Hey Jocelyn! The only thing I've tried lately is the Bananas Foster - not sure if that was the exact name or not. One tip - cook the bananas carefully, or they get mushy!
Hi Jennifer! Thanks for the tip on Bananas Foster.
I forgot - I also made the Anyday Sundae. It was mediocre, in my opinion. I used Chocolate protein powder instead of the Vanilla so maybe that's why it wasn't great. It just tasted very protein-y. I'm not a huge fan of protein powder anyway. I vastly prefer the Meal Replacement Powders if any at all. I do much better on the plan if I'm eating stuff as opposed to drinking it. I don't know why.
Hi Jocelyn, Sorry to leave you talking to yourself! I have been talking to you in my head but I guess that doesn't help much. I was thinking about your post on upping your weights and starting exercise slow. I always start my exercise program slow too when I haven't been at it in a while. I think that is a good way not to overwhelm yourself. But yes, as you go along it is good to up the weights and intensify the cardio, it helps.
I no longer follow strict BFL exercise guidelines. I work one body part a day and do 20 minutes of cardio everyday. My workouts last 45 to 60 minutes. I keep wanting to increase the time but honestly, much longer than that and I lose interest.
Unfortunately I am still dealing with holiday pounds but they do seem to be coming off - slowly but surely.
I have a pretty good stock of leftovers in the fridge so I haven't cooked much lately. Next on the list is Dad's Green Chili (I might have the name wrong). I love mexican food too so I tend to gravitate to those recipes w/ mexican spices. The chicken noodle soup is fabulous. I 1/2ed the recipe because I only had a lb of chicken on hand, still made a big batch and DD is in love with it too.
Great! I'm planning to make the Chicken Noodle Soup this week so I'm glad to know it's good!
I also have a lot of leftovers right now so I won't be cooking for a couple of days. I let DH choose some recipes for the rest of the week so we'll be having the Turkey Meatloaf, American Goulash (sp?), and one of the fish recipes. I chose the soup because it's cold and snowy here right now so it seemed like a good choice.
My workouts have been going great. I've only missed one cardio session so far and I made it up on a weight day. I've been working the weights harder because I feel up to it. Cardio has been good. I'm going to stick to the BFL workout plan for a while until I feel like I'm ready to branch out and do other workouts.
I invested in the Cathe Friedrich DVDs some time ago and I've hardly used them at all. I would really like to start using them once I'm in better shape. I think I'm going to start attending some of my gym's aerobics classes. I used to go all the time in college and I loved it! I will do that in addition to my 20 minute HIIT sessions.
Have a great BFL day all! I'm always around if you want to "talk"!
Jocelyn
Wow! I can't believe it's Wednesday already! I seriously had to look at the date at the bottom of my computer screen!
It's Week 3, Day 3 for me and I'm finally starting to notice some positive changes in my physique. Nothing major and the scale doesn't show it (yet), but I'm happy nonetheless. I've decided to follow the program exactly for the first 12 weeks. If I don't achieve the desired results, I'll modify a bit. Well, I admit I've added a little to the workouts on some days. DH likes to swim in the indoor pool so I'll go over with him after work sometimes and run laps in the pool. Not overly strenuous but at least it's movement. I'm also thinking of going to a step aerobics class on Friday just for fun!!!
I can't say it enough - the Eating for Life book has completely saved me on this program. We've been eating great food and I am really enjoying the cooking so far. The cleanup hasn't been too bad either. My free day is Saturday and I'm actually not counting down the seconds until it gets here! It's amazing!
If nothing else about this program works, I think consistency is key! I'm constantly adding nutritious "fuel to the fire" and strengthening my body every day.
There has been mention of a similar program on another board I visit lately - I think it's called Leanness Lifestyle or something like that. Has anyone heard of it? Read it? I was just wondering what it's about. I have read Body Rx, which is also similar to BFL but I haven't tried it.
IMHO don't try Body Rx. Too much food! Unless you are really planning to bulk up as in being a competitive body builder that is. I tried it, gained lots of muscle, but also gained substansial weight. A few people recommend BRx, but I can't and I am coming from personal experience. Don't know too much about leaness lifestyle but I think it is what we are doing on BFL only more extreme (less food, more exercise), this is just what I have gleaned but not personal experience. If you want to do some more reading I'd recommend the lean and strong web site, you can google for the address. Those folks can talk about this stuff all day long. A lot of body builders hang ou there. I am very impressed with Skwigg's blog. You can google that too.
