LeBootCamp on France's first TV Channel and film shoot on the 101

TF1 (France's first TV channel) is is screening a feature on LeBootCamp on one of it's prime time programs. Well done Max for giving your all for the joy of the cameras ;)

To see us scrawl to the program's 9th minute (sorry, it's all in French).

2 minutes pelvic floor exercises.

Not much exercise today I am fighting a very bad long-haul cold

breakfast: 1 small portion gluten free granola +1/2 cup pomegranate and probiotic soya milk + lots of pomegranate white tea (I am seriously testing pomegranate)

And I scoot to SF for a lunchtime meeting, so very unusual and very light meal, but I have no choice: creamy mushroom soup with exactly 3 croutons and a bit of grated cheese + 1 banana

then big strategic discussion with Fabrice... wow, September will be global, it's going to be huge!

Film shoot on the 101 looks like that:

Snack: 2 clementines + 1 grapefruit + 1 banana + 10 fresh nuts + 5 dates (yes I am hungry)

30 minutes accumulated walking

50 abs on the ab-lounge

Diner a small portion vegetable soup + 1 grilled mahi-mahi steak + home made cream of sweet pepper and chickpeas rice + 1 clementine

Getting over jetlag

That's it... I am back! The sky is blue... it must be San Francisco

Very short night because of the jet lag.

Breakfast: 1 juiced lemon + 4 clementines + 1 papaya + 1 banana 

Upon returning from such a trip I keep to a 75 % raw diet to fill up on vitamins in order to get back on the horse quicker. 

I spend my day debriefing, recovering, and preparing my next trip to Costa Rica in 14 days. 

50 minutes walk before lunch

Lunch: 1 mahi-mahi (a kind of fish) burger + 1 bunch of grapes + 1 banana

45 minutes walk

15 minutes cumulated walking

diner: 1 bowl of vegetable soup + 1 soya yogurt + 2 clementines

 

Back to sunny California via NY

A week-end all about traveling back home and the meet of a bootcamper in Roissy airport (we are flying at the same time from the same terminal, how can I resist the urge to meet her?)

Breakfast: fresh almonds, 1 banana, 5 clementines

Lunch: 4 slices wholemeal bread with Roquefort + 1 soya yogurt and 1 apple 

Snack in the American Airlines lounge: an apple and  few dried fruits 

Trip and return home.... with of course, plenty of walking in airports and some exercises on board! 

Filming with TF1 - Honours to LeBootCamp

Morning spent shooting a TV report with TF1 after a breakfast under the eye of the cameraman: one raw bar and an apple.

Really cool shoot, you can check out the results of our exertions in a coming post called "LeBootCamp on TF1" 

Max, our LeBootCamper witness gives her all and projects a great image of LeBootCamp!

So, plenty of 25th hour exercises, as this is the subject of the report... 3m minutes walk + triceps, abs, leg sweeps, grand plies, and other invisible chairs...

Thereafter, lunch with a delightful and powerful man but hush! I keep his name quiet... we are not a tabloid here. We have: Figatellu (a kind of Corsican dried sausage) risotto with Corsican hard cheese emulsion, an absolute delight that needs neither starter nor desert but just a little glass of Cap Corse muscat to complete it, yes:)

After, I have really important meeting and then, I swing by at my stylist's to pick up a few pieces for a shoot and zoom to my darling photograph's to review and choose the pictures from last photoshoot. 

Diner at my mum's with whom I delight spending quality time with after those two crazy weeks. She treats us to her home made soup, soyonnaise shrimps, and oven roasted seabass and plenty of fresh fruit. 

 A great day to seal off a Paris and London marathon...

