Welcome to Body for Life number #58 - if y'all don't mind I've slightly changed the thread title... since many of us have moved on from BFL (which I think of as "bodybuilding 101") while still adhering to its basic tenents and philosophy!

I've been totally busy with my offsite meeting, but thought it high time to begin a new thread...

Basic Body for Life Information

Must Have: Body for Life book by Bill Phillips

BFL eating program in a nutshell (see book for more details): six meals a day 2-3 hours apart consisting of balanced (or close to balanced) protein/carb using fist (carbs) palm (protein) method of measurement. 2 meals a day add green veggies. 8-10 glasses of water per day.

Because of the six meal requirement, some people find it convenient to have Meal Replacement Drinks on hand. This is not a requirement but a convenience.

Meal Replacement Shakes. Look for good ratios of protein to carb and low sugar (Myoplex Lite by EAS and Met Rx not anything like Slimfast [or SlimFat which is all sugar!]) or use Protein Powder and add carbs such as fruit. If you shop at www.netrition.com the page for each product will list carbs/proteins/fats/sugars. check the labels carefully! If you like to add carbs, go for a low carb but keep your protein/carb grams in mind. Some of the protein shakes have protein grams as high as 42 and this is usually too much for one BFL meal for any woman so split these in 2 and add carbs.

Vitamins: suggest multivitamin

Supplements: l-glutamine for faster muscle recovery and immune system (this is not required but almost standard fare on BFL)

Essential Oils: Recommended. Udos is the most recommended.

Workout schedule (see book for more details): 45-60 minutes intense weight trainining 3 times a week working lower and upper body on different days. 20 minutes intense cardio 3 x a week (see the BFL book)

Free Day: One day a week no workout and eat any thing you please, as much as you please.

Rest: 12 weeks of program with one day of rest each week and then one week of rest between each 12 weeks.

Mental requirements: commitment and dedication

Results: AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mrs. Jim,
Just wanted to thank you for the emails. I really appreciated them

Shonda

So I'm happy the topic has gotten more general.

I'm only on day 3, and the eating is remarkably similar (except for more tracking, which doesn't bug me). For Cycle 1 though, I'm actually eating less protein than I was using palm/fist (yep, I tracked p/f that last week or so just out of curiosity). I weighed 121.5 lbs on Sunday (5'2 1/2", about 19% BF) so I get 121 grams of protein. This will increase each cycle (every 6 weeks).

I also get 240 grams of "yellow carbs", all the starchy stuff and also the processed crap we weren't eating on BFL. It isn't a target, just a limit; it's aimed at those who were NOT doing BFL, obviously. The limit goes down each cycle.Fruits and veggies are unlimited on BodyRX, but I'm still paying attention. Minimum fiber intake is 30 grams a day (TG for Fiber One) and goes up each cycle.

I do like the change in lifting; I really needed something to shake up things for me. I was getting a bit burnt out on 6 days in the gym; BodyRX is 4, plus....(drumroll please) NO CARDIO!!!!!

If I start to blow up like a balloon I'll re-evaluate.

MrsJim, are you still competing in July? I ask because the info isn't in your sigfile now, but that may just be for brevity

Laura

I did body rx also. I really liked it. I lost about 5 pounds during cycles 1 and 2 though. And I ate all the yellow carbs I was allowed. Nothing during cycle 3. You can see my body rx pics on my website.http://pages.ivillage.com/cl-shonda777/mybflpage.html click on photos and then on 2002.



Good luck on it

MrsJim,

I sent you a PM.

General question for this forum: Can you do swimming as your primary cardio exercise in the BFL program? I'm starting to get curious about it, as I'm pretty impressed by all the before/after photos.

Adrienne

Howdy y'all - I am just about recovered from my meeting. I took the afternoon off work and spent some quality time with kitty (who, thanks to my niece, now has his own FULL name - Sparky Polastri - after the evil choreographer in the film "Bring it On"). Also got in a little gym time in the afternoon. I really missed having all my 'stuff' while offsite and the familiarity of my gym!

Adrianne - welcome - I PM'ed you back, you should have it by now. About swimming - I've never heard anyone doing that as a BFL 20 MAS cardio. I'll have to ask over at L&S. My opinion is, well, probably not - my view is that it would be really tough to hit a '10' for a minute whilst swimming. But then again, I'm no swimmer

I have the book Body RX and found it interesting, but right now I'm doing the GetLean eating program. I like it since you get lots of starchy carbs, but unfortunately no fruit or dairy. About me competing - it's starting to look pretty sketchy at this point - at least for the July 27th comp. Mostly it's a money thing for me - I'm really stretched financially and one thing I'm learning is that competing can be really pricey. Pretty much everyone at L&S who is competing has a personal trainer and a posing coach ($65 a session here in the Bay Area) - then there's the contest fees, the posing suits ($100 and up) and the shoes (since I'd be doing figure - your BF% doesn't need to be as low). The only way I could afford all that is if I didn't get my car fixed AND gave up my riding lessons - and I've always said that I would NOT give up my riding lessons. My car needs about $1500 worth of work - right now it's not running but I can't keep asking Jim to shuttle me everywhere. In the Bay Area, you NEED a car to get places, and we can't afford another car payment right now. I'm not trying to make excuses, because I'm training and eating on my own with a goal of getting in COMP SHAPE - just for MY OWN personal goal . I'm not at the point where money problems are keeping me up nights worrying, but I've been there before (in my first marriage) and don't want to be there again - it's a terrible situation to be in to say the least!

