i am still around...
 

Howdy folks,
didn't want you all to think i dropped off the face of the earth or something, still down here in the islands dreaming of recieving an actual copy of the BFL book. However, good news is that i have been give lots of data on the program from people who do have the book, and have gotten started on teh plan even though i dont have the Book in hand to detail it all specifically. Also got a lot of info off the net, especially from the hussman site. I

wanted to say i am already having results. As i said before i love resistance training, so this program is actually a boon for me. I am doing my best to stay on the 5-6 meal a day thing, and have already seen a difference in my energy. I have PCOS and therefore insulin resistance, so this way of life is acutually a real benifit for me.

My mother has been a body builder for the last 15 years and has always shared with me her experiences. now i am able to do the same with her, and even though we are like 3000miles apart, it is a nice thing to email and say, hey mom, guess what i tried today for triceps?

anyway, you all have een a real inspiration for me. I am currently 29 my 30th is in june, and i am determined to get my body on track by then. (started with 26%BF, heading for 15%) The body building helps my body deal with the insulin, and my nurse practitioner has already told me there is a difference after only 4 weeks of daily excersizing, the weights and the food, acording to the BFL plan. I can see the difference, even though it is not huge. I never got to weigh myself, but the pants-o-meter is showing me the difference. I took measurements and photos though not the kind BFL recommends, but i have my DH to tell me if i am hanging over or something! lol!

Well, i also wanted to say thank you to MsJim for the idea of doing the 21s for my preacher curls. i will be honest and say that i have never been so sore in my life, but now on week three, i am not feeling that so much and i love it. Even the DH says he can tell i am enjoying it...ie, i jump up and run over to the home gym. (its not much but it works.) The only bummer of it all is the runners knee coming back to haunt me. I was really doing too much i think. I was runnning 45 minutes 5 days a week. now that i cut it down to teh 3 days of HIIT and 2 days moderate, well, i can say that my body feels better, and the 20 minute sessions seem to be agreeing with me. I know that that is more than the book says, but i took a note from hussmans site, since i have lots of BF to lose, i added a bit of moderate intensity running/jogging/falst walking.

I also have a bit of a problem getting in all the protein required since i really only eat dairy eggs and fish, and can't digest soy. also, protein powders are REALLY expensive here, but i am succeding eating lots of egg whites, tuna and non fat yogurt. i know it is not perfect, but i charted my foods on fitday, and have really managed to do ok on the whole thing. 40-40-20 or so. i figure that is about right. am i right? i know i need the book to do it exactlly to plan, but i have more just decided to adopt the body building or stregnth building plan as a lifestyle. I can't get teh book till i go up to the states to visit, likely around my birthday in june, and there is not better time than the present. thanks again for your support,

MM2
=^..^=

Glad you checked in MM2!!! :D
We miss you!!!

Hi everyone,

Did a killer cardio this morning. My new shoeys are just lover-lee
:lol: They really made a difference in the shin splints!

Does anyone ever get heart palpitations when they do killer cardio? I had them a few times during and they've continued. It feels that that speedy feeling you get on diet pills...not that I need another health issue but I thought I'd check because I am trying to pump up the cardio and so far the allergies and shin splints are cooperating. I don't need another thing to kick in so I was wondering.

thanks!
Susan

Hi there
 

Susan- I know you're already dealing with a zillion health issues but the heart palps I'd check out. Maybe of your meds? or are you drinking coffee before your workout? Saw that on an L&S thread that some people do for accelerated fat loss. I haven't had any palpitations, but I've been getting dizzy after heavy lifting sets. I made a rather ungraceful dismount from the assisted pull-up machine at the gym today and picked up a few rug burns to reward my efforts. I think it's because I've got some mild virus and not enough sleep. The good stuff from the Olympics doesn't end until midnight here.

MM2- Sounds like you've found a way to make it work despite the situational challenges. Good for you!

Despite being the unparalleled klutz of the gym, my workouts have been going usually really well. I got a bit carried away on Wednesday on LBWO and kept adding more weight and trying out different equipment and could barely walk yesterday. Made it up to 400lbs on the leg press before I was afraid to try more without a spotter. That's about 100 lbs more than where I maxed on week 2.

I wish I could say food was going as well. After feeling so great at the end of week 6, I started slipping and am having a hard time putting together 2 100% clean days in a row:?: Gotta get back on track!

Have a good weekend,
mel

Hi you guys (er, um, gals)!
 

Meow Mew! I'm so glad to see you here again...can't believe you can't get the book where you are! Actually I was just at Barnes & Noble on Sunday and could not find a copy anywhere in the store. I'm hoping that means a paperback (smaller) edition is in the works...wouldn't it be nice to have one you could carry in your purse easily? Especially for you C1'ers.

Susanje - I would definitely talk to my doctor if I was having what I thought were palpitations - do you have a heart rate monitor you could use just to check? I know on BFL HRM's aren't considered necessary, but I'd wear one in your situation. My father never exercises without his!

Mel - the food was the hardest part for me too! I spent the first four or five weeks of C1 eating low-fat granola and thinking it was authorized (it's not by the way). I was doing most of the program by memory since I had to return the book to the library and didn't buy my own copy until around C1W5. I thought I remembered seeing 'low-fat granola" in there, but now I think I must have been hallucinating :dizzy: Also we would REALLY PIG OUT on Free Days, I mean REALLY pig out...a huge breakfast...then an early dinner at a Mexican restaurant...and eating in between, of course I would be totally sick the next day. Not worth it...I think that's why Bill Phillips gave us the free day - he knew that gradually we would get away from total pigouts once a week to eating goodies moderately - they lose their appeal quicker, I've found!

