I have been  reading Lou Schuler’s new book, called “The New Rules of Lifting for

Women–Lift Like a Man!” I like it. I recommend it, for those who have

already completed a challenge. There is absolutely nothing in the book,

save for a few different exercise illustrations, that a woman would

need to complete her transformation successfully. What it really does

do, though, is to provide the hard information and the compelling

arguments for why women have been selling themselves short by not

training hard with weights. Unlike Body for Life, Schuler really

supports the premises that you don’t need more cardio–you need more

good food, and more strength training, along with what cardio you do

being intense.

Other features of the book include lots of exercise suggestions using

just plain old calisthenics or a fitness ball. These are not wimpy at

all and they would be useful to folks who travel a lot or don’t have

room for a home gym or money enough to join one. There are also lots of

illustrations using machines, something that Body for Life for the most

part stays away from.

There are some recipes that look good to me–but what do I know about

good eating? Have you ever seen my champion’s meal plan? One person

suggested that if I ever wrote a book about my experience, the chapter

on Nutrition should be called “Yuck!” One thing about the recipes

furnished by Cassandra Cosgroves is that they are portioned for women,

and they also include detailed nutritional information.

The book contains lots of features similar to the Body for Life book,

but I think it is a bit better organized, much more technical, and it

has a reasonably good index, something that the BFL book totally lacks!

One last thing. The book takes a couple of shots at Body for Life for

Women, and justifiably so I think. This book empowers women, and it

gives excellent information.

I gave it a B+. I’m keeping this book in my library. I sent Body for

Life for WOmen to someone who lived too far away to ever return it! I

have not missed it a bit.  You can buy this one at Amazon for well

under $20 and it is in hard cover. It is not, however, very suitable

for dragging to the gym. In that sense, it is much like Body for Life!

When will someone produce a book that has the exercises in a separate,

spiral binder, with a plasticized cover so you can take it to the gym?

Has your husband or wife or other family member asked you that already? If not, you are a blessed person, because most of us will get that question many times before we’re done with our challenge.

See, those closest to you, even those who have been openly critical of how you have let yourself go, often feel threatened by your new Body for Life lifestyle. They don’t feel comfortable watching you spend so much time trying to get yourself back in shape. Why? Well, that topic is too complicated for a short blog, but I will simply let that go with this observation: Those who see another change often feel threatened because they either feel neglected, or they feel guilty about their own shortcomings in fitness, or SOME OTHER SIGNIFICANT DISCIPLINE in their life. It is far easier for them to criticize and try to sabotage your activity than it is to own up to their own problems and to have to deal with them.

Assume with me for a minute that you believe what I wrote above to be true. Would it help to argue with your family member, or to be critical of where they might have fallen short? Not a bit. It will only escalate things into phrases such as, “WELL, YOU always……”

 You know how these fights go–you’ve had them hundreds of times with this same person–only just over different things.

Here’s your solution. Simply lavish unconditional love on that person. Invite him to go with you on the BFL journey, but don’t wait around for him. AND DON’T remind them of their shortcomings in retaliation for how they hurt you. Believe me, if this is a guy, he doesn’t even really know how that stupid remark hurt you. And letting him have it will only make things worse. You will win them over by accepting and loving them exactly the way they are, no matter what they have said or done to you. Revenge has no place in a Body for Life lifestyle.

Back to that question for a minute. “When will you be normal again?” Actually, you are normal right this minute, and if you do it right, Body for LIFE will be your life. This represents the NEW you. It’s not just a diet that gets you to where you can start getting fat and out of shape again. It truly is a new lifestyle that will free you from many things–including lapsing back into old habits, and  the need to get even with others.

So, how do you resist the need to get even? Pray for that person every single day, twice a day, to have the same blessings you want for yourself. And, before you open your mouth in spite, silently say the serenity prayer to yourself–something like “give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Silence will quickly appear to be the best option. And it gets easier every time you have to wrestle with it. Over time, when you no longer take the bait, your family member will stop casting it in your direction. Heck, he might even come work out with you one of these days!

God bless!

A couple of messages on the guestbook today prompted me to do some serious thinking about this whole thing called Body for Life, and how best to utilize it our our lives. What follows here is only my opinion, but I hope it is vauable to you, as I share it based upon 8 years of experience with this program, as well as one year as a champion.