Whew! Enough about me...how's everyone else doing?

Still here, plugging away....
My daughter got home from Ohio State last night and we went to the gym together today. Major bonding experience: she just wanted to do cardio and I kept nagging her she'd lose strength if she layed off lifting for 2 weeks, so she jumped (she's 5'3" also) up to the pull-up bar, cranked out 20 in good form, gave me a withering look, then headed for the ellipticals. So much for mom's advice! Also, ladies, for your self-esteem, don't go to the gym with an in-shape 20 year old blonde.

C2 is not producing the results I'd expected...1 week officially to go, but I'm stretching it out until July 4 when we leave for vacation. Maybe there is hope yet. I've got great muscles, and smaller boobs and wrists and fingers, but my waist is the same or bigger and same for the stomach Of course, my 1 failure was yesterday dinner, celebrating son's excellent report card and I think I made up for 11 weeks of caloric deficit. So, back to squeeky clean eating for 3 weeks to try to pull this off.

Adrienne: Hi there, welcome. My experience with swimming is that it would be hard to hit sustained 10's, as MrsJim noted. Also, this may be an old wive's tale but most swimmers agree that it's hard to lean out because being in water that is lower than your body temp makes your body try to add a layer of insulation. I used to do a lot of lap swimming; it's great for aerobic conditioning, but not a good fat burner.

MrsJim: too bad about the comp $$ problems; but doing it for you is even better. A couple of folks at my gym have asked me if I'm gonna compete and I always answer "no- I just want to look like I'd win if I did!"

Hi everyone else!

mel

Welcome to Adrienne and Lana

MrsJim-- I know what you mean about the $$$; as a SAHM of 4 very expensive kids, I already feel semi-guilty about $80/month for my gym (this includes 20 for childcare), not to mention the preschool time that saves my sanity <g>. When I've read about competitor's expenses re: coaching, it scares me! Good for you for doing it for yourself!

Mel- yeah, I doubt I'd ever drag my dd15 along to the gym with me; supposedly we're the same size, but somehow clothes (especially shorts) look much more amazing on her than they do on me! Gravity, yanno

So I'm finishing up Brx Week 1. It's weird only going to the gym 4 times a week; I feel like I'm cheating. My weight is the same as last Sunday (121.5) even with TOM due any minute. I admit that I'm only doing 5 meals a day most days, because otherwise I'd be going way over on protein, but I always make sure I eat my last meal late. Not eating much in the way of yellow carbs, and I'm beginning to think that this was one of the things that held back fat loss for me in C1.

And no, I don't miss the stepmill yet

Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday

Laura

It's a gorgeous day here in the Bay Area...we were up pretty late last night (babysitting for my sister - if Jim doesn't have a gig he usually stops by to watch TV - the kids LOVE their Uncle Jim!). Slept til 7 am which is LATE for me, woke up and went to the gym for a cardio session...I hope today we go bike riding along the levee - there's a 15+ mile paved bike path that runs along the San Francisco Bay Shore from Burlingame all the way down to Redwood Shores. It's great because not only do you get the lovely bay views but (with the exception of a couple of breaks) there is NO car traffic to worry about. Sawyer Camp Trail (at the Crystal Springs Lake/San Andreas Dam) is also gorgeous but tends to be VERY crowded on weekends.

I have to share this - hope it doesn't sound like a brag though Last night I went to sister's to babysit - they have a couple of friends visiting from New York and SoCal - both guys. We sat and chatted a bit before they left - the New York guy I have met a couple times before but hadn't met the SoCal dude. Jim wasn't there yet - he usually practices his guitar a bit before he makes his way to sister's. I was sitting next to my sis, and the SoCal guy said "I noticed you were flexing your muscles - I'm impressed!" Actually I wasn't flexing - I was just sitting there - so I said, "I wasn't flexing - THIS is flexing" and I struck a bit of a pose. I guess he was impressed - didn't think much of it. Later on, after they came back from their outing, Jen pulled me aside and told me that this guy could NOT stop talking about me during the entire dinner!! Jen had to break the news that I was already happily married - and she said he was VERY disappointed... (fortunately Jim isn't the jealous type - we're pretty secure in our relationship.) I found it EXTREMELY flattering!

When I look in the mirror, sometimes I see MuscleGirl and sometimes I still see vestiges of FatGirl, so it's nice to get that kind of validation from others - that way I KNOW I'm on the right path...

