OK it's the end of week 3 for me and i have only lost a total of 4 lbs.. I will weigh myself again on Monday . I feel better that what i did 3 weeks ago, but I'm still not convinced that i am doing everything correct from food to training.. Please help, I am determined to finish this.

Hey Meltim,

I bet you are doing awesome..making healthy transformation for your body takes time to see...but you fell very good and now your body is gettign use to your new lifestyle...keep itup!! What do you have questions on? did you read the book? have the eating for life book? Id love to help..I have done this many time b4!

Thanks Tashiana8   I feel a little lost i thought i would see more results by now... I weight train 3 days a week and cardio 3 days just like the book says.I have been eating every 3 hours if i am not at work , when i am at work sometimes it's hard to eat every 3 hours (im in retail ) .  I still find myself hungry sometimes after I eat prob about 1-1 1/2 hrs afterwards what am i doing wrong? Am I not eating enough?   Please help any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.. I have the book and have read it . I do have the cook book as well i have looked at it but haven't made anything out of it ... I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible for me. I still have some cravings but they quickly disappear. ( i am so glad for that).   My free day's i don't treat them like free days, for me i try to stay the course on these days for 2 reasons, 1 i weigh myself the morning after my free day , and 2 I feel that it would be to easy for me to not go back and get into the groove again.

Hey Meltim...well, eating is definately around 80% of your results so you don't want to stall it...what i do when I am at work is stick to a strick eating 2 to 3 hour schedule and plan around it...I even go to the bathroom if I have to to eat a myoplex bar, or drink a shake or apple with low fat high protein cheese...I just make time no matter what. When you get hungry, you will want to cheat...don't let your body get there cuz it will happen. The more you train your body, the less it will have cravings. Make sure you do have free days to eat whatever and not workout( you deserve a reward and you will start to have less craving for many reasons 1.your body will start ot refute those foods your not use to eating(fatty foods, sugar, etc) and 2. You will have less cravings after that day. Make sure you drink water with every meal (I even down 1-2 huge glasses of water in the morning to make sure I get a good start(yes, you will have to use the restroom a ton but that means you're doing it right...also, make sure you are maxing out at your peak with cardio and weights. When you progress...make sure that you progress to another level..(I said this a couple posts back)

I would do measurements and weight check the morning of your free day before you eat or drink anything...this is how hard your body worked during the week..weighing/measuring it after may discourage you at this time in the program...(Eating for Life is my best friend right now and really helps with various/creative ways to eat, I can even make meals for my family with the recipes!go check it out!...as we get really good at this program in another month we will come to certain grey areas...(like about 10 years ago when I first was introduced to this program and was about 2 months into it, I questioned if I could eat natural Peanut Butter for my fat and protein as well as what I should do to stop building huge bicep muscles since I was starting to look like the body building short blonde my bff and I would make fun of..) I called BFL back then and got answers...so, there's a great option....and of course the program has expanded and improved some of the program in those grey areas:) I hope this all helps:)

Thanks again Tashiana8 for your help.   I will push harder this week and let you know on my work outs. My husband goes to the gym with me a few days a week even though  he is not doing the BFL but has read the book, he also thinks that I am not maximizing my workouts. Do u think I should change my free day to a Saturday?  As of now it is a Sunday and on Monday's I weigh my self in the AM before anything.  I also am not willing to jeopardize my results for my job this challenge is that important to me.  I have always quit diets because it got to hard or stopped going to the gym because of scheduling issues, but now it's different, this is for me and I promised myself that I will complete the 12 weeks.

I feel like I have been on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  Tomorrow starts the week of Week 4, and I am DETERMINED to succeed.  First week?  Great with getting started!  Second week?  Terrible -- was sick and ended up working out 3/6 days, and eating correctly on 3/6.  Week Three?  Aunt Flo was in town and the same scenario as the sick week previously, only more cravings.  So, Week 4 has GOT to be successful.

Highlights so far are that I've increased my weights in upper body by almost double, and I've added running to my cardio!  Whew hew!  First time?  ENTIRE BODY sore the next day!  But, I am determined to keep adding the running so I can eventually run a lap without stopping, then a mile, and eventually a 5k!!  I KNOW I can do this, just need to focus on mind over matter.

How are you guys doing??

