Hi everyone.  Also, starting today.  Heading to the gym in about 30 minutes!  This is my first time, and I'm really excited.  I recently lost 30 pounds, but have 10 more to go.   Our end date will be November 10th!!

Laura - I would join your FB group.

Hi Faith1010 - I'm starting today too! First time doing this. Bit of a learning curve but I'm starting to feel comfortable. I'm 5'4". I weigh 216 with my shoes and shorts on. My husband was already gone this morning so I'll have to take my "before" picture after my first upper body workout. I'll buddy up!

BigDreamer3: way to go! You will lose that last 10. This is a good program.

MustangLaura - is that the 4-part CD? I am unsure whether to buy it. Let us know what you think?

newme51 - love your attitude! You CAN do this!

mrsdetermined - I think you have to buy the journal, or at least print out the food and exercise PDF's on this website. Planning your food and exercise is part of the program.

no pain - today is a good day to start!

mom24 - I will definitely help you with motivational support. I also have 100+ to lose. Good for you for reaching out for support from people who are able to give it.

hi Lisa - Thanks for giving me the opportunity to write this out. I find that the instructions are sort of buried in the books.  Writing it out helps me process what I've learned so far.

(I'll write about food in this post and exercise in the next one.)

• Free day: Eat ANYTHING you want. Seriously. Anything.
  
  
• Regular day eating: eat 6x per day. A serving of protein is the size of your palm (think small chicken patty). A serving of carbs is the size of your fist (think small potato).  I'm not sure exactly what a vegetable serving size is.
  
  
• You eat 6 servings of protein and 6 servings of carbs per day: no more, no less. You drink 80 oz. or more of water per day. You eat 2 servings or more of vegetables per day. Each meal is 1 carb serving,1 protein serving, and 2 cups water (16 oz). In addition, at least 2 of those meals include a vegetable serving. Each day you will drink/eat:
  
  
  • 10 cups (80 oz.) water
  • 6 servings of protein
  • 6 servings of carbs
  • 2 servings of vegetables
    
    

• Each meal is 2 or 3 hours from the previous one. Example water and meal times:
  • START WATER
  • 9am: 2 cups water (16 oz.). Exercise
    
    
  • START MEALS
  • meal 1 10am: 1 protein, 1 carb, 2 cups water
  • meal 2 1pm: 1 protein, 1 carb, 1 vegetable, 2 cups water
  • meal 3 4pm: 1 protein, 1 carb, 2 cups water
  • meal 4 6pm: 1 protein, 1 carb, 2 cups water
  • meal 5 8pm: 1 protein, 1 carb, 2 cups water
  • meal 6 11pm: 1 protein, 1 carb

The BFL exercise is a form of high intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT has been proven to build muscle and cut fat.  I've tried just going all out for one minute at random intervals. I hated it. The BFL method is a much gentler way to get to the intensity required to see results. That's one of the reasons I'm excited about this plan.

You exercise 6x per week. Each week you do 3 Aerobic Solution routines. On odd weeks, you do two Upper Body routines and one Lower Body/Ab routine. On even weeks, you do one Upper Body routine and two Lower Body and Ab routines.

Assuming the free day is Sunday, exercise looks like this:

Odd Week:

Monday: Upper Body
Tuesday: Aerobic Solution
Wednesday: Lower Body and Abs
Thursday: Aerobic Solution
Friday: Upper Body
Saturday: Aerobic Solution
Sunday: Free Day

Even Week:
Monday: Lower Body and Abs
Tuesday: Aerobic Solution
Wednesday: Upper Body
Thursday: Aerobic Solution
Friday: Lower Body and Abs
Saturday: Aerobic Solution
Sunday: Free Day

Next: Resistance Exercises

Resistance (Upper Body, Lower Body and Abs) Patterns:

Each body part gets two exercises. You'll do one exercise for 5 sets and the second exercise for one set.

For the first four sets for a body part, you will switch up the weight (go heavier) and the repetitions (go fewer). Your goal is to go from intensity level 5 to 6 to 7 to 8. Five is "pretty easy" and 8 is "I'm working hard but I can do this." You will rest one minute between sets.