Had my riding lesson yesterday - I love to canter At this point, I really CAN'T give up my equine activities. Next year I want to get a part-lease on one of Dee's show horses and maybe do some schooling shows...Riding gives me such a feeling of freedom, of being one with the horse, I'm hooked! And my bodybuilding is helping me become a better rider, I know this.

Mel - that's exactly the way I feel about this whole thing. I really want to LOOK like I can compete more than actually getting on stage and doing it. Especially with the money factored in. One of the gals at the Comp board told me that just posing suits and shoes alone for her came to well over $300! And that's not counting the coaching/training. EVERY SINGLE ONE of the competitors at L&S has had professional training and coaching. Last weekend, "Swlsue" competed and she posted the pix at www.leanandstrong.com 's Events gallery. If you look at one of the pictures - the posedown pic - you can see that one of the competitors did NOT know what she was doing as far as posing, etc. I saw that at the comp I went to as well - if you don't have the posing down, basically you just end up looking foolish!

Another thing that has been eating at me - is working hard to get down to below 10% BF for basically ONE DAY. Most of the competitors gained a substantial amount of weight back the week following their comp - I don't want to do that In retrospect, for me, I just don't feel it would be the healthiest thing to do - mentally or physically. I'm also not ready to stop taking BCPs for 5-6 weeks prior to a comp - it's recommended for women to do that to keep from retaining water.

Lanaii - I know JUST where you're coming from - I've been hitting the gym in the AM for probably five YEARS, but spent my time being a cardio bunny :sheep: until discovering BFL and the benefits of weight training...and proper nutrition. BFL is a GREAT program to learn the basics of bodybuilding. It's funny - more and more of the gals at the gym have been coming up to me - asking what I've been doing and that they've been watching me for the past year or two - seeing my progress. In speaking with them, I find that most of them are SCARED of lifting heavy weights - they think they're going to 'bulk up' like a guy. I just tell them, 'look at me - I haven't bulked up - muscles on a woman are SEXY'. As long as you don't take steroids (yuk - who would want to?) you are NOT going to look like those freaky female bodybuilders that you sometimes see in the hardcore muscle mags - you are going to look lean, strong, attractive, and assertive!

Enough for now - everyone have a super day!

Ended c2W11 with four days of bad eating- and I haven't managed to force any protein into myself today either. Workouts are great, but I'm sabotaging myself with too many events that I have to go to, and then can't stay in control. Don't know what's going on here- I've eaten clean for almost a year (actually 11 months next week) so it's not like I don't know how. Argh- some one smack me!

mel

hello BFL buddy's - I've been gone for a while (about 2 months I think!!!!!) but I'm back and today is my first day of challenge 2.

But I say Challenge 2 with a grain of salt as I had kind of an epiphony today where it just hit me that I don't want to live on 12 week challenges, What I really want is a lifestyle. So I'm not really sure what I'll do in twelve weeks time (might still take a week off from the weights) but I'm pretty sure I'm in this for life now.

I'll write more later as I am supposed to be working, but just wanted to get back in the picture with you all from day one.

how is everyone? Hi Mrs Jim, Mel, Thunderheart - how are you doing? catch you later.
Carps

MrsJim, this is something I've always been uncomfortable with too; not that I'd be likely to ever compete myself . But I've skimmed the competitor's board at L and S and saw one woman (fitmom maybe?) saying she had gained 20 pounds back after competing. I've also seen another person posting that at 41, she hasn't had a period for a couple of years due to low BF. I'm no medical expert, but this just doesn't strike me as healthy.

Mel, am I gonna have to come over there and slap you around?

I can't get to the gym til about 11 today; we have entered swim practice season, plus ds3 is taking lessons til 10:30. Not quite sure how my meal timing is going to work, but BRx doesn't stress timing (before weights) like BFL does.

Welcome back, carps

Oh and I see we got our own forum, or mini-forum? I feel special


Laura

Actually it IS a gorgeous day around these here parts

Carps - welcome back - and congrats on beginning C2! You're gonna rock, I know it!

As far as the separate forum...I have mixed feelings about it. I know we get a lot of lurkers here looking for info and inspiration - and I like to address my posts to them as well as the 'regulars' here. Hopefully being separate from the main "diet plans" thread won't stop folks from checkin' this out!

Laura - I was just talking to a gal here at work who also does BFL about that very subject (working hard, being perfect for one day, then right after the comp eating everything in sight). She actually used to have a roommate who was a BB competitor, and kept a list of food she wanted to eat after the contest. Right after she got off stage, she would want the food there RIGHT THEN. And actually 20 pounds does seem to be the average scale weight gain after a competition from what I've read on the boards...

Mel - have you tried journaling for a bit? Just write down all your workouts and meals ahead of time each evening for the next day. I find that helps to get me back on track when I feel like I'm losing control

Thunderheart & susanje - we miss you! hope you're doing well!

I can move the threads back to the main Diet Plans forum if that happens. You have more experience tracking the BFL threads than I do, so I'll glady trust your judgment on this. Let me know how it goes.

Consider this a "beta" forum