Hi everyone!!

Everyone seems to be doing so well!!! Yes, MrsJim is right, I had very slow progess in my original c1. But progress none the less.
I am moving back toward those goals again. I retain a terrific amount of water and oddly enough my pants are often tighter at the end of the day than at the beginning. Yesterday I felt like I was growing by the hour. I kept drinking water hoping that it would stop but I did not see too many trips to the bathroom throughout the course of the day (maybe 3) and I was drinking gallons so I am retaining water like a crazy person. It's fairly disturbing when you can't button your pants by the end of the day when they started out loose on you in the morning. Yuck.
I'm hanging in there though. I had 2 days rest from school (I'm back there this morning) and really needed the recharge. I may or may not take a free meal this weekend, I may just have a dessert. I find that I can't do the free day pigout anymore and even one big free meal makes me ill so I might just go for an icecream cone or something.

I'm also looking into weight benches and vertical leg presses for at home use. If anyone has suggestions please let me know or email me at [email protected]

Thanks!
Susan

Everyone seems to be doing great!

Susanje, I know you're busy with the new semester but keep checking in... and stay

Today has been the **BEST** day. Stayed up late last night babysitting and watching the Olympics opening ceremonies. This is the only part I really watch of the Olympics although I'm sure my niece will be watching quite a bit - she's a Katie Couric fan (at 10, no less!) as well as a big fan of Michelle Kwan.

I slept in a bit until 6 am (that's LATE for me!) and hit the gym and did a fast intense leg workout. And this was too funny (I put this story on L&S too but just can't help repeating it). I was doing leg extensions, and on the other leg ext machine next to mine, this woman was doing leg extensions...while reading the newspaper - she had the ENTIRE newspaper in her hand, not just one page or one section...meanwhile she was avidly reading the paper, and kind of just flipping her legs back and forth. She was using, like, 60 pounds and just basically using momentum to move the weight (we all know that doesn't do anything for muscle building and in fact, can really mess up your knees!). Meanwhile I had 30 pounds on my machine and was holding for a count of five at the top of the movement, and not letting the weight drop at the bottom of the movement - probably doing 1 for every 3 of hers. She probably thought I was using weenie weight compared to hers...if she had been paying attention to anything but her newspaper...THEN she went to the inner-thigh machine and did the same thing!

Focusing on the muscle is SOOO important to get the best results. I really try not to let my mind wander...and training with a PT is really helping me to find my 'core' that helps me stay focused on my form and working whatever muscle I'm targeting.

The great thing is that this core stuff is really helping me in my horseback riding as well! Today I rode Freight again and my instructor was giving me all kinds of compliments. I am doing MUCH better in my two-point - a position in the saddle that is VERY similar to a barbell squat - down to keeping your weight in your heels (which is important in English riding anyway). The trick is to still be able to 'signal' or 'ask' the horse with your legs (inner thigh and calf muscles) while in a squat position. I'm finally starting to get it right...and then today we cantered and I REALLY felt comfortable and enjoying it. I have always LOVED horses but being a beginning English rider as an adult, I have to get over that 'fear factor' that kids tend not to have when they start riding at a young age. Jim and I really look forward to Saturday mornings at the stables - he doesn't ride but he LOVES to visit with them - they're his 'buds'. Then when we get home, Sparky sniffs us all over like he's saying "what kind of animal is THAT?"

It is finally getting nice out here in the Bay Area - mid 60's in my area today, and tomorrow will be warmer. It is going to be such a good Free Day! I want North Beach Pizza (last time we had Round Table but that is just TOO greasy for me) - just a plain cheese would be fine for me! Well, back to my chicken salad...

We're sinking to the bottom of the board! Just thought I'd pull us up a tad. Hope everyone is doing well; I had my "rest day" today, so I only walked the dog and played tennis, then start week 6 tomorrow. Almost thru first 12 weeks!!

mel

Mel .... that is fantastic.......sounds like you are doing wonderfully....

