[stef]

Hello all,

I've had d little lurk around this site and found it really interesting. I post a bit on the exercise and UK site, so I am not totally lurky - honest!

What I would like to know is how you all get on with BFL as a lifestyle. I am staring a new job which willinclude giving advice on exercise programmes, slimming programmes, and other health issues. I obviously can't try them all out myself. Some programmes I can form a really clear opinion of by reading about them - it is what I spent the last 4 years getting educated for after all!

But the BFL as a lifestyle has escaped me! I have seen a couple of the books and have to say I wasn't too impressed by them. I have also lurked around other sites, but haven't managed to get a rounded view - the other site was seemingly full of 100% evangelistic converts.

I don't want to slam or praise the programme without having heard from people who have used it and both liked and hated it. So if you have had a particularly good or bad experience of it could you let me know?

Thnaks for your time. If anyone has any general exercise q's I could answer them as payment for your help, if you would like!

Stef

[JEC]

Basically BFL is a good core program to introduce people to lifting weights and eating correctly. It's a great platform to start fatloss and increase muscle mass which in turn increases your metabolism. I didn't get stellar results to begin with but it did spark an interest in nutrition and fitness that propelled me onto self-learning and from that I have had awesome results.

HTH

JC

[Mel]

I had much the same experience. I have kept the lifestyle, but don't do BFL style lifting any more. My first challenge had hardly stellar results scale wise (I actually gained 3 pounds) but dropped my body fat from 29% to 22%. I felt a zillion percent better. A year and a half later, I'm still doing intense weight training and cardio, and eating clean, but have tweaked the program so much that it's not BFL anymore.

mel

[rochemist]

This has been interesting to hear. I am on C1W2D9 and its been through the inspiration I get here and at L&S that make my eating that much cleaner and feeling vary faithful about keeping my self promises. It is interesting to learn that this is the platform for a journey worth taking. So far I am really enjoying BFL, but I pigged out too much on my First Free Day, which I think is a newbie reaction. My plan this week. To plan my free day, exactly what is worth eating and what I can skip!

Miss Chris

[DiamondDeb]

Stef, I agree with the others. BFL is a great beginner's program. I did well, but have seen better results since moving on. I switched to BRx with a 4-day split and no required cardio a little over a year ago. While I loved BFL, I think it's tough to comfortably fit 6 days at the gym into a normal "lifestyle." I enjoy having some flexability when life presents obstacles. My plan today doing C8 is very different from that first BFL challenge. I think the longer you do this the more your plan naturally evolves to something different.

Deb

[3fcuser1058250]

I love the BFL way of eating... I have no problems with it... EXCEPT when I fall of the wagon that is...

This plan doesn’t feel like a “diet” I can live with it because I’m rarely hungry... unless I go over the 2.5 hours... that seems to be my magic number... then I will eat anything in sight...

The BFL workout I really like, it's short and sweet and to the point, and I will go back to it this summer, when I want to spend more time outside biking and less time in the gym...

At the moment I am doing a 6 day split... and being it's only an hour at 5am I can live with it well....

Lana...

[MrsJim]

Hey there Stef!

As you've probably found out by now, even though a lot of us started out with BFL, we've since moved on to other things.

For me personally, I still like to fall back to the BFL way of eating - it's a no-brainer by now. I'm not mathmatically oriented so just eating clean frequent small meals and eyeballing portions works for me just fine. And like Mel, I have long since abandoned the BFL training split, else I would get totally bored by now - nearly two years after the beginning of my first challenge (or 'cycle' as I prefer to call it).

IMO, BFL is a great 'intro to bodybuilding' program for beginners - a lot of gyms (like mine for example!) have so much equipment and those big muscley guys that newbies can get quite intimidated. But we try not to get all 'evangelistic' around here - as you can see by the name change - we started out as the Body for Life forum, then BFL/Bodybuilding, now we're the Ladies who Lift.

I said this last week - a lot of folks on diet programs tend to get really offended if you dare to say something against it, and not just BFL either - I've seen it happen with Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins, Richard Simmons...the list goes on and on...I think it's just human nature - kind of like belonging to a religion. Here at the LWL forum, we are all doing different programs - lots of cardio, no cardio, low-carb, zig-zag, etc. - but we all have weight training as a common thread! Is that cool or what! And we can all learn from each other.

ANYway, BFL to me is a stepping stone - but one of many. It's helped a lot of folks out there...but we're all human and we're all different - there's defintely no such thing as a 'one size fits all' program IMO!

Okay, I know I was rambling there!!!

[Jamie (fitnessqueen)]

BFl for me was a good platform into the fitness lifestyle. It did get me to chang emy habits, but I saw far from stellar results. I know I ate too little on my first round. Since than I have done Body Rx and really enjoyed that program alot. I am now reading The Schwarzbein principle and am giving this a go. Personally, there is no end all program, and if someone tells you that it is than they are fooling themselves. What works for someone will not work for everyone!
Jamie

[BethO]

Hi Stef -

I think you're getting a good overview of BFL from the comments on this thread - the only thing I would add is that IMO Body for Life is an especially good program for people 25+ because they are rebuilding the muscle age has started taking away from them. For inactive older people, they have often lost so much muscle over the years that their metabolism is too low for them to lose weight by strictly "calorie counting" without being constantly hunger. Which of course leads to bingeing, disordered eating, etc.

It is an especially tough sell to convince older generations (especially women) that weight training will help keep them as slim and trim as they want to be...BFL manages to bring weight training out of the stereotype of a guy's domain of sweaty heavy metal gyms and into the mainstream.

And that's a wonderful thing.

BethO

[stef]

Thank you all for your replies.

I am so aware that I have an in built dislike of 'programmes', Mrs Jim I know so well what you mean about not being able to bash them. My education and training is in lifestyle changes over temporary fixes. I couldn't see how you were supposed to live BFL for ever.

Knowing you have all found it an invaluable platform for regaining control is exactly the info I need to be able to pass sensible comment upon it.

Agin, many thanks. Stef