Hola Dudes and Dudettes,

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Annie and I just got back from my first tuxedo fitting and I need to cut some weight for the wedding ASAP, like Foxcatcher style! I’m taking over HITH for the day because Annie had to get laser beams shot into her face or eyes or something, but I’m totally in love with her face and everything about her, so that’s tight. The wedding is only 58 days away and we both really want to take off a few ‘elle bees’ before the BIG DAY, so I’m going to take you through some of our wedding weight loss ‘strat.’ Even though Annie is perfect and doesn’t need to lose a pound!

(Am I right?!?)

School Of Rock was a total blast, but I also ate endless mounds of cake, funnel cake, crepes and all kinds of other terrible crap during my last week of filming. Now, I’m no novice when it comes to fitness, as anyone who knows me knows I LOVE TO SHRED, mainly because of all my chubby childhood insecurities, but I really need to crank it up. First things first, DIET is key. Low carb, Atkins, The Cookie Diet, whatever; you need to limit your caloric intake slowly but surely.

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I’m down to about 1500 calories a day and I prefer high protein,  so I try to remember to cut my daily cals by like 500 or so to have a noticeable difference. Annie and I also drink at least a gallon of water a day because it gives us energy and makes us feel full.  The other integral part to annihilating that gut is with exercise. I’ve done every exercise class and activity you can imagine, but here are some cool things I personally like to do to stay in and get back into shape. (I’ve convinced Annie to participate in most of these as well!)

Cardio is key. I used to run a lot of distance (11 marathons=like too much), but I plateaued pretty quick and my legs took quite the beating, so now I do about 20-30minutes of high intensity interval training (HIIT) every other day. I downloaded an Interval Timer (this one works great for your iPhone). Then I just set it to a 6 minute warm up (light jog to loosen you up). Following that is 8 sets of intervals. This starts with 30 seconds of the hardest you can run (sprint!), then you follow that with 90 seconds of jogging (catch your breath and get ready for the next 30 second burst). After 8 sets of those two, I have a 5 minute cool down jog. It’s quick, super tough, and then you’re done for the day. You can also do this workout with a jump rope if you like that.  I love to jump rope and it’s a great way to mix things up. Make sure that you are chugging water throughout the day though because I tend to cramp more often when I’m doing sprints as opposed to long runs.

Cardio Sprint Workout

6 Minute Warm Up

8 Sets of 30 Second Sprints followed by 90 Second Jog

5 Minute Cool Down

Total Time: 27 Minutes

Another great little cardio workout is this 5 minute ab burner. Use that same timer to create a new set of intervals for 30 seconds each for 5 minutes straight with no breaks (or you can just watch your timer and switch exercises every 30 seconds). You will only perform three ab exercises for those five minutes in the same rotation, but it’s a killer! You start with mountain climbers for 30 seconds (I like to start with basic mountain climbers for the first set, then I will bring my knees to opposite elbows for the second set, bring my knees to the outside of my elbows for the third set, and back to basic climbers for the last set).

The next ab exercise is a 30 second plank hold. It can be a plank in push up position or on your elbows (again, I like to switch it up and target different areas).

The third exercise is the classic crunch with arms behind your head, shoulders off the ground, and always forcing your belly button towards the Earth (I like to vary up my leg positioning as seen in the awkward photos below). It’s three simple ab exercises in rotation, but set your own pace and there’s endless modifications to increase or decrease intensity.

5 Minute Ab Shredder

Repeat the following three exercises in this order until 5 minutes are up.

30 Second Mountain Climbers (various positions)

30 Seconds Plank Hold (elbows, palms, side plank, etc.)

30 Seconds Crunches (various positions)

Total Time: 5 Minutes

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Lastly, I’ve become addicted to doing Sculpt classes (yoga with weights!) at CorePower yoga. It’s a killer class that incorporates all the stretching and postures of yoga, but you also get to do cardio and strength training with weights throughout the class. I highly recommend it if you’re sick of your same old gym routine or crossfit workouts. I try to go to that at least 3 times a week and it keeps plenty of muscle on, so I don’t have to stress about the cardio turning my arms into noodles.

So that’s it. Enjoy! Hopefully I will lose the weight in time for the wedding and Annie just might see this at the end of her march down to the altar.