LeBootCamp in the lens of France 5

Rooibos tea to wash away the effects of my sleepless night (caused by tummy flu)

Breakfast: 1 portion Nestle Fitness cereal with nuggets and hazelnuts + 1 toffee soya yogurt

50 leg lifts on each side

50 Hindu prayers

Another day at full throttle but it's all for the greater good

We start our meetings followed by the camera of France 5 that is continuing their LeBootCamp documentary (aired on May 5th 2009) 

Very nice lunch where great baguette cannot be ignored, as the restaurant serves bread made by the 2008 gold medalist backer;

sauteed lamb with caramelised onions with a small portion of fries + 2 pieces of delicious baguette + a fresh mint tea

Then I rush off to a meeting with my investors and hop into bed, a bit late (not too much), need a good sleep because TF1 (France's biggest TV channel) is filming us all of tomorrow morning.

45 minutes accumulated walking throughout the day 

The investors, although we are holding a diner meeting, haven't planned anything to eat other than a few crackers! so, for diner, a few crackers and a soya yogurt... that's the Lindsay Lohan diet = "I don't have the time for a meal and no one is feeding me either". 

Never mind, I'll make up for it tomorrow!

50 leg lifts each side during tooth-brushing

Good night!

Partrimoine TV interview

Early rise, to be there for 8h30 at the Paris Stock Exchange for an interview at Patrimoine TV

5 mn yoga 

100 abs

50 wall push ups

15 minutes walk

Patrimoine TV Shoot at 8h45 on the dot. I meet again the beautiful economics journalist, Melodie Szymczak who knows how to ask intelligent questions that make one think :)

Breakfast: 1 raw bar, 1 fruit salad and the juice of 2 oranges + green tea

30 minutes accumulated walk

I move onto some press interviews

Lunch: 1 apple + 1 raw bar as I am not really hungry

And on to some really interesting meetings and especially a live chat on L'Internaute that lasts an hour and is really fun to do.

30 minutes walk 

more green tea!

Diner: an enormous pistou (very provencal) soup + 1 toffee soya yogurt

50 wall push-ups

50 legs lifts on each side

Very bad night sleep, the Pistou did not agree with me at all! ... a bit of tummy flu just before a big meeting, I love it (not)!!!!!!!

Shoot and meeting at the top, what a great day!

Here is Caro, a hairdressing artist who works as fast as lightning! 

Breakfast on the set where the shoot goes on all morning: 1 banana and a few macaroons (the good diet saboteurs are here and know very well what will make me ply)

3 great hours of shoot in a superb atmosphere and plenty of 25th hour exercises for the cameras

Then I rush to Villa Corse, my HQ, for a very nice meeting with some people who have succeeded in a very competitive line of business. It's a joy. We are going to embark on a great adventure together, fantastic! 

On the menu: Scallops in a leek soup, 2 slices of bread with tapenade and, for desert, a red berries salad with a almond wafer and a scoop of red berries and mint sherbet. To finish, a fresh mint tea 

No time for a nap... I run off to meet C and F with C. Great meeting where we straighten everything out to take things to the next level. Fine plan... let's do it! 

Snack: a few sprouted almonds with goji berries and raw chocolate.

1 hour accumulated walk

50 butt squeezes

20 squats 

I scoot off again because there isn't any spare time with this week's packed diary... but it's all for good cause!

End of the day with C for diner: cream of watercress, onion pastilla, 1 thin apple tart and bucket loads of water for my parched throat, I talk all day and it is really crying out now :0

In bed early, for a change, I need it and it feels great... to recover. 

BFM Radio Interview and superb journalistic evening meeting

Breakfast: not hungry because of yesterday's banquet, so 1/2 an apple and I don't strain my system

30 minutes walk

Interview for BFM for a broadcast on the last week-end of March. Really cool column with Philippe Bloch and Arnaud Legal or how to talk about economy and growth with a smile.

Very pleasant lunch with A and some really beautiful projects on the books, but hush... it's a surprise, 3 grilled king prawns + basmati rice and a a fresh fruit salad

1 minute pelvic floor exercises

snack: 1 toffee soya yogurt (yum) and 3 Cereal biscuits

Chase through Paris to arrive on time at Laduree on the Champs Elysees for my evening meeting, aaand I make it with 20 minutes spare, yepee! I can fit in some quick presy shopping for the ones left to hold the fort back home, especially a comic for Eric whom, having not (re) sent me his wish list on time, will have to content himself with the Smurfs in Lithuanian :)

20 minutes walk in high heels (not my fave, but can't be helped) 

A very enjoyable meeting with a journalist at the top, that goes on much longer than planned... so I am late for French team farewell diner before they all head back for sunny south of France.