Sorry all.......I have spent soooooo much time on L&S.......there is sooooo much reading........I am learning sooooo much.........I love it......

But I would never forget this place.....for this is where it all began for me.......

I am moving along nicely..........still finding it hard to believe that I can eat soooooo much......I have a fair size lunch bag.....but I find.......I am filling that......plus bringing another bag with food.......LOL..........and I have got the water thing licked......YESSSSSS...........my second home is the bathroom.......laffs...........

I hope everyone's week has started off well...

Kelly...

Hi all!

Boy we've been slow here, but busy over at L&S!

I sign over there as plain old Claire.

Mrs. Jim I'm so glad you're enjoying your lessons. And like you said, as your "core" strengthens, that English saddle will be easier to ride. Good work!

Mel, I love your avatar. Poor puppy is working so hard!! wow! You're at your midpoint in your challenge! That's great! What changes have you noticed so far?

Kelster, I see you a lot over at L&S and you're right! It is such a wealth of information. Seems to stay busy as a beehive, too! I try and read as many of the posts as I can because they educate and inspire.

Well, I'm at week 3 and still going strong. I've got the hang of my routines and am actually increasing the weights (still using strict form, of course!) I can so relate to MrsJim's story of the woman reading the newspaper while doing the leg press!

By going at 4 in the morning, I pretty much have the place to myself (with the exception of the Upper Body Twins, but they're nice guys. One day it will occur to them that they need to work out the lower half, too... ) and it's wonderful. I have tried out all the weird-looking machines as well as becoming reacquainted with some old iron friends. As for progress, I'm a little bigger than I was, but what's under the fat is harder than before. And some teeny little pockets of fat are getting sort of like jelly. They tell me that's a good thing

well, I'll not blab. Sil and Susanje, hope all is well with you! And lhendricks, how ya doin?

I've had a total Free Day hangover today until mid-afternoon... Now for the next four weeks it's just going to be one free meal a week - except for the last week in March - we're going to be in Miami and I am going to do two free meals that week).

I think because of that in mind I went a bit more overboard than normal! Burrito, See's Candies, pizza...at least I didn't go to McDonald's as well!

This morning I overslept and didn't get up until 4:50 am (I usually get up between 4:00 and 4:15 am). I guess my bod needed a full eight hours' sleep last night! As a result I didn't have a lot of time to spend at the gym - so I RAN there, did an intense workout of supersets for back and biceps and ran home! I also had my workout with Theresa - after this week we are going to every other Monday - wish I could afford more but don't want to give up my riding, especially now that it's getting REALLY fun!

I've seen just about everyone here hanging out at L&S too. I've said this before, L&S is a great place for info, but I tend to get a bit more detailed here - the other board moves so fast it's better to be short and sweet!

I'm still trying to figure out my nutrition for this...I'm basically doing BFL palm/fist now - only diff is that I am changing the Free Day concept. Remember though this is my fourth Challenge...
of course, what I have done since mid-C1, is keep bread and processed carbs limited to Free Day. I've tried to up the veggies a lot as well - today was NOT a good day for that, but I made up by having a MASSIVE salad for dinner. Usually I can grab a good salad in the company cafeteria, or I munch on carrots that I keep in the fridge, but today I was totally unprepared - all I had was apples and cottage cheese! As a result, I'm boiling some eggs right now and packing some carrots and other stuff. I'll probably still be eating cc and apples every day - it's my favorite Meal 2!

Hi BFLers!

Last week (C2.5 W5), I switched my leg press from the horizontal one where I had maxed out at 360 lbs. for 8 straight weeks to a sled press that I hoped would be different enough to see some new progress. It was different all right! Not only did my maximum weight decrease to 270 lbs., I was sore for 5 days! First time I had really been sore since week 1 before starting glutamine.

Luckily, though, the soreness was much better today, and the LBWO went great. The leg press felt much more comfortable, and the squats I use for a superset are getting easier, too. Not much scale weight change this challenge, but I'm feeling a lot stronger!

