The 21 Day Blast Plan: Lose weight, lose inches, gain strength and reboot your body. Annie Deadman
means effort, newness, unfamiliarity. But it also means swap around, improve, revamp, convert. That’s all we’re doing.
The third part of this section is given over to positive strategy advice as well as practical tips on how to gauge your fat-loss progress – seeing your results will become your motivation.
PART 3: THE WORKOUT SECTION
Getting fit, firm & strong . . . and maybe a bit sweaty
‘What a fantastic plan. I loved (and hated) the workouts. By week 3, I was getting an endorphin rush after the exercise and finding it a great de-stress after a hard day at work.’
K.H., London
I can hear you inwardly groan. It won’t go away. Yes, you could tear the pages out and pretend they weren’t there but you’d be chucking out half the fat-loss equation. These workouts are the vital factor in accelerating and sustaining your results.
I’ll say that word again . . . sustaining. Not for a week, not for Christmas, not for 21 days. For always.
Check out the different levels, decide which is yours and then follow those workouts, using the pictures and instructions to help you.
Towards the end of the section there’s advice for those who want to go above and beyond the Blast call of duty and do extra workouts, plus helpful motivation in maintaining a workout habit after the 21 days are finished.
PART 4: FILLING IN THE GAPS
Knowledge is power!
‘I have totally changed the way I eat now . . . I can still have treats, but they’re no longer a daily crutch. Thank you so much.’
G.P., Shropshire
This section is devoted to helping you make informed decisions about what’s worth listening to and what isn’t. I talk about intermittent fasting and its benefits and how you can incorporate it into the 21 Day Blast plan, if you choose. Well-known myths are given the once-over and I tackle common fat-loss questions.
There’s also a special section towards the end. This is a great place to come for a ‘tell it how it is’ dose of motivation. Days 1 to 21 are little paragraphs of fun for you to read as you work your way through the 21 Day Blast plan. They’re similar to the daily email I write to all who take part in the online version of the Blast plan. They will help to keep you on track and fired up.
The section ends with a chapter about life after Blast. During the Blast plan you are going to experience some new eating habits. This chapter offers helpful guidance on how to continue to lose fat while adapting those habits to your daily life for ever.
‘So, Annie Deadman, what do I get for investing in this book and handing my body and soul over to you?’
Oh, goody. I was hoping you’d ask that. Gives me the chance for one of my lists. Here are the benefits of Blast, in all their glory.
• You will lose fat and therefore inches
• You will have stronger, firmer muscles and better tone
• Your sweet tooth won’t know what to do with itself
• Your gut will be calm – less gurgling, wind and bloating
• Symptoms of eczema, hay fever and mucus congestion will lessen
• Your fitness will increase, which means your heart can push more blood around the body with fewer pumps . . . win, win!
• We are at the mercy of our hormones and Blast helps regulate them and their more negative effects
• Your sleep will be deeper and your skin will shine
• Habits you thought you would never crack will become old crutches of the past
• You will be firing on all cylinders – you will have boundless energy
• You will be giving your body the greatest chance of staying in the best possible shape and health
So, lovely people, shall we find out what Blast is all about?
THE BACKGROUND TO BLAST FAT LOSS
(or . . . if we want to be posh . . . the macronutrients and micronutrients)
Recently, I met up with an old friend who had some outpouring to do. We hadn’t seen each other for a while and we were chewing the fat (pun intended) over a bottle of Chardonnay. By the second glass the floodgates had opened and we were on the sticky subject of her weight gain.
‘Look at me, Annie, what’s happened? I hate myself. Years ago I could at least run for the train and not pass out. I knew the importance of green veg and I slid into a size 14 like a dream. I wore lipstick every day and I strutted my stuff up and down the office. I knew how to fight my corner and I enjoyed life. Now I’m a size 18 . . . on a good day . . . and I wobble when I walk, let alone run. My trousers dig in, my thighs chafe, my feet are always swollen and I’m hot with a damp top lip all day. I buy outsize clothes and I eat outsize meals but I haven’t been hungry since 2004. Bar amputation I have no idea how to get this weight off.’
She and I, we go way back, so I allowed myself to hoot with laughter. But deep down, I knew my lovely friend was begging to peel back the years and the layers to find her old self again.
Before any of us can do that, we need to understand how important food is when trying to lose fat. No, not necessarily eating less, just eating better.
‘I can feel a double biology lesson coming on . . .’
Yes, but much more fun. Stick with me.
Stand in front of the mirror. Starkers. Go on. Now, when no one’s looking, grab hold of a handful of the spare flesh that lies in places you don’t like.
We’re going to take a brief look at how that got there, how it’s affecting your health, your personal harmony, wellbeing and happiness, and how we can get rid of it. By and large, it gets there through the stuff you put into your mouth, and how your body reacts to it. You may even discover that you have a slight intolerance to the foods you’ve been eating all these years and maybe that has held you back from achieving what you want. The 21 Day Blast plan will give you the tools to make discoveries about not only your own fat-losing potential but also other minor health issues. One woman who took part in a 21 Day Blast plan in early spring was shocked to find that her hay-fever symptoms totally disappeared during the 21-day period.
So, this next bit is the background knowledge you’ll need. It will cement your understanding of why Blast is going to help you lose fat.
In order to stay alive and function properly, our bodies need nutrients. If we’re being pernickety, the true meaning of nutrient is ‘a substance that provides nourishment essential for the maintenance of life and for growth’.
Macronutrients make up the bulk of our food. We need big quantities of these and they can be divided up into carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Alcohol is also classed as a macronutrient but doesn’t actually provide any life-giving nutrition. I know