Has anyone done Body For Life?

[jerseygirl07067]

Was just curious as I personally know 2 people who did it and had amazing results. In fact one of them was very overweight and looked like one of the "after" pictures when he was done. The transformation was quite amazing. The focus is equally on exercise and the eating plan.

If you're unfamiliar with it, you can check it out at www.bodyforlife.com

I know that the book was on the top 10 bestseller list for quite a while. The befores and afters on the website are quite inspiring. The only thing that bothers me is that they encourage you to use the shakes and supplements which I believe have nutrasweet or splenda. I'm personally not huge on those types of sweeteners and prefer the real thing LOL!

But I am even more curious now after watching 'I Lost It' yesterday on cable, and one of the guys lost his weight this way. Not only was he way thinner, but was very fit.



Marcy

[Lynnie]

you just HAD to put this here, so that there is yet another program for me to look at !! lol !

wow.

well, maybe if the good old WW doesn't work after a couple months, I'll be a guinea pig for you.

[jerseygirl07067]

I just found out my brother follows this plan too. He's in awesome shape also.

The concept is easy, cardio minimum of 20 minutes 3 days a week (the key is to just to it intensely) and then 45 minutes of strength training three times a week. The eating plan is three meals a day of a healthy carb/healthy protein combo with veggies added to round out the meal. You are then allowed three smaller meals which are like snacks to keep your metabolism going. The overall ratio is 40/40/20 which is carbs/protein/fat respectively, so it's on the lower fat side. But they give you options for some good low fat desserts. Then you get one cheat day a week where you can eat whatever you want. Supposedly it's so your body doesn't go into starvation mode and slow its metabolism down.

The before and afters are just way too motivating. I don't want to just lose weight, I want to get as much of my body back as I can!!

On the other hand, I really think that all of these diets (SBD, Zone, WW) are just calorie reduction in disguise. I just need "a plan" to keep me on track, and help keep me a bit more disciplined. Since I tend to mindlessly eat, and eat whatever, whenever I want!

Marcy

[MelissaTC]

My friend did this after baby #1. She lost a bunch of weight but more so, was physically fit and had great arms! She has tried other things after having baby #2 but always talks about doing body for life. She was so focused, exercising every day, eating well and just looked and felt great. It was really inspiring.

[marinkitty]

I did it a few years ago before my wedding. And I didn't even do the full 12 weeks - more like 8. It works amazingly well if you follow the plan exactly. I wasn't overweight at the time, but wanted to be thinner than usual for my wedding day and I hit my goal with a couple of pounds to spare (I think I lost 12 pounds), but more importantly I was super toned. I had great arm and back muscles (a very distant memory at this point unfortunately). It was astounding how fast they shaped up on his plan, which requires exercise 6 days a week, but only 20 minutes on cardio days and about 40 minutes on weight lifting days. I do think it would be hard to do without belonging to a full-fledged gym or having extensive stuff at home though.

I now have a ton of weight to lose - like 40 pounds to be where I was at my wedding (ugh) and I am not planning to do BFL b/c I just don't think I could manage it right now - shopping and prepping for 6 small meals a day and then doing the workouts would be impossible for me with two small kids, breastfeeding and keeping things up at home.

Can I just say - I'm lurking here - trying to commit to a healthier eating plan to start chiseling away these pounds - and you ladies ROCK! I'm very inspired by the progress you are making!!!!

Holly
Mom to Mia (3.17.03) and baby brother Jack (3.23.05)

[Lynnie]

On this plan, how does the one day per week cheating day work ??

Is it a small cheat, like a slice of bread or something, or could it be something like having two servings of bread pudding with that delicious sauce on top of it for lunch ? (ugh, i feel sick)

[jerseygirl07067]

Lynnie,

As far as I know, and the way my friend who did it explained it to me, you eat whatever you want for that day. There are a few reasons behind it. First, it makes sure your body does not go into starvation mode. The theory is that by eating more that day, you actually "jump start" your metabolism. Sometimes when you are eating less calories, your body tries to adapt by actually slowing down the metabolic rate a bit, thus slowing weight loss. Also, knowing you have a free day makes it easier to make healthy choices during the week. My friend said that he would feel so sick after the free day though, because he got used to eating healthier during the week, that eventually he didn't cheat as much on his cheat day!

I hope that helps! One thing I have noticed, since trying to cut my portions, is that when I have occasionally stuffed myself, I feel kind of sick to my stomach. It's amazing what your body can adapt to...

Marcy

[jerseygirl07067]

Holly,

I was just curious...when you did Body for Life, did you prepare all of your snacks too or did you use any of the shakes and bars for snacks? I bought a few recently to try out and found them to be good, but they were costly. Of course I'd rather eat healthy, whole food and not have to use the bars which can be somewhat artificial, but like you said it's time consuming to prep 6 small meals a day!!

Marcy