Body for Life

I gained 45 pounds with my first daughter and 50 pounds with my 2nd. Yes, I know what your thinking, "the baby only comes out weighing 7 or so pounds. I was heavy. When I was pregnant, I found great comfort in putting butter on most everything and I ate a lot. While this may have been fine to me while I was pregnant, it wasn't so much once the baby came out.

Picture of me and my Grandfather in law when I was a few months pregnant with my 2nd daughter

Picture of me and my first daughter having just delivered my 2nd

After the birth of my 2nd daughter in 2003, I heard of the Body for Life program. My sister in law, Julie was doing it. I decided to give it a try. Since I had a c-section, I did wait 3 months to begin the program.

The Body for life program is a 12 week challenge and it's very simple. You eat 6 small meals per day, do an aerobic activity for 20 minutes, 3 times a week and weight training 3 times a week. You get one day of freedom, which means no exercising and you can eat whatever you want. For further reading, click on the link http://bodyforlife.com/what-is-bfl

You can buy the Body for Life book or check out the book from the library.

http://www.amazon.com/Body-Life-Mental-Physical-Strength/dp/0060193395/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303072980&sr=8-1

What I like about Body for Life is that you don't have to buy anything. It really is just about changing your eating habits and changing what you eat.

The following information is taken directly from the Body for Life website.   www.bodyforlife.com

Official Body-for-LIFE Cardio-Training Plan

Cardio workouts are indispensable to an effective training program and general good health. By definition, cardio workouts can be any exercise—jogging, running, biking, swimming, elliptical machine, stairs, even jumping rope—that raises and maintains your heart rate over a predetermined amount of time. By doing so, you strengthen your heart and lungs and lower your resting heart rate, which means that over time the same effort that produced a 10-minute mile will produce a 9-minute mile. Cardio workouts burn fat. And cardio fitness is what gives you endurance and the ability to persist in sports and in life.

The Benefits of Cardio

• Increases metabolic rate
• Increases growth hormone secretion
• Reduces stress levels
• Increases blood flow to the brain increasing alertness
• Improve cholesterol levels
• Improves digestion
• Boosts immune-system function

20-Minute Aerobics Solution™ — The Official Body-for-LIFE Cardio Plan

1. Warm up the first 2 minutes at Intensity Level 5
2. Minutes 2-3 move from Intensity Level 5 to 6
3. Minutes 4-5, 6-10 and 11-14 work your way from Intensity Level 6 to Level 9, maintain for one minute.
4. Minutes 15-19 work your way from Intensity Level 6 to Level 10 (High Point at Level 10), maintain for one minute.
5. Minute 20 cool down to Intensity Level 5 for one minute.

Alternate weight-training and cardio workouts for six consecutive days and rest on the seventh day.

I always liked the cardio part of the workouts. When I first started out, I walked up and down my stairs, gradually moved to the treadmill, just walking and slowly worked up to running. 

Official Body-for-LIFE Weight-Training Plan

• Weight train intensely, three times per week on alternating days with aerobic exercise three times per week. Make sure to hit your "high points" during your workout.
• Alternate training the major muscles of the upper and lower body.
• Perform two exercises for each major muscle group of the upper body.
• Select one exercise and conduct five sets with it, starting with a set of 12 reps, then increasing the weight and doing 10 reps, adding more weight and doing 8 reps, adding more weight for 6 reps. Then reduce the weight and do 12 reps. Immediately perform another set of 12 reps for that muscle group using the second selected exercise.
• For each muscle group, rest for one minute between the first four sets. Then complete the final two sets with no rest in between, wait two minutes before moving on to your next muscle group, complete this pattern five times for the upper body training experience and four times for the lower body training experience.
• Always plan your training before hand.
• Record all your weightlifting exercised in a journal indicating the exercise selected and weight lifted.

Daily Training Guide

Download the Exercise Guide

Day 1	Upper Body Training	Chest/Shoulders/Triceps/Back/Biceps
Day 2	Cardiovascular Workout
Day 3	Lower Body and Abs Training	Quads/Hamstrings/Calves/Abdominals
Day 4	Cardiovascular Workout
Day 5	Upper Body Training	Chest/Shoulders/Triceps/Back/Biceps
Day 6	Cardiovascular Workout
Day 7	Rest

Upper Body

Chest

Choose Exercise from List

• Barbell Bench Presses
• Barbell Incline Presses
• Dumbbell Bench Presses
• Dumbbell Incline Presses
• Dumbbell Flyes
• Cable Crossovers
• Repetitions: x12, 10, x8, x6, x12, x12

Back

Choose Exercise from List

• Pull-Ups
• Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns
• One-Arm Dumbbell Rows
• Seated Cable Rows
• Back Extensions
• Straight Arm Pulldowns
• Repetitions: x12, 10, x8, x6, x12, x12

Shoulders

Choose Exercise from List

• Seated Dumbbell Presses
• Front Raises
• Lateral Raises
• Reverse Flyes
• Upright Cable Rows
• Upright Barbell Rows
• Repetitions: x12, 10, x8, x6, x12, x12

Biceps

Choose Exercise from List

• Alternate Dumbbell Curls
• Barbell Curls
• Preacher Curls
• Concentration Curls
• Cable Curls
• Hammer Curls
• Repetitions: x12, 10, x8, x6, x12, x12