We officially celebrate Marjorie's being fully on board with the gift of a rather gothic Lalique bracelet that suits her down to a Tee!

WELCOME TO MARJORIE!!!

Diner at Buffalo Grill: little green salad + buffalo burger, no bun, but with fries, and for pudding a gourmet tea that comes with two stickies that only count for one!

In bed very late, not so good for tomorrow's shoot!! 

Paris Body Fitness Trade Show and the Bootcampers - A wicked mix!

Last day of the Trade Show

On an empty stomach, freshly squeezed lemon with room temperature water + Rooibos tea 

15 minutes yoga

Breakfast: 1 raw bar + 1 orange

Brilliant! The Bootcampers arrive! what an energy! Happiness! 

I give my 11 am conference on the history of diets and the 25th hour which is becoming is becoming a household brand :)

30 minutes walk with the Bootcampers seeking a restaurant that can cater for our large group... we end up in a restaurant where we are very well looked after but the food is rather rich... if we are going to indulge we might as well enjoy without feeling guilty :) 

From the menu: Chicken leg (without the skin) with a creamy curry sauce + a portion of fries and let's go crazy, homemade strawberry tart for pudding + green tea.

45 minutes walk with a superb guide to burn off some of our lunch

15 minutes walk

no snack of course

celebration diner with the team at Chez Clement: scallops chowder with carrots + a portion basmati rice + leek melt 

After 3 days of high octane Body Fitness Trade Show all we want to do is go home for a nice sleep. 

50 butt squeezes on each side during tooth brushing 

It was an amazing day with my dream team and the boosted up bootcampers who's success is a joy to be part of... 

Max, Thierry, Eric, Pascal, Sam, what a joy

We start the day in the eye of the cameras of France 5 who are shooting a documentary about the French and their Fitness, we were chosen as the weightloss program for the documentary.

We take a 30 minutes brisk walk under Sam's eye, the cameraman who keeps up despite carrying his backbreaking equipment!

20 45 degrees push ups 

20 triceps dips on a park bench

After that, return to the flat for a raw breakfast tasting so as to start the day on the right foot: raw snack bar, rooibos tea and a very juicy orange.

We make a dash (well, we try to) through Paris in extremely heavy traffic and arrive late for my 11 am conference at the Fitness Trade Show!!! I am really sorry for everyone waiting, but I can't do much against accidents on the peripherique... 

I meet Max, a loyal member of LeBootCamp, she is showing off a glowing skin and a great figure! a genuine example of success.

Lunch with Mum and Super Jack in a Thai restaurant, the service was ch-ar-ming. On the menu, 4 mini fried spring rolls + 2 steamed fish fillets and Chop Suey vegetables.

We brisk walk it back (that makes it another 30min) to the Trade Fair where the afternoon is spent with some brilliant innovators and Thierry Tsagalos, creator of world leading body building, fitness and body conditioning forums

Snack: 1 apple

20 minutes walk
Diner: 1 onion pastilla + 1 very small salmon steak + 1/2 bowl "pistou" soup + 1 vanilla soya yogurt and I don't know what's wrong with me tonight but I crave sugar so there go 6 white Toblerone triangles.

First day on the Paris Fitness Trade show

A member of LeBootCamp and her husband who came to visit us.

The excitement is at its highest today as we kick start the Fitness Trade Show with a beautiful bright pink stand, what a joy to see this happy color! We are not on our own as Imineo and Wii Body Coaching are with wit us to promote our new products and services. 

breakfast: 1 raw bar

30 minutes accumulated walking

The day just flies by as I go from interview to interview... and more importantly I meet LeBootCamp members (often with their husbands). 