First of all, though Body for Life as set forth in the book is the collective experience of Bill Phillips as of 1999, it is not infallible or unchangeable. When Mr. Phillips sold the rights to the company in a year or two after writing the book, he moved on to publish a couple of other books, the Success Journal and the Eating For Life book. The EFL book represents a departure from the hard core approach of eating set out in the BFL book. Also, since the publishing of the original book, the EAS Company has not stood still, and has designed and produced new products to match consumer demand and also to square with the latest scientific findings concerning fitness athletics.

For example, EAS was one of the very first to put Beta Alanine into a supplement, recognizing that it was an excellent way of promoting heavier reps and more reps, because it buffers lactic acid and thereby reduces the “burn” that comes as muscles are worked hard. Adding that to Phosphagen HP, which then becomes Phosphagen Elite, made that already great product much better. And as for the RTD market, the ready to drink EAS shakes are second in quality to none. So, those who would say that EAS is not the same since Abbott bought it are right–but in my judgment it is better in many ways.

Sure, all change comes hard for us humans, but as fitness athletes, we all owe it to ourselves and to those who support us to refrain from gossip, half-truths and innuendos about EAS, just as we should do the same when dealing with our friends and neighbors. Offering constructive criticism is one thing–but simply saying that it “isn’t the way it used to be” betrays an attitude of stubbornness and inflexibility that is unlikely to produce the physical and mental changes that one seeks in Body for Life. Thus, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy–in that person’s life. What we think, we become.

Next, we all need to remember that BFL is much bigger and more important than any one person. Champions and contenders come and go–but the consistency of the program will remain. It remains because at its core it is excellent and trustworthy.  Still, if Body for Life stays “alive” it will do so because of its design and because people like Kenny Fernandez and others in Texas, Stephanie Workman and others in Tennessee, Jerry Braam and others in Missouri, and the “Kansas girls” in Kansas, who at great sacrifice of time and effort put on first class, not for profit events at which BFLers can connect, learn and build memories that last a lifetime.

Don’t worry about what it used to be. Your job is to be concerned about how well you can do it! BFL rocks, my friend, and so does EAS/Ross/Abbott! I’m going to the Expo Feb. 29, to thank them once again for all they’ve done–for me, and for the rest of you out there. I’ll hope you’ll join me. Call 800 297 9776 and get your tickets!

There’s lots of talk and angst on the BFL guestbook about ladies using the Eating for Life book and not seeing weight loss.  Below is an excerpt from a blog published July 20 2007.

Don’t throw that EFL book out because you’re not losing weight. Just think it through. Here’s the potential problem with eating from nothing but the EFL book.

Let’s say you’re the “average” woman who wants to lose 15 pounds of “ugly” fat (ever seen pretty fat?). To do that in 12 weeks you need to shed 1.5 pounds a week on the average during your challenge. If a pound of fat is 3500 calories, then you’ll need, on the average, to sacrifice 750 calories a day off your normal caloric intake. The “average” woman uses about 2200 calories a day to keep that body the way it is.

Do the math—you’ll only be able to eat 1450 calories a day—and that’s assuming you don’t take a free day! If you take a free day, and let’s say you do about 1000 calories above your usual 2200, what you’re looking at is only being able to average about 200 calories for EACH of your six small meals a day. (That’s precisely why Myoplex Lite has 180 calories!) Now, let’s look at just one of the EFL recipes—”Eggs and Oats” on p 226.
½ cup oats, 150 calories; ½ cup skim milk, 40 calories; a whole egg (large) and 3 egg whites 230 calories. O.K., what we have here is 420 calories, BEST CASE SCENARIO. That’s a serving all right, but a serving for an average guy in a maintenance situation. AND, IF YOU’LL GO TO P. 73 OF THE BOOK, YOU’LL FIND THAT THE PORTION SIZES ARE INDEED TOO LARGE FOR THE AVERAGE LADY!

But, hey, don’t take my word for all this—go to the hussmanfitness.org website and scroll down to a heading called “How Calories Work” and go from there.

Bottom line here: Especially for ladies:
EAT EFL, but don’t eat the portions, at least if you want to lose fat!

 

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So, you have the Body for Life book, right? And you’ve read it, right? But you need more. Well, actually you don’t “need” more but you certainly can use more. If you are even halfway serious about making Body for Life a lifestyle, you should have some other books in your library as well. Here are my recommendations, in the order that I think you should work at acquiring them. Number one is the first one you should get, and so on.1. Strength Training Anatomy, Second Edition, by Frederic Delavier, Pub by Human Kinetics, 2007. This is an awesome book for understanding the basics of human anatomy, how it relates to strength training, and how to exercise safely and effectively. There is really no other book quite like it. It has a plasticized cover so wehn you take it to the gym, handling it with your sweaty paws won’t hurt it a bit.2. The Success Journal. This represents a 180 degree turn for me. I never thought it necessary, and I have always used a plain spiral notebook or a cheap plain training diary. I was given one of these by Body for Life Canada when I ordered something else, and I started using it. It is an amazing tool.

