[islandmama]

Okay, just thought it was time for new thread.

WTG Frosty on sticking to it. What are you doing for cardio? Are you doing the 20MAS?

I love L&S! It moves fast, but there is alot of info, opinions, and just friendship going on. I belong to a smaller team within the baord, Quad Squad. If you go to the site, and click on Member profiles, and then click on me, IslandMama Quad Squad #1, then you can see my before and 4 week progress pictures. I am now in week 9, but decided to hold off on pictures and stats until the end of my 12 weeks, for a more dramatic feel to my progress. If you look at my pictures, be kind. I am very heavy, and have a lot of fat to lose, but I was very happy with my 4 week progress.

Susan- I see so many people doing there cardio for an hour, barely breaking a sweat, going so slow. And I see people hitting the weights for 2 hours at a time. They will be working out when I get there, and still working out by the time I have showered and left. I am so glad I have found a way that is so effective.

Have great workouts girls. And go for the gold!
Christy

[susanje]

General Body for Life Information

Must Have: Body for Life book by Bill Phillips

BFL eating program in a nutshell (see book for more details): six meals a day 2-3 hours apart consisting of balanced (or close to balanced) protein/carb using fist/palm method of measurement. 2 meals a day add green veggies. 8-10 glasses of water per day.

Because of the six meal requirement, some people find it convenient to have Meal Replacement Drinks and/or Bars on hand. This is not a requirement but a convenience.

Meal Replacement Shakes and Bars (Shakes are better IMHO). Look for good ratios of protein to carb and low sugar (Myoplex by EAS and Met Rx not anything like Slimfast

Vitamins: suggest multivitamin

Supplements: l-glutamine for faster muscle recovery and immune system (this is not required but almost standard fare on BFL)

Supplements optional: many but many BFLers take creatine

Workout schedule (see book for more details): 45-60 minutes intense weight trainining 3 times a week working lower and upper body on different days. 20 minutes intense cardio 3 x a week (see the BFL book)

Free Day: One day a week no workout and eat any thing you please, as much as you please.

Rest: 12 weeks of program with one day of rest each week and then one week of rest between each 12 weeks.

Mental requirements: commitment and dedication

Body for life Links

http://*************.com/group/bodyforlife

http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/bodyforlifeplus
(for plus women)

http://www.hussman.com/eas/

http://www.bodyforlife.com/

http://www.leanandstrong.com/

http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/bodyforlifewomensclub

(for women)

http://www.eas.com

http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/bodyforlife

http://www.bflrecipes.bigstep.com

http://www.bflsupport.com

[Frosty]

Islandmama - I did check out your bio. Good for you. And no need to be self concious, I have a far amount to lose too. The most important thing is that we are "works in progress".
For my cardio, I will mainly be doing it on the elliptical trainer but it was so nice outside the other day I tried to do the different levels while on my walk by the lake.
Didn't do well yesterday, but it was a long busy day at work with a reception afterwards. I didn't blow it by any means so I am not feeling guilty, but I did miss my workout.
To make up for it, I may treat yesterday as my day off and work out today and tommorow.
So, I stepped on the scale this a.m. and it looks like I gained 1 pound! I know, that I should probably expect this as I am in the process of building muscle, but yikes.

[susanje]

Frosty,

Stay off the scale. Honestly. I did the scale thing a few time in my first few weeks and I was ready to hurl myself off a rooftop every time. I've dropped a pants size and feel and look good. The scale, however, is not my friend.

It's no weigh to go

did you measure yourself before BFL? If not, do it now.
I had my bf measured about a week ago (on my third week) and hope to see measurements and bf changed. I've read profiles of people who gained scale weight but dropped tons of inches and body fat.

Throw the scale away.

Hang in there!!!!!!!!!!!

JEN: WHERE ARE YOU???????????????????

Susan

[jenjen]

Hi all. I'm still out here.

All in all, I'd say I've done pretty well this week once I got started. Foodwise I have done pretty good. Yesterday had a little extra, but I can't turn down fresh pineapple & my brother made homemade cookies & cream ice cream. I probably had about 1/4 cup so not too bad.

The workouts have gone better. I didn't do cardio this morning because I was up very early to volunteer at a bikeathon. But, I did A LOT of walking there so I did get cardio in, just not the correct cardio. I bought a set of dumbells & have been using them rather than trying to get to the gym so early. I have done them either in the morning or evening. I think I will do better getting to the gym once I am done with school.

I am ready for my free day. I think I already know what I am eating.

I have a question about the free day. Does the food & workout free day have to be the same day? I realize for optimal benefit it is probably better if it is, but I would really prefer my food free day to be Saturday & my exercise free day to be Sunday.

Sounds like the rest of y'all are doing great.

