Hey peeps. ;b

I thought I would start a BFL thread since so many people are on it or at least interested in it. This is your place for BFL support, sharing success stories or worries, plus discussing the pros and cons of doing it. And also, not forgetting the chance it gives us to convert people. :p

So, who's doing the Body for Life challenge? I've followed it pretty much religiously since December last year but it's getting difficult improvising at home without a gym nearby. :s However, I'm feeling really good - I'm actually getting abs, I've lost a lot of weight off my back, and strangely my face has changed a lot.

How's it going for everyone? I'd be really interested in your progress. I'm mainly on it to gain muscle and improve my physical and mental health, since I don't have any weight to lose (I'm 50 kg). So it would be interesting hearing about it from a weight loss perspective. :)

Jordie
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p.s.. I've also just got Shawn Phillips' book ABSolution. Totally inspirational! ;b
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i'm very excited about these types of threads, jordie. i really think they are a good idea. :)

i've been on the BFL diet since april 29. i LOVE it.

i've lost 15 pounds. i still have three weeks to go. (it's a 12-week plan.) i will take a seven-day break from exercise (not dieting) and then return to it sometime in august. :)

i found out about BFL while searching for different diets on the internet one afternoon. once i read the information and then bought bill phillips' book, i was hooked.

it's a great lifestyle. it's not difficult to stay on it; the free day we get helps tremendously. (you get one free day a week from both diet and exercise.)

MY TIPS
i do recommend people getting one tablespoon of olive oil a day or one tablespoon of peanut butter. (any good fats.) flax seed oil is recommended as well.

if you're eating eggs for protein, stick to the whites. at the beginning i was eating whole eggs and i wasn't losing. now i use egg whites and just one whole egg. (the majority is white, though.)

don't eat too many baked potatoes during the week as your carb. alternate them with brown rice or another carb. baked potatoes turn to sugar just too fast for me.

the diet only recommends two to three servings of veggies a day. i don't like that. you need veggies. i always have a nice salad (romaine, onions, tomatoes and carrots with olive oil and vinager) almost every night. i also have a slice of lettuce and carrot sticks with my lunch. i haven't had a problem with too many carbs from veggies.

stick to the exercise. on BFL you alternate 20 minutes cardio and weight training. do cardio M W F and weight train T TH S. STICK TO IT! (the book has more info on how to weight train.)

use your free day!! i was scared at first to pig out on my free day, but don't be afraid. it's only one day. i always look forward to sunday (saturday's my free day) because i'll be eating healthy again.

well, i'll post more tips as they come. but so far, BFL is my diet for life. my goal is to lose another 40 to 60 pounds. i know i can do it ... especially on body for life. (god, i feel like an advertisement, but i feel strongly about BFL. it's VERY healthy.)

.maureen.
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Hello!!! ;b ;b ;b

Ah, I'm sorry I didn't reply for so long; life is hectic. Especially since..

**drum roll**

I'm writing my first book. It's a kiddie's book. A demented gothic philosophical faery tale. I've planned it out and am getting my ideas copyrighted, and I continue to surprise myself with the things I come up with. These ideas are totally yummy. :)

Well, Maureen, that's WONDERFUL you've lost that weight! Good for you!!!! I love hearing about what people have achieved on the BFL programme.

And oh yes, I totally agree with all your tips.

Except, for me, a free day is pretty much a waste, since all the foods I crave are healthy anyway. So instead of a free DAY, I treat myself to a chocolate bar or some chips a few times a week. There's no point in having a free day for me if I crave vegetables and egg white omlettes anyway. But yeah, if you're a chocolate freak, take advantage!! :)

The thing that's getting me down right now is that I don't have a gym nearby and can't afford my own equipment. I'll have to wait until Oct when I go to uni. So until then I'm pretty much stuffed. Because you can only improvise so much at home. And I've reached a plateau with regards to the exercises I am able to do. I just can't go any further. It's frustrating and it leads me to slip up on my diet because I sometimes think "what's the point?" but then I remember that, you know, I'll just feel WORSE THAN I ALREADY DO if I eat crap - at least if I eat well I know I am doing SOMETHING for myself. So my tip is:

If you are unable to do certain elements of the programme, don't give up. Do what you can do. Don't give up. Because as long as you are trying and turning your life around, you can be proud of yourself. If it means you don't progress as quickly as you like, don't worry. Because you'll get there eventually. And you DESERVE to get there because of your effort.

