Back in the day, Danielle Mann was a self-described "gym bunny." Then she and her husband moved to the suburbs, and her workout time was eaten up by her commute. After her daughter, Lucy, came along, she couldn't find the motivation to lose the last 10 or so of the 37 pounds she had gained during pregnancy. Her nightly cheese-and-cracker ritual and prebed chocolate binges—bad habits she and her husband fell into because they were too exhausted at the end of the day to cook—weren't helping the cause.
Laura Miller's life used to be filled with exercise and nutrition until she got married, purchased a new apartment, and gave birth to her son, Matthew—all in the same year! The last 15 of Miller's 35 pregnancy pounds weren't budging, because she was completely strapped for energy, time, and drive. Adding insult to injury, Miller turns to food when fatigued and stressed (as many of us do) and, without even realizing it, would pick food off her son's plate while feeding him.
Cookie enlisted trainer Emanuel Gonzalez and nutritionist Jackie Keller to help Mann boost her energy and trim down. In four short months, those experts taught her long-term strategies for making smart food choices and incorporating exercise. What worked for her can work for you, too.
THE PROGRAM
Mann and Miller had the will to get back in shape; we gave them the way: counseling sessions with nutritionist Jackie Keller and workouts with trainer Emanuel Gonzalez.
THE DIET
Mann and Miller each had weekly half-hour phone calls with Keller, founder of the Nutrifit food-delivery service and author of Body After Baby (Avery), who had the moms keep their own food logs online. With each of them, Keller addressed trouble spots (i.e., Mann's sweet tooth and tendency to graze and Miller's habit of picking off her son's plate) and set small goals for the week ahead, like eating a balanced breakfast every day and cooking simple, nutritious dinners.
THE WORKOUTS
Twice a week, before work, Gonzalez took each mother (in separate sessions) through an hour-long session at New York City's Alta gym. Each began with five-minute warm-ups on the treadmill, followed by a 45-minute circuit of multimuscle strength training (crucial for "core"-challenged new moms), interspersed with running in place to keep her heart rate up. The last 10 minutes were devoted to stretching. Gonzalez also gave Mann and Miller 20-minute home workouts built around a handful of the strength-training exercises.
Next Page: The Results
