For actress Rebecca Romijn, giving birth to twin

fitlife
body
bliss
For actress Rebecca Romijn, giving birth
to twin girls was the easy part. Losing the
60-plus pounds she put on? Not so much.
Here’s what finally worked to get her slim,
strong and in the best shape of her life.
By Patty Adams Martinez
Photographs by Brian Bowen Smith
NOT EVERY CELEBRITY MOM MAGICALLY MORPHS BACK
INTO A SIZE 2 WITHIN WEEKS OF HAVING A BABY. Actress
Rebecca Romijn readily admits that it was a struggle to drop the more
than 60 pounds she gained with twin daughters Dolly and Charlie,
now 3. “Losing that weight was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever
done in my life,” says Rebecca, 39, who stars in this month’s Tyler
Perry comedy Good Deeds. “I had to change the way I worked out, the
way I ate—everything.”
As you see on these pages, she succeeded brilliantly. In fact, Rebecca
says she is fitter now than ever. “I’m stronger, I have more energy and
I feel better, too,” she says, settling into a banquette at the London NYC
hotel in New York City to share the secrets of her success with FITNESS.
“I was proud to get back into a bikini!”
28
fitnessmagazine.com | March 2012
Rebecca’s Get-Pumped Playlist
O“Psyche Rock” (Fatboy Slim
Malpaso Mix), Pierre Henry
O“Thriller” (STFU Mix), STFU
O“In the Morning,” Junior Boys
O“Ike’s Mood I,” Visioneers
O“Check on It” (King Klub Mix),
Beyoncé, featuring Slim Thug
O“Clubbed to Death,”
Rob Dougan
O“Viva!” (Orion Mix), Bond
O“Back 2 Back” (Dorfmeister
vs. Madrid de Los Austrias
Mix), Pressure Drop
O“Hurt” (Deeper-Mindset
Tight Mix), Christina Aguilera
O“On Her Majesty’s Secret
Service,” Propellerheads
O“Allegreto,” Bond
much better. I also feel completely
energized from all of the deep
breathing. I leave class relieved of
any anxiety I went in with, and the
sweating and detoxifying make my
skin feel great. I can’t recommend
it enough.
OK, we’re dying to know:
How did you finally lose
the baby weight?
Everything I did before I got
pregnant—like Pilates, which I had
done for about 14 years—didn’t work
anymore. I had to find a completely
different way to challenge my body.
A friend suggested I try Bikram yoga.
At first the idea of doing a 90-minute
workout in a 105-degree room sounded
like torture. But the sweating is exactly what I became addicted to. My
body changed dramatically almost
immediately. Within three classes
I noticed less belly fat. My knees and
legs are stronger than ever now; my
arms have definition for the first time
in my life; and my posture is much,
What’s your typical
workout week like?
I do Bikram three days a week, and I
run after my twins every day—a
workout in itself! I was doing yoga
five days a week, but then I started
to realize that my body was fatigued
and my back was hurting. I think
it’s important to listen to your body
and know when you’re overdoing it.
Do you feel guilty leaving
your girls to work out?
That’s been a huge challenge since
I became a mom. Mother’s guilt is no
joke! I feel it every time I leave them
to go exercise. Now that the girls are
in preschool, it’s easier. I go as soon
as I drop them off at school. As a mom
it’s very important to take care of
yourself physically and mentally.
You’re no good to anyone unless you
do. There are days when I rush out
to a yoga class just as I’m starting to
feel like I might be losing my mind.
How did you change
your diet?
After eating more throughout my
pregnancy and while I was nursing
for eight months, I forgot how much
I was supposed to eat to keep my
weight in check. Having a little bit of
chocolate after dinner was turning
into too much chocolate every night
after dinner—or too much wine or too
many pancakes. So I went on a major
diet about eight months ago. I cut out
starch, dairy, fat, red meat, alcohol
and sugar.
What could you eat?
Lean fish, lots of sashimi, spinach,
salad with lemon juice and salt and
pepper, and chicken breast. Eventually I started having red meat again,
and that’s when I got the biggest
energy surge.
What was the toughest
thing for you to give up?
Just being on a diet was weird for me.
I had never been on one in my life,
and suddenly I was counting calories
and measuring my food. Cutting out
sugar was definitely the hardest. The
first week I thought I was going to die.
The cravings were bad. But after that,
it was easy.
REBECCA REVEALS . . .
The secret to a killer
workout “For cardio,
you have to have good
music. I love being on
the elliptical and playing
my music loud enough
that I can’t hear myself
breathing. If you hear how
heavily you’re breathing,
30
you won’t push yourself
to go harder.”
My worst excuse “I used
to blame my clumsiness
on being tall, but now I realize I was clumsy because
I wasn’t strong. Today I
see a huge difference in
my balance.”
fitnessmagazine.com | March 2012
If I didn’t work out “I’d be
a depressed, miserable
person.”
