The Badass Body Diet: The Breakthrough Diet and Workout for a Tight Booty, Sexy Abs, and Lean Legs (4 page)

Be clear, too, about your priorities. Women are always concerned about taking care of others first. This isn’t a bad thing, but it can be problematic when you don’t value your well-being enough to put it at the top of your priority list. How can you take care of others properly unless you take care of yourself first? Priorities change depending on the situation; values do not. At first, eating well and working out will be priorities and require active vigilance; then, as you see positive changes in your body, those priorities shift into values and a way of life.

CONFIDENCE

Confidence is the belief that you’ll be successful in a given situation, but it’s not something we necessarily come by naturally, and it ebbs and flows. Few of us escape feelings of fear and self-doubt as we go about our lives.

I know, because I used to have zero confidence. I rebelled because I was scared of failure and afraid of what people thought. I figured if I didn’t try or care, then I’d never fail. However, I was just letting myself down. It wasn’t until I decided that I deserved more that I was able to turn my life around. Honestly, it was a struggle at times. Big changes always are. But I knew I wanted a better life, able to reach my eighties and still take care of myself without assistance. I didn’t do it just for the body—I did it for long-term quality of life.

I started with baby steps, nothing huge or life-altering. Every tiny step I took in the right direction brought better outcomes, plus the confidence that comes with those results. You can build confidence in the same way.

If you’ve habitually failed at diets, for example, you probably struggle with self-confidence. That’s when you need to take little steps yourself. One way to do this is what I call “layering changes.” For example, start with just a breakfast change in which you eat a healthy morning meal. Once you’ve nailed your breakfast, move to lunch changes, then dinner changes. Layering looks like this:

Week 1:
Each a nutritious breakfast all week.

Week 2:
Eat a nutritious breakfast and lunch all week.

Week 3:
Eat a nutritious breakfast, lunch, and dinner all week.

One change at a time, one meal at a time—that’s layering. It gives you small wins, and your confidence grows.

At times, you’ll hear voices of self-doubt in your mind, telling you that you can’t do something, that you’ll fail, or that you’re not good enough. These voices undermine your confidence. I still struggle with these disempowering voices, but I’ve learned how to shut them up. Every time I hear one, I just tell myself aloud, “I’m worth it” or “I deserve better” or “I’ll triumph over this.” And my favorite: “You’re the baddest bitch here—show them you are!”

You can choose your thoughts and therefore control your emotions. You have the natural ability to cancel any thought that makes you feel bad or depressed. When negative mind chatter starts sounding off, replace it with a more empowering voice, such as “I can do this,” “I’m strong today,” “I’m grateful for what I have,” or “I’m in control of my body and my life.” Not only will you increase your confidence and success dramatically, but eventually, those negative voices will get quieter and quieter as they recognize they have little influence on you.

As you and I go through my program together, I realize you might not initially have the confidence that you can change your body and your life. That’s okay! You don’t have to believe it now to start it. Eventually, though, that belief will come, when you see the results and feel the difference in your strength, energy, and overall well-being. You’ll become a believer in your own power to be better than you’ve ever been. And others will notice!

CONSISTENCY

Consistency means staying the course—no yo-yoing between virtuous salads and “screw-it” cheesecakes in any given week, no exercising one or two days a week, then couch-slouching the rest. The secret behind maintaining consistency is to take a day-by-day approach. If you want to improve, concentrate on what you have to do
today
only. Each “today” adds up—to a week, a month, two months, six months, a lifetime.

What if you backslide? Don’t beat yourself up over it. Just start anew at the next meal or the next workout. My old pit crew coach used to tell me, “We all fail, but you need to fail quickly and move on.”

What matters is how you respond to failure. Are you going to dwell on it and let it control you? Or are you going to accept that you’re human, apply the lesson, and move forward? Get back on the program immediately, be patient with yourself, and stay in charge of your own life.

Approaching the program this way will give you better results, faster. Fitness success is a daily habit, not a once-in-a-while, when-you-have-time sort of thing.

OKAY . . . NOW FOR THE PERKS

When I’m done with you, you’ll have an amazing body shape—the perfect balance of hourglass curves and defined booty, tummy, and everywhere in between.

You’ll love the results: Up to five pounds will blitz off your body in just the first few days, as will inches. Part of this is due to water loss within muscle cells—but that’s a positive. Waterlogged cells are partly responsible for that ugly look called cellulite. Getting rid of excess water, aka bloat, along with body fat, minimizes the appearance of cellulite on your hips and thighs. The initial pounds you shed will be due to water loss, but after just a few days, you’ll also start to burn fat.

Going forward, there are some other important benefits that you can’t see but you’ll feel: endurance and strength. Everyday activities on the job, housework, or yard work will be less tiring. You’ll sleep better at night. Your sex life will improve, and you’ll have more energy for all sorts of activities. And don’t be surprised if you start walking around with a sexy strut because you love your new look.

My plan isn’t just about having a sexy bod and booty; it’s also about being empowered. Being in shape gives you a positive mind-set, which in turn boosts confidence and improves self-esteem. Your thinking will be sharper, and you’ll be able to focus better, with a degree of mental clarity you haven’t experienced in a while. You might not be able to control everything that happens to you, but you can control your level of fitness and how you perceive yourself.

Decide today to make better choices for yourself the same way I did years ago. You earned your opportunity to be here, taking a chance on yourself right now. Take it!

It’s never too late to change for the better, either. My mother was in her fifties when she quit smoking, and she’d smoked for thirty years. She just started CrossFitting a couple of years ago too. She’s is a true testament how you can start wherever you are, and make positive changes that last.

Once you make the right choices, you’ll change your life too. And you can do it through good food, fun exercises, and a hot booty to show for all of your hard work. Give yourself a chance to amaze yourself!

