Hey all!
 

Did you see that our own Pam B visited our Diet Plans forum and started a thread? It is my hope that some of the other (non-BFL) people get curious enough to find out more about her. She is such a warm, motivating person who has truly 'walked a mile' in some truly heavy shoes...

Wow! We are getting a lot of visitors here from L&S. First QZ, now Pam...and a host of others...

And if you read my note on Pam's thread, you'll see that I am fully intending on being in North Carolina for the Lean & Strong 2002 Challenge. The pleasure of meeting so many people that I feel close to is just too good to pass up!

Well, back to work...later all!

Myoplex question
 

Hi, I just started BFL this week. I was wondering where everyone gets their Myoplex Lite. I've seen several places on the net but don't know which ones are reputable. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tam

Hi there!
 

I order from two places:

1) Go to www.leanandstrong.com/ls and click on the "Buy Supplements" button - that will take you to their Netrition site. L&S gets a little commission for every order placed through their site and Netrition is an extremely reputable and VERY fast shipper indeed - I've gotten orders in 2-3 days from them (they're in NY, I'm in CA).

2) www.vitaglo.com is another good place - but they take a bit longer to ship (usually I get my order in about 8 days).

One of the WORST places is the EAS site - they charge full retail. I've never ordered from them - I'm not a millionaire!

Hope that helps!

Good morning all~
 

I'm still here, although lately I have not been posting. But I have been reading all of your posts and this helps to keep me on track.

Kelster~ Hooray for your shrinking tummy :D I've been watching your progress and you are doing a fantastic job. keep it up!

Susanj~Hey gal! I admire you for all of your determination and very busy schedule. Glad to see that you are here more often :)

lhendricks~~ I know what you mean about those migrains. I used to get them at "that time of the month" but now as I enter peri-menapause I am getting them more frequently. You just can't eat when you are nauseated and in pain. I feel for you. Hope you're better now :)

MrsJ~~As always, you're an inspiration to all of us.

Mel~~You deserved the cheesecake for all of your hard work and determination :D

Tam~~I agree with Mrsj. Netrition is an excellent place to purchase nutrition items. Their service and packaging are great. They even insulated and cool-packed my Myo bars last Summer (so they wouldn't melt in the heat of being shipped).

I'm still hanging in there, too. My eating has been great but the workouts have taken the backburner to alot of heavy yard work the past 2 weeks. But I am back on track now, especially since I have a new goal date.
I will be going to Calif. for Mother's Day. It will be the first time in 10 years that my sister and brother (and myself) will all be together. A surprise for my Mom :D And of course, I want to look my best!
~~Sil

Thanks Mrs. Jim and Sil. I bought a small amount at GNC and I knew I could find it Cheaper on the net.
I just had my first lower body workout and I'm feeling it already. I love that just exercised really hard and my body hurts good kinda feeling-I'm sure you know what I mean.
I am so surprised with Myoplex shakes. After eating the AWFUL bars (actually I couldn't eat it, too gross) I was really afraid of the shakes. They are Yummy. I had a choclate peanut butter this am. It is so good and really creamy, too.
Have a great day!

Tam

Hi all! :wave:

Gosh, I've been over at L&S for a few days and come back to find nice, long, chatty threads and a visit from the lady we aspire to be like -- Pam B!

Just for the record, I'm in my first challenge and I do it BY THE BOOK with the exception of the leg extensions (only because my kneecaps complain so). I substituted that exercise for another one and have had no more problems. Why start tweaking something from the start? BFL has worked for tens of thousands of people "as is," and most who want to tweak do not have enough knowledge to tweak correctly, IMHO.

I am also going for broke on BFL and seeing how far I can take my physique. Have every intention of entering a contest or three (I'll be 50 on Halloween, so I guess I'll be in the "Geezerweight" division :lol: ). Will probably have some hangy skin, but I'll deal with it as it arises.

MrsJim, my hat is off to you! CPB is tough I know, but you're in the best hands possible. Cheering you on from here!

Thunderheart, a belated welcome!

Kelster, you're doing great!

lhendricks, am so sorry about your headaches and red itchies. Hope you are feeling better pronto!

Spin, welcome! Do the first challenge by the book, if for no other reason than to "get the hang" of how it works. Commit to twelve little weeks (the time is going to go by anyway, why not try something new?) and see if you don't develop some wonderful new habits and a body to match? Best of luck!

Sil, always good to see posts from you! I need to be doing yard work, but every time I look at it, well, I just find something else to do :D Avoidance, I guess!!

Susan, I put glitter and stars on my journal and write in it with a special pen (pink ink!) It makes me feel good and no, I don't think your system is childish! I may use some of your great ideas!

Uh, I didn't mean to write a novella here. Just so many neat people and lots to share!

