Hi Beth and Debs, thank you so much for your warm welcome. I am really enjoying all the people I have run into on this site. Very postive and and very helpful.

Blondie - I work out to the point I cannot lift anymore on my last sets and like Beth said you dont always get super sore. On my first challenge I would hurt so bad I could hardly move which my coworkers loved teasing me about :-). Once you get those muscles moving and working they will remember what their job is and wont always be so sore. I also use muscle armor which REALLY helps with the painful soreness from lifting weights and it becomes managable soreness. Keep on going it'll get better.

Hey Jeff I am in the same spot as you, trying to loose the weight and keep it off. We can do it my firend!

Hello, my name is E'Thell. I'm not sure if this is the right place to post for a newbie, but here goes. I'm turning 40 later this year and my goal is to be fit and fabulous. I've always been athlectic and loved the results of a good workout...just can never stay consistent. I decided today, that this is the year to have the body I've always wanted. I've read from cover to cover the BFL book and was inspired by all the regular people, like myself, who transformed their bodies into works of art. I am taking my body shot tonight and will begin my journey Monday morning 3/29/10.

Hello everyone.  I have been checking out the site the past couple of days and gathering some information. I'm new to BFL, and I have decided to start the challenge on Monday March 29^th, to give myself time to go grocery shopping and pick up the book. I'm a 28 yr old working mom of four beautiful children and a Navy wife so free time doesn't exist in my world.  I have decided to make taking care of myself a priority so I can continue to take care of those who need me!  My goal is to lose 25# in 12 weeks.  I have tried other diets in the past, Weight Watchers, Atkins, and I always put the weight back on because I was unable to make a lifestyle change, hopefully BFL can change that.  Any encouragement and suggestions are welcome!

Thanks for listening!

Tisha

Welcome Tisha!!  And thank you for the sacrifices that you and your husband make for our country.  As to BFL you are doing exactly the right thing by making the time for yourself.  You won't find a program that is more efficient or effective.  Come here often, look around on the various threads and don't be afraid to start your own thread either!

Welcome!!

Hi E'Thell!!  You are right about it being regular people!!  We are all just trying to be better at living.  Welcome to the BFL website and community!

Tisha welcome to BFL.  This is the one program I've found that made sense and works.  Your goal is doable in 12 weeks.  Stick to the program by the book and you will be very happy with your results. :-)

Welcome E'Thell you can do this!

Thank you Deb! 

Yes, my pics are up.  I should be taking my 8 week pic soon so I'll post that as well.   Yes, funny that you would think that I would be lean after all the working out I do - seriously!  I completed my first half-ironman last summer.  But, as you know, you can work out all you want but for me it was about the food.  I wasn't eating clean and never understood why I wasn't losing the fat.    All that eating 'diet' packaged food just wasn't doing me any good.  NOW I GET IT!  I really wished I understood the principles of BFL eating plan, and really, they're simple, right?

Better late than never ;)

Tisha-I am starting my  2nd challenge on Monday as well! :0)  Your goal can be reached....My first challenge I've lost 23# and 15 inches.

I understand about not having free time; if you can get your workouts done first thing in the morning so you have it out of the way.

Best wishes to your challenge-Come here often for support! :0)

Congratulations ladies on a fabulous decision! Welcome aboard!

Tisha ~ Single mom of 3 here. I am in week 12. It's a work around. But you can make it happen. It's worth it.

Fitat40 - Just turned 40 midway through my challenge. It is the greatest feeling ever to have control of my life.

Hey Everybody!  This is my first time on the forum.  I did Body for Life about 8 years ago and really saw amazing results.  Unfortunately, I stopped after 6 months.  I now weigh about 15 pounds more than I did then.  I'm also busier than I've ever been before with a full time job and volunteering in my community.  More than that, I've completely lost all motivation.  I eat when I'm sad, I eat when I'm mad, I eat when I'm happy and I eat when I'm exhausted...which is 99 percent of the time.  With summer coming I'm dreading not being able to wear shorts or skirts because I'm out of shape.  What should I do?

HELLO E'THELL, TISHA AND KAYJAY66! - all the best to you!

Kayjay66 - sweetie, you make the decision to "cross the abyss", having already done BFL you know that without that decision being foremost in your mind you will struggle from go to whoa! Here it is for you for quick reference and for any other newbies!

Crossing the Abyss!
by: Michael Harris  3/9/2007 (BFLMIKE - 2006 Champion 55+

This blog is about the abyss, getting across it, and staying on the sunny side. Make no mistake—the abyss is real. The only people who don’t believe it are those who have yet to cross it, who have swapped all their efforts for meager results simply because they haven’t grasped the concept and haven’t put the work into their lives to cross it. Many never even try to get over. The pathway across the abyss is not troubled by heavy traffic!Here’s how I crossed it the wrong way--and got back where I am today.

