Ditto, Mel. This is a lesson I'm learning now as I creep closer to goal. Wasn't a problem when I had a lot of weight to lose, but as I get closer... one free-for-all day can be the difference between gaining, maintaining, and losing for the week.

But the book still sounds like it's worth picking up!

The sad thing is that it doesn't even take a free-for-all DAY to undo all your hard work for the week ... all it takes is 15 minutes. I can easily turn a week's calorie deficit into a calorie excess in a blink of the eye. Which is why, for me, maintenance isn't 80% or 85% or even 95% clean eating ... it's got to be about 98% in order for my weight to stay the same.

I allow myself a free bite or two and only so often. Its too easy to let a free meal get all out of control and next thing I know, there is no more peanut butter left in the house.

Tiki

Mel, Meg, etc., I have to agree. The idea of a free meal or day just made me binge when I hadn't been in the habit of doing so very often. I actually had a similar experience with the 6 meals a day idea. Thinking of them as meals made me feel like they should be bigger and I ate too much, so now I explicitly eat more during the 'regular' meals and just have a smaller snack 2 times a day.

It is really seeing what will work for you and not taking other people's advice too seriously, isn't it?

I went back and looked at the book again last night before returning it today. The exercise illustrations DO say what body area they target in a little gray box at the bottom of the page - although not the specific muscle.

I'm doing the program and am journaling my progress on a thread in "misc. clubs". So far, so good---but I'm only on day 6! Anyway, consider me the guinea pig. Time will tell....

I have to say that the "free day" is a god-send to me. I never could keep at any program long enough to have a measureable weight loss. Because I get to let off steam with the weekly free day, I've been able to keep with my program since January 7th of this year.

I've lost 35 lbs and feel strong and stable.

I guess different things work for different people. I just felt the need to show the other side of "free day" thinking....

Maggie

Just commentin' on Meg's comment that it only takes 15 "free" minutes not a whole day to undo a lot of hard work: Ditto! Yup! Me, too!

That's really something to keep in mind, thanks Meg.

When I did BFL, it only took me a few free days to cut myself back on my own. The further I went, the less I wanted to go off plan, and the more I hated the stomach ache that night! My tolerance for large portions or really fatty/sugary food has declined immensely as I've progressed. It's not like that for everybody, though. Mostly on BFL I used the free day to allow myself a full sized dinner, or dessert. Usually dessert!

When I did BFL, it only took me a few free days to cut myself back on my own.

Okay....I see this as part of the program that is not often mentioned....learning on your own that stuffing yourself doesn't make you feel good, and that smaller portions of healthy foods DO. In all my years of reading about BFL, I almost never see this in black and white.

I have a real issue with counting calories every day, every meal. I know that many of you here are dead certain that if you don't do it that way, you will gain. Personally, I have decided that I cannot live that way even if it means no longer fitting into size 2 jeans. I don't mean to judge anyone and hope that isn't how I sound, but at some point you have to hope that you can feed yourself without using Fitday or someting similar.

Just my thought for today! I'm traveling for work these days but I miss you guys.

Laura

Laura, I want to suggest that what works for me isn't necessarily what works for you and vice versa. I don't have any problem with you deciding that you don't want to count calories every day, every meal, but I do have a problem with you suggesting that there's something wrong with others who choose to use that tool.

You and I started our fitness journeys in very different places - as you know, I was morbidly obese at 257 pounds and had been overweight/obese for my entire life. If I remember correctly, you had far less weight to loss than I. It's really not surprising that what was and is required for me to lose weight is different from what works for you.

I KNOW beyond the shadow of a doubt what I - as a formerly morbidly obese woman - need to do to keep from regaining 120 pounds. I've lived this every single day of my life for the past four years. There's just no reason for me to beat myself up for using the tools that I need to in order to maintain my weight loss. So what if I count calories every day for the rest of my life? It works for me and that's all I care about. Why can't I be proud of maintaining my weight loss for all these years without feeling as if I'm somehow deficient because I choose to count calories and use Fitday?

You and I have both been around the Internet long enough to have seen plenty of eye-popping transformation photos and to know how fleeting that kind of weight loss often turns out to be. Maintaining a large weight loss isn't easy or intuitive, at least for me. But my life isn't a rollercoaster of 12 week challenges or dieting down for comps. I'm living maintenance every day of my life and grateful for every tool that I have that keeps the weight off, Fitday and calorie-counting included.

I would never dream of telling you - or anyone else - that there's a right way or a better way to lose/maintain weight. And I've come too far to allow myself to feel like there's something wrong with how I'm living my life.

For some reason you just reminded me of this old Cathy strip...





PS - Unfortunately I've found that true in MY life as well...If I wanted to I could scarf down an AMAZING amount of calories in a VERY short period of time, no problem...

Jennifer 3FC hit it on the head...Yes, at the beginning, I ate on Free day to a point of discomfort...serious discomfort. It was somewhat a behavior modification that set in for me. I don't like feeling that way so a bit or two on "free day" will satisfy.

I, too, don't keep track of the weeks anymore. I figure I can live like this the rest of my life. So, I get out of each day as much as I can as far as nourishing my body and exercising it.

Feeling great for today!