So, you’re doing body for life, but yet you can’t help notice all the different discussions going on, and the various ways people on the guestbook and over on some of the other, unofficial websites are approaching their fitness regimens.  Face it! Some of these ideas seem to make a bit more sense than body for life, and some of them are pretty weird sounding.

If you’re like a lot of us, you have seriously considered doing an exercise that another recommended,simply because they said it was very effective for them. Or, maybe you decide to cook and eat regularly a pretty yummy sounding meal another says is great for you. (I remember protein pancakes becoming the food of the day a while back! Everyone was cooking them, freezing them, carrying them around wherever they went.)

The big question is, how do you know what is really going to work for YOU, and who can you trust to give you that information?

Well, it’s actually very simple, but like everything else in life, you’ve got to take a leap of faith. Almost nothing really worthwhile doing is strictly a matter of just effort or education. Almost everything worth doing takes a leap of faith, a willingness to put your trust in someone, and proceeding hopefully in the direction they suggest.

I’ve been doing body for life for going on 8 years now, with time off for serious injuries and illnesses in between challenges.  I’ve read and even tried other schemes to lose weight, gain muscle, and get fit. But, I always have come right back to BFL, because it works. Bill Phillips was not kidding at all when he said his book was a summation of his life’s work in this field. And the experiences of hundreds of champions, and thousands of successful competitors back up Phillips’ claims that if you follow the book and do what it says that you too will be successful at transforming your mind, your body and your life.
But, aren’t there good ideas in lots of other books? There certainly are. Just as an example, Joel Marion, a 2001 body for life champion, has recently published a book called the “Cheat to Lose Diet”. Now, where do you suppose he got that idea? Do you think! And the book, “Body for Life for Women,” that’s just in my humble opinion a dumbed down version of BFL, with a bit of special knowledge about women’s hormonal situations.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a one book guy, and I’m not asking you to be either. Keep reading, learning and questioning. But, don’t risk your transformation by veering clear off course of the BFL guidelines or you might well be sorry. Pound for pound, nothing works better for an overall program than BFL–nothing. Once you get where you want to be, and you’re looking for other ways to challenge yourself, give another program a try if that suits your fancy. But, don’t throw away that BFL book. Simplicity usually is best, and the simplicity of the BFL program is the proven best.

What other books do I have in my library?  Mentioning only those that have both diet AND exercise plans in them, I have The Modern Encylopedia of Bodybuilding by Schwarzenegger, The Lean Body Promise by Lee Labrada, The New Rules of Lifting for Men, by Lou Schuler, and the New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look like a Goddess, by Schuler, Forsythe and Cosgrove. I HAD a book by Sly Stallone but after more reflection I thought the book was mostly junk except for the exercise illustrations, and it is gone, as is Body for Life for Women. I have lots of other books that deal with only diet or only exercise, and it’s well worth your picking up one or two. The best on exercise is Strength Training Anatomy, Second Edition, by Delavier. My favorite books on nutrition are Barry Sears’ “The Zone” and a booklet published by EAS a couple of years ago, called the Sports Nutrition Review.

The motto here? Keep learning, but don’t wander. Stay with BFL until you get the results you want, and then and only then see what else might work for you.