Keeweegal:

If you are not drinking the recommended 1 gallon of water per day, you may get fatigued. Your body is taking a beating and it needs water to stay hydrated and able to restore and repair your muscles as well as aide in digestion of more protein and whole foods. Take a look at your water and try to get closer to the "T" in your meal planning. With proper food, you shouldnt be too too tired from the get go. Many feel tired mid challenge, but by increasing water and getting proper rest, that too does pass.

As far as other supplements for energy, I do not know - sorry. Someone else with info will chime in though. :)

Hi Leah, I'm with Legs - water, water, water!  Not enough will make you feel sluggish.  Also, I have my myoplex shake within 30 minutes of lifing - if it's any longer than that I set myself up for being hungry all day.   Are you new to working out?  If so, let your body adjust and when it does, your work outs alone will give you more energy than you've ever imagined.

My name is Holly. I am a 32 year old wife and mother of two young children ages three and four. I am a certified elementary school teacher; but, I have chosen to stay home with my kiddos until they are both in school themselves.

I have struggled with an eating disorder for nearly 20 years. My life consisted of squeezing in binging, purging, starving, and over-exercising in between doing successful and more normal things. How I have been able to achieve what I have, despite my disorder, is now mindboggling to me. The only time I was able to keep it at bay was during my pregnancies, which were back to back. It has been better and worse at different points in my life. Last December, I was down to 112lbs. I decided it was time to face my demons head on. I knew that an inpatient treatment was out of the question. I'd never want to leave my children or husband. I talked to my doctor about my situation (which was the first time I admitted to someone that I had a problem) and started taking Lexapro. It helped somewhat. . . enough to help me gain about three pounds and clear up my head a little. One day, I went to the bookstore in search of a book that might help me. I found the BFL book and journal. I read the book in a few hours and knew that it was the right step for me. I was apprehensive about eating six meals a day; and, I was afraid of cutting out the excessive amount of cardio that I was doing. I pushed through the fear and did it anyway, which was a huge hurdle for me to overcome. I was lucky to get 700 calories in my body a day. And, cardio three days a week for 20 minutes a pop was way less than I was accustomed to. I gave myself a week to try the program before I actually kicked it in to high gear. After two weeks of eating more food (and keeping it down) than I was used to, I had only gained a pound! That helped me trust the program, trust food, and trust my body. When I started BFL, I weighed 115lbs. I am in week 10 and am currently at 123lbs. I've gained nearly an inch everywhere. And, the energy and mental clarity are the two biggest things that have changed. I am so happy I gave this a shot. The journal has been a KEY for me. It makes me accountable in ways that I never dreamed a piece of paper and pen could. I plan on entering the contest when I am finished. But, even if I don't place, my life is changed forever. Thank you so much, Bill Phillips, for this program. You may have very well saved my life!

Oh Holly! You've made me tear up! Kudos to you for taking that VERY important step in taking this challenge. I know it had to be hard to "trust".

I'm so HAPPY for you! And your family must be VERY proud of you!  Please keep us posted on your progress!

YES, with GOD all things are POSSIBLE! Many Blessings to YOU! :)

Congratulations Holly. What an amazing tribute to yourself, your family and life. You just may have saved someone elses life through sharing too.

May you forever feel strength when there are "two". XO

WHoooOOOpie life is fine.

Hello,

I am Jim and will be 40 on Saturday!  Not really liking that, but it beats the alternative.  I am ex-athlete and have always been a big guy.  Not fat, at least until I turned 29, just a big person.  When I was playing ball in college I had to try like heck to gain weight, but I now have hypothyroidism and gain fast.  I did my own version of this program last year...cheated on the cardio and eating, and still lost 30 pounds and gained ALOT of muscle.  I am committing my self to this challenge...I am going to do it by the book (literally).  I want to see what results I can get if I do the cardio correctly and consistantly, and eat right the whole time.  I am around 300 lbs and at 220 lbs I used to be very thin.  My goal, right now, is to get to 220 and look like I know I can.  I don't expect to get there in my first challenge, but I want to make some really good headway.  Being hyperthyroid, I believe I have become insulin resistant and am avoiding starchy carbs because I can almost see weight come on my when I eat them.  I started on my challenge Monday and have had two good workouts.  Really sore, but I got a level 10 on my cardio which was big for me.

