Well, I just joined the gym, went for my orientation today. I tried to explain to the gal that I have been sitting on my butt for a looong time so she would need to be easy on me
Tomorrow will be my first official day at the gym and on the program. I have a long journey ahead of me but I am excited to do it. I do think exercise is the way so here I go!!
Why not do cardio on all the days you work out? Seems it would be good to do it before every weight lifting day??
Cathy - especially in your first challenge - it is SO important to stick to the 20 MAS as outlined in the book...
Trust Bill Phillips- he knows what he's talking about. And doing extra cardio is NOT going to accelerate your fat-loss. In fact, the first four weeks of my first challenge I decided that Bill P didn't know what the heck he was talking about - so I did 40 minutes of cardio instead of 20. I believe that overdoing cardio definitely impeded my progress (you can see my progress pix from C1 at my website or in the www.leanandstrong.com Transformation Gallery). After week 4, I decided I was going to stick to the book's directions - and voila! I started seeing results!
Most of the experienced BFLers at L&S will tell you the same thing - not to overdo cardio. In fact that's one of the most-asked questions by 'newbies' at L&S - "can I do extra cardio"? Now, when I say 'cardio' I'm not referring to 'active leisure activities' such as walking the dog, bike riding, horseback riding, etc. Believe me, if you're doing your 20 MAS correctly, when you hit your 9's and especially your 10's, you should be wiped out. If you're not, push it a bit harder! You will get FAR greater results from doing the 20 MAS as outlined in the book than you will doing an hour of cardio in the so-called 'fat burning zone'.
I personally would not advocate doing cardio and weights on the same day - at least in your first Challenges. Concentrate on building muscle and the fat WILL come off. Remember, muscle burns fat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - the more the merrier!
Susan - we leave on Saturday...right now I'm busy getting materials ready to ship out tomorrow. In fact I've gotta get back to that ... just checking in for a mo'. Later...
great cardio today - although extremelly hot as I did it at 2pm in the afternoon. That 20 minutes of HIIT is a killer even though I do mine 1 minute high, two minutes low - its still the best cardio strategy I've ever seen. I had the whole "wet hair, wet shirt" thing going on. thank goodness most other people at the gym look the same huh?
having a bit of 'sweets' craving this afternoon and ended up eating a honey sandwich Oh well - its over now, and I'll be fine for the rest of the day.
I cannot believe I am nearly at the end of week seven! It has truly flown by. AND I can't believe I'm still just as committed as I was in the beginning - perhaps even more so now that I know its possible, really possible. My goal this challenge was to lose 30 pounds, and I think I may get pretty close.
Have a great time in Miami Mrs Jim, Welcome Cathy - whatever else you do make sure you give this programme 100% - it will suprise you! Hope everyone else is doing great.
MrsJim - have a good trip. Hope it's BFL friendly for ya!
Susanje - Your commitment to BFL is inspiring. You make me tired just reading what you do in a day - and you actually live it!
Hey Carps - I'm interested in that HIIT. It is different from the 20MAS right? If you don't mind give me a run down of what you do with it. If I remember you have a treadmill too! I would like to give this a go, just for variety.
I echo MrsJim in that it IS possible to overdo the cardio. You will take away from your muscle building potential and you WANT muscle building potential because muscle is an incredible fat burner! Do your first challenge by the book and then you can "tweak" in challenge two. I waited until the last few weeks of my first challenge to do HIIT instead of 20 MAS and even then I didn't do it every cardio day.
Thunderheart: THANK YOU! I am incredibly busy right now and it looks like it will continue on a while. I feel better when I eat balanced meals and exercise. It gives me more stamina for the challenge of my schedule. Today I am off to the undergrad Sociology course where I am a graduate assistant. Then hours in the computer lab writing my paper. I've been missing my UPS delivery of some BFL supplies so I have to stick around tomorrow and wait for that.
I do HIIT but I do 1:1 now (I started at 1:3 and then 1:2) and I find HIIT to be brutal. I cannot get to 20 minutes of 1:1 and some people who are doing the strolling pace on the machines at the gym will look at me like "Is that ALL you're going to do?" if I jump off at 10 minutes or thereabouts. Its easier to do it at home but I feel like when I keel over, they'll be no one there to catch me.
We are off to the gym in 20 min. I have not eaten yet as the book says to work out first, I am HUNGRY though Oh well, when I get home. Today its upper body.
