In the roughly 15 years that I have, in one way or another, battled my weight, I have tried many, many different methods. The very first official diet I remember doing was Dr. Martin Kahn's Rotation Diet, that advocated rotating between 600/900/1200 calories a day (for women; calories for men went up to 1200/1500/1800). It worked fine, until I resumed normal eating (hmm...could it be that it wrecked my metabolism by putting my body into starvation mode?)

 

I, along with the vast majority of the Western hemisphere, also did Atkins for a while. Several times, in fact. That too worked well, up to a point. I also tried the Zone. In my experience, low-carbing will definitely shed some pounds fast, but it will not lead to a truely fit, sculpted physique.

 

And in the mean time, I started going to a local gym, and I got hooked on the Firm. I felt better, I looked better, but my abs where still covered by a solid layer of fat. 

 

And then one day I stumbled across Bill Phillip's Body for Life (BFL). In fact, the very first time I heard about it, it was on an infomercial and a friend of mine commented that she heard the program didn't really work because the Challenge winners had to take more than 12 weeks to reach their goals.

 

At some point, I realized that the body I have did not become that squishy over night and that transforming it into a much leaner, more solid physique would probably take 12 weeks. And then another 12 weeks, and then another.

 

BFL taught me the principles of clean eating and truly intense weight training and high intentsity interval training (HIIT). In fact, I couldn't walk for several days after my very first BFL lower-body workout.

 

I now think of BFL as a stepping-stone in the process. Since October 2004,  I've been a transformationist on the Leanness Lifestyle (LL). In my mind, LL is BFL on speed.

 

And so, this is the closest formula to that magic solution we all want:

(Balance of high-quality carbs + high-quality lean protein + high-quality fat*) + high intensity cardio + high intensity weight training.

* In roughly a 40-40-20 ratio.

The eating part is challenging at first (especially since so many people have a major protein phobia) but it becomes second nature after a couple of days. And if you really hit your workouts as hard as you possibly can, you will cry when you need to climb up stairs and feel like you're about to throw up as you get off the treadmill. But the results, oh, the results!**

 

Interested in what you can and cannot find on my plate?

 

** In the interest of full disclosure, I do not have the fabled "perfect" body. YET. I've taken a couple of detours on my route up the mountain and I've stumbled once or twice. But I'm still climbing - for more details, see my blog: The True Adventures of Kluska Girl