A bit over 50 years ago, (I was nine at the time) I got up early and raised the garage door, expecting to see my dad’s car in the driveway, where he always parked it after flying night missions with the Air Force. There, instead of my dad’s car, was an Air Force Blue vehicle. Somehow, I knew that spelled disaster, and what I learned as I ran into the living room and found my mother sitting with Air Force chaplains, quietly crying, changed my life forever. It made me withdrawn, lonely, afraid and angry, all at the same time. And for some reason those feelings didn’t go away. Without realizing it, I crossed the abyss, and I lived in an unproductive emotional wasteland for most of my growing-up years.

Twenty-Seven years later, that all changed. I sought help for my alcoholism, which came from my favorite pain killer, my way of "dealing with" the fear and anger. The help began with a treatment center, where they made me do a lot of hard work. I had to look seriously at my life, make a written inventory of how and where things had gone wrong, and own up to my responsibility in it. I confessed all my failures and shortcomings and unloaded that huge piece of baggage I had been carrying around forever. Then, in a long series of support group meetings, I found a new way of life, a life of peace, serenity, hope and faith, all seemingly coming just by osmosis. Those support group meetings and the people I met there rebuilt me, and then ultimately built into me more than I ever had hoped to be. What did I do to deserve all this? Nothing! I had squandered the last 10 years doing my best to destroy myself by drinking away those feelings of loneliness, fear, and anger. To this day I cannot think of one thing I did to deserve the sobriety and new life that came through those treatment and support group experiences. I didn’t deserve that gift any more than I deserved to lose my Dad the way I did. The gift was a true miracle--and I had crossed the abyss--and left that darkness behind.

Now to the main point. Dry those eyes and read on! Body for Life, though on the surface nothing but a bodybuilder’s diet with an excellent exercise program, really has the capacity to change your life, to rebuild you, to build you better than you ever were, and to restore the very love of life that you may have gradually lost over the years. How BFL can do that when other programs and diets can’t is because of the group spirit, the common purpose, and the universal law of reciprocation. (You’re already part of the group if you’re reading this blog.) The BFL community is real, and to experience it you can read the blogs and the guestbook, communicate with others through them, go to BFL events held a few times a year all over the country, and join some of the Message Board groups such as the Torch Spirit to stay in touch. (Read on below please!)

The Abyss–continued!
by: Michael Harris  3/9/2007

So what does this have to do with crossing the abyss? Well, though you might have thought that crossing the abyss comes only from great effort or luck or through use of some superior gifts of strength or willpower, I think that crossing the abyss also requires a great big helping of blind faith and unexamined living as well. The worse off you are, and the more urgent your needs to change are, the better chance you have of crossing that abyss. It’s not just willpower—we all have some of that. Many of us have talked ourselves into thinking that we "crossed the abyss" only to find we hadn’t just by walking by a vending machine at work, or smelling some fresh pastry or popcorn at the mall!

How, then, do you cross the abyss? I’m not totally discounting will-power; it can help you hold on. But a real appreciation of how lousy it has all been can help, too. I suggest taking an inventory like I did, a real one. Write down on a sheet of paper the benchmarks of your life, those decision points or those events that changed your life forever. Look at which way you went and try to figure out why. Own up to the part you played in the mess that resulted. Then, look realistically at where you are now. Next, think about where you want to be in 5 years. Does physical fitness seem to be an important part of what you want? Does confidence seem to be a big part of it?

Next, in faith, put yourself mentally on the sunny side of that abyss, and immediately set out to act like it. Tell yourself (and act like it too) that you will live that line in that famous old hymn, that "there’s no turning back." Make your actions match your attitude. When tempted, always tell yourself you are on the right side of the abyss, and no bite of food is worth trading for those days you cried for hours and couldn’t get out of bed, or just drove around, eating and drinking aimlessly trying to make it all go away.

It can happen. Put it into motion, and then live it. How is this approach different than just talking yourself into something? Mainly, it is that dealing with the past, the confronting it and the admitting your failings in it, that helps you resist its call. Otherwise, your past always tries to call you back where you were most comfortable, where you felt you really deserved to be—in the darkness. Try it—what do you have to lose? Mostly, just your ugly past. Life’s a whole lot brighter, prettier, and sweeter—on this side of the abyss.

Thanks for reading this. Next week, we’re going to focus in the details, the nitty-gritty. I’ll start with supplementation and timing of it next week, and we’ll go through a whole challenge together. In the meantime, think deeply about whether you’ve made it over that abyss, will you? God bless!

