Carps - you increase weights when you feel like you need to. Basically, if I get to a point where I can squeeze out an extra rep or two during the final set - I know that it's time to increase the weight! You need to TAX the muscle to get it to grow, right?

Incidentally, sometimes I increase the weights every workout - some bodyparts are much stronger than others. My legs, for example - I increase the weight just about every workout. But my back and bis don't increase that quickly - sometimes I stay at the same weights for a few weeks.

Then when I switch out the exercises (something I do every four weeks) I have to lower the weight and start over again - shocking the muscles - not a good idea to stay with the same routines for more than four-six weeks because your muscles will get used to them and stop developing...

One of the 'complaints' I've heard about the book is that Bill doesn't list a 'starting weight' for the routines. But how could he - everyone is different! :D

Susan - the pix I'm taking for Pam are just for progress' sake...when I finish the comp diet (it's 8 weeks long but I might go longer - my leg fat is VERY stubborn!) I'll take some GOOD pix and put them together. I've gotta dig through my old pix for some good FAT ones. The one where I'm wearing a red polka-dot dress - I was around 240 pounds then and SOOO happy cos I had lost over 20 pounds at the time! Of course, you know when you're that huge you avoid the camera like the plague - still, I think I can find a couple if I'm lucky :^:

Kel - my hips are a problem too - but I KNOW they're getting smaller since I'm wearing smaller sizes - even though they look the same to me! Can't wait to start seeing some real definition!

Well, gotta meet hubby for lunch. Take care all!

New Some Help
 

I don't know if Susan or MrsJim remember, but I posted here last year while I was doing BFL. I did have some very good results. However, I just got plain lazy afterwards and just didn't get back to it.

I did start again on January 7th. I into my 10th week. I am working out first thing in the morning and really enjoying it. I use Myoplex Deluxe. My biggest problem is getting in 6 meals and I think it has hurt. I am planning my second challenge to start April 8th. Yes I have read the book and read the book and read the book. I am totally sold on this program. I will admit there are days I could do better, but I have never quit. I was very sick for a fews and missed a two workouts, but as soon as I was feeling better I was back at it full force.

I weight 220 when I started and I am down to 210 and down almost a pants size. I can really tell I have lost in the thighs, arms and waist, but my hips are a little slow in the shrinking.

I use Myoplex, take a multi vitamin and drink four liters of water a day. Is there any other supplements out there that will help me in burning off those pounds and building some muscle. Does it matter if I have a Myoplex shake as my last meal?

Any input would be very helpful. I am heading out of town this weekend for a business trip and will be gone two weeks - I am staying at a place with a health center so I do plan to work out.

This whole post probably doesn't make sense - but please any help would be appreciated.

Thanks In Advance
Susan E.

Blastit - of course I remember you! :)

One question right off the top - WHY are you using Myoplex Deluxe? If you want to burn bodyfat, you should be using the Myo Lite IMO. Plus it's cheaper too.

Actually that reminds me of one time when I was at my gym - they sell supplements there (although I wouldn't buy there unless it was a dire emergency cos their prices are so high) and a woman was in tears...she had bought (on a trainer's recommendation) the Myo Deluxe. Another regular gal told her I was doing BFL so the woman came up and asked me if she should be using the Deluxe. Since she obviously had a lot of bodyfat to burn off I recommended the Lite. Apparently the desk clerk was giving her a hard time, because she had already used a packet. We ganged up on him a bit and he ended up giving her a refund since she was given incorrect info.

Have you gone to www.leanandstrong.com and read the messages? Great place for info. But let me try and answer your questions...

First off - STAY AWAY from those 'fat burners' that contain ephedrine/ma huang. They are overhyped, overblown and dangerous to boot.

I'm going to assume that you're working out at the proper intensity - hitting your 9's and 10's in cardio and weight training...

First off, I'd switch to the Myoplex Lite right away. You can use up the Deluxe - what I'd do is split it in half and add half a banana to each half to up the carbs a bit. The Deluxe just has too many calories and is probably impeding your efforts to burn fat.

The only supplements I take are a multivitamin, glutamine (for muscle recovery/soreness) and Udo's Choice Perfected Oil Blend (sometimes flax oil if I run out of Udo's) as a healthy fat - I have a tablespoon twice daily.

A Myoplex shake is fine for Meal #6. Remember, switch to the Lite and use up your Deluxe by using just HALF an envelope and adding 1/2 a carb. Each one of your meals should have approximately 20g protein and 20-25 g carbs more or less.

Hope that helps - and do check out L&S!

Thanks!
 

