(NEW YORK) The inside skinny on summer diets, fitness fads, and keeping up with the Bündchens.
BY PAIGE REDDINGER
Anne Slowey, Fashion News Director, ELLE
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “Five years ago, when I had ACL surgery and lost 30 pounds in three months! I’m currently working with Tanya Zuckerbrot, the mastermind behind F-Factor, and that also seems to be helping. I’m losing a pound a week. Not the 18 pounds I should have lost, but I’m raising a two-year-old and a nine-month-old, which requires drinking a bottle of prosecco every night. Sorry, Tanya!”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “Chasing my daughter, Afton, down the street while lugging my son, Atticus, in a carrier, pushing a stroller, and walking my two British Staffies. I never leave the house with less than 120 pounds attached to my body.”
WILL POWER SELF-ASSESSMENT: “Great, except for the prosecco.”
FASHION WORLD THINSPIRATION: “I don’t know about his discipline, but I’d trade apartments with Stefano Tonchi in a heartbeat.”
Linda Wells, Editor-in-Chief, Allure
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “I did a 300-calorie-a-day crash diet in my early 20s. I remember eating one piece of Melba toast for lunch and nearly passing out. It was almost worth it. Almost.”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “I’ve been doing SoulCycle since they opened eight years ago. There were times when I was the only one in class! I also do pilates at Chelsea Movement and SLT in Water Mill.”
WILL POWER SELF-ASSESSMENT: “It depends on the day…and whether I’m telling the truth.”
FASHION WORLD THINSPIRATION: “Polly Mellen is the queen of discipline. At the shows in Paris and Milan, she’d subsist on one Altoid for lunch, and then watch us all in horror as we ate actual food.”
DREAM BODY TYPE: “Gisele’s—athleticism and femininity in one perfect package.”
Amy Synnott-D’Annibale, Executive Editor, InStyle
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “I’ve never done a ‘diet,’ per se, but I’ve tried to reduce carbs. In the months leading up to bikini season, I cut out all the bad white foods—like, bread, pasta, and rice—and then for breakfast I’ll do a low-sugar, high-ORAC [Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity] smoothie with almond milk, berries, and Stevia.”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “I’m old school. I like running in Central Park and a mini boot-camp-style workout. For a while I was into Zumba, but I didn’t see the same results and I missed my endorphins.”
DREAM BODY TYPE: “Karolina Kurkova, who always brings her own healthy food to shoots. ”
Leah Wyar, Beauty Director, Cosmopolitan
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “I was going through a breakup and could only stomach cantaloupe. I don’t recommend it, but I was seriously skinny that summer.”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “I’m a Flywheel addict.”
WILL POWER SELF-ASSESSMENT: “I’m a 5/2 exerciser. Super intense for a few days, then totally lax. But when I’m intense, I’m intense!”
Anne Keane, Fashion Director, Lucky
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “Nothing but juice from The Juice Press. They use letters. I love A, B, C, D, F, and H, but wouldn’t drink E and G if you paid me.”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “I wish it was something interesting, but it’s just the elliptical and riding my bike in Amagansett.”
WILL POWER SELF-ASSESSMENT: “Depends on what’s in front of me. I’m not into sweets, so cupcake day isn’t a challenge, but put a savory snack in front of me and I’m done for.”
Jean Godfrey-June, Executive Beauty Director, Lucky
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “Diets don’t work for me. I found this out the summer of my freshman year when my roommate and I did the Cambridge Diet, which consisted of three 100-calorie shakes a day. I didn’t cheat, and after two weeks had lost two pounds; my roommate lost nine. Never again!”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “The 7-Minute Workout. I do it while I’m binge-watching Nashville and I’m convinced it’ll work because Marisa Berenson once told me that the key to her still-amazing body was doing a few little exercises every day.”
Emily Dougherty, Beauty and Fitness Director, ELLE
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “We test drive all the latest crash diets so our readers don’t waste their time. I’ve done them all! The low point was probably The Mung Bean Diet of 2011.”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “At Elle, we’re crazy for crazes. We even had an all-beauty department aqua dance team for a while, with matching Eres swimsuits. Personally, I like to stick to basics: pilates, yoga, walking.”