Jordie
xxx

p.s How are your abs coming along? What ab exercises do you do? I'm an ab freak; these things interest me. :)
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most of the weight i've lost has come from my midsection.

however, i still have no six pack!! :p

i do about 80 sit ups every other day.

i'm going away for three days. i'm so worried about gaining. like *really* worried.

i know i shouldn't be, but i am. it's only three days. and i plan on being on BFL for a long time ... or at least until i get to where i want to be. (which means another 50 pounds.)

i want to enjoy the weekend and not have to diet heavily.

but i've done so well on it already; i've even skipped work out days so just imagine if i did exercise everyday.

i've lost a total of 20 or 21 pounds. it seems like a lot. i look so much better but i have a long way to go.

but BFL makes it SO easy to shed the weight. it's unbelievable.

jordie, i LOVE what you posted in bold. it is so right on. you are doing SOO well. :)

thanks for the encouragement!!

MaUrEeN
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Oh, I just responded to your few days off in the meal thread. Oh well, I'll say it again.

I think it's fine to give yourself a break once in a while. After all, keeping up a fairly strict regime can be hard and not always practical. I had someone to stay for two weeks a while ago so I couldn't do all the exercises I usually did and that made me feel terrible, but you just have to pick up where you left off and applaud yourself for at least having the motivation to go back to it after a break.

I was saying in the other thread that what you could do if you're feeling bad is to take some Myoplex Lite bars with you or something, and just eat a few of them a day (between all the cakes ;) ) so that at least you know you're getting enough protein. I love the lemon cheesecake flavoured Myoplex bars!

I really think it's possible to be unhealthy with a conscience.. after all, being BFLers we have quite a bit of knowledge about nutrition, so at least when we're unhealthy we know the absolute worst things that you can eat and avoid them.. and also we know what the most healthy unhealthy things there are. So you're still practising good health, I think. For example, if I'm having a cheat meal I really like macaroni cheese, especially this stuff that comes in packets, but I know it has way too much fat, so I just make my own. It's healthier and just as yummy. Little things like that make you feel better about cheating.

Oh - by the way, I really recommend getting Shawn Phillips' book ABSolution. It's amazing! And I think he's kind of sexy, especially in his glasses.

Jordie
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hey! I'm really interested in Body for Life. However, it seems pretty similar to what I'm doing right now. Do you think its worth it for me to buy the book(books are soo expensive!)???
I've been doing 20 min Cardio 4-5 days a week and weight training 2-3 days a week. (I alternate between 4 days cardio, 3 days weight training and 5 days cardio 2 days weight training when my muscles feel too tired.)

I think my diet is pretty similar to the BFL diet as well. I try to eat carbs and protein at every meal. I DO eat a lot of fruit and vegetables though. That's not really recommended in the program is it?? I also try not to eat anytime after 8 pm (I usually go to bed around 12).

oh yeah, I also drink TONS of water. I've cut juices and sodas out of my diet in May. I'm working on lessoning the amout of coffee I drink everymorning as well (its hard work--that stuff is ADDICTIVE!!).

so have I got this all totally wrong??


Jordie-- Your childrens book sounds AWESOME!! Is it going to be a short book with pictures and stuff or a long book?? I'm excited to hear more about it.

toodles
jeni
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Oh yay, everyone seems really interested in it! Well, my intention is for it to be fairly long with a few arty weirdo pictures in it. I'm going to get into collages and I want the pictures in it to be quite disjointed and demented. I don't know yet; I think I'll concentrate on that aspect when I come to it. I'm pretty long winded, so I think it'll end up being an epic. One of my literary goals is to write a book that's a thousand pages long or more.

