Hi everyone. Okay, so I started posting to this site a few weeks ago and I was all gung ho about getting started and losing this 30 pounds. Somewhere in that first week someone introduced me to the Body For Life program. I bought the book, and started following the plan. While the weight training program is wonderful, the eating is just too strict for me. It is equal servings of carbs and protein at every meal. 6 meals a day. Doesn't sound that hard except you are not allowed any condiments, seasonings, salad dressings, NOTHING. Also, it only allows 3 20 minute cardio sessions per week and frowns upon any more than that. I should have just stuck to the way that worked for me before. Calorie counting, water, and plenty of exercise. I lost 5 sizes on my own, with MY OWN PLAN. This was unrealistic and ignorant of me to think I could do this. My body needs more cardio than that. Anyway, now that I have put myself through that I am going back to my way. I am 155 right now, with 24% body fat. Lets see what I can do!!!! ANY words of encouragement would be welcomed and VERY MUCH appreciated!!

THANKS EVERYONE!!!! [/I]

The best diet and exercise program is the one that works for you, PERIOD!

That said, saying your body NEEDS more cardio is a misconception of yours, IMO. Energy balance wins over all things when it comes to losing your weight. That said, especially when you don't have all that much weight to lose.... a solid program of resistance training, coupled with a couple of sessions of HIIT per week, and proper nutrition will work wonders.

I don't agree that you have to eat 6 meals per day and they all have to contain protein, carbs, and fats in equal proportions. I actually know for a fact that you don't need to do that. And if that ideology is too strict for you, of course you should not stick with it.

Sure, you can also lose it by running hours on end each week, doing steady state, low intensity cardio. Will this give you the fastest results? Probably not. Will your results be optimal? Probably not again.

No condiments or seasonings?? See, I wouldn't last a day. And any diet that takes out important stuff like that, or absolutely forbids things, IMHO, is not a diet that one can live with.

Go back to what you were doing. Sounds like that was working fine.

I was going through this in the past - too strict diet for me and I'm bound to fail.

I just bought the books, The Abs Diet as well as Dumbells for Smart Girls...

The diet in The Abs Diet is definately not a strict diet, rather it teaches you to focus on foods that rev up our metabolism and suggests you eat these on a very regular basis (within moderation):

The are:

Almonds and other nuts
Beans and legumes
Spinach and other green vegetables

Dairy (fat free)
Instant oatmeal (unsweetened and unflavored)
Eggs
Turkey and other lean meats

Peanut Butter (unsweetened)
Olive Oil
Whole grains
Extra protein (whey) powder
Raspberries and other berries

It says if you move these particular foods to the head of your dietary table, it will give you all the vitamins, minerals and fiber you need for optimum healthy while triggering muscle growth and firing up your body's natural fat burners.

It also says to use the above and make a blender shake for some of your snacks (even add peanut butter and oatmeal to the shakes)...for example, have one shake for morning snack AND use the left over for the nighttime snack.

It says to eat your 3 meals a day along with 3 snacks - evenly spaced out.

It has a long shopping list you can use when going to the grocery store and I noticed that I did have alot of that on hand. I just needed help to put it all together...it has samples for what to eat for each meal and snack...

Thus far, it's working for me. It also says you can have two meals a week where there are no restrictions on what you have - just enjoy these two meals (without major overeating of course).

The book also shows you strength training exercises using your body weight or dumbells (I use this in conjunction with my Smart Girls do Dumbells book) so that you are also reving up your metabolism.

It's such an easy read and I find it amazingly easy to follow.

Some of the first few chapters are a little fluffy (for example talking about why other diets don't work, and why this is the best program, etc) but when you get into the beef of the book, it's great.

Let me know if you have any questions on it and I"ll be happy to share.

Good luck and don't let this deter you from your goals. You just need to find what works for you.

12packabs posted a recipe in the recipes section for blueberry oatmeal - that uses steel cut oats as the oatmeal base - McCanns makes a pretty good steel cut oats (theyre sold in a metal tin at most grocery stores) they're a little different texture than regular oatmeal but are pretty good - (though not instant... )

my friend was doing the body for life and she agreed that the cardio isn't enough and the eating is strange.

if it's not broke - don't fix it

BFL doesnt sound like my thing, but i've seen the before and after pics and they are impressive so i can see why you wanted to follow that path.

My problem with any diet is that it's just that...a diet. I would rather say that I am eating healthier, making better choices, and working out. That way, when I have pizza on the weekend I don't feel as guilty because I eat less of it and order it with mushrooms instead of pepperoni.

I am certainly the type that will fail if I feel restricted with certain foods because I love food and I love to cook.

Thanks for the info.

Denisio,
I'm with you - if I had to go "On A Diet" I would still be pushing 260 pounds, if not more.

I had to learn to incorporate the foods I eat, my family eats, into something I can live with.

Moderation and portion control was a huge factor!

Who knew an entire can of pringles wasn't a single serving

Starrgirl,

You and I have similar weight loss goals, but that may be where the similarities begin and end. Good luck with reaching your weight loss goals!

You have to do what is right for YOU. A diet is just that - a diet and we all know what that means. We see the word "diet" as a failure. Losing weight and getting healthy is a LIFESTYLE change. It is not a diet. So whatever works for your lifestyle and if it works, keep doing it!

Traci

I was also on this program and found the eating really strict. The no condiments thing got to me. The very little cardio portion appealed to me though. :-) It's true that we don't need that much exercise, but then again you trade that for the extra calories you get from condiments. Yuck! :-) Yeah waste of money on that book.

i agree about the dieting. i always try to follow a strict diet, because i wasnt so badly to insure change. and at first i feel like i can do it. because i do want to be thin so badly!i always end up binging, i love food, esprcially chocolate. so going with out any at all for days doesn't work! i just realized this recently, i thought my failures were because i was incapable of being thin. now i see that i have to make a plan that works for me, and that i may svrew up. so i can't be too hard on myself.

I can do one "cario" session in 8 minutes that will blow away the 60 minute ones. Its Interval Training.

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