Here are my questions:  (I hope someone can help me with these)

1.  I am afraid of the "free day".  I don't want to go backwards, even one step and want to know if it is a bad idea to skip the "free day" and continue with the nutrition program.

2.  I have never lost weight using a bike, but I am too heavy to run.  Is it possible to get the most out of this program without running?  I did get a level 10 on my bike workout today, but I didn't want to lay down like I do when i run.  Should I fight through the running and hope not to injure my feet?

3.  Am i dreaming to think I could lose 40 to 50 lbs of fat in 12 weeks?  I would love to do that, but  I don't want to make unreasonable goals.  I am an optimist, but not stupid....  anyone lose that much before?

I appreciate any and all replies and look forward to checking in here often for some guidance.

Sincerely,

Jim White

Jim-Welcome to the BFL Program! You have made a wise move my friend.

Your questions real quick (I get to go work out! :)

1. Don't skip the free day...maybe have one free meal during that day, that is what I do b/c like you I didn't want to backslide; so have a meal that is non-authorized...otherwise you may lose motivation and stop all together.

2. Do you have an elliptical?  My first challenge my starting pace on the treadmill (warmup was 3.0 mph and I worked up for my ten at 4.5 mph....looking back at my journal (make sure you write everything down!), I had put, "OMG, can't believe I did that, I'm dying!" At 4.5 mph?????  Now my 10 is 7.5!  Now I'm dying!! lol!  Work your way up and it will work for you.

3. I would maybe go with 30-35 # during C1...I lost 20# and males tend to lose more, but who knows, if you put that mind in a good place, you could do anything!!

Let us know how you are doing! Come to the Faithful GBer's thread to get to know people and get extra encouragement and motivation!

Now for that workout! :) Have a great day! :)

Holly ~

Thank you so much for your post! I admire your commitment. Congratulations for taking back control of your life!

Hi Jim,

I ALWAYS use my free day - it helps me feel 'normal'.  I don't eat a lot of junk food (actually none at all) but I don't pay attention to portions or when or how many meals I'm eating.  I listen to my body.  I'm in my 9th week and using my free meal hasn't slowed me down at all, as a matter of fact, when I weight myself on Mondays after my free day on Sunday, it seems like it helps me to lose if that makes sense.

I'm not a small woman either - 6 feet tall, and although I do run, I bike a lot.  I bike both on the road and do spinning.  It's a great calorie burn and virtually no impact.  It's great for your core as well.

I've lost about 12 pounds of fat in 9 weeks - you can check out my pic in my profile, so you being a man, I could see you losing close to 40 perhaps?  Just a note - I am very strict when following the plan and very consistent with my work outs, so if you want to lose that much,  you gotta be ON BOARD :)

Hope this helps and welcome!

DebMo and Heather,

Thank you for the replies.  I will take your advice and more importantly, feel validated that someone responded and gives a hoot.  Made my day.  I look forward to communicating with you both throughout this process and hopefully bragging about my stunning results.  Thanks for taking the time to respond.  Fight the good fight, and get that workout in.  

Sincerely,

Jim

Jim-

Of course we give a hoot! Hootie Hoo! lol!!  Have a great day! :)

Jim ~

I have to respond to the "40" comment. I was so afraid to turn 40. You know why? I wasn't happy with where I was at. I turned 40 halfway through my first challenge. You know what? Best dang birthday I've ever had. I felt and looked better than I have since I was ??? maybe high school. Still in better physical shape than high school. And...I am smarter than I was in high school. I have more wisdom than I had in high school. And, and, and. BFL has done amazing things for my life overall. Stick with the plan my man! You are in for a HUGE treat. Stick around here and soak up the advice, suggestions and encouragement from others. You will feel yourself getting stronger and stronger. When you start crossing that second abyss you will find yourself posting encouragement to others on here. You will have been there done that. Great journey! Go! Go! Go!

