I took my first real Free Day of Free Week today. I didn't workout and I ate dumb crap for dinner. (I had oatmeal for breakfast and a Myoplex for lunch...BUT I did have an ice cream sandwich in the middle of the day and I had a burger and fries for dinner).
I posted my 12 week photos on Lean and Strong. I will update my web page when I get back from my spa weekend in Palm Springs. I also put a picture of me and my motorcycle in Playspace on Lean and strong. I'll add that to my webpage when I get back too.
Hold down the fort...off to SoCal to play in the mineral springs and be pampered all weekend!!!
WOW! What a difference! I'm still blown away by the transformations I've witnessed since starting BFL...not only mine but yours and the dozens of others I've seen.
Jim really liked your Harley too! (I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to ride one - I'll settle for bikes and horses). Speaking of horses, I had another lesson last night - did much better. My inner thighs still burn afterwards but my recovery time is much faster. I have yet another lesson tomorrow night - plus working at the ranch this weekend. I highly guarantee taking riding lessons to anyone looking for an extracurricular activity!
Hi, i know i'm very new here but i would really like to join this little 'group', you all seem so motivated and supportive and i really need motivating!!! I'm 18 and alhtough i'm not really overweight or anything (u lot dont seem to be either, just eager to improve the condition of your bodies) I am 5'6-7 and about 150lbs and i'd like to lose about 15lbs-20lbs. Is that too little or too much??? What sort of things do i need to be eating and what sort of exercise??? Can i come here and report my acheivements and downfalls or whatever??? I would be so grateful for your support...
New question (it may have been answered before): Did you actually do the free day on the 1st week of your challenge?? I'm afraid to!! I have been on the scale (I know, I know) and even though it has only been 3 days I have expected it to budge more than increments! I'm afraid if I do my free day, my weight will go up more than when I started.
I forgot to ask a question: What happens when you reach your goal? What is the maintenance, as far as exercising goes?? I have the book, I just haven't read that part yet, and would rather find out from all of you experienced BFL'ers!
We are following BFL which is a bit difficult to explain but the basenote does attempt to do that. If you get the book Body for Life by Bill Phillips or go to the eas.com site or some of the others listed in the first post of this thread, you will probably be able to gain some understanding. I took a few weeks to study it before I began it in earnest. However, if you have questions this is where to ask!!! It is somewhat confusing in the beginning!
You can use BFL to lose weight, tone up, change the shape of your body...anything! So whatever your wish, BFL will help!!!
Shelley,
Yes, I have always taken my free day. It's an important part of the program. As the weeks go by you will see that it is indispensible. If you read back over the other BFL threads, you will see that both MrsJim and I gush over the brilliance of Free Day. It is integral to the success of the program.
You will probably be bloated on Monday. To help this, drink lots of water on Free Day (in the beginning I didn't drink any water on Free Day, just diet Cokes). I also switched my cardio to MWF so I would wake up on Monday and sweat the free day away.
I am not sure what maintenance is but i think that by the time you get to it, you'll have something figured out. I'm hoping to go the Pam B. route and follow a body builders routine (though unlike Pam I'm not going to do shows or anything). I'm going to be 45 this year and I want to do my late 40s as a hardbody!
...especially the one about staying off the scale - if you must do so, weigh (and measure) yourself at baseline, and the end of 4th, 8th, & 12th weeks. When I first began my challenge (I'm on my 9th week now) I didn't whip out the ol' tape measure and take my measurements - wish I had now. I'm planning on doing that at the beginning of my next Challenge.
I'd also recommend getting some fat calipers - they're pretty cheap (in fact, www.netrition.com offers them free if you place a large order with them - which is how I got them. Their prices are pretty good too!). The measurement is pretty easy to do yourself once you get the hang of it, and Netrition has a page which gives directions and shows you how to interpret your caliper readings.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS take your Free Day! It is so intregal to the success of BFL.
I know how most of you BFL newbies (and those of you who are just wondering about it) feel about the concept of Free Day - the way I felt at first. It's like jumping off a high cliff into a void after years and YEARS of overly restrictive diets. But think - every diet you've ever been on - hasn't there been a point where you thought "I can't take it anymore" or "This is so unfair - everyone else is eating [name of desired foods]" and just went on a total binge? Sometimes lasting a few minutes, maybe days/months, whatever?? Sneaking food when you hope noone is looking or paying attention? Eating over the sink or in front of the open refrigerator at night - cold leftovers, just shoving them in your mouth without really tasting them???? How healthy is that (mentally & physically) for you? Free Day combats all that. I absolutely do not feel the compulsion to do any of those things during the week - and on Free Day I can eat what I want, OPENLY, without feeling any shame or remorse! Yee haw!
