Portfolio Shoot after T.R.I.M. by Alessandra Fiorini. Hair/makeup: Shandig
Having to be swimsuit ready in every season of the year isn’t always my favorite thing. And it’s far from easy #ILoveCake . Needless to say, I had to find a way to stay in shape while also maintaining my sanity.
Before I competed at Miss USA, I learned so much about health and fitness… I just absolutely fell in love with it. I thought for sure I would go into personal training in the future. I treated my body like a science experiment - I wanted to do everything my trainer told me to see just what my body would do. And heck… there is nothing like the motivation that came from being in a swimsuit on national television as well as with the then owner of the pageant, Mr. Trump, sitting on the front row right in front of me. I remember one day finishing my Miss KY duties and going to my college classes, and then getting home at 2:00 am one night and still working out because I hadn’t yet that day. I was WAY dedicated. And I loved it. Yet that lifestyle wasn’t sustainable for me… or anyone who has a life and needs sleep! But back then, I ate a TON and just simply had a very high metabolism which helped me maintain the insane 6% body fat. If anyone finds a way to bring back that metabolism of my teenage years…call me.
However, I needed something less intense for the long haul to make being healthy and increasing my muscle tone a lifestyle change. Thankfully I found a program called T.R.I.M. It is created by two bombshells right here in Lexington, KY, Val Smorol and Kate Horning. They use so many neat tricks like intermittent fasting, carb cycling, and even an app called “A Healthy Passion” for recipes. It’s so fun because they have several rounds so you’re in a group with tons of supportive friends — and it’s completely virtual! No need to drive long distances if you don’t live in the Lexington area!
Some scientists believe that intermittent fasting actually helps your body’s internal inflammation decrease. And studies suggest that inflammation in our bodies (which we don’t even know is going on) is what is responsible for serious illness…. bye bye bad sicknesses! Intermittent fasting sounds SUPER scary. But I assure you it is not. It simply means you have a specific time window for eating. Ex: I often try to “break my fast” at 10:00 am or later when I eat breakfast. I’m a big breakfast fan, so I almost always break my fast with breakfast food no matter the time of day. I try to finish my window of eating by 6:30pm with dinner. If I end up going out with friends at night, I simply try to move my breakfast window back a tad so that the whole eating window moves back too for a later dinner. Between breakfast and dinner, you eat regularly! No time constrictions. Having been someone who wanted breakfast as soon as my feet hit the floor in the morning - I was super scared that I may die without that instant food fix in the morning... But after only 2 or 3 days, my body adjusted and I wasn’t even hungry in the morning! Even better, my sweet cravings almost completely disappeared! No more wanting to face-plant into that plate of cookies. Wait… you don’t have that urge?
Another major key of T.R.I.M. Bootcamp is how Val encourages us to do Carb cycling. This means some days we are supposed to get so many carbs in , that I literally don’t want them all… and that’s saying A LOT. Those high carb days go with specific training workouts Val gives us. There are also low carb days (just a couple a week) go with specific nutrition as well. Other days are recovery days that are super simple workouts and nutrition. Each day’s nutrition is different, and always matches with that day’s nutrients. Of course, Val knows life can get in the way, so if I have a special event that week, I simply rearrange the days so that my high carb days are when I’m going to a party or somewhere I will eat a lot!
I sure hope you want to join in on the fun of TRIM because each round has the members all together in a Facebook group for accountability and encouragement. You don’t have to post pics there or anything- just daily screenshot your “My Fitness Pal” macros and upload with your eating window details. Again-the word “macros” may scare some of you, but you just set the daily goals as Val suggests and then scan labels as you eat things or look them up! Super easy and quick. With the workouts continuously changing, I never get bored! I’ve found I can do them in a gym, in my living room, or even a hotel. It’s amazing. And who knew I had hamstrings until this program???
Bombshell chick #2 is who is responsible for creating the app called A Healthy Passion. Talk about genius! This app matches T.R.I.M. nutrition requirements and then suggests recipes accordingly. You can even text “Sarah” in the app and she suggests which recipes for dinner as well as suggests recipes to use up what you already have in your pantry!
The next round of TRIM started December 3rd! But it’s not too late to enter or go ahead and sign up to get your New Years resolutions going! I PROMISE it’s not too hard during the holidays! If you’re interested in learning more, click here and use code MARIA for a discount! Or if you’re an expecting mama (like sweet Val at the moment), or if you just had a baby, there is also SmoBaby program which I highly suggest. And of course my codes work for that too! The results I’ve seen in myself and from everyone are so so encouraging! It’s pretty crazy how affordable it is, especially with those codes!
Stay tuned and we can share our favorite meals and on-the-go snacks together here to help us push through!
Sign up: HERE!
Before T.R.I.M
After 7 weeks of T.R.I.M. - digitals taken by my agents in Miami