The 21 Day Blast Plan: Lose weight, lose inches, gain strength and reboot your body

So, bigger fat cells again . . . and tighter trousers.

Not only that. Remember the free fatty acids . . . they’re the usable form of our fat wodges floating around in the bloodstream begging to be used up. But oh no. When insulin scoops up the surplus glucose it also takes with it those free fatty acids and they’re returned to the fat cells to become triglycerides again.

Our love handles.

So, broadly speaking, that’s the story. Carbohydrate gets converted into glucose and is transported to the cells that need it. If we eat too much of it (think sofa, telly, large bag of sweets) and don’t use it up, then insulin scoops up the excess, along with the free fatty acids and stuffs it all back into the fat cells. In places we don’t want it.

Result: Your fat cells swell. Your jeans get tight. You feel lethargic and downright cross.

‘So how can food help me release the fat from my fat cells . . . and use it up? Are you saying I should give up carbs?’

Definitely not. Imagine life without it. Your brain would be starved, you’d be drowsy and actually quite miserable. No, instead we’re going to be eating the right kind and the right amount of carbohydrate, and at the right time.

Remember there are different sorts of carbohydrate. As we saw in Chapter 1, the ones that create a quick response from insulin are simple carbs – that’s sugary foods, some fruit and processed foods. They are converted to glucose very quickly and prompt a surge of insulin. The other type are more complex (vegetables, whole-grains, brown rice, oats, potatoes), which take longer to be digested and won’t trigger such a flood of insulin into your bloodstream.

Our plan is this: To stick to eating a lovely mix of protein and fats plus enough complex carbohydrate at the right time. When you exercise, your muscles need glucose and so afterwards your supplies are pretty low. Eating carbohydrate after exercise will ensure that those supplies are refilled. This will also help the muscles recover. And that’s what we’re going to do on Blast. Cue very important statement . . .

You will eat a portion of starchy carbs ONLY in the meal that follows your workout. The glucose produced from that meal will then be enough to top up your newly emptied stores. The rest of the time, the body will depend on those free fatty acids to fuel it through the rest of the day. This means a) no excess glucose being handcuffed to your fat cells and making them bigger, and b) the free fatty acids can roam freely in your bloodstream waiting to be used up.

Result: Smaller fat cells. Smaller trousers.

DIGGING A BIT DEEPER . . .

In our quest for external loveliness, we need to ensure internal harmony. Which means taking care of our gut. The gut basically goes from the bottom of the stomach to the anus and has two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine. This part of our bodies is not just responsible for breaking down our food into manageable particles and then expelling the waste (with some gurgling noises and nasty smells). No, the gut has been hailed as our ‘second brain’ and it seems that, through the billions of good healthy bacteria, the part it plays in the balance and stability of our emotions – and the impact it has on our personalities – is huge. It is not merely a place for digestion.

Essentially, a happy gut is central to our wellbeing.

If we are going to commit to eating food that will help us lose weight, then it is important our gut responds well to that food. If, every day we experience bloating, gas and gurgling plus a host of other unexplained symptoms (such as fungal issues, abdominal pain, lethargy) then our fat-loss progress will be hindered. This will also affect our mood and emotions. We are aiming for a digestive system that is calm and stable. And our mood will follow suit. If some foods create adverse reactions in the body, then we’re looking at turbulent and rocky.

Before we get stuck into the 21 Day Blast plan rules, foods and workouts, let’s just take a look at those foods that can jeopardise our gut harmony and therefore inhibit our fat loss.

I doubt any of them will be a surprise to you. They appear on our daily menus, dragging their stigmas and bad reputations behind them, and for good reason.

Chapter 3

THREATS TO GUT HARMONY

. . . and therefore to successful fat loss

Throughout the 21 Day Blast plan, the food you will be eating will help you lose fat, feel energised and be ready for anything. Your sweet cravings will diminish and your mood will stabilise. Your skin will glow, your sleep will be deep and your energy levels will rocket. However, there are some areas of food that do the opposite to all that. Take them away and – after an initial feeling of deprivation – you will then notice a whopping difference to your wellbeing and your mood.