I should have added this to my post earlier but I just thought of doing this proposed ordering after the fact.
I have two 4 day weekends coming up during the last half of my challenge. One at Easter and one is the last 4 days of the challenge. I think I have the workout routines figured out so I stay on track.
I was going to order more supplements because I am running out of pp. I was thinking of getting another pp and possibly an order of Myoplex Lite. Now I know your absolute favourite is the Cappuchino Ice. My question is - I love cappuchino and coffee-like drinks. Does this taste anything like it? If not I think I will go for the Strawberry.
My plan is to take these Myolite packages (should pack easily) to the second trip - hotel and 4 days of meetings (which I am required to take minutes). I coordinate the meeting so I have arranged for fruit at the coffee breaks. I was thinking I would take some pp in the event that I am a little more hungry and need some solid carbs. Do you have any ideas as to how to bring the pp along without lugging a 2lb. container? Thought you might have some tricks.
Sorry for being so long about this. I know that you are probably really busy right now - but I wanted to order today so that I will get it before my first trip.
Busy getting all my binders and stuff together for the meeting next week...Jim is already packed - he was up at 5:30 this morning (while I was at the gym - back/biceps today) and packed all his stuff! Too funny
Anyway, I highly recommend the Met-Rx Protein Plus PP - I like the Vanilla Creme. It's a whey/casein protein mixture which is superior to just plain whey, as I've learned from posts at L&S. Plus it tastes much better than, say, Simply Protein by EAS which is like water!
What I do for protein powder is measure out what I'll need for the trip into a Ziploc bag and label it. Actually the MetRx doesn't come in one of those huge tubs like the Simply Protein does. I do that with my glutamine too - but do make sure you label it because you don't want airport security thinking that it's an illegal substance
And IMO the Cap Ice Myo Lite does taste like a Frappuchino. It is definintely the BEST flavor of all the Myo Lites...Strawberry I can take or leave, depending on my mood. Some people at L&S can't stand the flavor. Usually I prefer chocolate!
If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend purchasing a Braun hand blender. They're only about $20, fit easily into your luggage and are GREAT for whipping up MRPs on the fly!
I also coordinate meetings - that's what I'm doing next week in Miami - and I've already arranged for the breakfast table to include cottage cheese (for me). And I always have fresh fruit served as well. When we were up in Canada, the chef whipped up some great eggwhite and mushroom omelettes a couple of mornings for me. When I do these offsite meetings, I am always treated like a VIP since the hotel is making big $$ from our group!
Well last night Jim and I went to the mall because he wanted to buy a CD case and I went to Express - a year ago I would have never thought of going in there because everything is made for juniors. I tried on dresses and found a couple of nice spring dresses 25% off - at first I tried on the 9/10s and they were MILES too big, so the gal kept bringing me sizes...I was able to get into the 3/4 but it was a bit snug in the bust, so I settled for 5/6...I am going to have Jim take some snaps of me wearing my new clothes next week for y'all! Express is now my new favorite store! Yee haw!
Great Tips! - thanks so much for getting back to me!
I really like that idea of the hand blender. I'm going to look for one - I wonder if they make them battery operated - also love to tent in the summer.
Order is in. Have a great trip - a whole week without MrsJim?
Congrats on the size 5/6 dresses, MrsJim, I can't wait to be there (and I'm pretty confident that BFL will be my ticket there!)...
I just wanted to mention, whilst looking at food processors at Target the other day, I saw a hand blender for only $8.88! I don't remember if it was Braun but I know it was some name brand I was familiar with. Just thought I'd share the info incase anyone wanted somewhere to find a cheap one. (They also carried more expensive ones that came with cups and chopping blades and fancy stuff but, if you only want a simple one you can use with your own cups, I thought the price was great!)
well it sounds like everyone is doing great even while very busy - it never ends does it. EAch year I think - this year I'm not going to get so involved, and then sure enough... by the time march arrives I can hardly keep up with my life!
Thunderheart - I really like HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) although it seriously is a killer. Check out this link for the original explanation by its inventor Shaun Phillips: http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp
(might need to copy and paste it into your browser address line)
Basically instead of spending a minute each on levels 6,7,8,9 etc as in 20mas you spend 1 minute each on your level 6, and level 10, and keep alternating through as long as you can. At the moment I do 1 minute high, 2 minutes low, and I often struggle to make it through 20 minutes - but I know its working so I keep going. As Susanj said doing the 20MAS is great (especially for your first challenge) but it is worth giving HIIT a try even if you only do it once a week.