I have to agree about the scale. I still use it, but I also do measurements. If I am losing inches, I'm not too concerned about my weight.

Hope y'all enjoy the rest of your weekend.

[Frosty]

I will take all of your advice and hide the scale. I did take my photos with a polaroid camera and my measurements so that will be an excellent benchmark!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

[susanje]

Hi Jen,

Yes, free workout day and free eat day have to be the same day. And NO freebies on any other day! Glad you're getting into the swing of things. I will feel better when school is out as well so I can hit the gym at "off" times.

Frosty: yes, throw that thing out!!!! You will love the progress you make in pictures.

Happy Free Day!
Susan

[MrsJim]

I've been doing some research (reading the book, going to the websites, etc) on BFL and I think I'm going to give it a try - signed up for the Challenge as a matter of fact!

I'm just going to tweak it a bit because for me 20 minutes of cardio 3x a week is just NOT ENOUGH. I LOVE my cardio...I wear a HRM when I'm working out so I can keep track of my intensity.

However, I do believe that the 'key' to BFL for me would be the emphasis on weight training. I do weight training now but without nearly as much emphasis as my cardio.

As far as the eating, for the most part the plan seems okay but I'll probably add a few more veggies to the 'mix'. I still have some of the meal replacement shakes that I occasionally use (Lean Body for Her - 200 calories, no sugar, high protein). So I'll use those for a couple of meals a day because preparing six meals a day is just not gonna happen on my schedule!

I'm not going to use any ephedrine products but will take a multi-vitamin.

Let's just call this a 12 week experiment!

[susanje]

Welcome Mrs. Jim!!!!

I don't take any "fat burner" or ephedrine based supplements. I keep it to a multi, l-glutamine, creatine after weights. I hate that jittery feeling.

BFL is a trip and the results are great. The weight training advice is incredible.

I'm sure you will do really well on the program!!!!
Susan

[islandmama]

Well, I wasn't going to post here anymore, because I didn't want to bring anyone down. BUT, I am taking a break from BFL. It really worked for me before my last pregnancy, but in the last week or so, I have gained my inches back, not my weight, but my inches. Now I don't know what this means.
I still believe that BFL is so AWESOME! My body just needs a shock or something. I mean, when I did the challenge before my last pregnancy, I went from a size 20 to a 12. Now that is awesome. Something has changed in my body, and I am going to "fail fast" as Bill would say. I have no doubt that I will come back to BFL in the near future, but I am going to try circuit training for a few weeks, then I am going to try a supersetting routine for a month or so. I am really stuck at this weight and it is driving me nuts. I will let you all know how it goes.
MRS. JIM- I am so extatic that you joined the challenge!!! With your weight loss success, I have always had a hunch that you would be a great candidate for BFL if you discovered it. Bill says that you can use only cardio and turn a pear shaped figure into a smaller pear shaped figure, but with heavy weight training, you can turn that pear shaped figure into a smoth sleek body. Weight training totally reshapes the body by shaping your muscles. AND, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Warning to you though- Don't be alarmed if your weight goes up a few pounds. It is just muscle. Your body will build muscle before it burns fat, since you need the muscle to burn it anyway. That may not happen at all though, it didn't for me, but that is because I started out very heavy.
Have fun.
Christy

[jenjen]

Hi everyone. Hope you had a good day.

Christy, It's not a downer to switch programs. I change up what I do just to get another "jump start". That's one reason I decided to do BFL. Up until now, I've mainly been watching calories & fat & doing mostly cardio w/a little weight training. I'm into a size 14 & realize that toning is the BIG thing I need now. That's the reason I switched programs. It's more structured than what I've been doing on my own, and that's what I need.

Mrs. Jim, I've read your posts elsewhere & you are quite an inspiration. Hope you enjoy the program.

Susan & Frosty, How are y'all?

Well, I am starting week two. I will do my weights later. Had a very busy weekend & wasn't able to get as much sleep as I hoped! My eating today was off because we went out for Mexican food. I ate chicken fajitas w/only one tortilla & a little rice. I mainly ate the chicken & sauteed onions & peppers. My free day went well. I enjoyed the foods I had been craving. I do think I am going to change my free day to Saturday though. Will be easier for me in the long run I think.

Need to get moving. Homework isn't going to get done on it's own. Have a great week everyone.

[MrsJim]

I checked the book out of the library, and honestly, most if not all of it is on the website - so I may not buy it (unless off www.half.com where I buy most of my books and CDs anyway).

I especially like the downloadable Excel spreadsheets and the pdf documents...great website!