We are too cool to be out of shape....

I can't believe I missed her!!
 

:( Hi everyone - I can't believe I missed Pam Brown!!! I have a small contract job that I work out of my home and yesterday was a little busier than usual with emails etc... I checked out the L&S site but I didn't come here because I know I usually need a little more time to sit back and relax and read the posts. It sure was nice of her to pop by - she is such an inspiration - nice to see someone following their true calling in life.

Not much to say today other than I'm alot more rested these days because my little one is getting better from her flu bug. She had been up a few nights throwing up etc... Boy it sure makes a big difference working out in the morning when you've had a good nights rest. My husband has been a real sweetheart and usually gets up with her if she wakes(so that I can get up in the am to work out) - but when they are sick they want mom.

Don't quite know who the newbies and the veterans are so I will just say a welcome to all the newbies and a thank you to all the veterans for your inspiration and information. Gotta fly!:angel:

Newbie
 

Hello All,

I researched websites, personal sites and yahoo clubs with pix and was convinced to start BFL. This is the first day of my 2nd week. So far no troubles. I have PCOS and need to lose weight to be healthy and happy. The only troubles I have been having is with Ab excersizes. I do the ones inthe book, but can not properly do them or something. It just works my neck and hurts my back. Do any of you have any other ab ex that you could share with me. I had a C-section and need to work these abs as they suffered alot. My cardio is walk, walk faster, job, run, and such outside. I do not have the money for a gym membership, but I have weights at home and 2 benches.one regular bench and one that has the leg bars (extentions and the like) Are there any inside cardio that works, with out the use of a machine? Maybe a tape someone has found to work?? I could not afford anything over $20 for that. The food part I have found easy. I found bags of skinless, bonless chicken that last me and my partner a week. So the food part is not as expensive as I thought it would be. I use EAS AdvantEdge low carb shakes once a day. I drink them with a fruit carb. I mix organic flax seed oil on my salads to get that in. Average daily meals are
#1 Shake/half banana
#2 70% lean turkey breast sausage/kiwi
#3 wheat tortilla/turkey breast slices/spicy mustard, lettuce
#4 Salad with tuna or turkey and sliced apple
#5 grilled chicken breast/ brown rice steamed with low sodium beef stock and spices/salad with no sugar/low carb dressing
#6 raw broccoli/raw califlower/ Tbls ff sourcream mixed with spicy mustard as dip/ turkey or lean ham slices/sliced fruit.
I also drink atleast a gallon of water.
2 times this past week I also had ff/sf jello cup.
Happy Thoughts!!
Pixie

Welcome Pixie
 

:wave: Hi Pixie, I'm new here too - in W3 right now. Nice to meet ya. I've picked up a couple of tips from the L&S site. One veteran recommended jumping rope for cardio, so you might want to try that.

I also have trouble doing my crunches and I asked the workout gal at L&S today about that. She recommended a Swiss Ball. I've asked her what to do with it but she hasn't responded yet. Maybe Mrs. Jim can help us out. I'm no expert but it sounds like you are pulling up with your neck when you are doing your crunches - but wait for some more seasoned advice.

You can also get your menu critiqued from M-F at L&S if you want some help with that. But our own people here (Mrs.Jim?) could help you with it too.

Have you noticed your energy level change?

Good morning everyone!
 

I feel so much better today...

I was getting VERY tired from eating so much protein...so Pam adjusted my plan to allow for more carbs. By last night, I was feeling perky again! And felt great this morning when I woke up...at 3:45...Sparky was being a good boy...didn't even get up until 10 minutes after I did, no meowing at all. He was all snuggled in a ball next to his Daddy (Jim). When he did wake up he had a nibble of dry food, then made himself all comfy by the heater and went back to sleep :smug: (that's the closest we have to a smug little kitty face).

So I got to the gym at 4:30 am - all fired up...and had completely forgotten that they were closed until 5 am for maintanence! AACCK! Fortunately they reopened at 4:45 and it wasn't cold out. Had an AWESOME back/bis and 30 MAS Cardio workout...

Mr. Bubble - I'm totally with ya on those icky Myoplex bars. They are truly disgusting. Personally I try to stay away from bars except in dire emergencies - but if necessary I tend to lean towards Worldwide Pure Protein - they have some good flavors. Another product to stay the heck away from are the ready-to-drink Myoplexes. They are AWFUL. You'd think that with all that sugar in them they would taste much better - they are reminicent of watered-down school paste :lol: Just nasty.

In fact the only EAS product I like is the Myoplex Lite (my favorite flavor being Cappucino Ice which is DIVINE!). Right now I have a tub of Simply Protein that I have to use up, it's okay but I've heard a lot of good things at L&S about MetRx Protein Plus Vanilla Creme powder so I'm going to give that a try!