3. The Zone, by Barry Sears. This book is “old,” published perhaps 15 years ago, but it is good nutrition science and it really explains everything it recommends. Much of what is in Body for Life is also in this book, though the Zone is written from a more technical standpoint.

4. Sports Nutrition Review. This was published by EAS a few years ago. I don’t see a copyright date on mine and I am not certain at all if any copies still exist. It is excellent, and is written by several people you are likely to see at the Expo, Gretchen Ferraro, the publisher, Brian Deeds, of EAS, and Dr. Christine Steele, PhD of EAS, a scientist. Lest you think she is one of “those” PhD types you met in college–she’s hot!

5. Fats that Heal; Fats that Kill, by Udo Erasmus. Way too technical to be a fun read, this book nonetheless will help you to really understand the necessity of feeding your body good fats (oils actually) and what exactly they can do to restore your health. Available at health food stores.

6. Finally Fit at Fifty, by Porter Freeman. Long on inspiration and short on technical stuff, THIS book is one you can read a chapter at a time and read something that sticks with you every night for a while. Porter’s homespun wisdom is good stuff.

7. The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, by Arnold Schwarzenegger. THis is a massive tome, but one that has the answer to almost any question if you can find it. THere is lots of good stuff in it to help you, and lots of memories from the Governator himself.

8. Books you don’t need. Fitness books by Sly Stallone or Pam Peeke; books about the Big Fat Loser show, and books by personal trainers to the stars. Not that any of them are bad, but they are going a different direction than you are. Why waste the money when you could save it just in case a new Body for Life book comes out some day?

Speaking of books, there is an almost book length interview of Udenia Icenhour on my personal website which is currently down but will be back shortly. It’s a great read. Udenia has been doing BFL since 1997, on board ships, on an island in the Pacific, in California, and now in North Carolina. Under conditions and circumstances that most of us would find impossible, she is getting it done.

What’s new? Well, I’ll do more interviews of “unrecognized champions” like Udenia in the future, and I’ll also have a book review coming up soon, on “The New Rules of Lifting for Women” and it should be fun!

God bless!

The Body for Life book suggests that the only supplement one needs to use during the first twelve week challenge is Myoplex nutrition shakes–the Lites for women and the original for men. However, there are always questions regarding supplements–what’s in them, what they do, and are they harmful. So, this little blog is a flyover of the basics.Myoplex shakes contain high quality protein, carbohydrates, and half of the RDAs of vitamins and minerals. So, two shakes a day is a virtual guarantee that your nutrition plan is on the right track. Myoplex Deluxe, which is for men but could certainly be used by women if the portion is adjusted a bit. Deluxe contains 53 grams of protein, 12 grams of glutamine and a gram of CLA. Glutamine is an amino acid found naturally in dairy, bean and meat products and is thought to assist recovery from heavy activity. CLA is technically a trans fat (conjugated linoleic acid) but is thought to actually support the burning of body fat, particularly the stubborn abdominal fat. The widely used EAS supplements include Muscle Armor, which is a proprietary blend of glutamine, arginine, taurine and HMB. The first three are amino acids and HMB is Hydroxy Methylbutyrate monohydrate, and is thought to slow or stop muscle protein breakdown. My personal experience with Muscle Armor has been nothing but positive and I absolutely think it was instrumental in allowing me to lose 28 pounds of fat without losing muscle in my championship challenge. Another widely used supplement is Phosphagen Elite. Phosphagen is EAS’s name for creatine monohydrate. Creatine is a metabolite of three amino acids. it essentially builds muscle mass by retaining water within muscle cells, which increases strength, and by potentiating the product of ATP, whih is a fuel that muscle burns. Elite has in addition to the creatine two other amino acids, beta alanine and taurine. The Beta Alanine is a relatively recently used supplement that is thought to retard the buildup of lactic acid in muscles. Since lactic acid causes the burning and fatigue in muscles, retarding it will allow a heavier workout with more reps. Two things you need to know about creatine and beta alanine. Creatine causes water retention, both in muscles and in subcutaneous fat. This is temporary, and you’re NOT GETTING FAT, but you are gaining water, not unlike the bloat that women experience as their menstrual cycle nears or begins. As to beta alanine, it causes a tingling or flushing feeling in the skin, usually the face, neck or scalp areas. It is not unpleasant and not long-lasting but it happens in most cases, so don’t worry about it–it’s normal. As to other supplements for transformations, some use fat burners. I don’t recommend them for many reasons and would be happy to tell you why by referring you to other blogs. Simply put, they only make a little difference, and they can cause restlessness and sleeplessness, and they can also have a rebound effect, meaning that when they are discontinued, the person can become lethargic and develop cravings or overeating tendencies. If you do decide to use one, EAS has Thermodynamx and in my opinion it is the gentlest and best made of any that I have tried, and I’ve tried most all of them.