Mrs Jim - thanks for the reply - actually I was reading the wrong package - hubby uses in Myo Deluxe and I have been using regular Myo splitting as two meals, I have a few packages left and I will switch to the lite as soon as I use them up.

I am really afraid of fat burners -so that wasn't an option - I want to get healthy not have a heart attack.

I will look for the glutamine and some udo. Thanks for the info.

How about creatin or BetaGen - would those help?

I have gone to the Leanandstrong board and I think when I start challenge 2 I will post my daily menu to get some input.

I leave Sunday to go on a two week business trip - any suggestions for how to get those meals in while in class all day?

Susan E.

Sue E - I don't think you need creatine at this point. A lot of L&Sers don't use it. And skip the Betagen and Cytovol - just buy generic glutamine powder (I use Labrada L-Glutamine from L&S/Netrition - it lasts forEVER). Same thing anyway only much cheaper! You can get Udo's there as well. Just go to www.leanandstrong.com/ls and hit the 'buy supplements' button. Netrition has really fast service too!

As far as business trips - I have one coming up myself - the key to BFL is PLANNING. Check with the hotel or conference staff - they will most likely accomodate your needs as far as eating, etc. Here's what I do:

On the plane, I bring along my own food (snacks mostly - fruit, veggies, chicken breast in baggies). Even the 'low-calorie' menu choices in flight aren't all that great. In an absolute EMERGENCY I might pack a protein bar - but note that they are still loaded with sugar so not the best choice. Same with the ready-to-drink shakes. I have one of those insulated lunch bags that you pop the little blue ice pack in - works great and fits into my laptop case just fine!

I always pack my Braun hand blender and some Myo Lite packets so I can make a shake in my room in the morning after my workout.

Most of the time, conference/meeting lunches consist of deli buffets. Now, deli meat is not the BEST protein choice but if you select wisely - omit the bread and use fruit for a carb. The trays are usually loaded with WAY too much food, so feel free to take some extra for your next meal if necessary. Or if lunch is long enough, perhaps you can escape to your room and make your own meal! Try and eat a lot of veggies too. Like I said before, TALK to the person in charge of organizing the meeting and tell him/her you have special dietary needs. They WILL accomodate you (trust me, I am in charge of meeting logistics myself). The conference place/hotel is making a lot of $$ so they will be more than happy to accomodate your very modest request.

Hope that helps!

Thanks Again!!!
 

Mrs Jim - thanks for the tips. I going to go the website and get glutamine powder. I will talk to the place I am going about food too. I am staying at a Residence Inn suite - if there isn't a blender in the suite when I get there I will be asking for one for sure. I will let you know how things went when I get back.

Susan E.

Hi Blastit!!! I remember you! Welcome back!!!

:wave:

Great answers from MrsJim so I won't elaborate much. I tried creatine the beg of my first challenge and stopped using it. First of all, everyone seems to have a different take on when to take it and what to take it with, it's expensive and it gives me gas that appears out of nowhere (no warning)...very horrid when tyou are in a crowd of people. I usually take Glutamine, multivit, CLA and my udos and that's it.

Second, I love Residence Inns and they will give you a blender if you ask so you're all set. If you need to do a hand blender I find that just about any MRP but Myloplex blends up well....I don't know what they put in Mylo but it is impossible to shake and sometimes hard to hand blend. I like Met Rx...especially the berry blast mixes up well for a hand blender and Designer Protein Smoothie Abs Berry Sundae blends up VERY well with a hand blender and even a shaker cup.

Welcome back!
Susan

Hi all,

yesterday was my 5th anniversary of quitting smoking. I was kinda depressed to know I had never had a serious weight problem before that but happy that I made it this far with something I swore I could never do (I had been trying to quit for 10years and even though once I made it 2 years I had had a few cigarettes in that time. This time it has been completely without any cigarettes whatsoever. Now I think they're disgusting).
I'm trying to focus on what an achievement that is, but I get frustrated about the weight...oh well, I'm learning to be healthy in every way.

I'm doing 4 week measurements this weekend but I feel like I just had a dramatic and sudden drop in inches. I hope my feeling is right. The bloating from the wacky meds is almost gone though I still get swelling in my ankles. My dr thinks I need a direuretic but I don't really want to deal with that right now. I'm trying to take it off naturally with exercise and drinking water. I was on one once before and it just keeps you in the bathroom. I don't want to do that right now. More experimentation needed...ick.

hope everyone is doing well!!!
Susan

I did it I did it I did it :D

I got back in to the pants I bought for my trip home last summer after my first challenge. When I got sick I stopped BFL and grew out of them almost immediately (after I bought hundreds of dollars worth of clothese to "show off" when I went back home).
LoCarbing (at the suggestion of my gyn who thought that menopausal women shouldn't have them and after blood work that I did ALL DAY showed a severe reaction to carbs) didn't do much of anything for me and then we switched hormones again and I got twice as big (I SWEAR). So it's been a struggle but after 4 weeks of BFL I'm back where I was last challenge. AMAZING. I'm very pleased at that. While there is more of a pooch than there was last year, I'm sitting comfortabley in them and I feel good about that.