I’m going to take you through those foods now. I promise you this isn’t dull. I might even go as far as to say some of it is riveting.

SUGAR

Sugar is a simple form of carbohydrate and can be found in many foods: fruit juices, dressings, marinades, anything marked low-fat, fizzy drinks, sweets, biscuits, breakfast cereals, alcohol . . . the list goes on and on. It is broken down into glucose in the bloodstream. Too much of it, as we’ve seen, will be cemented in place as body fat.

Sugar is a drug and it needs a management programme. Cue the 21 Day Blast plan.

Research studies show that regular consumption of sugary products contributes to heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s; it increases the risk of diabetes, ruins our skin, makes us edgy and sends our hormones into overdrive. So in the wake of persistent bouts of biscuit-eating pleasure, there lies a serious and disastrous state of affairs.

Robert Lustig in his book Fat Chance: The Hidden Truth About Sugar, Obesity and Disease states that the damage done by 150-calories’ worth of sugary fizzy drink far outweighs the damage done by 150 calories’ worth of other food. Food for fat loss is not always about calories. It’s about what those calories are made up of.

To help us understand more, look at it this way. Sugar comes in various forms, one of them is fructose. This is the sugar contained in fruit. When this is concentrated, it will raise glucose levels far beyond what we need.

More disturbing is that fructose is used in the making of sweeteners like agave syrup and maple syrup. These sweeteners, which you thought were natural, so unrefined, so back-to-nature, are added to food items to make them tempting, and seemingly healthy. Take some granolas for example. That very word smacks of crunchy, wholesome country kitchen, doesn’t it?

There’s a point to all this. Keep reading.

Around the 1970s the word on the street was that fat made you fat. This in turn led to a demand for products labelled low-fat. Following high tariffs on foreign sugar, a product called high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was developed in the US. It was cheap, easy to make and it was used to replace the fat in many foods, ensuring food kept its taste and appeal to the public. The bonus was that it lengthened its shelf life.

Hence the birth of ‘low-fat’ products, and anything labelled as such became a fast seller: flavoured yoghurt, cereals, low-fat biscuits, cakes, sweets, breads, salad dressings, frozen convenience foods, fizzy drinks.

It was the addition of HFCS that made them edible and addictive. With their new low-fat status, these foods flew off the shelves; the public were jubilant and couldn’t get enough. The more they ate, the more they wanted to eat. And so the gentle (and now stratospheric) rise in human obesity levels began.

This means that it is easy for our taste buds to become wired to enjoy sweetness. We become used to it. We long for it. We can’t stop thinking about it. Eventually we give in.

‘Oh, you’re all good news and merry cheer, aren’t you? Does that mean I can never have anything sugary or processed ever again? Ever?’

God no. It just means finding balance. Occasional ‘Oh sod it’ moments are inevitable in life. Moments when you crack open a bottle of Merlot, chuck a supermarket pizza in the oven and throw caution to the wind . . . they’re wonderful! On Blast we are going to learn how not to allow sugar to run our lives and govern our food choices. We are going to train our taste buds to love real food, cook real food (no gourmet chef-ness required) and leave our sweet tooth dribbling by the wayside. So in the long run, that pizza may not become so regular . . . or so enticing.

ON BLAST: The only sugar you will have is sugar that naturally appears in carbohydrate-rich foods such as oats, potatoes and some fruits. As an example there is 0.8g of sugar in 100g of potato. And there is 6.4g sugar in a Jaffa cake biscuit. (One whole teaspoon of sugar is 5g.)

Just thought I’d put that out there.

On to something else . . .

‘Day 4: I know it’s early days but I am starting to feel so much better. I keep going to tap my tummy and it’s shrinking! Can’t say I haven’t thought about a bar of chocolate but I’m not craving it like my life depended on it and I feel at ease with my life, calm and present. Very weird, but good weird.’