And remember 40 IS AWESOME, AMAZING, FANTABULOUS, TERRIFIC, STUPENDOUS, REFRESHING! :-D

I got on a roll. Will not go back and edit. Should have broke out a paragraph or two. Toodles :-)

Hi All~

I'm a newbie on here, and I just gotta say first off that I think I’ve peed more in the past 4 weeks than I have in the previous 39 years!!! Seriously, 12 glasses of water per day has me seriously considering a catheter!

Anyway, I just discovered all this cool stuff on this site. I'm half way through week 5 right now and for the most part feel pretty good about things. With the new year I cracked 200 lbs…again, something I told myself I would never do again, yet there I was – 39 years old, 5’9” with a sexy pot belly. I've had a gym membership for years, but used it with only intermittent regularity.

My son was home on break from college and looking great. He showed me the workout he was doing and told me to buy the BFL book, which I did and instantly understood why I never made much progress in my workouts, even with personal trainers. And why most of the people I’ve seen at the gym for years look exactly the same as they did a year or two ago.

So after reading the book and coming up with a meal and workout plan, I hit my plan hard. I have not strayed at all, not a bite, not a sip – except for our annual kiltfest on St Patrick’s Day… but I just stuck to sipping some Jameson all night. I figured at 65 calories per ounce, I wasn’t hurting myself too bad. :-)

After my first week I learned about CLA and Betagen so I added those into my diet. Eating every 2.5-3 hours, supplementing with Myoplex Lite shakes and bars. After two weeks I was down 8 pounds. After week three I was up one pound (down 7 overall). What the heck? After week 4 I’m down 9 pounds overall and pleased with my progress, but confused as to the quick drop in the first two weeks and now what seems to be slow progress over the last two.

Now that I’m on this site I’ve discovered that maybe instead of Betagen to get lean and ‘tone’ – what I should be taking is Muscle Armor and Phoshagen Elite to get lean and ‘Strong’??? Will this get me a more cut look that I want? I’m considering switching after my Betagen runs out in about a week. Any advice?

Also, I’ve learned – or read opinions, that Myoplex Lite isn’t sufficient for men, that I should be taking regular Myoplex to get all the protein I need. I still have two boxes of powder and two boxes of bars of the lite stuff left! So I bought some whey protein to spruce the Lite up. Am I doing the right thing here?

Anyway, like I said, overall I think things are going well. Workouts are great on most days – when I don’t have to fight for equipment at the gym. I get food cravings, but I have no problem pushing them off until Sunday. I love Sunday, except for the guilt.

The hardest part has probably been for my girlfriend who has seen me go from one day eating whatever, whenever, to literally the next day being like “I can’t eat that, or I can’t eat now”. I think she gets frustrated when I start hovering around the kitchen when she’s cooking dinner (on days when it’s pushing my 2.5-3 hour limit) – or especially (what could be) the very next day when she’ll tell me that dinner is ready and I’ll look at the clock and say “I can’t eat for another half hour”. LOL… then she wants to kill me. LOL! But seriously, she supports me 100% and is already digging what my body is becoming… that makes two of us. ;-)

-Jeff

Portland, OR

Hi everyone I am also a newbie to the forum!  Not sure I am posting right but my mind is full with planning meals, workouts, etc.:)  I have loosely followed BFL for the past 3 years.  Now I am determined to give it 100% and see what happens!  I am in Wk 2 C1 and I feel much better this week than last week.  More energy!  My goal is to lean out more...so my question is, should I only do the 20 minutes of cardio?  I have read alot of the champions workout routines and they are definately doing more cardio than that.  

I am very excited to have found this forum, because none of my friends are really that into health:)  I always have been,  just a little lacking in controling my impulse eating and well I have to confess I love wine...anyway it is great to see others are going through the same ups and downs and I get alot of info just reading this.

Good luck to all!!!

April

Jeff: lol there is a guy here called PaulF. I remember when he posted when he started "How do you all drink all that water? The only time I dont have to pee is when I am peeing". It still cracks me up.

Im glad you are here, April too. BFL rocks. Keep up the great work. The best is yet to come. :)