The entire French LeBootCamp team came to Paris to offer free coaching sessions, free profiles and weightloss assessments. Carole and Selina discuss business development. I meet Pascal, a brilliant entertainer, our MC for tomorrow as it were. 

A lot of men, very body-built up, stride through the trade fair.

Business lunch with a team from a business I can't name to avoid revealing what is coming soon :) But, many thanks for being there to help us propagate serene weightloss coaching

3/4 burger + my fries and those of my lunching neighbour (without feeling guilty for a second of course)

15 min walk 

Diner: 1 carrot soup + 1 hazelnut yogurt + 6 white Toblerone triangles

100 abs

50 wall push ups.  

Great photo shoot - thank you Mano for making us beautiful

Short night between the previous day full of emotions and the one ahead of us where we have to keep looking fresh for 6 hours in front of Mano's lens. 

5 minutes Yoga to relax and soften the joints.

We rush off on an empty stomach; in the underground car park I bump into a temptress carrying an armful of delicious mini danish pastries she offers me a few to give a touch of humor to the photo shoot. I eat two mini pain au chocolat before we start.

 A photo shoot, even in the best possible conditions, is exhausting... I never would have thought that previously but by now I know better. 

Thanks to Brigitte, a stylist who does a great job, Clotilde, a genuinely talented make-up artist and Mano our darling photographer, the spirits are high and we feel beautiful (I am not alone hence the plural).

At 2h57 pm, we wrap up and rush off with Selina and Mano to try and catch lunch in the only restaurant that will still serve us this late, we make it just before they close the kitchen: we each get a mixed salad with lettuce, 4 thin slices Parma ham, mushrooms and croutons, for desert I eat a chocolate cake and 2 chocolate coated marshmallow bears.   

30 min walk 

Snack: 1 apple and some orchid tea 

Late meeting at 7 pm: a seasoned tomato juice

Diner: 1 ready made soup + 1 hazelnut milk yogurt. 

Carluccio's and back to Paris

Another day basking in the London sun where South Africa comes to us in an unusual way. We continue our LeBootCamp progress and prepare our departure this evening, the Eurostar is wisking us towards some even crazier Parisian days! 

Breakfast: a raw bar + 1 apple + Rooibos tea

I rush to central London for meetings and last present shopping for my abandoned Californians. And I go past the Imperial College that would be a great place for my son, wouldn't it?

1 hour walk

Lunch at Carluccio's on St Christopher's Place: 2 slices calf's liver (good source of hemme iron) with a few roast potatoes. 

back home to finish a few teleconferences and we buckle our suitcases and head for St Pancras International to catch the Eurostar. 

30 min walk

Pre-dinner in the (very beautiful) station as I now know that the dinner platter on the train, although very good, is far too small for my greedy coach appetite: 1 coconut milk spicy Thai soup and a bunch of grapes.

in the train: 1 miniature babyleaf salad, a mini butternut squash stew with rice and precisely 3 grapes and 4 pineapple cubes, won't stuff ourselves!!!

Very late arrival, so straight to bed and tomorrow we are up early for a photo shoot.

 

Cipriani - the place to be seen

A Very active day but it is for the good cause, that of LeBootCamp.

Breakfast: 1 raw bar + 1 apple

1h30 walk

Lunch: 1 soup + 1/2 Pret A Manger sandwich

2 hours walk

The weather is so nice that I prefer walking between two meetings rather than taking cabs.

Snack: 1 banana + 2 little snack bars (150 calories, for info) + 4 dates

100 abs

Diner at Cipriani's, one of London's "It" people restaurants, where 6ft surgically enhanced women walk past us and nibble a few pieces of salad... we don't fuss around and tuck into the lovely Italian food with relish: lots of delicious fresh bread (wow, the Brits can really make great bread! well, London's Italian restaurants can) + monkfish fillet with tomato sauce and rice. I don't order any desert but my friends chose some very nice ones I nibble a few spoonfuls from. Yum!