Yeah, what you're doing sounds sort of similar to BFL:

- Cardio:
It's pretty much universally recommended, I think, that you do three days of cardio a week and three days of weight training. You say that you do less weight training when you're sore; remember that muscular soreness is good because it means you're growing, so don't stop! Carry on and you'll look wonderful. I actually get really frustrated and disenchanted when I DON'T hurt after exercise.

- Diet:
Yes, it is mainly accepted in fitness circles that every meal should have a portion of carbs and a portion of protein with it, and the BFL plan also includes a portion of vegetables with a few of these meals as well. Every meal is three portions.
I don't think lots of fruit and vegetables is bad at all. Of course, fruit contains lots of sugary carbs and isn't as good as vegetables, but I think that a person who starts eating lots of fruit after years of eating junk food has the right idea. I really think that you need to do whatever it takes to tear yourself away from chocolate. When I started dieting (dieting in the sense that I changed my eating plan, not that I deprived myself of food, of course), I replaced all my junk food with fruit; because fruit is actually really addictive.

So, you don't have it all totally wrong. :) It is clear that you have very much the right idea. Good for you! Yes, I really recommend you buy Body-for-LIFE, as well as Shawn Phillips' book ABSolution, although that's sort of a luxury extra that repeats a lot of what Body-for-LIFE says, and yeah, books are expensive, so just stick to the Body-for-LIFE one for now if you want until you've made your millions and can afford all the books you want.

Jordie
xxx

p.s I just want to tell everyone that I am now over three quarters of the way to finishing my personal fitness trainer course and practically already finished with my sports nutrition course. Yay! This means in a month or so I'll have two more qualifications. **bounce**
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I'm glad this thread is here. I love hearing about other people's successes. I started the program in the spring and had success with it, but when my gym closed I got off track. I just got back from vacation and the entire week I was thinking about how I really need to start Body for Life again. It really isn't a hard program to stick with. It's strange that when I have all this free time during the summer to workout, I don't. But, when I'm busy with work and school, I always seem to make it to the gym. I guess I just need structure.

Tomorrow is my first day back on the program. I'll try to remember this thread is here for motivation and possible questions.
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Hi Pulcheria!! ;b

Yes, I was wondering how you were doing after the whole bad situation with the gym. It's good that you're continuing despite this. :)

I think that structure is important, yes. Right now, I have nothing to do all day (I FINALLY go to uni in late September) and I am not at all motivated to exercise. Since it is the only thing in my day when I DO do it, it feels like a hassle that needs to be endured before I can get on with the rest of my day.

And yet when I'm busy I love exercising.. it's my "me time" and I enjoy it so much.

There isn't a gym nearby here. And I've reached a plateau improvising at home. So I'm wondering if I should stop the BFL programme until I get to uni and can do it properly.

Jordie
xxx
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i just signed up yesterday to enter a BFL challenge. all i have to do is fill out some paperwork and take before and after photos of myself. (you also get great discounts on EAS bars/shakes and supplements.)

i'm a little scared, but i think if i know i'm *in* the challenge, i'll do better on BFL.

this is the last week of my first challenge and i've lost about 21 pounds. i did this with a tiny bit of cheating (not much, though) AND i didn't exercise all the time.

on july 29 when i start challenge two, i'm going to be more strict. sure, i've lost weight and i look and feel better but i want to look and feel better even more now and know that i followed BFL to a tee.

anyway, thought i'd just mention it. :)

has anyone else ever entered a BFL challenge? (there's information about them at www.bodyforlife.com)
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Good luck with the challenge cooling_grrl! I'm sure you'll do great, especially since you already know what to expect.

I'm almost done with my first week back on the program. I've been very good with my eating this week. My only slip was a can of Pepsi with lunch today. That really isn't that big of a deal. The hardest thing for me is resisting all free drinks I can have working at Starbucks.

I've decided to start working out next week, starting Monday. I wanted to really focus on my eating this week and get that right before I try to perfect my workout routine. I did go the gym this week, but the real workouts start Monday.

I can understand your frustration Anaximenes. It's really hard to increase intensity on exercises when you don't have the proper equipment. It might be a good idea for you to try something else for awhile, then go back to the program later when you think you'll be able to work with it more.
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