozy and pleasant indoors with candles, seeing all your family again and eating, a lot of eating. Let this last one just be the fear of every model. December is a minefield full of ginger nuts, speculaas, chocolate letters, and aunts who serve you three times extra because ‘oh girl, you look so thin.’ Still, December is also one of my favorite months. Despite having to walk through the supermarkets with blinders on my way to the celery, I really enjoy the time when it gets dark and cold outside.
First of all, all gyms have good heating. This means I can stay inside longer because I simply don't feel like going outside again. Once I've braved the harsh winter weather to drag my skinny ass to the gym, I want to get the most out of it before I wrap myself up in shawls again. Additionally, I once read somewhere that you burn more fat when you're cold: shivering like a reed for legs like a twig.
Moreover, no one is up for a drink on the terrace to start, celebrate, or end the day, or just because it can. Goodbye extra alcohol, hello warm cups of low-calorie tea. It's suddenly completely acceptable to order a warm tea with food instead of a Moscow mule. Where I sometimes have to apologize in the summer for not drinking, everyone now sighs: ‘Oh, yes, nice a tea, that's what I really feel like!’ Only the glühwein still throws a bit of soot into... the tea?
A little side note about soot: I am mortified when I have to explain the Dutch Sinterklaas traditions to my international model friends. Models often have no brains, but they all understand that Black Pete is really not okay. Bring it on, soot-smeared Pete.
Finally, December in the modeling world is a quiet time. Just before Christmas, almost no one feels like working anymore. This means I have more time for friends, family, studies, and getting my administration in order (yay). Normally, it's impossible to plan things, but the end of December is guaranteed to be a ‘no-option’ time. Where I usually prefer to work more than less, this certainty of no work is sometimes really nice.
By the time you read this, I will be recovering from my Sinterklaas eating coma. It's only December 4th now, and despite good intentions, I already know that at my parents' house, the ginger nuts, chocolate, and borstplaat have been stocked up heavily. I may be a model, but I'm one with a weakness for Sinterklaas candy, especially: filled speculaas, my savior in good times and bad.
XX kisses from Lily
