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- - Body for Life #18 (https://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/general-diet-plans-questions/9570-body-life-18-a.html)

Body for Life #18

Hi everyone,

I apologize for being away. In addition to being in law school and trying to cope while people try to blow up my beloved hometown, we are also doing interviewing and everything is surreal. Going to interviews, trying to act self-interested in these times is just feeling very crazy to me. It's also very exhausting. I have 20 interviews scheduled and each one is different from the last.

Anyway, I wanted to say hello. I've been eating clean and getting to the gym when I can. I'm on my new meds almost a month and it feels like they are helping a lot. Dr. says it should get better and better. I would love to feel "normal" again soon.

It sounds like everyone is doing okay! You're in my thoughts.

Susan

SJ-Glad to hear from you, and thanks for starting a new thread! Sounds like your life is very hectic. I hope it settles down a bit for you soon.

Willbethin-Just chalk it up to experience, and go on. What you did yesterday is in the past. You'll be fine!

Here I am in my 4th day into my challenge, and I don't know if I'll be able to fit in any cardio today. I am going to take my running clothes with me to where I have to take my kids this afternoon, and hopefully, I can get some time in for me! I didn't miss 1 day in my 1st challenge, and I want to do the same with this one.

Have a great day!

thanks shelley i will, done and over with.

Susanje - it's great to hear from ya! Keep your chin up...everyone at my work (and that's about 3,500 people in my office) is still being affected in some way or another by September 11th. Many of our members had offices there. My boss is still upset about it - she lost an old friend that day who worked at WTC. Even though she hadn't seen the friend in years, it still gets to you.

WBThin, I feel the same way the day after Free Day - icky. Did I mention a week or so ago that my tummy was so upset on Monday morning, I couldn't even lie down to do leg curls? It was not so bad this week - mainly because instead of the effects of eating 'unclean' hit me right away (sometimes when I'm still eating the food) rather than the next day. I had to stop at one piece of pizza this Sunday. One SMALL piece (you know how Round Table cuts theirs in small pieces). It was another Monday lunch bonanza for Jim - he loves cold pizza!

My entire family and most of my friends know what Free Day is by now, since they've heard me say "gotta wait until Sunday to eat that" so I haven't received any real pressure to eat 'unclean' on non-Free Day. At work when there are goodies around (which is quite often) and I'm offered one, I just whisk it downstairs to hubby Jim. If he doesn't eat it, one of the other guys is more than happy to have it! Once people know what you're doing - and the results start to show - most will support you. Of course there's always going to be 'saboteurs' around - I don't know why those people feel they HAVE to offer you cake, candy etc. Either jealousy or maybe they mean well??? Hmmm...

Yesterday in my LBWO I really concentrated on my squats and lunges - going down as deep as I could. As a result, my legs are nice and sore - not too sore though, just enough to let me know that they were well worked! After my 20 MAS on the treadmill, I did a couple of minutes on the StepMill at a very low level just to get the feel of it - I've never used it before and Pam B (along with others at L&S) raves about it. I'm planning on working it in, maybe next week or starting in C3.

Well, gotta hit the shower before Jim wakes up! See ya!

Oops...I originally posted this to the old thread before I saw this one.....

I am looking for some input here. I was a little frustrated with my results from my 2nd four weeks and am trying to figure out why my results were so much better in the first four weeks. One thing I have noticed that I am doing differently is not eating 6 meals a day. I am still getting in 6 protein and 6 carb portions a day, it's just that for lunch or for dinner alot of times I will eat 2 proteins and 2 carbs at one meal and therefore finish the day with only 5 meals, but the right amount of proteins and carbs in total for the day. The other thing I wondered is that for the most part I am eating almost exactly the same thing every single day, except Saturday which I use as my free day. Suprisingly, this is not bothering me, but I am also a WW member and I know they have talked about needing to "shake things up" once in a while and that if you get to where you are always eating the same exact thing it can cause a plateau. Of course, I would think the free day would be a pretty decent shake up for my body.

Anway, was hoping for any wisdom anyone has. I feel like the exercise portion of the plan is where I need to be, I just think maybe the eating part is a little off for me. Of course, maybe I am just being impatient. Still, couldn't hurt to seek some advice from those of you who are BFL experts!!!

Thanks!
Debbie

MRSJIM, please read my messege in the old fashioned way board, i put it there by mistake. thanks

To willbethin (and anyone else reading this!)

I read your note on the Old Fashioned board...

...you have to do whatever you think is right. Think about this - are you "Eating to Live" or "Living to Eat"? BFL isn't always easy and YES, it is structured. But to have success in anything in life, discipline and structure are what you need to have to achieve your goals, whether it be fat loss, career building, whatever.