Triceps

Choose Exercise from List

• Seated Triceps Presses
• Lying Triceps Presses
• Triceps Kickbacks
• Triceps Pushdowns
• Cable Extensions
• Bench Dips
• Repetitions: x12, 10, x8, x6, x12, x12

Lower Body

Quadriceps

Choose Exercise from List

• Barbell Squats
• Leg Presses
• Leg Extensions
• Repetitions: x12, 10, x8, x6, x12, x12

Hamstrings

Choose Exercise from List

• Dumbbell Lunges
• Straight-Leg Deadlifts
• Lying Leg Curls
• Repetitions: x12, 10, x8, x6, x12, x12

Calves

Choose Exercise from List

• Seated Calf Raises
• Standing Heel Raises
• Repetitions: x12, 10, x8, x6, x12, x12

Abs

Choose Exercise from List

• Floor Crunches
• Oblique Floor Crunches
• Decline Crunches
• Decline Oblique
• Hanging Knee Raises
• Reverse Crunches
• Cable Crunches
• Cable Oblique Crunches
• Repetitions: x12, 10, x8, x6, x12, x12

Click here to learn about the Body-for-LIFE Cardio-Training Plan

So what do you eat during these meals? Anything healthy, but smaller, portion sized. When I was doing it, I always heard that protein, carbohydrate, fruit and vegetable should be the size of your fist and no more and that is what I went by. I did get rid of the butter, used more pam, sometimes olive oil, for example. The Body for life website is full of recipes and meal ideas and there is even a Body for life recipe book. Below is a sample weekly meal plan. It says to eat a Myoplex shake for in between meals. Costco was selling this, not sure if they are still, but they have a lot of protein shake mix.

 http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Life-Bill-Phillips/dp/0972018417/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303073259&sr=1-1

Sample Weekly Meal Plan

Eat more often

Research indicates that eating smaller meals more frequently (about every three hours) supports metabolism and helps maintain energy.

DAY	7:00am	10:00am	1:00pm	4:00pm	7:00pm	10:00pm
1	Six egg-white omelet, 1/2 cup (dry measure) oatmeal, prepared with water	Myoplex® Nutrition Shake	Grilled fresh tuna with broccoli and roasted new potatoes	Myoplex®Nutrition bar	Eye of round steak with sweet potato and green beans	Cottage cheese with blueberries
2	Breakfast wrap (low-fat sausage, scrambled egg whites, low-fat cheese, salsa, whole wheat tortilla)	Myoplex® Ready-to-Drink	Teriyaki salmon with cooked spinach and brown rice	Myoplex® Nutrition Shake	Pork tenderloin with asparagus and baked potato	Cottage cheese with strawberries
3	Egg-white pancakes (six egg whites, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 T whole grain pancake mix, mix in blender), serve with sugarless fruit spread	Myoplex® Nutrition Shake	Chicken fajita wraps (grilled chicken breast, grilled vegetables and a whole wheat wrap)	Myoplex® Ready-to-Drink	Sushi made with brown rice, seaweed salad	Green salad with cottage cheese
4	Scrambled egg whites, one slice whole wheat toast	Myoplex® Ready-to-Drink	Southwest chicken salad (chicken, lettuce, brown rice, black beans, tomatoes, onions, avocado)	Myoplex®Nutrition bar	Tofu-vegetable stir fry with brown rice	Cottage cheese and grapes
5	Six egg-white omelet, oatmeal	Myoplex®Nutrition Bar	Turkey burger on whole wheat bun with lettuce and tomato	Myoplex® Ready-to-Drink	Grilled salmon with cucumber-dill dressing, green salad and baked potato	Cottage cheese with an apple
6	Egg-white pancakes (see Day 3); sugarless fruit spread	Myoplex® Nutrition Shake	Chili (made with lean ground turkey, kidney beans, salsa), green salad	Myoplex®Nutrition Bar	Rosemary chicken with mushroom gravy, snap peas and whole wheat pasta	Cottage cheese and yogurt
7	FREE DAY	FREE DAY	FREE DAY	FREE DAY	FREE DAY	FREE DAY

Replace this...	with this
whole milk	skim (0%), low-fat (1%), reduced fat (2%)
cheese	reduced fat cheese
pasta with white (cheese) sauce	pasta with marinara (vegetable) sauce
bacon or sausage	Canadian bacon or lean ham
eggs	egg whites or egg substitutes
white bread	whole-wheat
mayonnaise	reduce calorie, fat-free or mustard
regular salad dressings	reduced fat/calorie dressings
guacamole	salsa
creamed soups	broth-based soups
butter, oil or shortening	non-stick cooking spray, applesauce or prune puree

Body for life has a great community. You can chat with other people who are going through the exact same thing that you are.

http://bodyforlife.com/community

So how did I do? Well in the 12 weeks, I lost 20 pounds. The running as most of you know stuck and I am now training for my 2nd 50 mile ultramarathon and I feel great. I still eat very healthy, and still have the Eating for Life recipe book and often use it.

Here are my transformation photos;

Before in 2003

After in 2003

 

 

Photo of me now

The program works, I swear by it. At least check it out. http://bodyforlife.com/