One of the common questions new trainees have is about whether or not to hire a trainer, and if so, for what?  Some are so financially strapped that they don’t have resources to hire one, but hopefully this blog will also provide some assistance for those who can’t.

First of all, Body for Life as set out in the original book is a fully integrated system, meaning it is a complete plan, and for many people the book by itself is all the information that is really necessary to begin and finish a very successful challenge.  BFL is, to be sure, a one-size-fits-all system, but for most that is just fine. See, when you first start exercising, after a long time of deconditioning, just about any kind of exercise will produce a significant result insofar as increased strength, muscle mass and tone, and body composition changes are concerned. When you first start eating right–after a five day or so period when your body punishes you as it readjusts to eating good food–that good diet will produce significant changes as well.

For 12 weeks, for most people, the body for life plan will continue to make you stronger, leaner, and fitter. So, really the plan is a trainer free zone for most of us. MOST doesn’t mean all, though, and here are the folks who could benefit from the services of a trainer.

People with disabilities: Porter Freeman enlisted a trainer because he couldn’t do a lot of exercises due to a severe shoulder problem, plus he needed dietary advice. If you have physical restrictions or limitations, chronic illnesses such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, or heart or breathing problems, you certainly should check with both your physician and a trainer so you don’t get in over your head.

People with dietary difficulties: Celiac disease, and other food allergies or sensitivities might well make it advisable to seek the advice of a physician and/or nutritionist or trainer with special nutrition training. It is certainly possible to get fit and gain muscle mass for most people, even those mentioned here, but the typical BFL diet might well not be your cup of tea. 

People for whom this is a brand new world: The world of fitness and exercise is one that has eluded many. And for them, if this is all brand new, just going into a health club can me a most intimidating and embarrassing situation. In those circumstances, setting up a session with one of the trainers to assess you and to assist you in getting used to the machines and exercises can be a very wise decision. Hold off on any long term commitment, but spending a couple of hundred dollars to insure that you know where you are and what it will take to get to where you want to go is a valuable investment. You WON’T need someone to exercise with you, so don’t pay a trainer beyond his or her showing you what to do.

A trainer badly selected can be worse than no trainer at all. Be sure you are using one trained and certified by a national agency, and choose one you can relate to. You’re not going on a date, but you ARE putting your money and time on the line, so choose wisely.

Internet training? There are a lot of websites offering it. There are no champions crediting Internet trainers for their great success. Probably not a red hot idea! 

Well, this is the first of a couple of weeks of blogs on Exercise (Monday), Diet (Wednesday) and Supplementation (Friday). These are the primary elements of BFL, the three legs of the stool, so to speak.

One of the most often asked questions about exercise is the title of this blog. What do I do if I miss my exercise session? Well, as Bill says, if you missed it, you missed it. That’s a rather frustrated way of saying that you just move on and try to better next time.

And I think Bill is right. The whole program is so sensitive and so intense, though brief, that it is nearly impossible to “make up” a session the next day without adversely affecting whatever else you were supposed to do that day. However, Bill doesn’t say something else that I wish he had, and that is: DON’T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN! Look, in most cases, the commonest excuse for missing the workout is either slept in, or just had something else you’d rather do. That kind of an attitude is going to just kill your challenge early on if you repeat the situation. Here’s the deal. You only have EIGHTEEN sessions for each muscle group during the entire challenge. So, even by missing one workout you’ve missed over 5% of the entire time you’d spend exercising those muscles during that challenge. Doing the math, you can see that it only takes a few missed sessions to really mess up your efforts.

To me, the true reason for missing workouts is simply a failure to make the program a priority. In other words, not taking it seriously. So, if that is how it goes, at the end of twelve tough weeks, you may have very little to show for your “efforts.” This program is just too tough and sacrificial to do it in a half-baked way.