Oh, water intake has been low, so I've got to get that back up, and get a good multi-vitamin (have been taking whole food liquid vitamins, but need more minerals).

sillyghirl

I feel like I have been on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  Tomorrow starts the week of Week 4, and I am DETERMINED to succeed.  First week?  Great with getting started!  Second week?  Terrible -- was sick and ended up working out 3/6 days, and eating correctly on 3/6.  Week Three?  Aunt Flo was in town and the same scenario as the sick week previously, only more cravings.  So, Week 4 has GOT to be successful.

Highlights so far are that I've increased my weights in upper body by almost double, and I've added running to my cardio!  Whew hew!  First time?  ENTIRE BODY sore the next day!  But, I am determined to keep adding the running so I can eventually run a lap without stopping, then a mile, and eventually a 5k!!  I KNOW I can do this, just need to focus on mind over matter.

How are you guys doing??

Oh, water intake has been low, so I've got to get that back up, and get a good multi-vitamin (have been taking whole food liquid vitamins, but need more minerals).

I'm in fat burning mode.  I'm losing about 1 inch per week!  Recently, I did C1 up until week 10 of the challenge, and then went on a vacation.  After that, I felt terrible, after eating relentlessly!    BUT I did not gain a pound.   I ended up restarting the challenge, and since then, I've been on a steady fat loss roll !  in only 4 weeks, I've lost 4 inches. Nice!  That's about 8 pounds on the scale. My thighs are now shrinking!!!

I'm usually my leanest at a size 8/10, because I have a large frame.  I'm in a loose size 12!!

I did add cardio on my weight training days.  However, I was doing extra steady state cardio on my HIIT, and that stalled my weight loss.  Never again!  Overtraining is real, and it happened to me.  LOL

Its been about a week since i last posted. But i have to say everyone is doing soo well!!! i can't believe myself for even getting this far its great. I've started to notice things changing and i'm getting stronger.

This week though i'm getting a little bored with the foods, and i now gag when i think about having my protein shake.. any ideas what to do instead? i've resulted in today bringing eggs for morning tea i just couldn't handle another protein shake today. I have been thinking about getting some protein bars, i did try 1 in the first week and it was pretty nice, only thing is they are so expensive.. well the ones i tried anyway. Lastnight i made the BFL fried rice and had it with steak and salad it was actually quite nice! So i have that for lunch today as well.

tashiana8--your advice is very helpful.  I'm glad we have a seasoned BFL-er here to answer our questions!

This past weekend was my birthday weekend.  I did not go too overboard.  I ate well on Saturday and Sunday.  Sunday there was drinking and guacamole, but hey, I deserved it!  (Friday was national guacamole day!).  Monday I ended up taking off of work, and my mom took me to lunch.  I ate fried calamari.  It was delicious.  

Now, the birthday celebration is over.  Time to get back to it.  Last week I realized that my lower body work out was only about 25 minutes.  I don't know if that just happened one day or if it's really been that short the entire time.  Whatever the case, I find myself slipping.  Today I brought my BFL book to work and I'm going to read it at lunch so I can get re-pumped about the program.  I'm also going to review my upper and lower body workouts so I can figure out where the problem is.

I haven't taken my measurements since I started.  Why you ask?  I'm scared!  I haven't noticed my clothes any looser.  I may just bite the bullet this week and do my 4-week measurements and weigh in.  I'm dying to get to 8 weeks because I think that's when my results will be more noticible.  Hope everyone has a fantastic week 4!!

Hey All!! I am so proud our first month is almost here!! I have never been able to do a forum before with others while doing this program and I have to say to you all, it has been a pleasure:)

....I am very glad to help with anything!! I am been here many time before on this program because it works and it works the right way.

I remember when I was about 15 or 16 first doing this program and after reading the book, my bff and I went to go work out and she clarified the work outs for me, so, I had guidance in that. It can be confusing and foreign when first starting....I am just going to put an thorough example up for anyone who finds it helpful...

Monday: lower body (QUADS:Leg Press: started with 70lbs, 35LBs on each side(said "Body for Life" on the way down breathing in, "I am building my body for life" exhaling pushing on the way up.)

Completed 12 reps.- 1 MINUTE REST(during this time I add 5LBs more)

Complete 10 reps @ 80IBs (said "Body for Life" on the way down breathing in, "I am building my body for life" exhaling pushing on the way up.) ...1 MINUTE REST add 5 more Lbs

Completed 8 reps @ 85Lbs...1 MINUTE REST..add 5 more pounds at max weight

Completed 6 reps at  90Lbs...2 MINUTE REST going back down to 70IBs

COMPLETE 12 reps NO REST move onto another "QUAD" excercise at same weight and did 12 reps SO I did squats on the smith machine at 70lbs, 12 reps DONE with quads rest 2 mins only.

