Wed 14 Mar 2007
banishing the wine and cheese belly
Posted by thejinius under Uncategorized
When you are only 5′1 the camera seems to add twenty pounds. Ugh. You tall people have it so easy with your long limbs and ability to defy weight gain on camera!
I have two weeks until Mexico and I have been desperately trying to lose the last bit of the wine and cheese belly. It has seriously required the discipline of a monk. Do you know how hard it is walking around Whole Foods and trying to ignore the display case of desserts? Those voluptous pastries and lush cupcakes? Have you any idea how hard it is to walk away???
So I’ve been reading up on diet and fitness info on ivillage.com and learned that the best way to lose the weight is to apply the 80/20 rule. As long as you are good 80 percent of the time, you can indulge in the cake and mushroom chow fun and wine and cheese 20 percent of the time. Or in my case 25 percent of the time.
I’m also following a modified Zone/South Beach menu. If it worked for Jennifer Aniston and Bill Clinton then it should work for Jinius. Essentially you want to incorporate complex carbs/protein/and healthy fats into every meal. And each serving should be the size of your hand. I have disproportionately tiny hands so I add a little more. For lunch I go to this upscale grocery next to my office and head straight for the salad bar and get a piece of tilapia (protein), a portion of wild rice with edamame (carb) and a good serving of spinach and brocoli.
And of course the most important thing is that you have to move it to lose it. I started running on the treadmill and have noticed that my abs and legs are already getting a little more toned. I was talking to my friend Chris who is a big running buff and he said that he likes to run at a speed of 8.5 for about twenty minutes.
I run at a speed of 3.0.

March 14th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
i, too, run at an average speed of 3.0. however to be perfectly honest, the treadmill has been working overtime as a clothes rack for quite some time now.
and i’m totally with you about the tall people/photograph thing.
all the best on the tone-quest.
March 14th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
well at least you have a treadmill! and 3.0 is a modest speed, yes, but slow and steady wins the race. eventually.
March 14th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
i have a love/hate relationship with running. in that i totally suck at it, but i love how it makes me feel. i wish you luck.
March 15th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
You need to throw in 30 minutes of resistance training (weight lifting) three times a week. Increased muscle mass means increased metabolism. I know you don’t want to hear this, but booze is a diet killer.
March 15th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
yes i just started adding light weights. and i haven’t touched alcohol in…four days!!!