BFL question-

J

JeanBe

Cathlete
Hi all, I'm about to begin my first (ok second but didn't stick to the first) BFL challenge. I would love to use Cathe for my workouts but was wondering if anyone did this and which workouts did you use? Also how were the results? I'm starting off pretty bad with weighing close to 180 lbs and according to my scale having 42 % body fat. Needless to say I am so sad and scared to fail again but I am determined to give it my all. I can't believe I look like this and have allowed myself to reach these numbers. BTW I'm only 5'2''. Scary I know!!

Anyway, anyone who has completed or worked this program, any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (Sorry for any typos my 3yo is sitting on my lap as I type so I can't really see the keys:eek: )

Happy New Year to all:)
Jean
 
Hey there Jean!

I was going to reply to you earlier and then I spaced it! Sorry.

I'm a huge Body for Life fan (you'll see I have my prized picture with Porter Freeman and Eric Shrieves in my photo album and am hoping to see Porter again this month when I go down to EAS). I LOVE LOVE LOVE BFL. It's maybe a bit tough at first to get used to having to think ahead of time what you're going to eat, but it does get SO MUCH easier and you really have to do that with any healthy eating plan anyway. I'm not sure how long you were on it before and if you got to this point or not. It is just so easy for me. For some reason, knowing that I have one cheat day a week saves me from myself the other 6 days of the week. I'm so good at a little cheat here and a little cheat there and before you know it I'm cheating all the time. But on BFL I just don't cheat. I don't know why, but I don't. I try to stay on it most of the time - meaning year round, but I do go off of it on vacations, etc. (like the past 2 weeks I've been home and now I wish I would have stuck to it more - oh well!).

So, to answer your question about what workouts to do you have many options with Cathe. I know that if you follow the BFL workouts exactly, you WILL get results. I "believe" that if you follow the basic plan but sub Cathe workouts, you will still see results because I think so much of it is how we eat. I've never had much to lose on BFL, but I have found that doing more aerobics than the 20 minutes has always helped me if I want to lose 5 or 10 pounds. For me, since I've worked out for so many years, I think that the 20 minutes would be too little. There's also that new BFL book for women that recommends 30 minutes 3 times a week. But...my opinion, and that's all it is, is that if you were to do Cathe's step or kickboxing workouts three times a week for your cardio, you're way ahead of the game because they are so much longer and tough. As for weights, if you want to stick to the plan's idea, you could do PUB and PLB and alternate them each week like BFL does (upper/lower/upper and then lower/upper/lower). What I'm starting this week is PUB or PLB on Monday and Friday and then a full body weight workout on Wednesdays. For me, since I'm trying to get ready for a trip to Mexico in February, I'll try to do high intensity aerobic workouts. On my weight days I will either add in a Cathe aerobic workout that evening or do a HIIT workout on my bike on the trainer for 30 or 40 minutes.

I hope that helps you a bit. I can't tell you how it will work because I've never done Cathe workouts with BFL (I'm new to Cathe as of November). But her workouts are such kick butt workouts that I would imagine you'd see pretty good results as long as you stick to the eating plan and don't cheat except for your cheat day. And be honest about your portion sizes. I know that can mess me up!

The BFL 800 number is very helpful and they may have some tips for subbing workouts. Also, I don't know if you've seen the success videos, but they're REALLY cheap on the BFL website and are quite motivating. And I don't think they charge you shipping.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions. Feel free to PM me if you would like to have an e-mail BFL support buddy.

Susan

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

http://www.picturetrail.com/dogs2birds
 
Susan-

Wow, thanks for all the great info. I am definately motivated to stick with this and make it my way of life. Lat time I only got to about three weeks and then my cheat day became a cheat week and well, you know how it goes:eek:

Anyway, I just might take you up on your offer for help. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do for meals ect. Did you only use the EAS bars and shakes or did you find others that worked as well?

Have a wonderful day and thanks again!!
Jean
 
Jean,

I know you can do it! Some people say those first four weeks are the toughest - just getting into the habit - but then you're good. The hard thing for so many women also is that some women don't see any weight changes for up to 8 weeks! And then all of a sudden WHAM!

I only use the EAS products. If you are going to use others, just be sure that the protein/carb ratio are pretty equal since that is BFL's thing. My husband is a cop and EAS let's cops and firemen shop at their warehouse for some pretty good deals. This is the last month we will be able to take part in that though because EAS was sold and is moving that part of the operation to Chicago. So we have stocked up big time the past few months! I pretty much eat the same thing every day until I get sick of it and then switch it up a bit (but it takes me a long time to get sick of something and I like the ease of always having the same thing - my shopping is easier as is my Sunday before the work week). I have a little refrigerator in my office so that I can just put everything in there for the week. But before I had that, I would just take a little cooler. So here's what I have:

Meal 1: Myoplex Lite shake
Mid meal: Cottage cheese mixed with 99% fat free yogurt
Lunch: Salad w/cottage cheese and corn (my carb of choice for lunch) and a wee bit of fat free dressing
Mid meal: either an apple and string cheese OR a BFL bar - I love the mint chocolate ones
Dinner: This varies but is something from the Eating for Life cookbook or other things that follow the same principle
Mid meal: Again, this varies from some of the "desserts" in the Eating for Life cookbook or a bar or sometimes low fat peanut butter on whole wheat toast (depending on how much bread I've had during the day - as I get older I have tried not to have as much)