One last thing. Missed workouts often lead to another problem–missed meals. Whether it is due to the trainee trying to tweak the diet to make up for the lost exercise, or just more evidence of disorganization, this only makes things worse. DO NOT MISS MEALS. Without all six of them, at the right times and in the right portions, you’ll be unable to both gain muscle and lose fat during your challenge.

If you’re reading this on Monday and have already missed a workout, get it in TODAY!  Don’t start breaking your promises to yourself. Get it done!

Over and over again, I am asked how it is that I can read and post on the guestbook, answering beginner questions–the very same questions hundreds of times a year. I am also asked how I eat six small meals a day, how I “find time” to exercise, and “how long are you going to be on this diet?”

They don’t get it! They just don’t get it! And, I think lots more people don’t get it either. Body for Life, to be effective, must be for life. It’s not like it’s a life sentence of despair or sacrifice either, it’s just a different and far better way of living–living longer and more healthy–than the way others do it.  It’s also a different way of thinking and approaching life. It is a way of thinking about and planning out each day before it gets there–leaving less to chance, and leaving far less room for frustration and failure. It is a life filled with compassion for others, love of self and others, and a life filled with small victories each and every day. What more could you ask for?

So, the reason I spend so much time on the guestbook is to try to help people to read the book, to understand that BFL is truly a lifestyle, not just a quick weight loss program, and that it truly is a way of transforming yourself physically and mentally and completely. I try to teach the Power Mindset, and the tremendous importance in a strict and rigorous diet for the first twelve weeks, and the fact that rest is every bit as important as workouts. I hate to see people make a difficult and lengthy commitment only to see little results during their 12 week challenge because they failed to undersand some of these terribly important principles.

In and on and off way I did Body for Life for several years, stopping when I was sick or injured, which was fairly often. But, for the last few years, since early 2004, I have led a life committed to the principles of eating six small meals a day, doing 3 cardio sessions a week for 20 minutes each, doing roughly 2.5 hours of resistance training a week, and trying to follow the mental principles as well. In spite of all that, my life was derailed by a significant depression and some injuries from December 2005 to August 2006.

When I got back on the wagon and began living again like I should, after 8 months of being a spectator in my own life, the principles and the routines came right back to me. From that time on, I’ve done well and have lived a life of joy and fulfillment.

If you’re new at this, I’ll just ask you to trust me here: If you try hard to adhere to the plan,  if you eat the small meals 6 times a day, and commit that you’ll exercise hard, and  that you won’t do a bunch of silly extra things to try to lose weight quicker, you’ll see tremendous changes in your own appearance, and your mental condition as well. Moreover, I think you’ll also see the value of keeping BFL as your permanent lifestyle. Give it time, and it will grow on you! I know it will, because many of the people who read these blogs are dyed in the wool, long time BFL’ers who do this just as naturally as they used to live another kind of life before they found BFL.

In fact, I hope those people will leave some comments that might help you newbies become like the rest of us, strong and victorious. All it takes is intentionality–plan, prepare for, and execute the events of each and every day, making a record of your goals, your results and your observations each and every day. You’ll be amazed–you really will. It’s simple, but boy is it powerful!

I’ll bet that title threw you! Unless you’ve just realized that is what the main screen on your GPS navigation device says!

See, though a GPS has several different functions, its two primary purposes are to calculate and set out a journey for you, or to simply provide you with a moving map of the terrain around you. When you select “where to” to the GPS guides you through a series of steps from where you are right now to where you want to go, and sets out a complete travel plan for you, including your route, the time involved, the turns you’ll take, and it keeps you on the right route by showing that route in a beautiful bright color, Magenta, in my GPS.  On the other hand, if you just select view map, all it does is tell you exactly where you are at any given moment, not where you need to go, or how, or when you’ll get there.

I really see the GPS as an allegory of the two types of lives we can lead. We can lead the unexamined life, the one most people are living, by hitting “view map” and simply observing things around us, without any specific plan to get us somewhere, and no guidance at all. Or, we can hit “where to” and begin that wonderful journey to a new life of fitness, holistic joyful living, and great hope and confidence.

The book, Body for Life, is the “where to” part of your GPS here! And it will answer every question you need to plan, begin and complete your journey in the best way possible. Continuing to live life the way you are now is the “view map” function. You certainly can look in a mirror or take a brisk walk and get an excellent idea of exactly where you are, and exactly what it all looks like around you. And such a look around may convince you that you need to hit the “back” button, and then select “where to.”

Buy the book, and read it carefully. If reading is not your cup of tea, then get the book on CD and listen to it carefully. Take notes. There is no computer to do all this for you, but the book provides all the programming you’ll need and all the inspiration you’ll need to do it yourself!