BFL Pixie - welcome - I was just typing this message and noticed your post. I would advise you to stay away from the AdvantEdge products if possible - the Myoplex Lites are a much better choice and tastier too...the AdvantEdge low carb RTDs only have 15 grams of protein - not enough for ya - and while the label touts that they are 'low-carb' there is actually about 50 calories of glycerin (sugar alcohol) in each one of those puppies. The FDA now considers glycerin as a carb and the manufacturers of products containing glycerin are slowly complying with the FDA's new regulations.

Here's the math on that:

AdvantEdge Low Carb RTD
Calories - 110
Fat - 0g x 9 = 0 calories from fat
Carbs (as listed on label) 2g x 4 = 8 calories from carbs
Protein 15g x 4 = 60 calories from protein

Total accounted for calories - 0 + 8 + 60 = 68
"Unaccounted for" calories: 42 calories

According to the new FDA regulations, there are actually 12.5 grams of carbs in this "low-carb" product. And again, not enough protein. What's more, glycerin is sugar alcohol - IMO it's the same as eating sugar. In other words, NOT a high quality complex carb in the least. This is the reason I stay away from bars and RTDs unless it's an absolute emergency!

Most women doing BFL should be getting 20 grams of protein in each meal BTW. 15 grams is NOT ENOUGH. Plain and simple...you need protein to build muscle, and muscle burns fat 24/7...if you aren't getting enough protein you are cheating yourself and impeding your progress.

As I stated above, the Myoplex Lite powder shakes are really tasty...and not really expensive. If you go to Netrition (see my post above) and buy the 42-serving Variety Pack, they'll only run you about $1.28 a serving...muy cheapo IMO. Actually you don't need to use meal replacements at all but they ARE very convenient!

Now, as far as cardio at home - I don't have the luxury of working out at home (i.e. the space!) but I know Sil and Susanje both do. If your neck and back is hurting from doing crunches, most likely your form is off a bit. Or you could try using a Swiss ball. The new issue of Muscle Media had a terrific article on cardio using a jump rope - a high quality jumprope shouldn't run you more than about $10-12 and you can get a great workout - they had some really good tips in the article...

I'd also suggest hanging out at www.leanandstrong.com - most of us (if not all) are there too. There is a daily menu thread that Tall Jen (TJ) starts every weekday...you can post your menu there and she will be MORE than happy to critique it!

But...I'll give it a shot here...

#1 Shake/half banana - see above - I'd substitute a Myoplex Lite and skip the banana

#2 70% lean turkey breast sausage/kiwi
The sausage is WAY too high in fat. You are better off staying away from processed meats. I'd substitute real turkey or chicken breast (stay away from the deli meats too) or cottage cheese instead. The kiwi should be okay - make sure you are getting a full serving - they can be on the small side sometimes...

#3 wheat tortilla/turkey breast slices/spicy mustard, lettuce
Okay - just remember what I said above about deli meats - they usually have a LOT more fat and sodium that you are led to believe!

#4 Salad with tuna or turkey and sliced apple
This one's A-OK!

#5 grilled chicken breast/ brown rice steamed with low sodium beef stock and spices/salad with no sugar/low carb dressing
OK here too.

#6 raw broccoli/raw califlower/ Tbls ff sourcream mixed with spicy mustard as dip/ turkey or lean ham slices/sliced fruit.
This one sounds okay...lots of veggies which is awesome!

If you like eating turkey breast, may I suggest that you purchase a turkey breast and cook it yourself...then portion it out for the week? MUCH better for you and a LOT less expensive than deli meat...and yes, even the "99% fat free" Healthy Choice meat is not too great for ya...because meat is labeled differently from other food products - they use volume rather than calories to come up with that 99% FF label...there's a very good chance that a full half of the calories are from fat!

I also buy the bags of frozen chicken breasts and love them! Thank goodness for my George Foreman Grill!

Well, I can see I've written a novel again...gotta get back to work...later all!

welcome newbies, ??? for Mrs.Jim
 

1) Did you decide that the diet plan you got from Jeremy wasn't successful? Just curious, I'd thought of trying that at some point.

2) If it's not too time consuming, could you share the exercises you're doing for each "part?" Not all your weights and reps, just the specific moves. Because of your mention of the "ball squats" I was able to add that to my routine since one gym doesn't have a Smith.

Thanks.

Susanje if you send me a count on the MRPs, any flavor, I'll send you a check. And could you tell me a little more about the Carbolite?

Today is five days back on program for me, moving towards 3/15.

MrsJim:

Thank you for the menu! That's really great.

I LOVE MetRx products. I am trying to go MRP free this challenge although it's tough. I do have the high protein MetRx but don't like it as much as Classic Vanilla. That is scrumptious, I think.

