Guest guest Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 The bars and shakes are just a convenience. They make it easier to eat six meals a day in proper ratios. Real food is always better if you have time to prepare it. Advice on how to tackle Body for Life. First, forget dieting. :-) If you're good at dieting and that mindset of being " on " or " off " your plan, you'll be bad at creating a permanent, flexible nutrition approach that will get you lean and keep you there. It's about learning enjoyable lifetime habits rather than being perfect for a few weeks. Be careful with free day. If you go totally, totally crazy with what and how much you eat, you can undo your whole calorie deficit for the week. Enjoy your favorite foods. It's ok to relax and have the chocolate, or the french fries, or whatever you've been craving. Just don't hurt yourself. :-) Don't rely on the scale. You're probably not going to drop pounds every week. You'll lose fat, you'll lose inches, but because you're strength training and building muscle, the scale weight won't always reflect the full magnitude of the changes. Make sure you take pictures and measurements because they will tell the whole story. Don't get on the scale the day after free day. People always do that and then nearly pass out from shock and fright. We've had a lot of crying people around here on Mondays. :-) If you eat clean all week, and then you eat Doritos and Chinese food and movie popcorn on Sunday, it's normal to be up several pounds from the carbs and sodium. The bloat will go away and then some by the end of the week. So, don't panic if the scale does some tricky things. Ideally, you only weigh yourself naked, first thing in the morning on the day of your free day, before you've had anything to eat or drink. That way when you're looking at the numbers, you always have a full week of clean eating behind you. Hopping on and off the scale throughout the week, and especially at different times of day will give you a breakdown. Really push yourself on the intensity of the workouts. You should be lifting heavy and regularly increasing your weights. The last few reps, especially on the 8 and 6 rep sets should be very challenging. You should be pushing your limits and struggling a bit for the last couple of reps. If you could easily do several more, it means you're not going heavy enough. That 20 minutes of cardio should be the most challenging that you've ever done. The " high-point " should be totally blasting it with a pace that your lungs and muscles couldn't possibly maintain for more than 60 seconds. It should rock your socks off and leave you sweaty, noodle-like and winded. If you finish and you think 20 minutes wasn't long enough and that you should probably add some bonus cardio, it means you didn't do it right. :-) Hope that helps you get started. Be sure to ask questions as they come up. You'll do great! > Hello ladies, > > I'm completely new to BFL, not really new to dieting though ;-) > tried pretty much everything there is out there. > > The reason I'm writing is - do I really have to use all the > supplements and Myoplex products (shakes, bars..etc.)? > I'm just very excited about the food and excercize part since it seems > pretty reasonable, I just feel like I'm " done " purchasing diets. > > I'm 32 y.o., 5 feet " tall " , whole life yo yo between 110-130 lbs , now > at my most curvacious, close to 140 (no clue how much exactly, but I'm > feeling pretty plump, will have to weigh myself before I start. > > Any advice on how to tackle Body For Life, any thoughts appretiated !!! > > > Ivona > estimated start day Tuesday 6/10/08 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 Hi, The first BFL, I started using the AdvantEdge shakes and the Thermodynamx but stopped them both and still was able to get to goal that first challenge. This challenge, I have used none of the BFL supplements. I do use shakes but they are not from EAS. I don't really have any advice but just some suggestions from my own experience - Have fun doing it! It will take longer than 12 weeks to look like the people in the book (for me anyway) just keep going. ) Never let yourself get hungry, if I miss one of my meals, I usually end up setting myself up for eating something crappy or a mini-binge. Definitely take your before pictures, you will be so glad you did at the end of 12 weeks b/c sometimes the scale doesn't move. Take your measurements - for the weeks the scale doesn't move...lol Good luck and have fun! Liza icmuse wrote: Hello ladies, I'm completely new to BFL, not really new to dieting though ;-) tried pretty much everything there is out there. The reason I'm writing is - do I really have to use all the supplements and Myoplex products (shakes, bars..etc.)? I'm just very excited about the food and excercize part since it seems pretty reasonable, I just feel like I'm " done " purchasing diets. I'm 32 y.o., 5 feet " tall " , whole life yo yo between 110-130 lbs , now at my most curvacious, close to 140 (no clue how much exactly, but I'm feeling pretty plump, will have to weigh myself before I start. Any advice on how to tackle Body For Life, any thoughts appretiated !!! Ivona estimated start day Tuesday 6/10/08 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 Just like they said I use protein powder as the " back-up " so I am getting enough protein in my diet -- in my soy milk in the AM over my cereal, as part of my meal in the evenings when all the hubby cooks is carbs (he does the weekday cooking), and occasionally as a snack replacement. I use the protein bars as work snacks (either 1/2 bar for mid-morning snack and the rest for the afternoon snack, or one full bar in the afternoon -- always drink water with it and it will fill you right up). Almonds are a good protein snack source, too (EIGHT to TEN of them, not a cupful Believe it or not, they are satisfying. Oh, the protein I use is NOT EAS. The powder that I mix w/soy milk is a GNC brand, and the protein bars are from Sams Club " Premiere Nutrition " . Essentially, I read labels and look for the highest protein with relatively few calories (this bar is 30 g protein and 290 calories). Become friends with cottage cheese And YES, take the pictures. I started January 1 and I did not take pictures. I am regretting it. I'm sure if I had those pictures I would see a bigger change than I see when I look in the mirror or step on the scale. Don't expect miracles. If you are tall and heavy, you'll lose weight quickly. But where you are 5' and only a little overweight, it may come off more slowly (my experience -- I am 5'3 " and started in January at 128-130. I am at week 10 in the second challenge and I'm at 119. So.. a solid 10 lb loss in 5 months). Some of these women lose 10 lbs in a week! The good news is I have NEVER been able to lose before, so this is progress!! Don't worry about the mess ups. Acknowledge them and move on. If you have a temptation to eat something that is not on the " plan " , tell yourself you can have it on your free day -- that you can have *anything* you want on free day. Chances are, free day will come along and you'll have been doing so well that you indulge in a moderate treat (rather than going, literally, hog wild Good luck!! DAna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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