There are a zillion books out there. But there are only a handful of 12 week complete body transformation programs. And Body for Life is by the far the best and most effective of them all.  Are you ready? Do you see those two buttons? Reach up there and “mash” as we used to say when I lived in Kansas the button that says “where to?” Then type in: “To a new life of leanness, joy, peace and confidence.” Then, get busy reading that book and let’s make this happen!

This is once again mostly for newbies, but is certainly valuable refresher information for you old hands, too!

1. Doing the diet PERFECTLY and the exercises PERFECTLY is not necessary if you are just beginning your efforts. Doing them to the best of your ability is the goal. See, trying to do them perfectly is playing a game you cannot win, and perfectionism is much more a character flaw than a virtue. That’s because the perfectionist always ends up quitting. As soon as something is done less than perfectly they start over. Soon enough, starting over becomes useless and they just plain quit.

2. The best book ever written on diet and exercise,(in my opinion) other than Body for Life, is “The Zone” by Barry Sears. His thesis that we are designed to eat good protein and vegetable and fruit carbohydrates is basic and good nutritional science and it meshes nicely with BFL theory. As Sears says, by eating right and following his dietary road map you can lose weight permanently, reset your genetic code, prevent disease, achieve maximum physical performance and enhance your mental productivity. The book is still available some places, even though it was originally published way back when, and my copy shows a copyright date of 1995.

3. How to cross the abyss, right out of the book, Body for life!

A. Make the decision to change.
B. Identify YOUR reasons to change and write them down.
C. Focus on your future vision.
D. Dream of what you would like to achieve in twelve weeks.
E. Transform five of those dreams into goals by giving them a deadline, a way to measure them, and writing them down.
F. Identify three unauthorized patterns of action that hold you back and write them down.
G. Identify three new patterns of action that will help you rech your goals and write them down.
H. Read what you’ve written first thing in the morning and again at night each and every day of your 12 week Program.

Followed religiously, this 8 step plan will keep you from forgetting your food, failing to eat your meals, skipping workouts, and cheating on your diet during the day. If not followed, soon enough some if not all of these problems will begin to erode your challenge results. 

It’s about the 5th most common reason that people fail out of a body for life challenge, but none is more devastating to the trainee than suffering from overtraining effect. It can take literally months to recover enough to get competitive again, and in some cases can result in other complications.

WHAT IS IT? Overtraining syndrome is REAL. And it is much more than just getting tired after a workout or a week of hard work. It is the collection of chronic physical problems that comes from a lengthy period during which the trainee exceeds the body’s ability to recover. Without adquate recovery time and nourishment, the body simply deteriorates rather than gets better. 

HOW DOES IT LOOK? The classic symptoms of overtraining include: fatigue ( I call it the “swimming in glue” feeling), non-restorative sleep or inability to sleep, muscle aches and pains that don’t go away, headaches, irritability and depression, loss of desire, depressed immune system causing constant colds and other illnesses, and even increased incidences of injuries. Other common symptoms include increased heart rate at rest, and soft tissue swelling due to water retention. Other diseases, especially auto-immune type things like fibromyalgia, or rheumatoid problems can really get fired up during an episode of overtraining as well.

WHAT CAUSES IT? In BFL trainees, the most common cause of overtraining syndrome is excessive cardio and excessive anerobic activity unrelated to the regular BFL routine. Examples? Doing cardio every day for 30 minutes or more, kick-boxing classes every other night, spinning classes in addition to cardio, PUMP classes every other night. The list of possibles is endless, but essentially the BFL routine by itself will not cause overtraining effect. Another thing that causes overtraining  to happen quicker than it otherwise would is dietary deficiency–starving yourself or eating fewer meals than necessary. In essence, being in too big a hurry to get fit again will result in overtraining syndrome.

HOW LONG DOES IT LAST?  It depends on how far along it has gotten before action is taken. It may be as simple as just taking a few extra days off, drinking plenty of water, and sleeping in for a few days. It may and often does require several weeks of rest from regular physical activity and increasing the diet needs, especially low glycemic carbohdydrates to help the body heal.

HOW TO AVOID IT? Do your challenge by the book. Resist the temptation to take the quick fix, or to invent your own version of Body for Life. Above all, be reasonable in the amounts and types of activity you engage in during your training times. I’m not saying you can’t go for walks or play an occasional soccer or golf game–I’m talking about other strenuous activities.

Above all, remember that the other exercises you really want to do–they’ll still be there when you finish your challenge. AND, you’ll be in shape to do them as well!
 