B.S., London

WHEAT

Wheat has long been known as an irritant to the digestive system and it has become very fashionable to give it up. Masses of research has been done and very little of it conclusive. But it does appear that avoiding wheat products can make us feel better. Is this because so many wheat-based products are manufactured with additives and chemicals in order to prolong their shelf life? This would mean the body finds it difficult to process these chemicals, putting a strain on the liver. This results in toxins being stored in fat cells. Or is it due to the gluten present in wheat?

Gluten is a protein present not only in wheat but also in rye, barley and in a small amount in oats. If you have a full-blown allergy to gluten (and here I mean constant stomach pains, diarrhoea, gas, vomiting) then you may be a sufferer of coeliac disease. This is when the gut and the intestinal wall become damaged and inflamed. It is a serious condition and if you think it applies to you, then get yourself to a doctor pretty pronto, as it must be treated by medical professionals.

One can have an allergy or sensitivity to wheat without being gluten intolerant. The results can be difficult to diagnose due to delayed reaction times and the range and severity of symptoms, but these can be anything from sneezing, wheezing, itching and rashes to digestive issues, sore joints and limbs and nausea. More chronic conditions are migraines, irritable bowel syndrome and arthritis. All of these are often alleviated by the replacement of wheat with other forms of carbohydrate.

Milder forms of wheat intolerance can manifest themselves with bloating, headaches and hay fever-like symptoms. Wheat-based products such as spongy bread and pasta can absorb a lot of water and swell in the body, causing a bloated feeling, which is why many feel so much better (and flatter!) on a wheat-free regime. Yeast can also be a culprit, so if you are a big bread eater, it may be this that is causing your discomfort, too.

You may not know whether you have an intolerance or a full-blown allergy or neither until you omit wheat from your daily diet, but you are likely to feel different over the course of the 21 days without it. A high proportion of the bread and cakes we eat these days is quite highly processed and so opting for more natural forms of carbs (rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, quinoa) will put less strain on the gut and we will ultimately feel better for that.

It’s worth mentioning that supermarkets today have developed whole sections devoted to gluten-free products and you might be tempted to skip down those aisles and fill up your trolley. Be very wary of these. They tend to be expensive, full of unpronounceable ingredients and loaded with sugar. The label gluten-free does not necessarily mean it is good for you. It just means what it says . . . free of gluten.

ON BLAST: For 21 days you are going to go without wheat-based products. So, that’s biscuits, bread, crackers, cakes and pasta. This includes all bread-related items, which you may deem as totally scrumptious, like tortilla wraps, pittas and focaccia. Anything spongy and squidgy, which may make your gut . . . erm . . . spongy and squidgy. If you are a lover of pasta, then there are many non-wheat varieties on the market – these are mentioned in the Blast rules in Part 2 of the book.

DAIRY

There is untold research available about the effects of cow’s milk products on the human digestive system, and as with wheat products, some of it is inconclusive. You may regard all of this as poppycock, and you may be tempted to put down your IBS, aching joints, migraines, arthritis, sinus and mucus issues, flatulence and skin disorders to other factors. (I’m continuing with the merry cheer . . . have you noticed?)

Fat, as we have seen, is broken down into fatty acids for easy transport in the blood. You can tell different fatty acids apart in many different ways without getting into long, dull explanations. One of those is looking at the length of the ‘chains’ within those fatty acids. Take cow’s and goat’s milk. The fat in cow’s milk contains long-chain fatty acids, which us humans can find difficult to digest. Goat’s milk has shorter chains and therefore some find this easier on the system.

None of it can be proved, but it’s worth trying alternatives. I remember my daughter had terrible eczema as a three year old, and switching to goat’s milk for a year completely got rid of it. Good alternatives to animal dairy are (don’t wince) unsweetened almond milk, rice milk, soya milk, coconut milk and hemp milk. These are worth trying for very little expense and your gut may welcome the change. In the recipe section of the book, these milks are sometimes referred to as non-dairy or dairy-free.

One exception to our Blast cow’s dairy rule is good Greek yoghurt. This is because live cultures are added to the cow’s milk in the yoghurt-making process, which not only renders the product miles more digestible but actually benefits the bacteria* that live in our gut and which we need to nurture.