WILL POWER SELF-ASSESSMENT: “I’m never late to a work meeting, but I have a hard time leaving the office when I’m supposed to. I’ve wasted way too much money being a no-show at the pre-pay type of class. I’m better with drop-in classes or solo activities. Year-round, I try to walk to and from work almost every day. I’m loving all the designer sneaker options right now.”
Erin Flaherty, Beauty and Health Director, Marie Claire
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “Way before juice cleanses were trendy, I found this dump in New Jersey where you paid them a grand and they made you do a liquid fast for a week. It may or may not have been a cult.”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “Whatever comes after juicing. Lots of solids and beer?”
DREAM BODY TYPE: “Andrej Pejic’s—and, no, there’s no hope of ever attaining it.”
WILL POWER SELF-ASSESSMENT: “If we’re talking on a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give myself a healthy 1.5.”
Alexis Bryan Morgan, Executive Fashion Director, Lucky
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “I’m not much of a dieter! The only kind of diet I have ever tried is not eating carbs for a few days, which makes me so cranky.”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “I did 10 Physique 57 classes in one month after my first baby. I got into great shape. I really can’t make time to go anywhere to exercise these days, but sometimes after I put my kids to sleep, I will do these instructional belly dancing videos on YouTube that my sister got me into. It’s so fun!”
WILL POWER SELF-ASSESSMENT: “I give myself a C- when it comes to diet and exercise.”
FASHION WORLD THINSPIRATION: “Lola Rykiel has gorgeous toned arms, and every time I see her, I feel like I want to get on the floor and do some push-ups.”
Charles Manning, Fashion Editor, Cosmopolitan
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “The last thing I need help with is slimming down, but a few summers ago I went on a high-volume, mostly vegan diet to actually gain weight. I used a Vitamix to make myself eight green smoothies a day. Every day I went through two bags of spinach, a bag of kale, a quart of strawberries, a quart of raspberries, two cucumbers, half a bag of celery, tons of rice-based protein powder, and Lord knows what else. I also went to the gym to lift weights three times a week. I gained nine lbs. and looked amazing, but I missed chewing, so it didn’t last.”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “My boyfriend and I go to circuit training classes at Equinox. They’re a real spanking. I leave wanting to die. It’s everything.”
WILL POWER SELF-ASSESSMENT: “Oy! Medium at best. I bore easily.”
Daisy Shaw, Market Editor, Allure
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “Similar to Emily Blunt’s pre-Paris diet in The Devil Wears Prada: I didn’t eat anything, and when I felt like I was about to faint, I’d eat a cube of cheese. Needless to say, it wasn’t the most sustainable thing I’ve ever done.”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “I’m pretty big into every fitness craze. SoulCycle never gets old, and I’m also a big runner. It’s great exercise when you don’t feel like signing up for a class. Dance cardio classes like Body By Simone and Bari are also a great way to sweat while enjoying yourself. I try to go to Moksha in Greenwich Village at least once a week. They have a great hot Vinyasa practice. Then, I switch it up between Barre classes at The Bar Method and pilates and strength conditioning at SLT to build muscle without bulking up.”
WILL POWER SELF-ASSESSMENT: “Pretty high. I’m a workout fiend.”
FASHION WORLD THINSPIRATION: “Paul Cavaco. He can do three shoots in a row and without batting an eye—that’s endurance!”
Lucy Danziger, Editor-in-Chief, SELF
WACKIEST SUMMER DIET: “I suck at diets. I actually think extreme diets make you gain weight in the long run. But one year I cut out sugar and carbs, added salads and lean proteins, and by Labor Day I’d lost 15 pounds.”
PREFERRED FITNESS CRAZE: “I love to train for triathlons and I go to T2 NYC, which is a spin studio where we get to ride courses and watch our avatars move across the landscape.”
WILL POWER SELF-ASSESSMENT: “I give myself a 10, but a zero when it comes to chocolate in the art department. I also love a good margarita—frozen, with salt.”
DREAM BODY TYPE: “I’m a huge fan of Beyoncé. She’s feminine, powerful, and sexy. I love the fact that she has a body created by moving, not starving.”
