Here is a rerun of a blog I did for the Body For Life website, in late May 2007.  It is right where I am today, coming back again and again to the basics of this program. So, I thought I would share it with you readers!

The Simplest Program There Is!
by: Michael Harris  5/30/2007

Body for Life, it has long been said, is a simple program, but not easy. The only way it gets complicated is if YOU complicate it. Most “tweaks” to the Body for Life program, in order to try to speed up its results, or to exceed its results, are futile in the end. Most people don’ tweak the diet, but many of those who fail do cheat at it. Most tweaks are to the exercise program. Here’s why you shouldn’t even think seriously about tweaking it during your twelve weeks.

First of all, while it is a one size fits all program, it does work perfectly for everyone who has not dieted and exercised regularly within the last year. That is because if you are that deconditioned and that far off from normal eating, virtually any organized activity that causes you to work at or near your maximum ability in lifting or in cardio activity will produce an adaptive response by causing muscles to grow, and burning fat in the case of cardio. So, since the program really is optimal for about 95% of those who need to use it, there is no reason to suppose that you are someone or something special and therefore need to “tweak” it. It works just as designed, with three heavy workout sessions per week, alternating between upper and lower body workouts, interspersed with three high intensity cardio sessions twenty minutes long. Assuming you will switch to different exercises every 4 weeks or so during the 12 weeks, you should continue to improve both in the amount of weight you can lift, and in the changes to your physical composition.

This program as outlined above works perfectly because it provides a great opportunity to grow lean muscle which raises the resting metabolic rate, because muscle burns calories even at rest. It works perfectly because if followed correctly the diet provides the right amounts of quality proteins and low glycemic carbs, along with small amounts of good fats, so that it is possible to actually grow muscle mass while at the same time burning fat and losing scale pounds.

Further, the changes in body composition along with the body becoming accustomed to eating and using the right foods, cause the body to leave its status as a weak,flabby, fat storing and sugar-craving machine, and to become a strong, lean and healthy, fat and sugar burning machine instead. The way your body uses the food you eat will completely change if you do this right.

In the end, you will have a completely different and more productive body composition that will allow you to eat more than you used to, and yet continue to stay lean and even grown leaner. You will have a stronger immune system, a healthier attitude and outlook on life, and a desire to excel in all you do. Are these extravagant claims? Not really. They are exactly the results that most everyone who sticks it out will get some measure of in the end.

There are really only two ways you can lose while doing body for life. One is to just quit, or never get started. The other is to get so distracted, so desperate for change, that you are unable or unwilling to take the challenge from beginning to end as it is intended. No one can predict exactly how you will end up if you start modifying the BFL program, but certainly you place everything at risk by doing so. How? Well, mainly because you run the risk of an overtraining effect, which may cause you to get weak, to produce cortisol which reduces muscle mass, and even to get ill due to a compromised immune system. Don’t risk all this for such a small potential benefit. It’s just not worth it. Do the challenge as intended and as written. You won’t be sorry.

So simple, so profoundly effective, yet so difficult that it may well be the most challenging thing you’ve ever done! That’s Body for Life. What are you waiting for?