Pam B just posted some words of motivation that she uses:

Quote:

"How did you just spend the last hour? What will you do with the next? At the end of this day, what will you be able to look back upon with satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment? Achievement is not something that just comes to you. It is something you create within the minutes, hours and days you have at your disposal. Now is the time to make it happen.

The results of success are impressive, exciting, and glamorous. Yet the efforts that go into creating success are, more often than not, rather tedious. You cannot have one without the other. The star athlete who makes it look so effortless on the field has spent hour upon countless grueling hour in practice.

Those hours spent in behind-the-scenes effort are what lead to victory and success, no matter what the field of endeavor. Everyone has the same amount of time available each day. Some use it far more effectively than others. What will you do with yours today?"

I had posted your note on the L&S board asking for input from the gang there - here are some of their responses:

Quote:

"What I would probably tell her is that what she's doing is fine if she wants to lose weight and describe the difference between losing weight and losing fat.

Maybe ask her if she feels good or has any cravings when she has a straight-carb meal. If she tells the truth, I can almost guarantee that she's either binging or "cheating". Sounds like maybe she's not ready to cross the abyss, but if you keep it positive or enlighten her a bit, perhaps she'll come around. Remind her that it does take some sacrifice to make changes in our eating patterns which in turn change our bodies.

Send her to the T gallery and remind her once again that these bodies were created with balanced protein and carbs... Any by the way, how DID she eat before she started BFL and did it get her the results she wanted?" - Julie

"This is from my own experience.. Little by little I was able to change my lifestyle.. I started by excersing alone.. Then I, little by little modified my eating habits.. Something like this.. I will eat more frequently even if it was junk.. Then little by little I will replace the junk with healthy balanced meals such as the BFL method.. Ojo, It will absolubtly take more than 12 weeks to get the results you want but the race is long anyway.. Patience is the key.. I got the results I wanted that way..."
- Carlos

"She says she is striving to eat less. Maybe she is obsessing about food because her portions are too small. Craving yogurt and milk, maybe a calcium dificiency. She also says she is watching the clock. Does she work or have some hobbies to keep her mind off the food? IS she getting any positive reinforcment at home or from other loved ones? Hope this helps." - RachelinTx

"I guess first off I'd tell her, to use her words, that eating what she's "in the mood for" got her where she is.
Until she's ready to let her mind and her goals set her mood, she's dead in the water." - Steve L

I do wish you luck, and of course feel free to come back to this board anytime (as well as L&S - QuadZilla wanted to make sure you knew about the "Eating To Live" forum there!) with your questions, queries, whatever. Take care!

Debbie - my two cents...

I had the same problem getting in all six meals myself and here's what I did about it.

Meal #4 was my problem meal...since I'm still at work at 4:00, for about three weeks I set my Outlook Calendar to go off at 3:30 to remind me to eat Meal #4. I also used meal replacement bars at that time, but I've since moved to cottage cheese and fruit for that meal. I just keep a tub of cottage cheese on hand in the fridge here at work, and bring in fruit on Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesdays here are 'fruit day'. My employer generously puts a huge bowl of fruit in each kitchen (there are two kitchens on each floor) for the employees - bananas and one other fruit (this week it was grapes). I generally grab three fruits on Wednesday and that keeps me going til Friday.

The whole key to BFL - indeed, the key to success in pretty much anything you do - is PLANNING AHEAD. Use the "Eating-for-Life" daily progress reports for awhile. Have Tall Jen (TJ) at L&S critique your daily menus for a few days. I'm sounding like a broken record here but it really works!

Now...about eating the same thing every day...I do that too - I love my staples (Myo Lite, cottage cheese, fruit, chicken breasts, brown rice and lots o'veggies for the most part). How about your portion sizes?

I urge you to re-read the Hussman site - specifically http://www.hussman.com/eas/#measure - for more info on measuring your progress.

There's an interesting section entitled "Unleash the Secret Weapon" which begins as follows:

Quote:

Now, if you've gone for more than about 6 weeks without any measurable fat loss, you're probably asking What's wrong with me?!!! I understand. You're convinced that your entire metabolism consists of a small turtle on a treadmill. You think that regardless of how much effort you put in, your cells can still be seen eating Twinkies when viewed under a microscope.

I've seen this problem hundreds of times. Trust me. Nothing is wrong with you. There's only one reason you're not losing fat, and it's that you aren't creating a persistent caloric deficit.

It may be that you're not working out consistently enough, but my bet is that you're taking in too many calories. Don't throw things at me yet.

