Why I Fight the Fat

Today is day 15 of my 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss program. Now some of you may wonder why a person who is objectively not fat would want to do a fat loss program. And that's a fair question. For me, it's all about being healthy and feeling comfortable in my own body.

I was not an athletic child. When I say "not athletic" I mean that physical activity was my own personal nightmare. I hated sports of all kinds. P.E. class was a daily form of torture, in which I tried to do the bare minimum and hope the coach wouldn't notice. I hated exertion. All I wanted to do was sit still and read books. Books of all kinds, any book would do. Actually, as a child I read some rather age inappropriate stuff because I could not NOT read. If I didn't have my own novel with me I would read anything that I found lying around. At age 12 I decided to read the Berkeley Public Library's children's section . . . in alphabetical order . . . you get the picture, right?

(not me, but just like me!)

Luckily for me I have skinny genes, so despite the lack of exercise I was never overweight. I could eat pretty much whatever I wanted and I never gained much weight. It was a pretty good deal until I hit my 30s. That's when my pear shaped body started to reveal itself. I was still a skinny-minny on top, but down below I was carrying a wider and wider load. I didn't weigh much more than before, but I was 100% cellulite. From being thin and frail, I had become flabby and frail.

Beyond aesthetics, I have always been rather lethargic and prone to various annoying, but not too serious maladies. This lack of energy and the amount of time I spent being sick started to increase dramatically over the years. Every time I ate, my stomach would swell. I had become the victim of allergies and recurrent sinisitus and when I hit 40 I started getting colds that instead of going away would get worse, becoming bronchitis - or even pneumonia - that would knock me out for up to six weeks and more. 

I had started running and weight training by then, but was never really able to get into shape because as soon as I would make some progress I'd get bronchitis, be out of action for weeks and then have to start all over again from zero. I can't tell you how frustrating that is. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired!

Then, thanks to the help of a good friend, I discovered that I am gluten and lactose intolerant. The doctor who diagnosed me, with genetic testing, told me that I had basically been poisoning myself every time I ate for my entire life. Wow. 

I have been gluten and lactose free for the past two years. It has not been easy. Imagine living in Italy, the land of pizza and pasta, breakfasts of cappuccino and cream-filled crescent rolls, and not being able to touch any of it! It has been a real trial and error process of trying to find things I can eat. Just about all packaged food has one or the other of my problem ingredients in it. The enemy is hiding everywhere.

So, my interest in Female Fat Loss After 40 and Shawna Kaminski's 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss program is twofold. For one, I want to drop the flab. And secondly, I want to be a strong and healthy person. I don't mind being small-framed and delicate, I love my body. But I am tired of being weak and without energy.

This has been a long post, so I will give you more specifics about how I am doing in my 21 day journey another day. Let me just say that I'm loving it!