I also have a question... I absolutely cannot get to the gym before 9am - (my husband starts work at 4.00am - I have three kids ages 5 and under) but if I don't eat before I go my first meal is not till about 10.30-11am which would normally be my second meal, and I can't get six meals in. Which is more important?
To work out on an empty stomach? - or to eat 6 meals a day??
I had a great UBWO today although I realised halfway through that everyone is a bit serious about their weight lifting - I mean could we crack a smile while we critique everyone elses form??? - one lady was looking at me sideways and I just thought - I don't care - I know that what I'm doing works!!
Have to go to a training session for a new job today - so better go hit the shower. Oh By the way - I bought the new keyboard
Its VERY cool.
See Ya
Carly
I'm obviously no expert, as I've not even started my first challenge yet! But, if I remember correctly, the BFL book said if you cannot workout first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, the next best choice is to workout after not eating for 3 hours. It seems to me, if this is true, you could have a very early breakfast.. at around 6am and then do your workout at 9am :-)
I absolutely cannot lift on an empty stomach and I don't know why but I discussed this in length at L&S last year. I usually have an MRP about 1.5 hours before lifting. If I can make it 2 hours that is even better. 3 hours is too long (empty) and 1 hour is too soon (I don't like to burp when I lift weights mainly because I know my body is still digesting and not working the weights as it should).
I try to do cardio on an empty stomach but don't always succeed there. For cardio I would DEFINITELY recommend the 3 hour window.
Only one LBWO left, then C1 is in the books! I can't believe I'm (almost)done. I'm getting a bit nervous about the effects of a week off, but I'll be in Florida visiting relatives with no gym available, so I couldn't sneak in even if I wanted to. I am confused about the food issue- I've read some people say it's basically a free week (eeks!) and others say, no- continue the eating plan. Any opinions here? I know I'll stay sugar-free because I was for 5 months pre-BFL and don't want to detox again, but beyond that I don't know what to do.
Anyway- here are the results minus 1 workout. The trainer who took my bf measurements was only available today, and I figured 1 day was unfortunatly not going to make a difference.
start wt:140
end c1: 136 (I've lost 40 pounds scale weight since last August)
BF start: 28%
BF end c1: 21%
pounds fat lost: 10.6 (if I've got the math right)
muscle gain: 6.5 lbs
pants-o-meter: tight size 8
p-o-m end c1: good size 6, tight size 4
lost 1 bra size, cup and #.
I still have really saggy belly skin. YUCK YUCK YUCK! I think this works better if you are 27 years old instead of 47. BUT it does work!
Carps: I usually lift in the mid-afternoon. My one attempt at an early morning weight workout nearly resulted in divorce. Not worth it. I do cardio early on an empty stomach, then eat about 1/2 hour later, get son ready and on school bus, go to work, eat meal 2, come home, eat meal 3, then hit the gym about an hour later. Like Susanje, I CANNOT lift on an empty stomach, even 2 hours is too long for me. I start to get really weak and dizzy. Maybe my fat loss would have been faster, but I don't think I would have finished the challenge if I'd stuck to the empty stomach rule. Definitly not if I stuck to the early morning rule! I know the experts say don't bend the rules, and I got basted on l&s about this (someone blathered on about how I was breaking self-promises- good grief!) but you have to make it work for you and for the long run. For me, this will be a way of life, not just a 12 week program to struggle thru no matter what.
I know what you mean about everyone being so serious in the gym. I'm seriously lifting, but sometimes when I hit failure, the results can be pretty funny. I've been caught gasping but giggling, stuck under a barbell. Or rolling off a swiss ball.
Body for Life #46
I'm IN! :)
Don't overdo cardio!!!
in the afternoon. That 20 minutes of HIIT is a killer even though I do mine 1 minute high, two minutes low - its still the best cardio strategy I've ever seen. I had the whole "wet hair, wet shirt" thing going on. thank goodness most other people at the gym look the same huh?
Oh well - its over now, and I'll be fine for the rest of the day. 
Oh well, when I get home. Today its upper body.
Just a quick note...
