Wendy Shanker - The total me-tox : how to ditch your diet, move your body & love your life

I m so happy and honored that youre reading this book! See, Im a lot of things: a performer, a singer, a passionate-if-clumsy dancer, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a homeowner, a soon-to-be wife, an activist, a good-health enthusiast, and an Etsy junkie. But I have never considered myself an author.

For me, writing is similar to most other experiences in my lifechallenging, terrifying, exhilarating, and requiring a $#*!load of hard work. Ive had several incredible, amazing years starring on 2 Broke Girls on CBS, collaborating with some of the most talented people in the world but it took years of blood, sweat, and tears (along with plenty of unanswered letters and phone calls) to get here. Let me bust a Hollywood (or Anywhere-wood) myth for you: Nothing happens overnight. The term overnight sensation should be banished from our vocabulary because it doesnt exist. (So should the words moist and panties especially when they are used together.)

In my experience, uber-successful people have one thing in common: They work their freakin asses off. Not just in their professional lives, but in their personal lives, too. By my definition, true success is more than making a lot of money. Or doing work you love but struggling to survive financially. Its having the respect of others and having respect for yourself. That takes passion, confidence, ingenuity, and encouragement. You need to make the most out of the time you have in your day. And you have to keep your body and mind steel-strong.

So while I may still be an author-in-training, I can definitely tell you a thing or two (or fourteen chapters worth) about that last bitkeeping your mind, body, and spirit super strongbecause Ive put all kinds of intense work into earning my healthy-living stripes. I can offer you some really hard-won advice about how I went from being a motivated-yet-lazy sludge monster to being an active, healthy, energetic human being.

My journey began when I was in the middle of a full-on physical and mental crisis that required a complete detox to get to the other side. As I tried other peoples plans and recommendations, I realized that in order to meet my goals, I had to clear my system on my own terms. What I needed was a ME-tox, not a detox.

Too many of us dont invest in our well-being until its too late. We tell ourselves that were not the priority, that well fix the problem later, or that our health isnt as important as our careers or relationships. But the truth is that you cant have a successful career or relationship if youre stuck in an unsuccessful body. You have to be in good health to go out and win the other challenges in your life. Realizing this was a revelation for me. In a weird way, I was lucky that my body literally broke down and rebelled against the way I was living. I had no choice but to take action. But while I knew I needed to make changes, I didnt want to compromise my happiness for the sake of my health. So I created my own path. And now, luckily, you can learn from my experiencewithout having to wait for your mind and body to suffer. Take control of your life TODAY.

On the pages that follow, Ill tell you about changes that I made to my diet (formerly all crap), workout routine (formerly nonexistent), and mental health (formerly a relentless state of panic and anxiety) that resulted in a much higher quality of lifeand contributed to success in my career and relationships. I also feel connected to myself and my body in a way that I thought only monks, yoga teachers, and Kate Hudson were entitled to. Id like to share that story with you because I know its something we all aspire to. And its a very worthy, very achievable aspiration. Im still a work in progress (I think everyone is), but I love the idea of working together towell, not to get all Oprah on you, butbe our best selves.

Before we get started, Id like to tell you where I came from. When I was twenty-one years old, I was a semi-starving actor living in LAyet somehow still eating crappy food and waaaay too much of it!making about $400 a week nannying and doing humiliating personal-assistant jobs here and there. Good health was my lowest priority. My rent was $800 a month, so I shared a room with Courtney, one of my best friends from UCLA theater school. We had met junior year doing a Tony Kushner play together. (Ill admit, we were also doing a shot or two of tequila backstage to pass the time during tech rehearsals so professional.) Courtneys side of the closet-size room was always immaculate, while mine looked like something out of Grey Gardens. We didnt live in the greatest neighborhood, and when a break-in happened right next to us, I put pots and pans by our door as an alarmso if someone busted in, I could wake up and use my phone to call 911. (And maybe bash the burglar over the head with a frying pan?) I had no real social life just my nanny job, the occasional audition, and no gas in my 1991 Mercury Mystique, which I had purchased from an old lady for $1,000. Money was tightSpanx tight. So I wasnt going to spend it on useless stuff like gym memberships and fresh kale. But I refused to give up on my dream of success.

I had always known I wanted to be an actor. According to my parents, I was a toddler who loved acting out So Long, Farewell from The Sound of Music up and down our stairs every night. By the time I was in kindergarten, I was in theater. I cant remember a time when I wasnt connected to it.