I ordered McCanns steel cut oats from Netrition this morning (along with my Udos that I never ordered yesterday...I kept getting kicked off netrition). I like to cook up a big batch of the Irish oatmeal and then add eggbeaters, protein powder (soy or egg, not whey), cinnamon and splenda and mix up. I put that in a pyrex baking pan and bake for about 45 minutes and then I have a nicely balanced carb/protein breakfast square ready each morning.

Lisa: I will send you the list of MRPs. I used Carbolite when my doctor decided that I shouldn't be having carbs (and right now I am undecided if she is right BUT I gained a ton of weight when I went off the carb restriction and back to just normal eating. I'm dealing, right now, with the "awfulness" of that. I am wondering if I should restrict carbs as much as she says if it just means I can never ever have them again (not even low glycemic!) because when you restrict them and then put some back (even healthy ones) you gain weight. I don't know. I've been checking out the keto cycling but I just can't seem to do it right. so I'm back to strict BFL. HOWEVER, I did discover SOME good products while I was low carbing, Carbolite baking mix being one of them. It's just protein powder, eggs and Splenda but it makes a nice pancake. A little nonstick cooking spray and top with strawberries or other fruit and it makes a nice Saturday breakfast.
CAVEAT: A lot of Carbolite products are "suspect" to me...contain maltodextrin and other additives that technicaly don't need to be listed as carbs but you can react to as if they were so beware of that. I like the baking/pancake mix because they tend to be "pure".

Susan

Lisa -

As far as Jeremy's plan goes...well...I think he knows a lot and all...but it didn't work as well as I'd hoped. A big part of that is that a great deal of his program is focused on the post-workout shake which is supposed to be consumed immediately after every workout. This is impossible for me since I usually get home from the gym around 6:15-6:20 and since Jim (and our upstairs neighbors) are still asleep at that time, I couldn't very well run the blender...tried making it the night before and putting in the fridge but separation would occur and it wasn't very appetizing.

All the portions for the six 'real' meals of the day were very tiny since the shake accounted for over 400 calories...like a portion of chicken was 1 3/4 oz...a portion of barley 1/3 cup...way too small... so far I like Pam's much better (esp now that she changed up my menu to include more carbs!).

I'll have to get back to you on the exercises as I don't have that info with me right now :( but today here's what I did for back and biceps:

Superset - Lat pulldowns/seated cable rows (4 sets 15/12/10/8 reps)
Standing pushdowns (straight arm, using straight bar) 3 sets @15 reps
1-arm bent DB row - 3 sets@15 reps

Preacher curl 21's - 2 sets

Superset: Concentration Curls/Incline hammer curls (I use the large Swiss ball for this superset)

Then I finished up with a couple sets of crunches on the ball!

Hey Susan, have you tried Steve's pancake recipe yet? I'm planning on giving it a shot next time my menu permits...here it is for y'all (from the L&S Cooking Library):
I basically like to stay away from the mixes like Carbolite, mostly because of the cost but also because of the suspect ingredients thing...

Mrs.Jim thanks and another question...
 

Are you doing 4 sets of pulldowns and 4 sets of rows? Or how does that work? I know you're superwoman but now I'm really impressed...

Also, you seem to have the details for the L&S Challenge but I couldn't find them on the site?

Thanks again.

Actually it's more like eight sets apiece...here's how I did 'em this morning:

Lat pulldowns - set the weight at 70 - 15 full reps followed immediately with 15 mini reps.
Seated Cable Row - same as above including weight - 15 fulls, 15 minis.

30 seconds rest

Lat PD's - weight at 80 - 12 full reps, then 12 mini reps
Seated Cable Row - weight at 80 - 12 full/12 mini

30 seconds rest...

Lat PD's weight at 90 - 10 full/10 minis (had to drop to 70 for the minis)
Seated cable row - same as above including the weight drop for minis

30 seconds rest

Lat PD - Weight@100 - 8 full/8 minis (drop to 80#)
Seated cable row - same

****************
Now as far as the L&S Challenge, the Quad Squadders know a wee bit more about it...according to QZ, tentative plans are for July 4th weekend...in Raleigh NC. I think he's still firming up plans, events, etc. I do know that Pam is going to be one of the invited speakers...I am definitely planning on attending! Hopefully Jim will be able to go as well, tho' he might have a couple of gigs that weekend. If it is the weekend of the 4th, I am planning on flying out on the 5th and back home on the 7th or the morning of the 8th...depending on work schedule etc... Of course it is a fundraiser, there will be teams and competition for who raises the most $$ (I believe the charity will be breast cancer...don't know if that's a for sure though).

Whew! Should be a blast!