While I agree with Steve L and MrsJim that the first challenge is the time to put on the most muscle, I have also found that once you've done a challenge, you are more apt to put on muscle quicker at a later time. I have done strict BFL by the book for the past 4 weeks and have worked very hard and the progress has been phenomenol. Nothing like my very first challenge when I actually got bigger after 4 weeks due to the fat not leaving as fast as I was packing on muscle.

BFL rules.
:D

Susan

I agree...
 

SusanJ - I agree - Body for Life Rules!!!! I'm like someone who just had a near death experience - I want to tell everyone to live life, get on the body for life programme and treat their bodies with respect! (I know, people like that can be VERY annoying)
:D and congratulations on fitting back into the pants! :spin:

I really identify with whoever was saying about getting a shock when they saw themselves. I really feel like an athlete - I mean I work out like one, eat like one and think like one, but I still do not look like one, and sometimes I get a rude shock when I see myself:o Yes, one day the reality will match the fantasy.

I'm really dissapointed for a friend of mine who started (with her husband) on the same day that I did. (they also did an incompleted challenge last year) and they have stopped already!. They are still eating okay I think, but they just can't be bothered working out!! I went round and gave her a boot up the bum (figuratively) and told her to find an emotional reason for staying on the programme. Its so true about needing to have that.

I am so driven by desperate need to lose weight and get healthy that I couldn't stop if I wanted to.

anyway - I must go - I am setting up a community service today called Suits Me Fine where we give quality business wear to people going for job interviews who can't afford to buy clothes.
America has a chain of similar ones called Dress for Success. And if any of you have business wear thats too big now - You should think about donating it - its an awesome cause!

see ya later - Carly

How's everyone doing today??
 

I have been busy busy BUSY today - I leave in a little over a week for Miami and my meeting...going to be nonstop...

But I wanted to check in with you all here...and didn't want you to miss this ELOQUENT post by Tall Jen (TJ) at the L&S board - it's just too good (Carly - after reading your post below - you will probably appreciate this)! I printed this out and posted it on my office wall!!! kind of makes ya think huh?

Susan - I am so proud and happy for ya!!! You're doing great, gal! :cool:

Carly - I emphatically agree with you - BFL is the best - I know, I know, I'm not doing BFL right now, but it's the wellspring, the root of everything for me. BFL is going to be my regular lifestyle because I can't stay on a comp diet forever. It wouldn't be healthy and I would go nuts!

At our gym, they are remodeling - moving stations around, putting in new equipment. We got a whole new beautiful set of dumbbells a few months back - plus a lot of Swiss balls...I'm hoping they put some new Precors in as well. The ones we have now are always busy - one of the reasons I try to get in by 4:30 am.

Today a gal came up to me while I was getting the 50-pound fixed EZ bar for skullcrushers and CONGRATULATED me - apparently she's been watching me over the past year and said she couldn't get over the changes she's seen in me, especially over the past month or so ;) which is as long as I've been on Pam's comp diet and training plan...I can't believe how strong my triceps have gotten - when I first started BFL I could barely do lying extensions with 8-pound DBs, now I'm doing skullcrushers - 10 reps at 50# - followed up by cable pushdowns - got to 8 reps at 80# with those today...just totally awestruck...

Later gals! Back to work I go, yo ho...

Now there's a tough post to follow....
 

Holy cow:moo: MrsJim, those are some awesomly weighty numbers you're heaving around! When are you going to post some new pictures??? They don't need to be professional...just show us your triceps and biceps! Personally, when I get around to posting transformation pictures ( in 2 weeks !!) I think I'm only going to show "parts" much more impressive that way:D

Susanje- Congratulations FIRST on 5 years without cigarettes. That's a great accomplishment and the best thing you could have done for yourself. And secondly, congratulations on fitting back into those pants. I hope you kept your expensive new wardrobe from last year, sounds like you'll need it soon.

Carps- Your body will catch up with your mind, you've got a great attitude! And you are what's on the inside, just need to make the outside match!