I am moving to London, I found the right house!

Sun, 17 degrees here... warmer than Athens today! 

10 min yoga to start the day 

Breakfast: Rooibos tea + 1/2 avocado + 3 black sesame seed wholegrain rice crackers + hummus and babaganush + 1 pear

Many hours on the telephone today that I make beneficial by walking whilst talking. 

2 hours walk - I cross Kensignton Park and Portobello Market, Notting Hill (yes that's where the film with Hugh Grant was made:) I can assure you, he isn't in the neighborhood today, I paced the whole area for 2 hours!

Lunch: 1 tomato soup + 1 plate vegetarian antipasti + 4 little slices white bread + 1 small square butter (useful for measuring to have pre-packed portions) 

Well, I stumble upon a pastry shop that carries my name! Patisserie Valerie... 

how could I resist? I decide to indulge myself and I set my heart on an apple and almond tart. At the first mouthful, I decide that if I am going to treat myself like that, the taste needs to match the level of the "indulgence". So, I wrap my tart up again and go on the hunt for a treat of higher level... 

my steps take me 

to this window... sumptuous cakes, buns and pastries,... I found my Graal of snacks: a little white chocolate cheesecake with pistachios and raspberries... ahhhh, that's good... I consider throwing the first cake away, after all no, I'll go all the way and eat it as well!

3h30 walking to burn all this :) well, not all but a big chunk...

Whilst walking between two telephone interviews, I stumble upon an estate agent... and there, I am presented with the dream house, in Notting Hill, in a quiet street, with a 4000 square foot garden, for the modest price of £4 million :)

I finish my day at Harrods to stock up on some of the famous shop's branded gifts for friends 

Besides all that it was an intense day on the business front... wow... like Carole would say, some days are just great, great, great!

Diner with Selina, Katie and Greg: tomato soup (yes I love it, and it is good for the heart) + green salad with Thai dressing (home made by Selina) + 2 slices of yeast and gluten free bread + 1 tip of a knife of non hydrogenated margarine + 2 slices of organic smoked salmon +some grapes.

Hampstead Heath and dog freedom

Finally a near-normal night, rising at 6h06 on the dot, our feathered friends chirp early under the English sun.

Breakfast: 1 raw bar + 1 orange

2h walk in Hampstead Heath, with Selina's children, I discover a splendid view of London unravelling at our feet. The weather is radiant, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, .. and the best is that dogs are allowed to run free, without a lead, they run, play and even swim in the ponds, no chance of this being allowed in the USA where a Nestle off the lead costs a hefty $100 fine.

Lunch : 6 wholegrain rice and black sesame crackers + 2 slices gluten and yeast free bread 

+ hummus + babaganush + 2 small vegan fruit cookies.

I escape to town by myself on the number 6 bus Kensal Rise --> Marble Arch and stride along Oxford Street, Regent Street... I explore the mecca of affordable fashion, the famous and very "British": Top Shop

3 hours walk at good pace

Snack at Pret-a-Manger, the chain of "fresh and healthy" delis that are all over the UK and are slowly arriving in the USA : 1 fruit salad+ 1 banana

Diner: 2 bowls tomato soup + 2 slices yeast and gluten free bread + 4 wholegrain rice crackers with black sesame seeds + hummus + 1/2 avocado + 1 orange

We finish the day with a great French comedy classic: Les Bronzes font du ski (unfortunately gets completely lost in translation in English)

London under the sun

A beautiful day starts: the sun is shining over London, the view from my bedroom stretches all the way to Marble Arch and the West End... Selina think it is nice and warm, the Californian that I am still finds it quite chilly and covers up! 

I admire the rows beautiful terraced Victorian houses and we are off for our 30 minutes walk to take her children to drama school.

