24/7

Some of you may remember that last month I was following the 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss fitness program. Well, when I finished those three weeks, not only did I realise I had gotten great results, I also realised that I was hooked. The exercising/clean eating thing had captured my attention big-time and I decided that I wanted to continue.

That's why I signed up for Shawna Kaminski's six-week 24/7 Virtual Coaching Program. Shawna is in Canada and I am in southern Italy, so choosing her as my personal trainer might seem a bit wacky, but she has this great system worked out to make it possible. Every day she emails me my workout, sometimes it's a video, sometimes only audio, and a handy tip regarding health, nutrition, motivation, or some other aspect of fitness.

On top of that, we are in frequent contact every day. We send emails, cell-phone text messages or use Skype. Whenever I have a doubt, a question or a problem, she's ready with advice and support. 

Can you tell I'm loving this program? And I'm loving the results I'm seeing in my physique!

I am chronicling my fitness journey on her blog Female Fat Loss After 40. Hop on over and read my posts Progress Report and Motivation.

As always, let me make a full disclosure: I have been provided access to Shawna Kaminski's workout programs, but I am not being compensated in any way, and the opinions expressed here are mine, mine and only mine. I only tell you about the program because I'm so darn excited about it.

I Did It!

That's right, I did it. I completed Shawna Kaminski's 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss program. I did my daily workouts (okay I missed two days...) and stuck to the diet (okay, I had a couple of extra gin tonics) and I made it through to the other side. In my last post on the program I said I'd tell you if it was worth it . . . and, believe me, IT WAS!

As I said in the beginning, for me this program was not about losing weight, but all about getting fit and healthy. But, that said, I am so thrilled with the results. My clothes fit better, I feel lighter and more comfortable in my own skin (and my bikini!) and I can actually do a few pushups, something I could only dream about 21 days ago!

Here are my stats:

Weight: lost 5 pounds

Left Arm: exactly the same

(Don't ask me why I didn't measure my right arm, it's a mystery...)

Chest: gained .25 inch

Waist: lost 1.75 inches

Abdomen: lost 2.25 inches

Hips: lost 1 inch

Left thigh: lost .75 inch

Right thigh: lost .75 inch

That's a total loss of 6.5 inches of fat! Let me repeat, the weight loss was not my goal, I was not overweight, but the flab loss was exactly what I had in mind. And that quarter of an inch gain in the chest? An unexpected bonus!

I'm a little bit less of a pear now.

Maybe this is where I should make one of those disclosure statements in which I clarify that I have received no payment from Shawna Kaminski for the posts I have written on her program. Everything that I have said about the 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss program is my own honest opinion. I did receive access to her workouts and diets . . . otherwise how could I tell you about them? 

No small animals were abused during the course of this program, nor was any child labor involved . . . although my sons will tell you they were victims of duress and undue suffering. Every morning they awoke to the sound of Shawna calling out to me "halfway there!" or "almost done!" More than once they told me, "make that annoying woman shut up!" Make her shut up? No way! She's my hero!

When I started this program I was just looking for something to keep me busy during the two weeks that my gym would be closed. But what I discovered was a whole new lifestyle, a radically different way of eating and exercising that I am super enthusiastic about. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, these 21 days were only the beginning for me. I can hardly wait to get started on Shawna's regular long-term workout and diet program. 

I'm hooked!

The Shawna Diet

Another key aspect of Shawna Kaminski's 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss program is . . . The Diet. An integral part of the program is a 21-day diet which details exactly what you should eat, morning, noon and night. And mid-morning and mid-afternoon, since two daily snacks are included.

The food is all very healthy and simple and you truly never feel hungry. It isn't really a weight loss diet, but is specifically about FAT loss, so each day you consume anywhere between 1400-1600 calories. The idea is to consume the right calories to help you get strong, increase energy and feed the muscles you are building in the workouts. A typical day will have you eating eggs, chicken or turkey breast and perhaps some salmon. These proteins are always combined with fresh veggies and some carbohydrates.