I am feeling the effects of 3 wks of EFL myself. I am feeling lots better than I was a month ago.
Morning ladies, I see you both are on week 3 I am only 2 1/2 weeks in myself and feel the same way you both do about finishing these 12 weeks without a hitch even if the scale isnt moving as fast as I would like it too. In fact the cheatday put my weight up 3 pounds and now I am hoping those fall off ASAP. Anyway I hope you ladies have a great day and keep up the great work ...it is very inspiring
Hi all - thanks for the insight. I have been to both L&S and Skwigg's blog - very informative. L&S has definitely gone downhill lately. I wonder where those people post now. I never posted there - just lurked a lot. A lot of posters there are a bit extreme for me.
I don't think I will try anything new since this is working for me. I just like to read fitness books. I think I pick up something from each of them.
I haven't been using the EFL book in a while since I've had so many leftovers! Kind of disappointing! I need to get to the grocery store but it's been snowing here and it's dangerous to drive. Luckily my gym is in the same parking lot as the townhouse we live in! I could walk there if I really needed to!
My free day is Saturday but I can't think of much I'm craving right now. I'm sure I'll think of something!
Hi Jocelyn, I haven't heard of LL, but I have heard that Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is similar, and some people like it better. Hey, if you're doing well on this right now though, I wouldn't change!
You're right, Jennifer. There's no need to change what's working.
I was thinking both LL and BFFM might be good reads though. Maybe I'll do that on my next road trip. I have a rather large library of fitness and diet books - most of which I don't use on a daily basis but it's nice to look at them from time to time.
I skipped my LBWO yesterday :O but I'm going to make it up today. That means I'll have to work out on my free day but that's no big deal. I don't want to make a habit of it though.
My eating has been good. It's really cold and snowy here so I'm going to make chili today - YUM! It's not the EFL recipe (which I considered) - it's a similar one that I've been making for a while. I was really annoyed last night at the grocery because they didn't have lean ground beef - only regular. So that means lots of draining and rinsing. They also didn't have ground turkey BREAST, only regular ground turkey (gross!). So I'll be making another trip to a different store sometime this weekend.
I thought I'd give everyone an end-of-week update! Today is W3D5 for me and I'm still feeling great! I had planned my free day for tomorrow but DH (who is loosely participating in EFL) has to work all day so he wants to make it Sunday instead so we can enjoy the day together. He works in football so we NEVER get to spend time together outside the house. We'd like to maybe go OUT to eat!!
I am a bit concerned about the weather though. It's already NASTY here and it's supposed to snow more tomorrow. I normally like to go out on free day since I cook so much during the week, but it may not be possible. So I think I'm going to go out today and get some fun treats for Sunday just in case we aren't able to get out easily. I'm going to hide everything from myself and DH until Sunday though (especially him - he has NO will power!).
Hope everyone has had a great week! Let us know how you're doing! I'm hoping to see some more exciting physique changes in the upcoming weeks but I'm going to be patient until the end of the 12 weeks. That's when I'll make changes as I see fit.
Morning Jocelyn - I had a nasty slip up on Wednesday so my free day is over for the week. That's ok, I am ready to workout hard and eat healthy this weekend. Hope your Sunday goes great. DD has put in an order for another batch of chicken noodle soup. I'll be making that + some other things. My full fridge is suddenly empty!
Just popping in very briefly: Leanness Lifestyle is an on-line coached program run by David Greenwalt. It's a program that you pay to join, and you are given access to the program, calorie calulators, and depending on the level of "coaching" you choose, emails or phone calls. The calorie levels are VERY low, and the amount of cardio involved is very high. People either have spectacular results, burn out fast, or dissolve into major eating disorders. It is very much a competition diet and exercise program. Before you tackle anything like it, make sure you can do a BFL challenge. There are no free days or cheat meals on Leanness Lifestyle!
I agree with Ledom on Body Rx. I did it for a while, got fatter and didn't have the faith to keep going. I need cardio.
Thanks for the info Mel! LL doesn't sound like the program for me. If I don't get the results I'm looking for on BFL, I might try it for summer but it looks like BFL is going to get me where I want to be!
I am only 2 1/2 weeks in myself and feel the same way you both do about finishing these 12 weeks without a hitch even if the scale isnt moving as fast as I would like it too. In fact the cheatday put my weight up 3 pounds and now I am hoping those fall off ASAP. Anyway I hope you ladies have a great day and keep up the great work ...it is very inspiring 