Hope you're all doing great, too!

Carrie

Hello ladies! I hate to butt in here but I've seen alot of you mention L&S? Do you mind me asking where that's at? I'm interesting in starting the Body For Life Challenge and need all the information I can get. Thanks!

Hey!

L&S stands for Lean And Strong. Its address is http://www.leanandstrong.com

The "official challenge" site is http://www.eas.com

I'm relatively new (first challenge) and some of the other "veterans" here can answer your questions.

What are your goals for your first challenge?

Good luck! Welcome aboard!

Glad you stopped by! Thanks for checking us out!

You should DEFINITELY check out www.leanandstrong.com (or L&S as we call it here). Most of us 3FC BFL gals also hang out there...and we have even gotten a couple of visits from QuadZilla (administrator of L&S) himself! L&S is without a doubt one of the most motivating - if not THE most motivating and informative - BFL communities on the Web. You will learn soooooo much there...and make sure you take a peek in their Transformation Gallery - especially if you want motivation!

Claire's almost right about the web address for the official Challenge site - it's actually www.bodyforlife.com (sorry Claire!) - you can go to the EAS site but will need to re-direct to the bodyforlife site to sign up for the Challenge...and remember, you don't need to sign up for the 'official' Challenge to do BFL. Most people at L&S haven't (I actually signed up this year...but whether I actually do the essay, etc. depends...). Personally I'm doing this for myself not to win a contest. BFL has done so much for me personally that I love to share and help others in meeting their goals!

Oh, one more thing - have you actually read the book? Reading the book (not just gleaning bits and pieces from the Internet and other places) is essential in doing BFL. The book is a very easy read...and don't skip the chapter called 'Crossing the Abyss' either...the most important one in the book IMO! If you want even more motivation, pick up the video called "Body of Work" which you can buy from EAS or Netrition (through the L&S site) for about $5.

The reason I say this is that at another forum (where I don't post anymore BTW - I'm restricting myself to 3FC and L&S) there were a lot of gals who 'started' doing BFL - based on an article in Woman's World magazine. I don't often read Woman's World but I do know that just about every issue has a new 'miracle diet' in it. I was advising these ladies that they NEED to read the entire book - not just a one- or two-page article - to get the full flavor of the program. Most of them blew me off...and within two weeks they were looking for the next 'miracle diet'.

IMO one of the great things about BFL is that it ISN'T a diet. It's a lifestyle that is very much livable...and doable by just about everyone who sincerely wants to change their lives and body for the better. One of the big excuses for NOT doing it that I hear frequently is "I can't eat six meals a day!" Au contraire. Most people do eat at least six times a day - I see them all the time at work. Most of the time, though, they're grabbing a candy bar or a donut - inhale it, and forget that they ate it within 15 minutes. But to them that's not a meal. As Bill Phillips said "A meal doesn't mean you have Mom lay out a napkin and a place setting...a meal for me might be a protein shake and a piece of fruit."

It did take me some time to get used to eating thoughtfully six times a day - especially that darn Meal #4. I solved that by having my Outlook kitty give me a reminder at 3:45 that Meal #4 was due. After about three weeks, I didn't need the reminder anymore...

Whew! Sorry to go on and on...I do have a tendency to do that.

Hope everyone's doing well!

Hey!

I completely agree with Mrs. Jim (see, I told you people were helpful, and she's very, very knowledgeable). Sorry about the wrong website; I always went to EAS and I guess it transferred me to the other site and I didn't notice...duh!

Please, DO read the book. It made a world of difference in my level of commitment. I also know about the Woman's World article; several coworkers had questions, and I offered to let them look at my BFL book, but they didn't want to commit to 12 weeks.

Taking a line from someone else, I replied that it was Body for Life, not Body for 12 Weeks, and it was about life changes and not a number on a scale.