New Body For Life Trainees ask lots of questions. And they should. This is a “strange” program for most of us. It’s unique and different to eat 6 small meals a day, and to exercise for only about 4 hours a week or less and to still see terrific changes.

Most of the questions are in the nature of “How” and “What.” Questions such as, “how do I know if I’m eating the right amount of food?” Or, “How long before I see results?”  The “what” questions are along the lines of “What is the right way to do this exercise?” Or, “What if I want to move free day?”

Where it gets sticky is when the questions start with “why.” Things like, “Why do we only have 20 minute cardio sessions–I’m used to a lot more?”  Or, “Why should I do this just by the book since I read somewhere that all the champions did lots more and different kinds of workouts than in the book?”

The reason these questions pose a real problem is that they show a lack of trust on the part of the newbie. They show an actual suspicion that the person thinks they are being given less than the best way to do this plan, and that someone is holding out on them. Or, even worse, the questions tend to indicate that the trainee thinks that he or she knows better how to do a transformation than Bill Phillips, who spent ten years actually developing this plan for public presentation!

I can’t blame anyone for wanting to ultimately customize their fitness program. I have done it myself,in order to accomodate several physical problems from injuries. But, I STRONGLY SUGGEST that doing that first twelve weeks BY THE BOOK is the best way to ensure that your challenge is the best it can be.  To be sure, some champions used techniques different than the book. However, for many of them the book had not even been written. As for the rest–those who did things differently–there is really no good way of knowing whether they would have actually done better had they followed the book. And for most of us, doing the challenges by the book was the right way to do it. We found the 60 minutes of cardio to be plenty, provided it was done with the intensity that it deserved. And we found the exercise worked spectacularly if it was done with intensity, with regularity, and combined with the strictness of the diet.

I have made a lot of mistakes while doing body for life. My first mistake was doing the challenge for the shallowest of reasons. The one that I repeated often was tinkering with the diet, trying to get along with different types of foods and supplements, and trying to get by with fewer than six meals. But always, I came back to the basics, because they worked the best. 

It really all comes down to trust. Either you trust that this plan works, or you don’t. And if you don’t have that level of trust and confidence, chances are excellent that you won’t have the strength of will to stick with the challenge long enough to see if it really works, and you won’t really have disciplined and systematic approach, the wholehearted commitment, that it takes to make it really work.

Ask all the whats and hows you want. But, go light on the whys until you’ve really done that twelve weeks the way it should be done. After all, if the other things you thinking about substituting worked well, you’d already be fit, wouldn’t you?  

It’s a fair question. Body for Life is a substantial commitment, and about 3 to 5 days in to it, many new trainees are asking, with a touch of panic in their voices, “How can I get it all done?” The question is usually preceded by a long list of commitments already, things like a 12 hour work schedule, homeschooling several children, working two jobs, going to school full time, traveling for their job.  Each one of these “obstacles” seems to make it impossible to do Body for Life, doesn’t it?

Well, one thing is for sure. That is, if you have made Body for Life a priority in your life, then you can do it. A priority is simply something that will come ahead of other things–no matter what. If that is the case, you’ll get it done. For most of us, and especially for those who are confused at the moment, the problem is that we SAID we made it a priority, but we ACT like it was just another project we could squeeze in. Too many new trainees are simply overscheduled and undercommited.

Look, I know you can’t stop a homeschool curriculum right now, nor can you convince a hospital to put you on 8 hour days if you are a 12 hour shift nurse, but certainly there are OTHER ways of getting this done. I commute 2 hours a day, conduct hearing dockets that typically go without a break for 5 to 7 hours a day, and have other work after that, but I still do Body for Life. I still have lawns to mow, snow to shovel, shopping to do, cars to fix, and lots of other things, but Iget it done–simply because I MAKE IT A PRIORITY. In other words, I set aside the time for it, and I let NOTHING else interfere with that.

Cardio gets done early in the morning; workout gets done as soon as I get home from work. I have to get up at 5, and yes there are days it seems dreadful, but I do it. I had to invest in a gym in my basement to be able to get that workout done the minute I get home, so I did it.

Priority. What are you willing to do to make this work? Or is this just another flimsy effort that will end up in the same dusty corner of your life as the old Thighmaster machine or the 900 video exercise tapes you sold at your last garage sale? The difference between BFL and that other garbage is that THIS WILL WORK–but it takes making it a PRIORITY! Let’s do this.