Hi KayJay,

I am almost exactly i the same boat as you. I completed 2 full challenges in 2002. 8 years ago. I maintained until my daughter was born Sept 2005. I lived the bfl way for most of that time, BUT, have acquired more than one or 2 bad habits along with it...!  You know, life does seem to take us away from that which we know and we find ourselves doing the very thing we know not to do.  I've tried to start again and again since then but just couldn't for some reason or another. I have def made some really good excuses and boy do I have a great one, with my daughter having a very bad disorder develop at 17 months. She is now 4 1/2 yo and I have finally got it in my head that "I'd better do something to change or I may not have the chance to see her grow up". That was a true wake-up call. Why couldn't I see that sooner??  Because I was overwhelmed with responsibility and sadness and I couldn't care about myself for a while. Now I see it a whole new way... "Its MY JOB to take care of ME" and without me, she suffers. 

So, I'm on C5,6,7,8, start over 101  W3!  I've given up those "Bad habits" i was hanging onto (Alcohol) and replaced it with things like self improvement (Education).  I'm hitting the workouts everyday and I have my measurements on the fridge!!  I will track my progress every 2 weeks and just keep moving forward to week 12!  If I don't get the best results, I'll do the challenge over again and with more intensity.  I will continue to eat right, maintain my healthy happy body once I get there and I "DO" intend on getting into my bikini and short skirts this summer!!  I'm 43 yo with 4 kids total...  ages 25, 24, 23, and 4 1/2!!!  Yah I know, wow. Well...I will be in the best shape of my life again this year and that's not an option, its mandatory! 

So, Lets get on this train now, and turn into buldozers for the next weeks ahead.  Get out your book, read it~! If you don't have one you can get a copy on AMAZON.com for a few cents!!  I actually got mine for .09c and I got the journal for $3.19!!!  I just looked today and they were selling for $2.22.  No excuses. You have to say to yourself "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired"!  And when you really are, you'll get determined and make the change!  I am sore as heck everyday from my workouts. I had headaches in the first 2 weeks pretty bad but I did not stop. 

Tomorrow morn is leg day and I will push to the 10!! 

Good Luck to you, let us know what you need for a good kick start.  Its all about what you want and what you will do to get it...

Stacy

STACY!

GREAT POST - INSPIRING LADY! POWER TO YOU!

Are you on the west coast? or overseas?

Thanks Deb...  Same to you!  I read all the posts prior to my signing on late last night and you also have inspired many. This forum is very inspirational and I m aenergized more and more each day to continue on to the finish!!  I live in California (US). I am on C1 W3 D21 and I am elated to report that I am past the abyss and moving upwards to a NEW me!  I feel lighter today!!!!

When I look back at my challenge before and after photos of 2002,  I now say hey, "This is not just a challenge for 12 weeks, its a challenge for a lifetime"!  I have my photos from 2002 posted on the fridge to remind me everyday of what I accomplished back then and for inspiration of what I WILL accomplish now!! I am in a new age category this time around but that is even more incentive to do better than before.....

Might I share for a sec...  Back in 2001 my father died and I ate and ate and ate to my hearts content..  I was always able to do that before as I was the "Skinny kid" my whole life but this particular year the pounds piled up. By the end of that year, I took my BFL book out, read it from cover to cover, put in the "Body of Work"  VHS and made a commitment to myself to the do this challenge!  I had 4 children in high school then, I worked, I had a husband, a home on half acre (Still have the home, no husband :)) a dog, 2 cats, & I volunteered for all my kids in some capacity. So to look back, and remember the challenges I had then and the obstacles I overcame, is a good reminder that I CAN do this again.  I have been blessed beyond measure with my youngest daughter, Tyler, although she has been sick, and I can not imagine her life without me in it. So this new challenge, 2010, is going to be another major transformation again!

this time around, My "Adult children" are on their own living productive lives, I stay home to care for my daughter (Age 4 1/2) who is getting better every day, I still have the half acre home to care for and I have made enough excuses til now why I couldn't get back on track for so long...  It's about choices and changing up Bad behavior (Self destructive behavior) and REPLACING it with GOOD behavior and GOOD Habits!  YOU have to choose life!  YOU have to make the changes... NO ONE ELSE WILL DO IT FOR YOU!!  and guess what??  YOU will make yourself proud of who you are and who you always were.  No one will take that from you, right!!!

So to anyone who reads this, know that I have been down for a long time with many of life's challenges that hit me from behind when I wasn't looking.  Sometimes, we have to take an inventory of where we are at "Right now" and ask ourselves, "Do you want to go to the grave this way, or do you want to die trying to change your life"?  I'd rather Die trying than to do nothing!!  Now that I'm past the 2 week mark (thought I would die--lol) I know, I know, that I know, I am going to live my life much longer now as I continue on in this path!  yay!!!  

Have a very blessed day all!

Stacy