Now I’d like to give you a short course on that booty of yours—and how we’re going to pry off the resistant pudge.

The Skinny on Your Butt

MEET YOUR BUTT.

Maybe you haven’t seen it in a while, what with it being behind you all the time. Or maybe you’ve been camouflaging it with that really long black dress. I declare those days over. You’re about to get the best, sexiest booty in town. And you should flaunt it!

But first you’ve got to understand a little physiology about that sweet ass of yours—in order to understand how to get it in shape.

THE GLUTES—THREE MUSCLES IN ONE

Your butt is actually composed of three muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus (collectively known as the “glutes”). I consider them perhaps the coolest muscles of the body, and collectively the biggest trio of muscles you have. They do a lot of work. They help you climb up stairs, walk and run, jump, pivot, play sports, get on and off the toilet, and, ahem, assist in lovemaking.

But our modern and inactive lifestyles—including long commutes, desk jobs, and TV watching—mean our glutes aren’t getting the exercise they require. This idleness is triggering problems, especially in the back. If your glutes aren’t strong, you’ll be susceptible to back pain. And of course, a droopy butt will prevail!

Love ’em or hate ’em, remember this: glutes are muscles. And like all muscles, they can be toned up, especially with the exercises in this book.

A BIG BUTT IS NOT HEALTHY

By “not healthy,” I’m talking about flabby, out-of-shape butts, not tight, firm, muscled butts that might be a little big. A lot of fat on the hips is unhealthy. Let me explain.

We carry fat on different parts of our bodies—a fat distribution technically known as a “fat pattern.” Some people have a type of fat pattern called
upper body obesity
or
central obesity.
Those are the folks with big bellies. They’re at a higher risk for scary illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.

The other type of fat pattern is termed
lower body obesity
. This means that you carry most of your fat on your hips, buttocks, and thighs.

Used to be, medical science geeks said that it was okay—even healthy—if you carried more body fat on your lower body. In fact, this type of fat patterning was once thought to protect against illness, particularly diabetes and heart disease.

Oh, how science changes its mind.

New research indicates that pear-shaped bodies are not healthier than apple-shaped physiques. In 2013, scientists at UC Davis Health System published a fascinating study in
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
. Their study revealed that it could be dangerous to your health to carry a lot of fat on the lower body. That’s because fat in the buttocks area churns out high levels of
chemerin
and not enough
omentin-1.
These proteins, when out of balance, can lead to chronic inflammation and prediabetes. The people in the study who had a lot of chemerin, for example, also had high blood pressure, elevated levels of C-reactive protein (a sign of inflammation), high triglycerides, problems processing insulin, and low levels of HDL cholesterol (the good kind). Similarly, the subjects with low omentin-1 had high triglycerides and blood sugar and low levels of HDL cholesterol. So basically, booty fat appears to mess up factors that protect us from dangerous diseases.

Where lower body fat is concerned, another health problem is osteoarthritis, a crippling joint disease that affects millions of people. Any extra pounds you carry around on your hips and buttocks exerts wear and tear on your joints—a burden that potentially leads to osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis doesn’t get better, either; it just gets worse as you get older.

All of this is bad news for your heart, bones, and overall health unless you do something about it, like getting a tight butt. Not only will you make healthier food choices but you’ll change the level of health and cut the threat of major diseases. A tighter butt might just be saving your life!

BOLLOCKS! BOOTY FAT IS RESISTANT FAT

From a cosmetic standpoint, the frustrating thing about fat around the hips and buttocks is that it’s stubborn and clingy, like an old boyfriend you can’t shake. But there’s a good reason for this clingy fat—the greatest being the support of new life during lactation. When a woman is breast-feeding, the body readily releases lower body fat cells in order to support the energy needs of the nursing baby. Otherwise, fat stored below the waist doesn’t surrender easily—but from now on, neither do you!

Understand that fat cell size is regulated by hormone-binding structures on the surface of fat cells called alpha and beta receptors. Receptors attach to hormones and are stimulated in the process. For example, when the beta receptor is stimulated, cells increase their production of lipase, an enzyme that breaks down fat inside the cells. When the alpha receptor is stimulated, however, fat burning is blocked. Fat remains inside, and makes the fat cell even fatter.

We women have more alpha receptors in our lower bodies; men have more in their bellies and chests. The proportion of alpha receptors to beta receptors on fat cells explains why certain parts of your body lose fat faster than others. Surprise, surprise.

Don’t freak out if you think you have more alpha than you think you should. By adopting the Badass plan in this book—especially strength training—you can awaken beta receptors, step up the rate at which they burn fat, and deactivate your alpha receptors, making you the alpha woman you were meant to be.

UGH! BOOTY FAT CELLS MULTIPLY

You have about 20 to 30 billion fat cells in your body. Some of this fat is “essential fat.” It’s the structural constituent of vital body parts such as the brain, nerve tissue, bone marrow, heart, and cell membranes. Women have about 12 to 15 percent essential fat.

You’re probably more familiar with the other type of fat: “storage fat.” It’s what we’re always trying to get rid of. Some storage fat pads organs for protection. But most is found just under the skin, and it determines your overall shape.

I’m sure you’ve heard that when you gain weight, your fat cells expand, and when you lose weight, they shrink. Well, that’s true if you’re talking about fat cells in and around your belly.

It’s a different story for fat cells in your booty. Eat crap like sugar, processed foods, and other calorie-laced junk food, then sit on your ass all day, and guess what? Your butt will start growing extra fat cells! And you’ve got them for life. Oh no! Extra fat cells is exactly what you don’t want.

You can stop population growth in your butt by eating right and exercising a certain way—and drop gobs of this resistant fat in the process.