Body Boot Camp
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“This plan imparts stability, hormonal balance, and equanimity—all things that will make you feel so much better when your wedding arrives.” —Nutritionist Oz Garcia, president of Personal Best |
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The Rules . Eat breakfast every day. . Have a mini snack or two each day. . Reduce or eliminate coffee and diet soda. . If you need a sweetener, use Splenda. What to Eat . Lean proteins: seafood, poultry, good-quality dairy (yogurt and peasant cheeses like feta and mozzarella), legumes, and beans. A little lamb or red meat is fine, but not too much. . Carbs: rice, corn, multigrain cereals like Kashi GOLEAN, quinoa, couscous, tabbouleh, squash, yams, rice crackers like Pamela's lemon shortbread rice-flour cookies. . Every vegetable on Earth, raw or cooked. . Fruit: berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries), cherries, apples, and pears. What to Avoid . Muffins, pizza, bagels, croissants. If you want to look great in a dress, those are absolutely the worst foods you can eat. . Bananas-they're fattening-and fruit juices, except for pomegranate or blueberry. |
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THE PILATES PRO "The Pilates method is a total-body workout that creates a long, lean look. It focuses on improving posture, strengthening the abdominal muscles, sculpting the back, shoulders, and arms, while toning hips and thighs-body parts most brides want to accentuate." -Pilates instructor Elle Jardim, co-owner of the Center for Movement |
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| The Rules . Ideally, start six months before the wedding. . Work out two to three times per week in private or semi-private sessions at an authentic studio; practice floor-mat exercises regularly at home. . Pair Pilates with cardio activity (two to three times a week). . Strive always to keep abdominals in and lifted. Floor-Mat Exercise . Pilates stance: Stand with your heels together, toes slightly apart. Press inner thighs together as you pull up butt muscles; think of lengthening spine upward while feeling feet evenly distributed on the floor. . Chest expansion: Stand in Pilates stance; reach arms to the floor with palms facing backward. Press arms slightly behind you while squeezing shoulder blades together and down. Turn head right, then left, releasing shoulder and neck tension. Return arms to neutral position; repeat, turning head left first (you can also do this with light weights). . Triceps/biceps curls: Stand in Pilates stance and, engaging your "powerhouse" (abdominals, butt, inner thighs), stretch arms to the sides with palms facing up, just below shoulder height. Press shoulders down and back, engaging upper back muscles the entire time. Slowly bend the elbows, moving just the lower part of the arms, bringing palms toward your ears, then straighten arms again; try to create your own resistance (can also be done with light weights). . High-heel walking/Pilates running: Stand with your feet parallel and hip-distance apart, holding the back of a chair for balance. Keep chin parallel to the floor and powerhouse engaged. Press up onto the balls of your feet, then lower heels to the floor. Repeat five times. Press up again, and this time lower just the right heel, then lift and lower the left heel. Continue "running," making sure to keep hips still and not to roll ankles. See if you can balance without holding on. Now walk with this lifted feeling, and with each step keep pulling the inner thighs up. . Abdominal breathing: Stand with feet parallel and hip-distance apart; place hands on abdomen. As you inhale, fill the abdomen with air into your hands. As you exhale, press navel toward spine, away from hands, engaging the abdominals and keeping shoulders and chest still. This can also be done lying on your back. . The wall: Stand with your back against a wall; walk your feet several inches away. Press lower back into the wall and engage abdominals. Roll down one vertebrae at a time until head and upper back are hanging off the wall. Slowly roll up, until standing vertical. Again press back into the wall. Step away and stand up tall, pressing lower back into an imaginary wall with abdominals engaged. |
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PrintFrom the Fall 2005 New York Wedding Guide