Bill Phillips' theory that having a free day keeps your body from going into starvation mode (and thus holding on to every last fat cell it can) makes perfect sense. Not to mention the psychological effects - many times (especially in the first few weeks) I was able to keep myself from eating something 'unauthorized' by saying "only a few more days until Sunday - I can have it then". Better than all that built-up resentment that can happen on 'diets' where you are ALWAYS restricted. In fact, Sunday is 'fun day' for Jim and I. We have LOTS more fun going out to eat together, because I don't stare at his food wishing I could have ordered garlic bread, or enchiladas or whatever (we tend to do Mexican food a lot). The day after my first Free Day I was totally bloated for about two days - but did not feel the slightest urge to eat anything unauthorized until around Friday - two days before the next Free Day. Make sure you drink lots of water on Free Day as well. Like I said before, I also try to do my week's shopping that day - I'm nice and full, and don't feel the urge to put anything unauthorized in my cart! Also during the week, the Myoplex takes care of any urge I have for sweets.
As far as maintenance - I plan to continue to BFL program. I truly LOVE to work out - and don't mind getting up at 4:00 a.m. to do it (I've been doing that for years now). Maybe it's the endorphins or something, but the days I don't work out I feel blaahhh. I may not do as many MRP shakes but I actually enjoy them! BFL is truly something you can do for LIFE!
Wow!! I did my UBWO this morning, and my arms are totally shakey. I think I went up too much on my weights. It also took me 55 minutes today. Is there such a thing as going too slow? I chanted for most of the exercises.
Shelley ~ There's probably no such thing as too slow!! And if your arms are shaky, it doesn't mean you lifted too much - it means you're right where you need to be! I always know if I have trouble climbing the stairs between the gym and my office that I've done a good workout! I distinctly remember my first UBWO with my physical trainer - I couldn't reach around to hook my bra the next day!!!
Hey gang... I hesitate to tell you this, because I haven't read the reports yet myself, but I'm a couple miles from both the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital (Case Western Reserve University), and I know several people in the medical community. Many of the docs get pre-release copies of research that has been conducted in the US, before it's published in the medical journals. I was told yesterday that the next round of journals will release the findings of blind studies that show a definitive link between aspartame (Nutrasweet) and both MS and Lupus. Just wanted to give you all a heads-up.
IN SWEETNER?! is nothing safe anymore??? Oh god, i've been using that for 5 years...would i know by now if something was wrong or does it take a while for the effects to happen??? Oh dear, panic..........brrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaatttt ttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhheeeeee.........ok, i'm alright now, that just shocked me...
I had a great LBWO this morning. Afterwards I was headed upstairs to hit the showers and it was all I could do to make it upstairs. I feel great this morning.
I was really busy at work yesterday and forgot to eat my 2:30 meal. I remembered that I didn't eat at 4:30, but I was on my to pick up my daughter and meet hubby for dinner. I had my dinner and another small meal later in the evening, but I was still one short yesterday. I couldn't believe I forgot. I have been really good about getting all six in.
Nutrasweet - linked to MS and Lupis - I think I had heard that just recently as a possibility. Has anyone tried Spenda? A friend uses that instead of Nutrasweet and she really likes it. I was going to get some put on my oatmeal, but I forgot when I went to the grocery store.
Susanje - I hope the spa was everything you hoped it to be.
I was lurking on your thread and thought some of the links below may be helpful re: aspartame. The internet is a wonderful, yet sometimes deceiving place. Take everything you read with a grain of salt. No matter where it comes from. Even the FDA site. Remember, they approved Fen Phen.
As I have not seen the most recent study, it is hard to say how the findings are related to humans intaking normal doses of this substitute. Sacarine was also suppose to cause bladder cancer, because of a 1977 Canadian study on rats that were given several times the human dose. Even though rats don't have the same urinary system we do. http://www3.oup.co.uk/cs/journals/jo..._p2/900002.htm
Just some information. Hope you all don't mind me jumping in here.
231/200/170
I have to get to work pretty soon but had to answer...
As I've stated before, my entire family - Dad, Mom, my three sisters and I - have been ingesting aspartame/NutraSweet for at least 24 years (since the mid 70's).
None of us, nor any of my sisters' children (a total of seven ranging in age from 5 years to 17 years old) have experienced ANY side effects from using aspartame.
My father was a chemist from 1960 - 1992. Prior to that he was a premed student at UNC and a medical intern for the US Army. As he was in charge of formulating diet soft drinks for a beverage company, he studied aspartame very closely for ten or more years before it was okayed by the FDA and first put in soft drinks in 1982.
Since he is retired and does not use the Internet, he had no idea of this big rumor controversy swirling about. When I told him he was incredulous. His words: "Do you think I would have given you girls anything to eat or drink that wasn't perfectly safe??"
Bottom line - I'm not going to stop using asparatame. I like it, and it's never harmed me - after 24 or more years of using it in various forms, if there was something amiss, it would have cropped up by now...
Geez, I didn't mean to "start something," I just wanted you to be aware of the upcoming research articles. I'm not a doctor or an anti-sweetener person...just interested.
Susanje - you go gal!!!
I'm hoping to go the Pam B. route and follow a body builders routine (though unlike Pam I'm not going to do shows or anything). I'm going to be 45 this year and I want to do my late 40s as a hardbody!
Aspartame
Geez, I didn't mean to "start something," I just wanted you to be aware of the upcoming research articles. I'm not a doctor or an anti-sweetener person...just interested.