When I get tired of salads (or when my assistant says "Oh, you're eating the SAME thing again for lunch? Don't you get tired of it?" Well - not until you mentioned it I didn't!), I will have a tuna sandwich on whole wheat or chicken soft tacos from Taco John's or Taco Bell. My friends are pretty good about letting me choose our lunch location! Oh - and on the weekends, for the day that is NOT my cheat day, I'll usually have scrambled egg whites w/one yolk and whole wheat toast or make some sort of breakfast burrito. That is the one day I don't eat the same stuff as above. I rarely have a shake or bars on the weekend.

Have you gone to www.bodyforlife.com? They have a sort of forum there and this time of year there are a TON of people starting BFL, so you will get a lot of good ideas from there too. But my offer still stands if you want some support.

Susan

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

http://www.picturetrail.com/dogs2birds
 
I agree with Susan. Try it by the book the first 12 weeks. You will get great results. I get my best results if I go by the book. However, after awhile I started missing my videos. For cardio I use any of the IMAX videos, Intense Moves or Interval Express. For weights sometimes I'll do 4 weeks of the Pyramids, 4 weeks of book lifting and then 4 weeks of S&H.

Colleen
 
BFL for Women question

Have any of you read the BFL for Women book? I'm wondering if it's dealing more with "girly stuff" like periods and menopause and chemical changes. Or even emotional eating. I don't really have a problem with these, so I wouldn't get much from it if that's the main difference in the books. But I'd like to know what the difference is between her workout and Bill Phillips.

Thanks,
Tricia
 
HI Susan,

I am following the BFL right now...and I love the Body for Life cookbook...this is day 4 for me...I have never stayed on 12 weeks though....my longest was 3 weeks but I lost a solid 5 pounds of fat even with my cheat days...

I wondered if you could tell me how much you cheat on cheat day? Do you do whatever and how much you want? I remember eating a ton of junk and desserts and of course feeling terrrible at night because of it...

I was wondering if a person could go overboard on cheat day or is it true that you can do whatever you want...

thanks!
 
RE: BFL for Women question

>Have any of you read the BFL for Women book? I'm wondering
>if it's dealing more with "girly stuff" like periods and
>menopause and chemical changes.

Tricia,

Go for BFL, not BFL for Women. Especially if you are already working out.

It was given a big thumbs down on the Yahoogroups bodyforlife women's group.

Colleen
 
ALso Susan I ahve another question...

I follow the BFL plan (from the Eating for LIfe book) - but is that for men or women? I know it has only been 4 days but my measurements are bigger...and I have been busting my butt...I am wondering if I should cut down the portions in the Eating for Life book...

if you happen to have any advice on this I would love to hear it!
 
I find the portion sizes a bit big for me on EFL. I go by how much meat or protein I put in and then I determine how many meals it makes.

Colleen
 
Tricia - I agree with Colleen. I looked at the book at B&N and it does have a lot of the stuff you were talking about in it - working out through menopause, blah, blah, blah. It didn't look good to me at all. The only thing that I think they mention that I agree with is that women need more cardio than 20 minutes. I think the book says 30. I know that you can accomplish goals with 20 minutes a day, but I think as we get older (and I don't know how old you are, so no offense!) it does get more difficult to lose fat.

Judy - as for cheat day, I happen to cheat as much or as little as I feel like that day (more on the "much" side than "little" side). When the original BFL book came out, Bill said it's cheat day and eat what you want. If I remember correctly, in the Eating for Life book he toned it down a bit and didn't really say to go hog wild (not that he REALLY said that in the first one, but you know what I mean). Some people simply do one cheat meal and to be honest, I don't know if they get better results or not. And don't get me wrong, I don't eat the mound of Ding Dongs that I did when I first had cheat days way back when, but I also don't worry if my DH wants pizza even though we had bagels that morning and I have brownies that night (sounds gross, huh?). I figure that I am so strict during the week and pay very close attention to portion size that I'm going to take one day and not worry about it. I think it's up to you.

A lot of women get bigger in the beginning. They talk about that a lot on the BFL community and to be honest I can't remember why they say that is (if it's due to lifting or what). But don't panic. I've heard that SO many times and eventually it will go the other way. It is really common. Just don't give up!

As for the portion sizes in the cookbook, my best guess has always been that it is written for men since Bill is a man. :) I just try to keep with the whole fist and palm of my hand size portions. You can really do that with anything - even chili - because nothing's hidden. You might want to post that question on the BFL community site and I know you'd get a lot of answers to that question. I had a girlfriend trying BFL and she didn't lose any weight for something like 9 weeks (and I had told her 8 would be her magic number) and she had us over for dinner one night and made something from EFL. The portion that she gave me was TWICE what I would have eaten and I had to take half of it home. I asked her if that was what she ate as a portion and she said that's what the recipe called for. I then saw the reason why she wasn't losing. She quit the program.

Sorry this was so long - again. I hope this helps!

Susan

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

http://www.picturetrail.com/dogs2birds
 
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