100 abs

Breakfast: after a nice Roobois tea, hazelnut, banana, hemp seed smoothie (always with me in my suitcase)

Lunch at some friends' house, a superb mansion house with a garden the size of a park. Aperitif: 1 champagne flute+ a few little smoked salmon canapes + some tuna dip with crackers and carrot sticks. Main meal: beef stew + mustard seed potato mash + steamed cabbage. For dessert: 1/2 slice apple pie + 1/2 scoop vanilla ice cream.

100 abs
20  45 degrees push ups
50 granny squats

Diner: 1 raw bar + 1 orange

Fabulous day of broadcasting at M6 Boutique

What a brilliant crew. A superb atmosphere on the sets, everyone is very friendly, one can only feel at ease. We do two great live shows! thank you Christophe, Isabelle, Laurence, Kamel, our inspired chef, Aline, Isabelle2 who saved me from nausea thanks to her killer treatment (in a good way)

breakfast in my dressing room (I am treated like royalty!!): 1 raw snackbar +1 fair-trade organic banana 

I meet Serge Molitor, one of my favorite TV presenters, another picture for my collection. A very sweet man, in life as well as on screen.

First show: 10 am, Laurence and I present exercise equipment I love: Body Leg, Ab Rocket and other green tea and mate extracts.

We treat ourselves at lunch time with beautifully prepared organic lunch trays: duck breast + pasta salad with Shitaake mushrooms + artichoke salad with celeriac. Stupendous desert: toffee quinoa blancmange. I give bread and cheese a miss because I need to be on the ball with all my energy up for the next live show at 2 pm. 

Once the broadcast finished, Carole and I rush to Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar.

I am still feeling queasy after yesterdays exposure to cigarette smoke so I sip some coca cola, for me, it remains the best remedy in case of nausea!
Very balanced Diner in Eurostar. One can indeed order a vegan meal in advance and at no extra cost. On the menu, tiny portions: corn salad without dressing (as I only find the olive oil vinaigrette at the end of my meal in a corner of my tray) + curry marinated tofu+ wild rice + sauteed spinach+ 1 small portion cherry tart (a doll's size tart portion!) + 1 chocolate square (they must be following LeBootCamp, just with portions divided by 4!).

30 min walk

Arrival in London with welcome party at the station :) A bunch of grapes with Greg and Selina. We put the world of finance to rights around a cup of rooibos tea (and something more "manly" for Greg) at the kitchen table.

Sleepless night until 5 in the morning! Probably a combined effect of jetlag, the day's excitements... and hunger as the size of diner tray in the train did not satisfy an appetite like mine. 

So, at midnight, one banana (that Christophe made me take with me from the dressing room, good thinking, thanks!).

At 4 am I begin to drift off when the birds wake me up! What do they feed them in London to chirp so early???

Preparing for M6 and TF1 TV shows

A beautiful first day in Paris led at race pace thanks to Carole's boundless energy! 

10 min Morning Wake Up Call yoga
100 abs
20 floor press ups

Breakfast prepared in super C's kitchen, thank you for lending me your superb flat (it is really nice to be able to cook my own food and and feel "at home", even away on business!): banana/hazelnut milk/hemp seeds and raw chocolate smoothie (yummm!)

30 minutes walk

At the hairdressers: 300 ankle lifts (stay seated at the hairwash basin, keep your thighs glued to the seat and lift the lower leg only, horizontally) + 100 knee lifts

Lunch: mash potato/carrots/ham (comfort baby food :) + 1 vanilla soya yogurt 

30 min walk

I spend the afternoon at M6 Boutique to prepare tomorrow's show - great atmosphere - the crew is really super, full of energy and more importantly, I choose all the products I usually recommend: juicer, body leg, ab rocket etc....great!

Snack: 1 raw bar (yes, I come with my own snacks and treats to avoid eating just whatever I can get my hands on)

We rush to a TF1 interview that will be aired on the 12 o'clock news on the 20th of March. We discuss the interactive fitness market, an expanding market of several billions! 

Diner: some leftover mash from lunch time + an olive soya steak (La Vie Claire) + 2 clementines

10 min yoga breathing