Most likely, there is some source of caloric intake that you haven't accounted for properly. I know you don't believe that. How can I say that without even knowing you? Simple. Studies show that people tend to significantly underestimate caloric intake, particularly those who report having trouble losing weight. My favorite study involves 41 women eating chocolate Haagen-Dazs. Another study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that, on average, subjects who claimed to be resistant to losing weight were underestimating their actual food intake by 47% and overestimating their activity by 50%. The greater the degree of overweight, the larger the estimation errors tended to be. I know you really don't want to believe that. But I'm going to prove it to you...

Later, Dr. Hussman goes on with some tips as follows:

Quote:

A few more specific tips if you're having trouble losing fat:

*Emphasize lower glycemic carbs. They keep you burning fat, and they dramatically reduce feelings of hunger. There is no possible way I could say this too often.

*Never eat standing up. You're apt to forget or ignore the calories that you eat. If you're hungry and need to snack, go straight for a piece of fruit, sit down, and eat it along with a large glass of water. Don't worry, you'll have protein at your next scheduled meal. Just eat the fruit immediately so you don't go on a binge. Some people can't stand celery, but once a week I cut a bunch of sticks and store them in a ziplock bag just to munch on now and then.

*Don't be a bandit. This is often a problem for people who prepare food for others. If you closely study the intake of people with weight loss problems, you often see them eating a surprising number of uncounted calories during food preparation and while putting plates away. Your body counts that chunk of cheese, and the crust you cut off of Jimmy's peanut butter sandwich. You should too.

*Beware the big meal. My bet is that 5 meals out of 6, you're doing just great. But once a day, you have a meal (usually socially or with family) that is far over the appropriate portion size. Watch out.

*Don't equate "protein" with "meat." Try to include sources other than meat (which is relatively high in fat). Fish, turkey, and grilled skinless chicken breast are great, but whey protein, egg protein (little or no yolk), soy protein, and casein protein such as low-fat cottage cheese are great alternatives. They also give you a good, complete amino acid profile.

*Don't equate healthy ingredients with healthy food. Consider spinach dip. Oooh! Spinach. It's a vegetable, isn't it? Yeah, but it's the "dip" part that will kill you. You might as well spoon mayonnaise out of a jar and eat it plain. Ditto for Caesar salad, and other salads using oil-based dressings.

*Learn to jump rope. The cross-training benefits are outrageous. It has less impact than running. To start, form a nice U shape with the rope. The movement is all in the wrists. Be sure to use good shoes. Warm up by doing some jumping jacks, stretch your calves well after about 2 minutes of jumping, and also stretch afterward. Like many cardio exercises, the first two minutes are very anaerobic and will trick you into thinking you just can't go on. But if you get over that hump, you can go much longer than you think.

*Focus on the short-term. If you're tempted by something, don't think about the long-term benefits of avoiding it. Think about the short-term benefits. You'll be thinner tomorrow. You'll be proud of yourself 20 minutes from now. Picture the temptation as a little monster that you can whack away. And be aware that the motivation for cheating is often stress, anxiety, loneliness, or feelings of low self-worth. Don't use food to solve these. Staying on track will reduce those problems better than giving in ever will.

*It's all about blood sugar. Remember that the point of the frequent meals is to keep your blood sugar stable, not to make you a fanatical clock-watcher. Just eat so that you are generally neither hungry nor full. Half of a protein bar, with a piece of fruit and a big glass of water (about 250 calories total) is a great mid-afternoon meal at the office.

*Plan. Write out your menu for the week and then go shopping to make sure that the elements of your nutrition plan are actually available at home, work, on the road, wherever you go. You'll minimize cheating that way.

*Remember to give yourself an occasional opportunity to choose treats. It's helpful to plan your binge in advance and make a mental list of the things that you're going to have. Use them as motivation to stay on plan during the week. Have those treats, and then get back on plan. It's not necessary to binge, but if a one-day binge will keep you strictly on plan the rest of the week, then binge. Whether you need a lot of treats or just a few in order to stay on plan the rest of the week is up to you. The point is to occasionally exercise choice - whatever that means to you personally - and then to stick to the plan on other days. You're always in control.

Hope that helps...

thanks so much for doing that for me, mrsjim. i loved to hear everyones advice. i will still read L&S board. i am striving to eat proteins with carbs at each meal, i just dont think i can make 6 meals a day from them. you gave me alot of things to think about and consider.

i do know that getting healthy is going to take awhile. i just think i want to lose weight first, with doing his excercises, then i will build the muscle. if that makes sense. although i do know that muscle burns fat. i will just keep reading and using the knowledge to figure this all out.

I received an e-mail yesterday from Phil Kaplan, a local (South Florida) fitness professional. I wanted to share a few segments of it with my fellow Body-for-Lifers. I found it quite inspiring.