My experience in following the diet has been somewhat like riding an emotional roller-coaster. Since weight loss has never been a goal of mine, I had never actually seen this kind of prescribed diet. Being gluten and lactose intolerant, I have a different diet (in the sense of what I eat) from the rest of my family (it sometimes feels different from the rest of all humanity!). But I've never had a sheet of paper that outlined exactly how much of which type of food I had to eat at what time each day. 

The first week was exhilarating! It seemed like a fun game to check my list and see what foods were coming up next. I noticed immediate physical results. I dropped a kilo (2.2 pounds) in no time at all and become much more, how can I say this delicately . . . much more regular! The food was delicious and I was loving it.

Around about the middle of Week Two I sort of realised that there was no sugar in this diet. Huh. I really started craving chocolate! And then I realised there was no alcohol either, perhaps because it's kind of like liquid sugar. There wasn't even any fruit juice. This was a difficult phase in which the fun started to wear off and I started fantasizing about chocolate cake and mojitos. I didn't break down and eat a cake - though I know how to make some killer gluten/lactose free chocolate cakes - but I did, upon Shawna's recommendation, eat a small square of dark chocolate. It was good, but not great, not perfect, not as rewarding as I thought it was going to be. 

. . . sigh . . .

Each week you get one "Sweet Treat" day. This is one day in the week when you are allowed to eat a normal meal, something you would have eaten normally before going on the diet. This day serves to give you a mental break from following a rigid food plan, and is something to look forward to. It also helps keep your leptin levels high. Leptin is a hormone that helps you feel full and satisfied. Strict dieting can lower these levels, thus lowering your metabolism. Not good since this whole exercise/diet regime is aimed at kick-starting your metabolism. But, apparently one higher calorie meal is all it takes to get the leptin back up where it should be.

I am near the end of Week Three now. This week I realised that there was no rice in this diet. I don't know, maybe I'm a little slow on the draw, but it just hadn't occured to me before. I used to eat rice just about every day, as a substitute for the ever-present pasta on the Italian menu. But rice is rather high on the glycemic index - a numerical scale used to indicate how fast and how high a particular food can raise your blood sugar (or glucose) level. The presence of glucose in the bloodstream usually triggers the production of insulin, a hormone that helps glucose get into cells where it can be used for energy. This process is vital to fueling the body. However, too much insulin secretion over long periods of time can cause problems with high cholesterol and obesity.

Where's the rice?

I feel like I am learning so much about the science of eating. Before starting this diet I thought that I ate just about as healthy a diet as could be possible, no gluten and no lactose means very few prepackaged foods work for me and junk food is out of the picture. But being a very resourceful sugar addict, I have ferreted out a lot of baked treats that I can make with alternative flours. I didn't realise how much sugar I was consuming a day and how many of the "healthy" foods I was eating were actually working against me feeling and looking my best.

Shawna says "you can not out train poor nutrition." Before starting this diet I was trying to do just that. I thought that if I worked out at the gym, I could then eat all the sugar and fats I wanted to. This diet has really opened my eyes.

Coming soon . . . was it worth it? 

The Shawna Workouts

Time for an update on my progress with Shawna Kaminski's 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss program. If you haven't seen my previous posts about this, read here and here.

Let me tell you about the workouts . . . they are killer! I mean, I have been working out at the gym in my own little way for the past six years, so I didn't expect these workouts to be too hard for me. Wrong!

The thing is they are a completely different kind of workout. The focus is on doing short bursts of high intensity work, mostly using your own body weight. Shawna runs a boot camp in Canada and, let me tell you, she really knows how to run you through your paces. When you finish one of her workouts you are drenched in sweat and feeling those muscles.

Sometimes I ask myself why I keep doing it.