Why Greek? For no particular reason other than that the high-protein, low-sugar (less than 4g per 100g) varieties are usually labelled as Greek yoghurt. The brand TOTAL would be hailed as queen of the bunch, but it is often quite expensive and there are some other very good, cheaper brands available such as SKYR. Search around but have your ‘label detective’ wits about you. They often contain very poor levels of protein and whopping amounts of sugar.

It’s worth singling out one of the non-dairy options here: soya milk. Soy-based products (soya milk, tofu, etc.) are a great source of protein as they contain the whole package of 20 amino acids as well as valuable omega-3 fats, B vitamins and iron. They also contain phytoestrogens, which act in the same way as the female hormone oestrogen but to a much milder degree. For this reason, much has been written about their ability to alleviate symptoms of the menopause, prevent some cancers and boost libido. It is therefore tempting to knock back the soya milk and anything else containing these phyto things (they are present in a range of foods – tempeh, flaxseeds, oats, barley, lentils, liquorice root, sweet potato).

All of this may indeed be valid, but I wouldn’t be doing my job properly as a health and fitness professional if I didn’t say this. Some cancers (such as breast cancer) have been linked to high levels of oestrogen and therefore medical experts recommend that post-menopausal women with a link to oestrogen-dependent breast cancer should be vigilant about their consumption of soya products and other products that contain phytoestrogens and take good medical advice.

My personal advice would be to do your own research. There is much evidence/research (inconsequential and otherwise) about the risks of over-consumption of soya, not only for the menopausal sector but also for those who are trying for babies or who are pregnant.

If all that has made you fearful, then opt for one of the other choices. I personally dance between coconut milk, unsweetened almond milk and goat’s, with the odd splash of soya.

ON BLAST: For 21 days you are recommended to use other non-dairy milks instead of cow’s milk. You can do as much lip-curling and face-pulling as you like, but give it a go. You’ll be surprised.

CAFFEINE

‘Oh, not the coffee . . . no! Not the cappuccino . . . Please don’t take that away . . .’

Years back, I remember meeting a woman at the beginning of her Blast journey, who confessed to drinking fifteen cups of tea a day. Minimum. And possibly more if her day was going pear-shaped. By the end of the 21 days she had completely lost the 21-fags-a-day look, the dark circles had disappeared and her skin was smooth, almost glowing. She had lost ten years. I was stunned by the difference and oh how I wish I’d taken a photo.

One good fresh coffee (or other highly caffeinated drink) per day does this: it kick-starts the system by temporarily raising your heart rate and blood pressure. It also stimulates the release of the hormone dopamine, which reduces fatigue. In short, you’ll feel upbeat, bouncy, possibly even perky. And that will be enough perk to get you through the day.

The flipside of the caffeine coin is when you consistently drink too much of it. Your blood pressure is permanently increased, your heart is thumping and the body senses a stressful situation. A message is then sent to the adrenal glands to produce the hormone cortisol. Cortisol then helps the body deal with the stress by providing the muscles with large amounts of glucose (it does this by tapping into protein stores via a process called gluconeogenesis in the liver). This glucose is supposed to help the body deal with the ‘fight or flight’ mode (i.e. run like hell or stick it out and do battle). But of course, this is only the physiological response and there is no need for fight or flight.

The upshot of the pretend stress caused by the quaffing of caffeine is a continuous wave of glucose. Which isn’t being used up and which is packed off to the fat cells by insulin.

Not only that . . .

‘Oh for heaven’s sake, isn’t that enough?’

. . . we are striving for an even keel in the hormone department and now the blood is flooded with cortisol and insulin. If the body has to produce more than usual amounts of one hormone, then that upsets the activities of the others. More about the dismal effects of hormone imbalances can be read in Chapter 4.

ON BLAST: You are permitted one caffeinated drink a day during the course of the plan. This will set you up and get you going. We want calm. We want happy. Not raging and furious.

ALCOHOL

Our modern-day culture means most of us enjoy a drink to unwind, to socialise and to let rip. It tastes good, our guard drops, our rough edges are softened and we feel nice. Fluffy and at peace with the world. That’s on the outside. On the inside, it’s a different story.