Well, these people are the professional "dieters" in my office and they didn't want to do anything that made sense. Last I heard, they had ordered that fruit juice ripoff, on the premise that they'll lose all this weight (read: water) in 48 hours. I replied "Then what?" They said what do you mean? I said "After the 48 hours is over, then what? What are your plans for keeping the weight off?" I was smiling the whole time, curious as to the answer.

They didn't have one. But they must've thought about it because they didn't order the stuff, but the fridge is full of cheese and lunchmeat, so they must be back on Atkins/Protein Power/starve your muscle away....

I don't poke my nose where it isn't wanted, but they asked me.

I'm on week 3 and my Pants-O-Meter says my fat levels are going down. My energy is beginning to surge, and I look forward to my workouts. I threw my scale out.

Claire - you talking about the Hollywood 48-Hour Miracle Juice Diet? But ALL the stars are doing it!! And the ad says that 90% of the weight you lose is FAT - guaranteed!!!

GOOD FOR YOU for throwing that nasty ol' scale out!!! Don't know if you remember but Pam B made a kind of new year's resolution that she would NOT weigh herself ever again. The exceptions would be doctor's appointments and competitions. Think about it - if the scale is such a wonderful tool in weight-loss, why aren't more people who get on it every day or every week losing more weight? I actually think it is a tool for weight GAIN - especially for those who live and die by what it says (I used to be one of those people myself not long ago). The scale can push you into a vicious circle - if you gain weight - then you eat out of depression - if you lose weight - then you have a x-pound leeway to eat...just can't win...

Noone at my work would ever admit to doing the Hollywood Juice Diet - however judging from the fridge, we have at least one Jenny Craig devotee on the floor somewhere (there are about four JC entrees in the freezer). And all the Weight Watchers dinners as well...the rest of the work fridge is filled with various science experiments in different stages of decomposing. EEYWW.

Then there's MY part of the fridge (I have taken over one of the veggie bins) which usually contains hard-boiled eggs, cottage cheese, a ton of apples, carrots, FF yogurt, the occasional chicken and rice baggies (so much easier to do the CC and hot apples though)...plus my gallon of H20 on my desk (I don't finish it most days but I do consume a very high percentage of it - I make up for it at home though). Sometimes I'll go downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch - depending on what's on the menu. Today is Chinese Chicken Salad - hooray! They make them to order, so I point at all the veggies, tell them to skip the fried won ton strips and use the fat-free soy dressing instead of the peanut dressing (okay, I know peanuts are a healthy fat but I'm already doing Udo's twice a day). These salads are so humongus that I usually end up having half for Meal #3 and the other half for Meal #4.


Had **SUCH** a great workout today - after my PT of last night (we did triads - chest/shoulders/triceps sets) I had shoulders/abs/calves today...I love working in those new exercises I'm learning - wish I could keep going every week to Theresa, she has been fabulous! I must be nuts, but I'm actually fooling around with the idea of becoming a personal trainer myself - I told Jim this and said he would be my first client (wasn't too thrilled with the idea - the boy needs to learn to enjoy the gym!!!). We'll see what happens though - I have a lot of irons in the fire right now...later all!

Thanks so much for all the great information and advice!!

No, I haven't read the book yet. I plan on getting it on my next trip to WalMart which will probably be in the next couple of days. I called my local library and they don't have it. I've checked out the BFL website many times though and it has really peaked my interest. I'm looking for a lifestyle change ... not just a temporary fix. I have about 120 pounds to lose. A long way to go but I'm sure I'll get there.

I'll try and check back in as often as I can. Thanks again for the warm welcome!

Hi again Stephanie...

Read the book...hang out for a bit here and at L&S...there are quite a few people there who are or have done BFL with 100+ pounds to lose (I mean a lot of bodyfat to lose as we don't go by scale weight too often here )...go to the Transformation Gallery there and check out Pam B (SUCH an inspiration!), AngelaV, shonda, julie and a bunch of others whose names escape me at the moment (not even mentioning the guys).

BFL RULZ!!!

I have 140 to lose, myself, so you're not alone.