However, I am still having a free meal tomorrow - a chile verde burrito...mmmm...with all the fixings (except sour cream which I don't care for) and extra salsa! Yummie!

This week has been so great - except for the second high-protein day, when I didn't imagine being able to eat one more chicken breast for the rest of my life...now I'm back to loving them again. In fact I'm making one right now for my Meal #3!

And I really do feel my workouts have been a lot more productive...I'm supercharged...

This morning I was all set for my lesson, Jim and I drove out there but I guess I should have called first because the riding rings were closed due to last night's rain...we actually ended up spending about two hours there anyway. We visited with all the horses (carrots for everyone!). Then spent some time taking the lesson horses - Butch, Alex and Freight - out grazing in the big field - the grass was so lush and green out there...they loved it! All three of them are such good old boys, and it was very relaxing - almost therapeutic - standing next to them holding their lead-lines and just being with them!

I just cleaned the house and Jim and I are going to watch "Spongebob Squarepants" soon...have you SEEN that show...I was babysitting last night and watched it for the first time with my little nephew and niece - just too funny and bizarre - now I want Jim to see it with me - he hasn't seen it yet.

See ya later!

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
Sponge Bob Squarepants!
My niece (who is 14) loves Sponge Bob and Patrick of course.

Oops accidently hit post.

I bought some glutamine and I am feeling better. I took my free day today. I have eaten a lot but didn't pig out like I thought I would. I felt yucky after eating 3 Milano cookies! I usually can eat half a bag at one sitting.
I put my meals on fitday and I'm wondering if I'm getting too much % of cal from protein. It was 50% protein 15%fat and 35% carbs. I think my protein portions are too big???

At the gym on Friday I met a women who is also on C1 W1. I hope she comes in at the same time often. It was nice to talk to someone in person about the program. Also one of the trainers does a modified BFL program.

Have a great weekend!

Tam

got some questions...
 

hi all, enjoying reading the thread.

I have some questions about the training stuff.

1. what is the importance of the 1 minute rest between sets? (sometimes I feel a bit dorky resting for a minute after I've done my first set of quite low weights?

2. If you have not reached muscle failure by the last rep of the last set, do you keep going till you reach it? - which would maybe mean you ended up doing 15 reps or something? (and then adjust the weight the next day)

I can't remember what else I wanted to ask so that will do for now. I completely blew it today - and ended up eating a whole bunch of stuff, so now I feel disgusting, but tomorrow I'm back in full force.

thanks to whoever can help with the questions

Carps


:wave:

Carps - let me try and answer your questions one by one...

1. what is the importance of the 1 minute rest between sets? (sometimes I feel a bit dorky resting for a minute after I've done my first set of quite low weights? If you've never seriously lifted before, it's a good idea IMO to give your muscles some rest - but make it ACTIVE rest - I change out the plates, stretch and flex a bit...a minute goes by quite quickly - don't just stand there waiting for 60 seconds to pass. BTW, it usually takes me a minute to switch out plates or find the DB's I need (no one at my gym ever puts the DBs back in order the way I've seen in some other gyms when I'm traveling - even at the company gym everyone neatly puts the weights back where they're supposed to go...I guess there's a lot of slobs at my gym!)

2. If you have not reached muscle failure by the last rep of the last set, do you keep going till you reach it? - which would maybe mean you ended up doing 15 reps or something? (and then adjust the weight the next day) Personally I'd do a few extra reps...most of the time when doing the BFL half pyramid/compound routine of 12/10/8/6/12, I'll start low on the first set, then raise the weight in increments - like if I was doing, for example, bicep curls, I'd start with maybe 7.5# DBs, then up to 10#, 12#, 15#. If that set of 6 at 15# felt pretty easy, I'd keep the set of 12 at 15#. If while doing the 12, the weight feels too heavy - I hit failure while doing the set - I'll quickly switch to the next lower weight, say the 12.5# DBs. You want to challenge yourself and of course lifting a heavy weight is extremely difficult - but that's what makes the biggest changes. Those aerobics classes with the little 1-3 lb weights don't really do much IMO.

Don't worry, I actually screw up my eating too...This week was GREAT - I was staying on Pam's diet - until last night...but I think I did pretty well...since there are pretty much only clean foods in our house now! The ones that aren't are things like Stouffer's Pot Pies and entrees (this is what Jim eats most of the time. Once in awhile he'll have what I'm having but that doesn't happen often - he's usually hungry as soon as we get home from work, where I won't eat until about 6:30 or 7:00, plus he loves those dinners...one day...) . Actually last night I made Jim the hot apples for a dessert - since we don't have any 'conventional' dessert items in the house right now - just fruit. I mixed the apple with blueberries, sprinkled some Splenda and cinnamon, and nuked it for 3 minutes...let it cool for awhile then topped with vanilla FF Light Yogurt since he's not a big cottage cheese fan! Of course for BFL purposes that's two carbs...but Jim was fixing to make a Baskin-Robbins run :dizzy: and this was certainly a better alternative! His comment: "Not bad!"

I'm going to run out in a few minutes and do some shopping - I'm completely out of chicken breasts and a lot of other things. Still waiting for Pam's email - she called me on Friday to tell me her server was down, supposed to be up today - that's why we haven't heard from her lately (here or on L&S).

Tam - I wouldn't even worry about the Fitday if I were you. Just stick to the authorized list in the book, use palm/fist for measuring (for fluffier items such as cottage cheese and eggwhites/Egg Beaters, just refer to the Nutrition Facts label on the product and measure for 20 grams of protein (for most women). Carbs should be 20-25g per serving. Don't cut your carbs too much - you need them for energy! Found this out the hard way on Tuesday...doing high-protein/low carb. My butt dragged all day...I told Pam and she promptly emailed me a plan which included more carbs and I feel WAY better!

Take care all!