"...Personally, I'm sad. I'm still in disbelief. The World Trade Center, the buildings that are the first thing I see when I fly into LaGuardia Airport giving me a sense of being back in my hometown...they're gone. Once I get past the sadness and the disbelief, I find I'm angry. I want to help. I feel helpless to do so. I'm frustated, I'm enraged, and I want to understand why something like this can occur, even in the mind of another human being. I want revenge, I want justice, I want peace. Those emotions get all jumbled around and then they all get pushed aside by the "appreciation of every living moment" emotions. That's where I am right now. Appreciating the fact that I'm still here...that you're still here...and that the only way we can be defeated is to wave the white flag. The ability to maintain normalcy is in itself a victory.

As a nation, we've been bruised, but not beaten. In trying to maintain that outlook...to go about life as usual...nothing feels quite right. Sure, I can go through the motions, conduct my seminars and consulting jobs, and respond to e-mails. It's just that everything seem so trivial compared to the enormity of this attack on America, on human life, and on freedom. There is something else I've noticed however. Through the ashes has risen an intense outpouring of love. People are concerned for their own. They reach out desparately to mourn, to share, and to give to those they love.

I've agonized over how to put my feelings aside, or at least put those negative emotions aside, and get on with my work, doing what I do best...motivating people to change their lives in positive ways. I came to realize, what I share with people is not just a quest for a better body, nor is it a push toward vanity, but more than anything else, it's caring.

That's what brought me back...to do my radio show, to write my articles, and to continue to spread a very important message. If love is in fact what's most important, if our deep rooted primary concerns are for being able to help and share with those we care about most...we are in fact cheating ourselves and others by not being the best we can be. It isn't selfish to want for fitness of physical excellence, but it should be an obligation, as the more fit you are, the greater your abilities to provide for and share with the family members who depend on you.

Don't push self-caring priorities aside, don't lose the desire for physical excellence, and don't abandon the program you started out of a sense of their importance being somehow diminished. These virtues and actions have earned a rightful place at the top of your priority list, as they empower you to act on everything that follows."

Hang in there everyone!

Marci

Missed the forum today!!

So glad we're back online...

Marci - what a great post. I truly feel that to do the best we can for our country, all of us as Americans should strive to be our best - both mentally AND physically. I get the feeling that much of the world equates Americans with being fat and out of shape. I for one don't want to be part of that stereotype!

Yesterday we had an all-staff meeting about the tragedy on Sept 11th and what we (as a company) are going to do in the aftermath. Our company president is British - he's lived here in America for about three years now (he has a five-year tenure with our company). He spoke of when he was a boy living in England and his memories of living in bomb shelters during WWII, and that when he saw the carnage of WTC, those memories came flooding back to him. Hearing him talk about those times and what we're going through now really got to me...

Changing the subject - more good news for Jim and I - we were just accepted into a local first time homebuyers program! Basically we'll get a $50,000 interest free loan that we don't have to start paying back until the sixth year. I've already got an appointment to see a mortgage loan manager next week. Of course $50,000 is just a drop in the bucket here in Silicon Valley but it really helps. We have a nice apartment in a great neighborhood but my dream has always been to be a homeowner...2001 just seems to be the year that my dreams and goals come true! I'm so excited!! :)

My butt and quads are still aching after my LBWO on Wednesday... hope everything is going well with everyone else!

Susanje -- you look awesome!

I didn't notice how much weight you've lost from your face and neck until one of your photos with your hair away from your face!

You have done so very, very well! Keep up the good work. I'm trudging along behind you!

Claire

MrsJim - great news about the homebuyers program! Nothing like owning your own home. Just be prepared for spending a part of every weekend in Home Depot! :lol:

I got up this morning, drank my water, did my 20 MAS plus some ab crunches, and took the dog for a walk. About halfway through the walk I noticed something was missing. My thighs aren't rubbing together anymore when I walk! Yippee! Made my day, that's for sure.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Marci

Marci-Great news on your thighs not rubbing together! I hate it--especially when I wear pantyhose!

We got a new little baby Friday night! A puppy that is a mixture of a Chinese Sharpei and Lab Retreiver. She is such a doll, with wrinkles all over the place. She has kept me up for 2 nights now--trying to make sure she doesn't pee in the house! She poops outside, but has a problem with the other. She is 6 weeks old and silver colored. We have taken her with us everywhere, so she is going to be quite spoiled!

Today is my free day, but I have decided not to really make it FREE. I will probably just have a dinner that has something that I can't have on my other days.

Have a great Sunday!

Hello to all,
Just a quick note to ask if I am the only one that can hardly walk after LBWO's? Boy, do my legs get sore. I am starting my third week on BFL. Havn't been as good as I could be, but I must tell you I can see the change happening. I am getting mussels in my arms that remind me of when I first started developing my breast:)( now if I can only get my breast to be like when they first.....)
Well I am not going to stay ol long. Will read post later.
Be good,Cathy.