There’s no getting away from it . . . alcohol is a toxin. And a toxin is ‘related to or caused by poison’, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. So when you’ve necked back your first few mojitos, the body sends in the troops. Cortisol is produced to sweep the alcohol from the blood and pack it off to the liver to be metabolised. It’s urgent. It takes priority. It’s a toxin after all.

‘Sounds like good news, no?’

No. The converted alcohol can now be used as fuel for energy, instead of that glucose or those fatty acids wandering about your bloodstream. The body puts the brakes on using up fat and glucose and any other fuel EXCEPT the alcohol.

Oh . . . wait. There’s more. All that sugar in the alcohol means insulin is also being produced, which can only mean one thing. The insulin packs off that sugar and the fatty acids back into the fat cells until the alcohol has been used up.

So, you may be feeling totally relaxed, groovy and chilled, but your liver is under pressure, you’ve just made some more fat, and the fat you had in the first place isn’t being used up either.

It’s not looking good, is it? On top of that, you’ve got a massive headache looming.

So, cutting down on alcohol is a hard nut to crack but the effects will show in your health, your blood pressure and your waistline, not to mention your skin.

ON BLAST: So, we’re not going to imbibe on the 21 Day Blast plan. No, we’re going to be alcohol-free for the entire 21 days so that you can give your body a rest. Your head and conscience will also get some downtime since the ‘shall I, shan’t I?’ conflict won’t be mixed up with the ‘I shouldn’t, should I? . . . it’s only Tuesday’ dilemma. There’s one answer. No, you won’t.

Remember, we are looking for calm and happy with a disciplined mind. Not toxin-dependent with no willpower and your head in a family bag of Doritos. Dull and boring? Possibly . . . at first. Effective and long-lasting? Definitely. The lethal combination of sugar and alcohol results in calamity for one’s self-discipline. Prosecco and beer will never taste as good as smug and saintly feel.

During the Blast plan I am giving your body (and your head) the chance to break some old habits over 21 days. Once the 21 days are over, you’ll have discovered the benefits of change and then you can decide a plan of action to take you forward. You’ll find more about our post-Blast plan later in the book.

For now, let’s head to the next chapter and have a look at hormones. They’re not all bad news. Far from it.

Chapter 4

THE PART HORMONES PLAY IN FAT LOSS

I’m not talking those little friends who raise their heads once a month (maybe more!) and who have the potential to turn us women from sane and normal people operating with dignity and maturity into bonkers and irrational types who fail to master even the smallest of tasks.

To be successful in fat loss we have to understand what we’re up against. You can be in control of your food through the 21 Day Blast plan guidelines (see Chapter 5) but we are less in control of our hormones.

WHAT ARE HORMONES?

Broadly speaking, hormones are chemical substances, secreted by our glands, which are transported in the blood to different organs. These hormones, along with the messages they carry, control most major bodily functions. Hormones work together, so an over-plentiful supply of one may mean that another is out of balance, too. There are about fifty different hormones (some I can’t even pronounce) and it is impossible to find out whether they are all doing their jobs correctly, and to the full advantage of our health, our fat stores and our energy levels.

BUT – and this is where I get on my soapbox – everything you will be doing on the 21 Day Blast plan will go a long way to helping keep the main players working with, rather than fighting against, each other and therefore maintaining the efficiency of the fat-loss process. Let’s look at the main characters.

INSULIN

We learnt about insulin in Chapter 2. By way of a quick recap, it’s produced in the pancreas in response to eating carbohydrate, which is converted to glucose and which insulin delivers to the cells that need it. Any excess glucose remaining unused is swept up by the insulin and stuffed into our fat cells. Essentially, the more glucose, the more insulin, the bigger our fat cells.

How can we ensure insulin stays at the optimum level?

By eating carbohydrates only after exercise – this is the point when the body most needs them. Simply speaking, this will mean that just enough insulin is produced to send just enough glucose to the brain and to those muscles (which you’ve just worked). The lack of spare insulin and spare glucose means that the body unlocks the fat from our fat cells (previously held under lock and key by all that insulin) and turns it into free fatty acids for use as fuel.