Me, who would much rather be reading a book "in santa pace" as they say in Italian (which means "in sainted peace"). I'm not doing it because I'm out of shape, but because I can feel these workouts are getting me into better shape.

And because they're addictive. I can. not. stop. In this program you have a workout to do each day. Three days a week you follow along with a video with Shawna (I feel so on a first name basis with her, what with her being in my living-room with me, sweating it out with me every day). She does the workout and you follow her . . . or try to follow her anyway.

On the other days, you follow a routine that's explained in a written document with pictures. The first time I did one of those workouts I was afraid I would feel all alone with no Shawna encouraging me from the video screen. How would I get motivated? But, there she was, her voice anyway, on the music tracks that accompany these workouts, calling out how many sets I had done, letting me know when I was halfway there. Awesome.

What about results? Well, I'm feeling them. Only the "after" pictures and body measurements will tell the objective truth, but I am definitely feeling the results of this program.

1. My weakest body part (my shoulders) is getting stronger. At first I could barely do a handful of modified pushups . . . now I can do about two handfuls! They are still modified, but I am doing more of them.

2. My abs are becoming visible. Wow! My tummy is getting flatter and I'm beginning to notice muscle definition down there. That really tickles me.

Not quite . . . but I can dream!

3. My energy levels are much higher. Now this was totally unexpected and I am loving it. I am getting so much stuff done around the house. Unfortunately, I work a lot on the computer and these days I have to force myself to sit down and get busy. The thought of sitting down without moving kind of irritates me . . . very surprising for this avowed couch potato!

Dust bunnies beware!

A lot of the change I am experiencing is also related to the diet plan that comes with the workouts. Stay tuned for more about that another day.

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!

My Latest Project

I have a rather cyclical attention span. By that I mean that I get really into something for a while, it becomes my big passion and I pursue it actively for quite some time, and then . . . one day I am just not that into it anymore.

There was the photography phase when I couldn't walk down the street at a normal speed because I had to take pictures of every little thing (drove my kids nuts!). For a couple of years I never went anywhere without my camera. I bravely, and in a way completely out of character for me, approached strangers asking if I could photograph them (and discovered that no one ever says no!). That was when I was doing my other blog Molfetta Daily Photo . . . which I haven't updated for the longest time now.

Then there was the giveaway phase when I spent precious hours of my day entering contests. . . and winning lots of them, too! I won clothes, jewelry, books, DVDs, Amazon gift certificates, nail polish, you name it. I even won two prizes at the end of the season lottery at the local beach club. My lucky streak! But giveaways don't appeal to me in the least anymore.

However, I can't go long without a passion, so here's my latest: it's me! Okay, so maybe that's not very clear. What I mean is that I have decided to work more seriously on my level of fitness. I love working out at the gym and by that I mean lifting weights, and have been doing it for about 6 years now. My transformation from total couch potato to fitness freak has been slow and not without its difficulties, both psychological and physical. More on that in a later post.

What I want to talk about right now is this fantastic on-line trainer that I have discovered. Her name is Shawna Kaminski and her program is called Female Fat Loss After 40. I love that name, 'cause it just says it like it is, without any euphemisms, and that's so my style.

Now, I am fully aware that I am not a "fat" person. I have never been overweight and, in fact, my goal is not to lose any weight, but just to tone up, get stronger and feel confident and healthy. I just haven't been able to do it to my satisfaction on my own at the gym, without the help of a personal trainer . . . which I can't afford.

So, that's where Shawna comes in. She lives in Canada, on the other side of the world, and I have never even met her and yet, thanks to the internet, she is helping me to work towards my fitness goals.

This is Shawna, not me!
What an inspiration!

I am currently doing her 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss program and it is incredible. It involves a special diet and daily workouts that I follow on video. I am already on Day 10, so I'm halfway through the program. I do not want to show you my "before" photos, too embarrassing, but maybe maybe I'll show you my "after" pictures . . . if I can bear it!

In the meantime, I'll keep you posted on my progress.