For example:

Body Part: Biceps
Exercise 1, sets 1-5: Barbell Bench Presses
Exercise 2, set 6: Dumbbell Flyes

Set 1: Barbell Bench Press. 12 reps. 5 lbs. Perceived intensity 5. Rest 1 min.
Set 2: Barbell Bench Press. 10 reps. 7 lbs. Perceived intensity 6. Rest 1 min.
Set 3: Barbell Bench Press. 8 reps. 10 lbs. Perceived intensity 7. Rest 1 min.
Set 4: Barbell Bench Press. 6 reps. 12 lbs. Perceived intensity 8. Rest 1 min.

For set 5, you're still doing the Barbell Bench Press. You will increase repetitions to 12. You will drop weight to 10 lbs (whatever the the weight for set 3 is). Your target perceived intensity level is 9. When finished with 12 reps, you will NOT rest before set 6.

Set 1: Barbell Bench Press. 12 reps. 5 lbs. Perceived intensity 5. Rest 1 min.
Set 2: Barbell Bench Press. 10 reps. 7 lbs. Perceived intensity 6. Rest 1 min.
Set 3: Barbell Bench Press. 8 reps. 10 lbs. Perceived intensity 7. Rest 1 min.
Set 4: Barbell Bench Press. 6 reps. 12 lbs. Perceived intensity 8. Rest 1 min.
Set 5: Barbell Bench Press: 12 reps. 10 lbs. Perceived intensity level 9. No rest.

For set 6, you will switch to another exercise for the current body part (biceps). You will be doing 12 reps. You are shooting for an intensity level of 10. The weight for Set 6 is what you think you can do 12 repetitions of and no more.

Set 1: Barbell Bench Press. 12 reps. 5 lbs. Perceived intensity 5. Rest 1 min.
Set 2: Barbell Bench Press. 10 reps. 7 lbs. Perceived intensity 6. Rest 1 min.
Set 3: Barbell Bench Press. 8 reps. 10 lbs. Perceived intensity 7. Rest 1 min.
Set 4: Barbell Bench Press. 6 reps. 12 lbs. Perceived intensity 8. Rest 1 min.
Set 5: Barbell Bench Press: 12 reps. 10 lbs. Perceived intensity level 9. No rest.
Set 6: Dumbbell Flyes. 12 reps. 8 lbs. Perceived intensity level 10. Wait 2 min. before starting next body part.

What is perceived intensity? It's a scale of 1 to 10. A five is where you think you're doing moderately easy work. Six and 7 are a little harder. Eight is hard but do-able. Nine is really concentrating to get the work done. Ten is doing all the repetitions for that weight, but you couldn't do one more if your life depended on it. If you can do one more, that was a nine.

I think you have to give yourself permission to learn where your levels are. I did practice sessions before day 1 (today!).

Finally there's the issue of time. Your goal is to do the workout start to finish in 46 minutes.

Aerobic Solution

Aerobic is 20 minutes from start to finish. You do 2 minutes of warmup, 4 waves, a peak intensity and a cool down.

For each perceived intensity level change, you'll be changing the resistance levels on the bike, or going faster at the current level (at least that's how I do it).

Example

M = Minute
PI = Perceived Intensity

Warm Up
M1 PI 5
M2 PI 5

Wave 1
M3 PI 6
M4 PI 7
M5 PI 8
M6 PI 9

Wave 2
M7 PI 6
M8 PI 7
M9 PI 8
M10 PI 9

Wave 3
M11 PI 6
M12 PI 7
M13 PI 8
M14 PI 9

Wave 4
M15 PI 6
M16 PI 7
M17 PI 8
M18 PI 9

Peak
M19 PI 10

Cool Down
M20 PI 5

I started the challenge today also.  I have been through it once before and know how important the motivation factor is.  I made it through 10 weeks last time and then fell off the wagon the last two weeks.  I did see great results losing almost 65 pounds.  However, I have since found those 65 pounds and then some.  I am looking to try and lose another 65 pounds this go around and I have a feeling that in the last couple of weeks things might get a little difficult for me again.  I would be greatful to have someone on here to help keep me motivated and will return the favor.

The link is for an article about fitness apps.  There is only one for Android - JEFIT - it looks helpful for tracking weight, measurements & exercises.  The rest are all for iPhone/iPad.