Hi Nebotti,

People come from different backgrounds of fitness and eating habits. i remember bfler akmama. She lost a lot of weight in three weeks. Her transformation was phenomenal. But she was an avid gym goer most of her years anyway. Unlike some of us who are still trying to work their way around a gym.

Last year, I lost incredible weight in 45 days on bfl. But then, i was eating junk every single day, sweets, name it. It was only normal for me to switch to 6 meals and lose weight. This year, this cycle I gained 2 pounds in three weeks. I don't know why and i don't care. All  I care is I stick with it to the end. Quitting will not leave me in a better place.

Exercise and diet as if you are already winning. Don't doubt yourself. Move on forward in complete faith. I have many of those doubtful moments. In fact sometimes I ask myself if the 2 pounds in three weeks are only the beginning and by the end of the 12 weeks I will pack on more weight. After all, it does feel like a lot of eating lol. But these moments are shrugged off intentionally. You climb to the top, you don't think "what if I fall? Am I gonna fall?". You think "I am getting closer. I can't see the top but I will be there".  

BFL is an amazing mental and spiritual journey. If we reduce it to a lifestyle nutrition plan, we would be castrating it.  It's a challenge against your weaknesses, perceived limitations, triggers, fears, and indeed self-doubt.

Good luck to all of us.

ruby - you have a good point...fear of failure and self doubt holds people back from a lot of things in life.  i'm not a quitter and have no other option but to continue forward and finish what i started..i do know that i will try HARDER THAN EVER to get what i want out of this though.  you will do great on your challenge because you already have such a positive outlook on it all. :)

BDMom - thanks, that is really a flattering compliment.  hoping the hourglass just firms up so i can better show it , lol

pattymelt - yes, heavy weights are of top priority!

nebotti,

The very nice folks here have already given you great advice and I can't agree more with them.  I have two questions for you.  1) Did you put on your extra weight/fat in only 6 weeks?  Probably not, and yes we all want instant gratification.  But be patient, you can succeed.   2) you haven't mentioned your cardio, the bread and butter of calorie burning.  Are you hitting your tens?  I mean really hitting your ten where you could not go a second longer or a second faster.  Something to consider.

Hi,

Just realised that you and I are both week six and for me today was day 3.  I feel just like you aye, so it will be really interesting to see what hapens from here on in.  Keep posting to let me know your progress

spinney - i agree that it is going to be interesting from here on out..i have definitely seen people in the forum who were in similar boats as us and ended with great success.  i think the key right now is to stay extremely focused and closely monitor our diets while pushing to lift heavier and heavier weights...at least i know that is what i'll be doing!

firesong - i do my cardio making every minute count.  i hit my 9's and 10's going as hard as my body allows..always striving to push harder though.  last cardio workout (tuesday) i increased to a 30 minute session and will probably continue this but still stay with only 3 cardio workouts per week..i really don't want to inhibit the muscle building process.

Yup sounds g8! i changed my weights around this week and moved up my cardio which is now..

L5 = 7.5mph

L6 = 8.5mph

L7 = 9.5mph

L8 = 10.5mph

L9 = 11.5mph

L10 = 12.5mph

What a killer week, my energy is so so so low, but i am gonna keep pushing on through.

OPPS ABOVE CARDIO IS ON THE TREADMILL, I wanted to hurl this morning - lol...

nebotti, why did you increase your cardio?   So many people want to add cardio to this program, because we have been ingrained that wee have to do more. I give so much in my 20 minutes that at my intensity I could not do 30.  So just wondring what you think you will gain?  (hope i am not sounding snotty, just am curious)

Spinney,

That is some workout.  Are you 6'11" with 6' legs?  That is just one remarkable cardio. Are you getting enough sleep with that workout?  I was like that a couple times during C1, and once I made sure I was getting my 8 hours, it made all the difference.  

HAHAHAHAHA Yes that would be impressive if it was MPH and im only 5'2", in fact its km's per hr!!! oh dear, i not all that clued up with things like that... You are right though, mate after my 20mins i pretty much have to slam on 'stop' on the treadmill then bend over to catch myself - its hard going!!!!

spinney - i read that "mph" workout and almost hurled myself just looking at it ;) lol! good job though!

firesong - my HIIT is intense to the point that i feel like i'm going to throw up when i hit my 9's and 10's..and i'm also sweating profusely.  my motto has always been that if i'm not dripping sweat then i'm not going hard enough.  i've recently (today) found an awesome fartlek speed workout that is 30 minutes long that is already preprogrammed into the elliptical.  it wasn't 30 minutes of going hard (5 minute warm up and cool down) but the 20 minutes of intensity was PURE TORTURE.  i'm going to do that on my HIIT days from here on out and then do some lower intensity cardio on weight training days (probably in the afternoon...as i don't want to interfere w/ muscle building).

i am not looking to do marathon cardio sessions but from what i've read on this site, a lot of the champions (and others) did extra low intensity cardio.  also, on a lot of body building websites it recommends extra cardio for optimum fat burning.  i don't have a job that requires me to move around all day so i don't feel like i'm doing too much.  if i start to get a burned out feeling then i will scale back the cardio to standard BFL.  my body is stubborn and i need to kick its ass harder to make it do what i tell it, ha ha

Spinney - great speeds on the TM! Freak! If you feel low on energy, recheck your portions. You may need another ounce or two of protein in one or two meals for a day or so around your workout. Also water is KEY to alertness and also sleep. (you probably know that, just throwing it out there).

Firesong/Nebotti - You are doing fabulous with finding a way to stay uncomfortable!! Way to go. For the concern about too much cardio ... keep in mind there is a HUGE difference between HIIT and steady cardio with jogging or rollerblading for fun in the evenings. I agree many people do keep active rather than sitting in the evenings, however I dont think many repeat HIIT throughout the day. Make sense? Keep up the amazing pace. You both have great momentum going again.

Spinney,

Your level 7 is my level 10. Sigh... I have never been much of a runner or a jogger. I absolutely hate the sadistic guy who invented the treadmill. it's the first time i ever use the treadmill even though i go to the gym since my twenties, that's 18 years now. I do weights, weights and more weights, and loads of walking out in the open. No wonder i am big lol.

I am still trying to figure out how can someone who is 5"2 run at a speed of 12.5 kilometers per hour. To me that would look super fit.

Very envious here....

Legs, oh I definately get the extra cardio when done for fun and to stay active on off the couch.  I just get concerned when I read people who are just starting out and can't believe that the HIIT 20 minutes is effective.  I think we have been fed the line if you don't do cardio 3 hours a day you can't lose weight.  Sometimes I am not as eloquent as I would like to be when I post and not clear at times.

nebotti, i understand now, the extra ten minutes.  thanks for explaining.  for me, i did a lot of extra cardio in the first two weeks on C1 and was so tired that i wasn't doing as well as i could during bfl workouts.  once i stopped doing two hours of zumba all the time, and focused on bfl, then i saw huge differences and it was great.   you sound like you have things going on.  good luck

ruby - i used to think i wasn't or couldn't be a runner either but after persistent work i have comfortably run 12+ miles numerous times and used to average about 30 miles per week before the summer heat kicked in (and before i started BFL, taking a break from that for now obviously).  you can do anything you put your mind to :)

firesong - yeah! my energy levels are fine although sometimes an hour or so after my morning HIIT or lifting workout i will feel like i want to take a nap..but that's normal and just confirms to me that i really gave it my best effort :)