HAMSTRINGS(lying curls) started at 40lbs... same manner 12-1minadd5-10-1minadd5-8-1minadd5-6-2minstartingweight-12norest go run and do another hamstring exercise @same weight 12 reps

CALVES(standing calf machine starting at 20Lbs.....same manner 12-1minadd5-10-1minadd5-8-1minadd5-6-2minstartingweight-12norest go run and do another calf exercise with 12 reps

ABS  "as suggested in the book" also add some weight the better I get

I have read all instrucitons on the equipment and never rushed, always focused takes 40- to an hour long

I make sure to alternate the weight days(if I started the week with lower next week I start with upper

CARDIO example: treadmill 1-2mins is warmup(4.0 slow jog) 2min-3min up speed to 4.2, 3min-4min up speed to 4.4, 4min-5min up speed to 4.6, 5min-6min back down but a little faster to 4.1. etc. By 18min-19min should be max...at 17min up about 3notches in speed for a good diff.

(I even use to do 2mins at my max then to cool down which worked amazing for me)

Intervalic is the key word.

Cardio day for me!!  Started running more consistantly! Need to focus

us on writing my eating schedule in my real notebook and not just my planner:)

I haven't posted in awhile. My son has become very ill, and we're not sure what's wrong. It's very troublesome and hopefully some of these test results will start to give us answers. I just spent all darn day in the hospital and I've been stressed to the max this past week.

The good thing is, I haven't been using it as an excuse. I'm still exercising and eating properly. My times have been a little goofed up, but I'm dong the best I can and eating the right things. Usually, I would use some issue as an excuse to bail on exercising, but this time something is different: it's become even more important to me to exercise with all that is going on. I know that it's more important than ever to be in the best shape I can be in so I can care for my son, so he serves as motivation right now. That is a major paradigm shift for me.

I will be posting photos and measurements at the end of this week on my profile so let's hope there's some visible progress! I feel trimmer and healthier, so at least that's going in the right direction.

Good luck to all and I hope everyone is staying on track and starting to feel good. I can't believe week 5 is coming up already!

Week 5 is here. The weeks are going pretty fast. We are 1/3 of our way through this amazing life style change. I took photos and measured yesterday and i am quite impressed at the changes. i was convinced that i had measured myself wrong to start off with but when i took photos and put them next to eachother i was so amazed! I am trying to figure out how to post these on my profile, how do you do that?

Hey ALL!!  

I just keep on truckin it feels like...I think overall I have lost around 4 inches and a lot of body fat but thats where it shows most...The weeks are going by fast it seems but then to think far ahead to thanksgiving is too far...just taking it one day at a time:))

School and work are keeping me busy but at least my habit of BFL is pretty set! I feel a little lonely though like I haven't seen much of my family and not that I have a lot of friends, but the ones that matter I haven't seen much of...I'dprobably cheat if I did though:) My cardio days have really gotten amazing...I'm running pretty much all the way...and I feel good about that! My weight days are habit and I need a kick in the but to start seeing a bigger cut in my body(if you know what I mean) Im a strong woman and before I said I didn't want to bulk up too much like I experienced in the past, but I think I need an extra kick so, I am going to really push in the weights until I have a reaction like I did 10 years ago and say " Okay, too much body building bulk, let me step back a bit":)

and I havent written in my food journal in weeks!! Need to remember to do that b4 bed instead of crashing after HW

***I think we should all talk to eachother no matter whats going on...getting it all out is very good and I miss some of you guys!!!

...Happy 5th week all!!

I don't think I'm seeing the results everyone else is.  Yesterday I got on the scale and according to it, I have gained 4 pounds.  How lame is that?  The pictures I took at the end of last week...I can't even tell a difference from my before pictures and they may actually be worse.  It was hard to tell.  I haven't remeasured, but I plan on doing that tonight.  My clothes aren't looser.  I'm disappointed.

There have been a few weeks where I won't eat terrible on the weekend, but I'm sure not following the plan like I should.  I guess I can't cheat as often as I'd hoped.  My workouts are on point and I'm getting stronger.  Weighing myself really hit me hard.  :(  Hopefully I start seeing results soon.