Thanks Jessica.  I've begun looking as of yesterday and will keep checking it out every day until something turns up.  Most of it seems to be barbells, which I have - but my philosophy is keep looking until success hits!

Hi Everyone!!

My husband and I will be starting on July 10. Well, I have started with the BFL eating plan today, but the workouts will officially start on July 10. I have done a combination of BFL and "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" over a year ago and saw amazing results!!! Weight training is definitely my friend! I am also a marathon runner, and over the past year I have slacked on my weight training and have only been running. Well, I have also put on 10 lbs and have lost a LOT of muscle!! So, I am definitely ready to build muscle again and eat right. My biggest difficulty is portion control, so I am excited to get back on a plan to help me with this.

By the way, quinoa is one of my favorite foods! I usually just add a splash of olive oil and some veggies (onion, bell peppers, tomatoes) and seasonings, and love it! It is a great source of protein, even though high in carbs. However, I usually eat it the night before a long run and it works great!

I am excited to have this website as support.

Amy

I am down to restart on Monday

Welcome Amy and jclinenorton!

Amy -- how do you cook the quinoa?  Do you make it in a pot or a rice cooker?  What is the ratio of water to grains?  

I am starting Monday, July 11 and am very excited!!  

Hi Patty,

Typically the instructions for quinoa are on the package. I use 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water. I just make it on the stovetop....very easy! Another favorite of mine are wheat berries, which are also a supergrain high in protein. They are also high in carbs, but like I said earlier, I usually only eat it the night before a long run or a race. However, you could also use it in small amounts in salads (it can be eaten cold or hot) and it would be your added protein and carb in addition to your veggies. I don't eat a ton of meat, especially red meat, so I use a lot of plant-based proteins in my diet.

Are any of you coffee drinkers? I drink about 2 cups of half-caffeinated coffee each morning. Is this something I need to modify? It would be hard to give it up completely...I LOVE my coffee!!!

Also, the almond milk I drink (Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened) has only 1 g of protein and 1 g of carb, so how would this fit into my plan?

Can I use almond butter sparingly as a protein or would it count as a carb? This is something else I have grown to LOVE, especially as a runner!!!

Sorry for all the questions, but I am planning to go shopping tomorrow and want to start off right!!!

Thanks

Amy

Thanks Amy!

I will make quinoa for the first time this weekend, I will let everyone know how it turns out.  

As far as coffee goes- how do you drink it?  Sugar/Creamer? During the middle of my challenge I started drinking my espresso with Truvia. It took me a while to get use to that taste, well actually I have never gotten use to the taste.  I did go back to sugar once my challenge finished and haven't noticed any difference regarding weight or anything else. I will most likely continue with drinking sugar with my coffee this time around as this is the only sugar I take in.

I also use unsweetened almond milk, I love that it is low in calories and sugar. I use it to make my protein shakes.  I consider it my fat.  I also use and LOVE almond butter. I mentioned that I use it as a pre-workout snack on lifting days when I am a little hungry with banana slices.  I also consider this as a fat and I know it has protein but not enough to consider it a protein source.

I also don't eat red meat or pork.  I do get my protein from eggs, turkey, chicken, fish and of course whey.  If you would like to continue with a plant based diet, I would suggest adding lots of whey to your diet.

Patty    

Welcome Gvogt!

Wow. I'm also going to try making quinoa tomorrow. I think my expectations are high since the first time I had it was in a restaurant but hopefully it'll workout. It was so good.

I drink my coffee black but usually I have it when I have a protein bar.  The black coffee cuts the sweetness of a protein bar so I find the pairing quite good.  Not that I have a problem drinking coffee black throughout the day!

Welcome Gvogt, have you set any goals for this challenge?

Hello pattymelt - I haven't set any goals yet but will for the first time ever.  I have done BFL in the past but never set any goals or corresponded by message boards.  I don't know what is realistic - in the past I have never lost the body fat or weight like I should have so I need to figure out what I did wrong and self correct.  

Hi there! I will be starting Monday 7-11-11. I've done BFL before, with great results. I just had baby #3 (12 weeks ago via c-section). I gained 40lbs during my pregnancy, and have lost 25 so far. Can't wait to get down to my pre-pregnancy body again!

Welcome NurseG to the team. We are all looking forward to starting with you and most importantly, FINISHING with you :)

GVogt- Even if your goals aren't realistic, its a good exercise to at least have some going into the challenge, it'll be a good bench mark. You can always reset your goals but they help you stay focused during the 12 weeks.

Team, if you haven't done so already I highly recommend you read the original Bill Phillips book Body for Life.  I still pick it up every now and then and usually remember something I've forgotten.  IF you want a sample before you buy it you can find the first few chapters on google books. here is the link:

books.google.com/books

Its definitely worth a read for both information and inspiration.

hey everyone, KRIS hello you :-) John the tropical scenery is certainly a good booster It really helps to keep me distracted from concentrating on breathing lol.. I haven't quite layed off the weights but have been strictly low weight and high reps.. this week with endurance cardio sessions instead of HIIT. The food however I have been giving myself a free meal the last couple of days. nothing crazy just one meal. I plan on just taking the weekend with my daughter having some beach time resting up going food shopping tomorrow and gonna go full speed ahead monday morning!!

A note on the quinoa, I love that stuff easily made in the pot.. and a way i like to make it right after it comes outta the pot i take a cup throw it in the saute pan table spoon of olive or canola oil 3-4 egg whites, chopped onions some minced garlic and chopped celery and add some shrimps in there complete meal 2 servings worth for me.. veggies carb and protein yumm! almost like fried rice just no rice :-).

Patty, I am totally new to this whole endurance running thing.. I absolutely despised running! I started out slow and on my HIIT days after my am WO since my lunch break was an hour and bfl meals are small and easily finished within 5 mins i started going for a little jog 20 mins and slowly increasing times. Getting my breathing down was the biggest challenge Id start timing my steps with my breaths doing all i could to NOT breathe through my mouth until I just couldn't stand it! Now with music It helps to keep my mind off of breathing lol I don't know what happened but now when i hear myself breathing I get thrown off weird.. i know haha.. I really don't know how you could make it less boring lol. Its a challenge plain and simple try to treat it like any other thing. I just pick a time or a distance..  turn my cell phone gps and start to run when i'm done my phone tells me distance covered  time between miles.. calories burned and average speed.. I started out with a 5.7 mph average and am now up to 6.7 I hope you can find a way to get the running into your game..

Time to rock soon! the enthusiasm is awesome up in here!! woooooo!

Thanks for all of the info, Patty and John!!!

I use sugar-free vanilla flavored creamer in my coffee. I only use about a teaspoon full, so I think I will stick with that. Only 15 calories and 2g of fat. I don't do sugar, sometimes I will add a little splenda or stevia, but rarely.

I am definitely purchasing some whey protein today. I have been using Juice Plus, which is soy based, but it is high in carbs and I think it has too many carbs b/c I also like to add fruit to my smoothies. I used whey protein last time I did BFL and it worked well.

Have a great weekend!

Amy