I had a bizarre and upsetting conversation with my boss today who knows what I've been doing in the gym, and sees the food I eat at work. He has a small side business selling USANA nutritional products ( high quality but expensive vitamins, and a lot of other crap ). I take their vitamins, mostly because of the convenience of having them arrive in my mailbox without me thinking about it, and to get him off my back. Today he started asking me how much more weight I wanted to lose, to which I replied it didn't really matter, just wanted to burn more fat off and would continue to do it by eating right, lifting weights and cardio. His response was UGH- You can't just keep lifting more weight! You'll look like those digusting female body builders! Your husband certainly won't like that! And of course he had a fat burner product that he could sell me that would make me look much more feminine and lean!!!! ARGH! I told him Jon was thrilled with my muscles, and couldn't wait for the day I could carry the couch up from the basement myself so we could switch the family room and rec room furniture.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. The highpoint of my day was a quick trip to the mall for new undies. I passed the jeans on the way and tried on a SIZE 4 and they fit. Decided not to buy them yet- didn't really need another pair. Then I saw and smelled Cinnabon, which I haven't had since last June and was going to have a cheat treat, but at the last moment decided nothing could taste as good as size 4 made me feel. So I bought the jeans instead. A tad more expensive, but , hey, I'm worth it! And they won't make me sick.

Happy :strong: ,
mel

Size 4 jeans instead of Cinnabon is a great choice!!
 

Thanks for posting that, Mel. I'm nowhere near the size 4 jeans, but I did say "no" to a Cinnabon on a recent free day. Our good choices add up!

The idea of progress pictures focusing on specific bodyparts is a good idea. I still have a thick layer of fat, but soon there may be some decent delts, lats, calves, lower quads, and a hint of abs in there. If any of it can be captured on film I'll post it.

Carrie

carrie writes: "our good choices add up"

I like that alot.

Mel: glad that you are enjoying the muscular look! A fat burner to make you look all willowy or something like that! Give me a BREAK

MrsJim: Thanks for the TJ post. yes, I know that if I falter now and again, it's still okay but if I falter every single day our bad choices add up (to steal from Carrie's great line)


I'd rather have the good ones add up.

As usual, I'm exhausted on Thursday and tottering off to bed soooooooooooooooooooooooon.

Keep up the good work everyone! and remember, there's always free day for Cinnabon.

Susan

Happy Friday!
 

How's everyone doing today?!? It is COLD here in the Bay Area. Clear, but freezing. Storm brewing for this weekend though. Jim has a VERY bad cold with fever chills so I had to drive myself in today (wah!). He has been burning the candle at both ends what with his 'regular' job and the band takes up a lot of time as well...and Sparky kept us up a great part of last night. We try to ignore his meooooowws, but he also has a clever trick of reaching up and rattling the knob of the door leading out to the garage. After we return from our Miami trip we are definintely going to find him a kitty girlfriend (fixed of course!) so he will have someone to play with during the day and snuggle with at night - like my sister's cats.

Okay, okay, I will get photos taken soon. Not this weekend - with Jim being sick and all - plus I have to clean up our apartment this weekend - it's a MESS and I can't bear to go to Miami with it in such a state! We have all wood floors in our apartment and I really wish we had carpeting - much easier to maintain. I was thinking about getting one of those new Hoover FloorMate floor cleaners - supposedly it vacuums, washes and waxes the floor and sounds neat - but it might be too good to be true. Amazon has it on sale right now...

I will have Jim take pix when we're in Miami. How's that? :lol:

This morning I hit a couple of new highs - on back squats - I did 12 reps @ 130# (not including the bar). On Smith lunges I got it up to 12 @ 120# (also not including the bar). So I guess if you do include the bar on the squats (I have no idea how much it weighs) I'm probably squatting my bodyweight or maybe over (not knowing how much I actually weigh at this point).

Mel - saw your post here and at L&S about the size 4's. Doesn't it feel great?!? I'm so thrilled for you! And wouldn't you know - I had almost the exact same conversation with one of Jim's co-workers (we work for the same company but in different departments). He wasn't trying to sell me anything but he did say that I was going to get TOO buff. I told him I was missing two necessary components - testosterone and steroids! Of course he said the same thing - that Jim wouldn't find muscles attractive. Believe me, Jim is totally thrilled with my progress, and has been encouraging me all along. So I just said 'we shall see...' because I actually really like the guy who said this. And get this - he lifts weights too!

I was so busy yesterday I didn't have time to reply - gonna be busy again today unfortunately... :p and I'm babysitting tonight for my sister...

Anyway - back to work - don't want to be here late tonight!