After giving birth to twins Dolly and Charlie in December 2008, Rebecca Romijn was determined to get her pre-baby body back. Unfortnately, it turned out to be a much bigger challenge than Romijn anticipated.
"Losing that weight was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," Romijn, 39, tells the March issue of Fitness. "Everything I did before I got pregnant -- like Pilates, which I had done for about 14 years -- didn't work anymore. I had to change the way I worked out, the way I ate-- everything."
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A friend convinced Romijn to try Bikram yoga, which she credits with helping her shed more than 60 pounds.
"At first the idea of doing a 90-minute workout in a 105-degree room sounded like torture," Romijn admits. "But the sweating is exactly what I became addicted to. My body changed dramatically almost immediately. I'm stronger, I have more energy and I feel better, too. I was proud to get back into a bikini!"
Dieting was another problem for the Sports Illustrated supermodel. The 5-foot-11 star "forgot how much I was supposed to eat to keep my weight in check" while she was both pregnant and nursing.
"I went on a major diet about eight months ago. I cut out starch, dairy, fat, red meat, alcohol and sugar," Romijn tells Fitness. "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."
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Romijn's husband Jerry O'Connell helps her find new ways to stay in shape, too
"We love to take long bike rides. We have a tandem bike, and we go up in the hills near our home," she says of O'Connell, 37. "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."
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