So far today has been pretty good, I did upper body (I did throw in about 30 minutes of cardio to clear my head in the morning). As far as lunch, fortunately there is a fantastic fast food Japanese restaurant about 1/2 a block from the office - got a brown rice veggie bowl there, with a little bit of grilled chicken breast (I usually try to eat vegetarian but I don't see tofu as one of the allowed foods - or non-fat milk for that matter - I'll have to check again!).

Tomorrow is the 20 minutes of cardio, I'm going to do 20 minutes at high intensity, then 30 minutes at a more moderate pace, then some abs.

[islandmama]

Mrs Jim-
Tofu is an authorized protein. And skim milk is counted as a carb, though I try to avoid it if possible. The best carbs are those that are low glycemic on the GI index. They don't raise blood sugar levels (which causes fat stroring). Some low to moderate glycemic carbs are-
Glucose being 100 (highest glycemic carb)-
apple- 36
pear- 36
green beans- 30
lentils- 29
kidney beans- 27
grapefruit- 25
barley- 25
white rice- 56
corn- 55
brown rice- 55
sweet potato- 54
banana- 50
orange- 43

High glycemic carbs should only be eaten after a workout ir cardio session (1 hour after is fine)
Some High glycemic carbs are-
baked potato- 85
corn flakes- 84
cheerios- 74
watermelon- 72
white bread or bagel- 70-72

Just some useful information for you all.
By the way- I decided to stick it out for the next 3 weeks with BFL, then I will try circuit training.

Christy

[susanje]

Hi Everyone!

Hi Christy: maybe you do need a change up in your program. After all, the whole concept behind bfl is shocking the system. Even the free day is there to shock the system. I've done circuit training before and didn't see great results (it tends to be designed for the effectiveness of the gym you're in) but supersetting works for the same reason BFL works. The shock factor. Have you thought about doing a different BFL routine or maybe adding or subtracting from the basic? Whatever you decide to do, please let us know! I know that a plateau can be so frustrating! I hope we can help!

Mrs Jim...I think the cardio factor is one that is hotly debated among BFL followers. Many of the champions have successfully added cardio to their routines. I think that if you do the rest of the program exactly, some additional light cardio is okay. That's my opinion and I'm not an expert but I've read what the champions have done and come up with that conclusion. I myself do 25 MAS instead of 20 because I need more of a running start to my 10s. I build up more slowly otherwise I won't last when I get to the 9s and 10s (especially the second time). I find that when I do 20 minutes I just can't sustain the 10 for a full minute but when I add 3 extra minutes up front and a 2 minute cool down, I do so much better. Go figure. The other day was a LBW and I was wandering around the gym waiting for a spot to do my abs (and a mat, they were all taken) and I just did stationery bike for 10 minutes. I wasn't zipping along by any means, but I was losing interest in the gym just strolling around and I had to get that ab work done. I don't think I did any harm.

Jen: Hope you're doing okay! Eating at restaurants is tough. I avoid it whenever possible (except free day). I also have only a few more weeks of school left and I hope to get good work done on BFL on my last 4 weeks of this challenge.

I'm in week 5 and doing okay. I didn't go as lightly as I wanted to on free day but I didn't make myself sick either. I have increased the intensity of my workouts and have to play those mental games and practice brutal self honesty to assess exactly how I'm doing. I didn't prepare my food on Sunday so I have to do that this morning. Without a week of prepared foods, I am very vulnerable!

Well, off to school...........I'll be working out about 10 pm tonight.

Susan
c1w5d2

[islandmama]

How is everyone doing? I am doing alright. My husband is TDY, so I am here in Okinawa alone with our 2 babies (3yrs & 10 mnths). My youngest is teething again, and she is REALLY cranky, and my oldest really, really misses her daddy. He will be home in a few weeks though.

I started taking Hydroxycut yesterday. I am only taking half (actually a little less) the regular dose so my body can gradually get used to it. I found a great site that explains thermogenics, why they work, how they work, and all about the media scare and what caused it. After I read the whole thing (6 pages long), I am very confident that they are perfectly safe for me. I have no contraindications, and they are not giving me any side effects. I just have more energy, not jittery hyper energy, just feels like natural energy. It is definetly breaking me through this plataeu! Only 1 day, huh! I lost a pound from my plataeu! I am not stuck anymore, and that feels good. I was getting very frustrated, to plataeu so early in my weight loss journey. I still can't believe I have lost 20 pounds since I started after the holidays! It feels good. And there is still more to lose!
Well, I hope you all have a great week. I'll try to check in tommorow.
DRINK YOUR WATER!!!! 128 ounces!!!! 1 gallon!!!!!
NO EXCUSES!!!!!!! DRINK!!!!!!!!!!!
Did I make my point? I fill up a 1 gallon jug every night before bed, and the next day, I make sure I drink it all.
Bye, Christy