Each year, more people are trying to do body for life without reading the book Body for Life. While the website is a wealth of information, and the videos, booklets and other literature are superb, there is really no substitute for the book insofar as an overview of nutrition and exercise principles, specific recommendations to follow in setting goals, resisting adversity, and getting more out of yourself than you ever imagined you could. I’ve talked to those who haven’t read the book and they tell me unanimously that they know enough to do this right. The problem is that they DON’T know enough to even know what they are missing. They might know what they are doing, but they don’t know WHY they are doing it. So, the first time something new comes along, they are apt to follow that. Lack of knowledge produces instability. Instability produces chaos. And chaos produces failure. “Tweaks” seem to be the most common abuses of those who haven’t read the book. People introduce extra cardio, or different diet plans combined with the BFL exercise program, or different exercise plans combined with the BFL diet. These seem to be the most common variations. And if you haven’t read the book, you just don’t know why doing this is counterproductive to your best efforts. But, you argue, “this is a one-size fits all plan, and I want one that works perfectly for ME! I want to get fit right away and completely maximize my efforts.” That’s a great idea, but it’s also way too simplistic and unrealistic. What you need isn’t the perfect plan for you–you need a plan you can follow perfectly. See, even if there was a perfect plan for you, no one could know for certain what that would be like. The book supplies ALL the foundational knowledge. It tells you exactly what the abyss is, and why if you don’t cross it you’ll go nowhere. You’ll learn the differences between goals and dreams, between habits that help you and habits that hold you back, and what’s meant by future vision, and why it’s important. You’ll know exactly how to carefully and completely develop the goals for your challenge. You’ll understand perfectly (even though you might still have the urge to throw in extra cardio) exactly why that’s not a good idea, and exactly why weight training is absolutely the best way to fight fat! Even more importantly, you will understand exactly why rest is so important, why long workouts are counterproductive, and why it is important to choose nutrition sources wisely. You’ll have all the tools you need, and you’ll have the manual that tells you how and why to use those tools to maximize your body for life efforts. You’ll also receive the unvarnished truth about why so many other diet plans and exercise regimens just don’t work long term. And, there are the great stories! if you read them again and again, you’ll find bottomless inspiration in the true stories of those whose lives have been forever changed by body for life. You’ll see that the greatest and most life-changing reward they received was not the championship at all. “Tell me more,” you say? O.K. READ THE BOOK! It’s never too late!

This is not my own. It was posted on the Body for Life guestbook by Jami Ronda from Medford Oregon. Its origin is unknown–to me at least–but rather clearly it is a parable, but a parable of immense worth.  I hope you enjoy it, and learn from it.

“ An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life…“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.“One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.

“The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

“This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
“Which wolf will win?”

The old chief simply replied,
“The one you feed.”

More than anything else, a challenge hinges on what you put in writing as you go. It begins with your goals, and it ends with writing down that last meal on the last night of your challenge!

You’ll need a journal, a durable and spiral bound type of document to put all this down. You’ll start with your vision, the overarching idea of what you hope to accomplish–something simple an broadly stated, like “Become muscular, get to optimum weight, and become a champion in 2008.” From that vision, youll move to specific goals, figures that are sufficiently detailed so that you’ll know if you made them. Goals should be difficult but clearly achievable. Examples: “Lose twenty pounds of fat; 4 inches off my waist; reduce cholesterol and blood pressure by 20 points; Bench press at least 200 pounds.” You don’t need all of these, but things like these.

Next, you’ll put down your current condition, measurements, weight, ability to lift, blood pressure, etc. Then, take your photos and put them in the front of your journal as well. They’ll keep you going when you’re tempted to quit!

Plan your entire 84 day challenge and reserve the times for the workouts. Look carefully at the calendar so you’re not blindsided by business trips or vacations or holidays as they come up.

Prepare your workouts, including specific exercises, each week. Do all your shopping and write out your menu and meal plans for that week every Sunday. check off each exercise session and meal as you do them, noting where you went right and went wrong. Carefully noting the starting and ending pounds of each exercise will save you lots of guesswork at your next workout. Every night, put down at least three things you hope to achieve the next day, doing the worst first.

Learn to do all this, and you increase your odds of finishing by about 10 times! Putting ideas on pencil and paper adds significant power to them, and they become a firm contract with  yourself. Rely only on your thoughts and hopes to guide you, and you’ll soon drift off into neverland. Written information is critical to your success, and your journal is your source for that.

Do I practice what I preach? You betcha! I have a journal in my car, in my gym, and at my bedside. I have done that for 7 years. It helped me a great deal during those years, and it helped make me a champion.

Give it a shot!