• I will drink 10 tall glasses (= 20 cups) of water a day. Models always say that their biggest beauty secret is drinking a lot of of water per day… so let’s give it a try.
• I will eat a gluten-free, diary-free diet this month. I will limit any gluten free white-starches (potatoes, rice, or corn) to 2 servings a day MAX. That means, for example, if I have a small, fist-sized portion of potatoes on a small, fist-sized portion of rice for lunch- then I cannot have any other white starches the rest of the day.
• Only 2 servings of fruit per day. That means, I can have one small glass of real juice in the morning and one fruit (an apple, a small banana, etc) later in the day.
• I am not allowed any sugar AT ALL, except 3 small squares of all-natural, organic dark chocolate (at least 70% cacao). Sugar is supposedly the reason for wrinkles, so no cakes, cookies, desserts, or any sugar- except for my small chocolate-fix, 2 servings of fruit, and my 2 servings of GF healthy starches.
• As the Everyday Celebrity Rules mentioned, no caffeine (except for any caffeine that is in my 3 small squares of dark chocolate).
• I will run on the treadmill or outside 3 days a week for 25 minutes. I will do 10-20 minutes of a Yoga DVD (or Pilates) or I will lift light weights 1 day a week. I will alternate between the Yoga/Pilates DVD and the lifting light weights each week.
• I will wake up at 5 am on my workout days and workout before work or other activities/obligations get in the way of my workout.
• I will keep a food & workout journal and write down everything I eat, and how I exercised each day.
• I will only use organic or all-natural face wash, face & body lotion, and toothpaste & mouthwash.
• I will only use organic or all-natural, gluten-free make up brands: Jane Iredale (but not their mascaras, they are not GF), and Afterglow Cosmetics (all makeup is GF).

These are my 10 goals for Month #1 of the Everyday Celebrity Challenge! I am so excited to start and I am definitely ready to begin this challenge!

Here is tomorrow’s menu:

Breakfast: 4-egg omelet (only 3-yolks) with mixed veggies

Snack: 10 almonds, 1 apple

Lunch: Homemade all-natural coconut chicken curry (with carrots, onions, and potatoes) with 1/2 cup of brown rice and green beans

Snack: 1 banana and 1 tbsp of almond butter

Dinner: Chicken (all-natural) and veggie salad with GF salad dressing

Dessert: 3 small squares of dark chocolate

Water: 15 tall glasses of water

-Jennifer

Ever notice when you clean something that’s cluttered- your bedroom, the car, even your pantry- life feels just feels a little bit better? Whenever I finish organizing something messy, I always feel like my life is a little more under control.

So, in order to get my life and brain de-cluttered and ready for this exciting challenge, I have been cleaning my home and getting some new organizational systems in place to keep it neat and tidy as my challenge goes along. It’s been as simple as just picking up the house, to really sorting through files and folders in my office and the clothes in my closet.

When some celebrity lives get out of control (unfortunately), and they go to rehab, one of simple things that I believe helps the process of healing is just being out of their house and removed from their typical destructive behaviors and influences. Just being in a new place to begin a fresh, new start can be so helpful psychologically.

So, since I want to create my own place of healing and psychologically create a place that encourages the Everyday Celebrity Challenge, I am going to clean and organize my house to create a positive energy and support a new mindset.

Today is about cleaning, and tomorrow I am going to buy a pretty food diary and also get some healthy groceries. I will blog my grocery list tomorrow (remember: this is going to be a hardcore, life-changing everyday celebrity-inspired diet), so stay tuned!

-Jennifer

So, with any new adventure, there needs to be a challenge. And while a blog is cool and all, I say take it up a notch and make it more exciting. To become an everyday celebrity, I have created an Everyday Celebrity Challenge. This is my way of accomplishing my goals, and creating an amazing and fabulous life for myself, even if I’m not the typical girl you see on the cover of Vogue Magazine.

Now remember, my goal isn’t to become a real celebrity, my goal is to get all the perks of living an exciting, glamorous, and absolutely fantastic life. I, just like many other women out there, want to feel pretty and have a life that is rich, beautiful, and personally fulfilling… so I am setting out to do it.

As anxious and excited as I am to just dive-in and begin the challenge, I know that’s not always the best thing to do. That said, I’ve made some Everyday Celebrity Rules for this challenge so that there’s some structure to my plan, rewards for my achievement, and consequences for any laziness:

 Here are the Everyday Celebrity Challenge Rules:

• The Everyday Celebrity Challenge officially begins on September 21, 2009 and ends on September 21, 2010.
• I must have a minimum of ten goals per month.
• Goals will be made on a monthly bases and set at the beginning of the month. All monthly goals will be reviewed on the 2nd to last day of that month’s timeframe (to decide whether I achieved those goals or not). 
• Any goals that are not met by the end of the month are subject to a $100 fine EACH. Until I decide on a final place for any fine money I may have to give, I will say that any fine money I owe will be given to my husband (and not given back to me).
• At the start of each month, as I plan my monthly goals, I will also decide on one “reward day” at the same time. If all my monthly goals have been met, then I get to indulge in my “reward day” on the last day of that month, or at an appropriate time the following month.
• All monthly goals are as important as these challenge rules. All goals become rules for that month once they have been set.
• All Everyday Celebrity dieting must be gluten-free.
• No caffeine beverages allowed (or pills, supplements, etc.- gross). Dark chocolate or decaf green tea are the only exceptions to the caffeine rule- more information on chocolate & decaf tea quantity will be discussed in monthly goals.

As you can see from the rules above, my goals will be set and met each month. I think this will really help me stay focused. Not only that, but monthly goals will feel a lot more attainable (than say, yearly goals!). At the end of each month, I will need to have accomplished my goals and will then make new, more challenging goals for the next month. It’s all about progress. But making mini-goals per month is a lot less overwhelming than massive, life-changing end-result goals that can only be accomplished after year or so hard work… Plus, it means, I get to celebrate my monthly successes more often- whoo hoo!

So …that’s the Everyday Celebrity Challenge! Who wants to join me? I will be prepping for the challenge tomorrow and Saturday (though I am sure I will check in and tell you what I am doing to prepare) and Sunday I will formally announce the Everyday Celebrity Month 1 Goals. I’ll also feature some super-scary “before pics” of me for the challenge! Stay tuned!

Yay- I am excited.

-Jennifer

My name is Jennifer Barlow and I created this blog because I think that every woman deserves to feel beautiful, healthy, glamorous, and happy every single day- celebrity or not.

I think all of us want to enjoy the perks of a being a celebrity (whether we admit it or not), and I don’t think that there shouldn’t be any reason why we, fabulous everday gals, can’t share in secrets of the stars. What are those “star” secrets? Looking and feeling good, radiating confidence, enjoying sexiness, standing out and being unique, practicing the best beauty tips and diet tricks, and last but not least, rocking all things fabulous.

So, that’s what I have set out to do: I will become an everyday celebrity.

So what will the Everyday Celebrity Blog talk about? Everything from diet, style, beauty, and health product reviews to everday rants, raves, and stories about how an everyday kind of gal can become an everyday kind of celebrity.

Join me and become an Everday Celebrity yourself!

-Jennifer