So swimsuit season is here and due to my ankle (I use my ankle as an excuse A LOT,) I missed my head start in getting ready.
On my fitness journey, one of the resources I trusted in was the FitnessRX Magazine for Women website forums. When I joined the forum over a year ago, I met a group of strong, spectacular ladies who have greatly influenced my fitness goals.
The women on the forum ranged from dieters to bikini and figure competitors. There we shared meals, life, recipes, goals and before and after photos. It was here where I first gained knowledge of what, where, how and when to eat and exercise to reach my goals, In addition to my personal trainer Kimberly Elliott over at Alpha Elite Training, I would not be where I am today without these great ladies cheering and supporting me on.
We all subscribe(d) to the magazine itself, and would discuss the articles and women featured in them. One of which is Jackie Warner, a guru of health and fitness. I'm not going to go into her biography, but if you like, you can read that here. Just know that she is a celebrity trainer, owns a couple of gyms and has had two television shows on the Bravo channel Work Out and more recently Thintervention with Jackie Warner.
I had always heard of 'amazing' 10lbs in 10 days diets, and they always just seem to be fad diets. But when the latest book by Jackie Warner, 10 Pounds in 10 Days hit the stands, I actually stopped and thought that there may be something to it since it was written by a woman who've I came to know and respect through reading the magazine. I liked her workouts and philosophy, and I thought that it would be a no-gimmicks 'latest fad' diet.
So I purchased the book and read it.
At First, when I got to the diet plan for the 10 days, I did a double take. I'm not going to go into specifics about the plan, as that would not be fair to Ms. Warner, but basically it is a calorie-restricted diet for the sake of losing pounds and is completely different from my previous meal plans.
My original goal was (and still is) to have the body of a figure competitor...
...who's program consists of intense workouts and strict diets of complex carbs and proteins. Proteins, proteins, proteins, at every meal (5-6 meals a day). The Jackie Warner 10 day diet has one source of protein at dinner.
Hmmmm.... my mantra for the next 10 days is that this diet's purpose is to lose weight, NOT gain muscle.
But I'm no expert.
My second thought on the calorie restricted diet, is that it doesn't seem like NEARLY enough calories and carbs to give me energy for the type of training I'm used do. But Jackie's book has a daily exercise program that is less intense, but similar to what I'm used to.
The great thing about the book is that it doesn't just stop at 10 days. If you chose you can move to a second phase, the next ten days, and even a third phase for a total of 30 days. The second and third phases increase caloric intake and move on to more intense workouts that involve weighted circuits and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training.)
The third phase most resembles what I'm used to, and it makes sense that Jackie would lean this way as it is how all these great fitness trainers have the bodies that they do. But for my purposes, I'm going to do the first phase to lose the 10 pounds. Then gradually progress from there in the training that I'm used to, to maintain and reach my goal.
For the next 10 days, I'll blog about my progress. Again, I won't go into specifics about Jackie Warner's plan, but I will detail how I feel this may help or hinder my progress. So, can I lose 10lbs in the next 10 days? I never have before (except when I had a bad case of the stomach flu a few years back,) but I'm willing to do this for the sake of my bathing suit.
Thanks for Reading!
Marcy