Why I’ll never pose for
Playboy, no matter how
many times they ask me
“I don’t want to dis the
magazine or the beautiful
women in it—some of
whom are my friends—but
I would never do it. And
now that I’m a mom of two
girls, I definitely would
never go that route. Maybe
it’s the turtleneck and long
johns–wearing girl in me
who likes to be covered up,
but I’ll always say no!”
HAIR: CAMPBELL MCAULEY FOR SOLOARTISTS.COM/ WELLA. MAKEUP: SPENCER BARNES FOR SOLOARTISTS.COM/NARS. MANICURE: FARIBA FOR SOLOARTISTS.COM. PAGES 28–29:
J.CREW TOP. HURLEY SHORTS. JACQUIE AICHE NECKLACE. LACEY RYAN BRACELETS. VANESSA MOONEY BRACELETS. BLEE INARA BRACELETS. THIS PAGE, INSET: S SHARMA AGUILAR/
PACIFICCOASTNEWS.COM. BASTA SURF TOP. HERVE LEGER BY MAXAZRIA SHORTS. ARIEL GORDON NECKLACE. BETTY CARRE NECKLACE. BLEE INARA BRACELETS. MELINDA MARIA RING
“When you’re
pregnant with twins,
you eat a lot,” says
Rebecca, shown here
with Dolly and Charlie
before she lost all the
weight. Today, thanks
to a new workout
program and a healthy
diet, she’s rocking a
bikini again.
fitlife
Did your husband,
Jerry, go on the diet
with you?
No. He was heading to New York to
start rehearsals for a role on Broadway.
That actually made it easier for me.
Every meal with Jerry [O’Connell]
includes wine and dessert, which
I love. Before we had kids, I gained
weight from eating like that. But I
was happy and in love, and my clothes
still fit. Jerry liked how I looked. He’s
very much a “there’s more to hold on
to” kind of guy.
Do you and Jerry work
out together?
We love to take long bike rides. We
have a tandem bike, and we go up in
the hills near our home.
Do you two get
competitive when it
comes to sports?
Jerry is very show-offy when he’s
good at something, and he’s pretty
much good at everything. But he’s
been doing Bikram yoga for about a
year now, and he isn’t very flexible.
I’m happy there’s one thing I’m better
at than he is. Q
Rebecca’s Hot, Hot,
Hot Workout
The actress credits her smokin’
post-baby bod to steamy Bikram
yoga sessions. Try this five-asana
sample of a typical 90-minute
class from Susan Antonaccio, a
certified instructor for Bikram
Yoga NYC in New York City. Roll
out the mat!
X HALF-MOON
TARGETS ARMS,
ABS, OBLIQUES, BUTT
O Stand with feet together,
arms by sides.
O Extend arms overhead
and interlace fingers,
pointing forefingers up.
O Side bend to right at
waist, keeping chest
facing forward, and hold
for 30 seconds.
O Straighten up, then
repeat to left for 30 seconds.
S BALANCING STICK
TARGETS BUTT, LEGS
O Stand with feet together, arms by sides. Step forward with right leg and hinge forward
at hips as you reach both arms overhead, interlacing fingers and pointing forefingers up.
Simultaneously lift extended left leg behind so that body is as close to parallel to floor as
possible from fingertips to left foot. Hold for 15 to 20 seconds.
O Return to start, switch legs and repeat. Then repeat sequence.
S AWKWARD POSE
TARGETS SHOULDERS,
BUTT, QUADS, CALVES
O Stand with feet hip-width
apart, arms by sides.
O Squat until thighs are parallel
to floor as you reach arms forward. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds,
then return to start.
O Rise up on balls of feet
(heels off floor) and lower into
squat, knees bent 90 degrees,
as you reach arms forward at
shoulder level. Hold for 20 to
30 seconds; return to start.
O Repeat sequence.
T TRIANGLE POSE
TARGETS SHOULDERS, ABS, OBLIQUES, BUTT, LEGS
O Stand with feet about 3 feet apart, toes of right foot turned
S FULL LOCUST
TARGETS BACK, ARMS, BUTT, LEGS
O Lie facedown on floor with arms by sides, palms
up, and legs extended on floor behind you.
chest and arms off floor as you squeeze
glutes and lift thighs off floor, bending knees
slightly. Hold for 10 seconds.
O Lower, rest for 20 seconds and repeat.
O Lift
out 90 degrees, left foot 45 degrees; extend arms out to
sides at shoulder level palms down.
O Shift body weight over right leg and bend right knee
90 degrees as you side bend to right, chest facing
forward, and reach right hand to floor, left arm
toward ceiling (left leg remains straight).
O Look up toward ceiling and hold for
20 seconds. Return to start. Switch
sides and repeat.
O Repeat again on each side.