Nia Vardalos: Her Big Beauty Secrets (As a Working Mom)

A week long tribute to beautiful mothers in honor of Mother's Day

She shared with us her big fat Greek wedding.

Now Nia Vardalos wants to give us some ginormous beauty and life secrets.

First, you need to understand that Nia, 49, is the anti-Hollywood A list actress. Forget publicists. Forget temper tantrums. A few years ago, the two of us were at the Four Seasons in Chicago and ate a roasted chicken together while the other ladies who lunch settled for designer lettuce.

An hour-long chat with Nia is like catching up with your long lost girlfriend. You have a feeling she might just invite you over for baklava.

Fame. Fortune. Please.

 "I haven't changed a bit," she says of her stardom. "You might see a glam shot of me at some premiere, but it took three people three hours to make me look that way. Plus, you better figure I'm wearing the tightest underwear ever created."

As for her fame, the mother of an adopted five year old says, "I'll be walking with my daughter and a fan will say, 'May I have a picture?' As they're walking away the fan might say, 'I just love her.'

"My daughter just smiles and says, 'Everybody loves my mommy!'"

GLAM MISTAKES

Something funny happened to the actress and writer on the way to superstardom. She started to go to some very fancy shindigs, which has provided more comic fodder. At her side, is actor/hubby Ian Gomez.

"After the premiere of my last movie, I went out with my husband for steaks and martinis. He looked at the bread and asked, 'What's that black thing on my roll?' It was my fake eyelash that fell off."

Nia has long given up trying to look like the perfect Hollywood babe.

"You have to embrace what was given to you beauty wise and stop fighting it. I know I'm a Greek girl with dark, curly hair. I shouldn't try to have the long straight blonde hair.

"I will admit that I do laser my moustache," she says, laughing. "You know, you have to work on your issues."

TAKING THE WEIGHT OFF

Nia entered serious babe territory in the last few years when she dropped some major pounds.

Her secret?

"Well, I gave up cheese," she says.

Just cheese? There must be more…although I could easily live forever without cheddar.

"Okay, there's more. Here's what really happened. I had been writing for a year and I developed a bad habit of writing a page and then eating a snack," she reveals. "Then I went to my doctor and he said, 'You have high blood sugar.'

"I railed against the diagnosis for two months, but diabetes runs in my family," she says. "Then I stared to feel dizzy. So I changed my eating habits. I got rid of the cheese and Doritos. I refused to eat diet food because it taste like shoes, but I didn't eat sugary things or processed foods."

She lost 40 pounds. "Now, I just have so much more energy and feel so good."

THE REAL REASON FOR THAT GLOW

Nia needed that energy because she was about to fulfill a life long dream. After years of struggling to become a mother, Nia and Ian decided to try adoption. One day she got a call saying her daughter was waiting for her. "I was alone in my house because my husband was out shooting a movie," she says. "Then the phone rang and nothing came up on the caller ID. I was curious. It's usually my mother or sister calling.

"But it was a social worker saying, 'Guess what? You've been matched,'" she marvels. "So there I was alone and my mind was racing. I couldn't call Ian because he was on set. I kept texting him and saying, 'Are you finished yet? Call me!'"

And then he called.

"I told him and we were both silent for a minute. Then we started crying," she says. "I begged him to drive carefully because this dream of our little family was so in my mind. I had to keep everyone safe."

She says motherhood is more than she thought it would be. "Our daughter is perfect. She's a miracle. The only tough thing is I'm the original Recessionista. So I'm trying to be fiscally responsible with little girl outfits.

"For Easter, I went to a discount store and got her the fluffiest dress. For under $10," she recalls. "I was practically giddy."

Nia is a major advocate for adopting foster children. She has a message for over 40s or anyone else who want to become a mother.

 "I just want to send a message out there to anyone who is hoping and searching to become a mother. Just find your local foster care agency."

 "There are so many kids in foster care looking for a forever family. They come with the myth that they're problem children. That's completely false. These are wonderful children who need wonderful homes."

"And there is no discrimination when it comes to income, sexual orientation, singles or couples."

BEAUTIFUL MAMA

She says that life as a working mother isn't tough.

"It's lovely because I can multi-task. But now I don't try to do two things at once," she says. "When I'm with my daughter, I'm her mom and that's it. I don't take calls. I don't write scripts.

The homebody says nothing is better than just watching Disney at home with her husband and daughter. "Ian and I just look at each other and say, 'We're so lucky,'" she says.

Her beautiful smile isn't the result of the greatest gloss out there. It's contentment.

"I think above all, I've learned my own personal lesson. I always say, 'You have a plan and God has a plan. And your plan doesn't count.'" 

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