Face-for-LIFE™

October 7, 2007 11:24 AM

Help me before I embark on the Body-for-Life program.

So I've read the Body-for-Life book and I think I'm ready to try it. However, I have some questions/fears that I hope the Hive Mind will help me with. I am a 23 years old male, overweight by around 11 Kgs (I am around 80 Kgs, and around 169cm tall), with some fat concentrated around my stomach area. I've been exercising on and off for the last 4 months, mostly on a treadmill and a little bit of weight lifting for the arms/shoulders.


So...

1) My perfect body is something like this (even though a little six-pack would be nice, too). However, the "before-and-after" pics at the beginning of the book give me the impression that the program can cause me to be one of those over-muscled people. While I want to have a nice, lean body, I don't want to be huge. What should I do?

2) How important is the diet-plan (six meals a day..etc.) detailed in the book? I think my main problem area is following this part especially that I live on take-outs/noodles/fruits and can't really cook.

3) Since I will be building muscles, will I be able to notice my progress using a scale? Can I lose weight AND build muscles through this program? Also, if my weight is mostly muscles and it is higher than my optimum BMI-suggested number, am I considered overweight (health-wise)?

4) My face is a bit..umm..fat, and it is the area (along with my waist) in which I would like to see the most change. Will I be able to get my slim face back through this program?

5) Is it safe to only use the illustrated exercise pages at the back of the book as the only reference to how to perform the weight exercises properly? I also plan to check some videos online to get a better idea (any suggested links?).

I am really thankful for any help/suggestions/anecdotes you awesome people can provide. :)

posted by howiamdifferent to Health & Fitness (19 answers total)

I don't know anything about the book, but I know a bit about losing weight and adding muscle.

Regarding #1... adding muscle is hard work, and happens slowly. You don't need to worry about waking up one day looking like Mr. Universe.

Losing fat and adding muscle are, generally speaking, independent processes. If you want to be lean, lose fat (do cardio, eat less). If you want to add muscle, lift weights (eat more protein, use all the energy that you're consuming). You can do one or the other or both.
posted by mpls2 at 11:32 AM on October 7, 2007

Best answer: Congrats on deciding to get into better shape.

Nor do I know the book, but I do know losing weight, keeping it off, and getting toned.

You will find it very very hard to lose weight while relying on take-out and such. You can prove this to yourself by looking up nutrition information on the websites of the big fast food companies (needless to say good luck figuring this out at Family Owned Corner Teriyaki Stand). This may be your opportunity to learn basic kitchen skills. Meals do not have to be complicated, particularly at this point. I think the hardest thing may be cooking for one.

That being said, here are my diet tips:
* avoid anything with added sugar (as far as I am concerned, you can probably allow yourself a "treat" once a week, but only if you can limit it to a <1> * real food is better than fake food, so don't think you will lose weight eating reduced fat this and reduced carbohydrate that (toss the margarine);
* you must must must pay attention to portion sizes (a basket of fresh fruit is still more food than someone trying to lose weight should be eating);
* moderate quantities of dietary fat and protein will make you feel less hungry for longer (deli-sliced meats and cheeses are your friend, and one large egg only has 80 cal);
* your body thinks it is smarter than you and will try to "save up" calories if you go without eating all day, so eat ~150-200 cal several times throughout the day (including "breakfast" and "lunch");
* don't drink your calories if you can avoid it (water is best, Americans get something stupid like 8% of their calories from crap like sodas and lattes and then wonder why they are fat).

As for getting in shape:
* Exercise is not fun, it is about getting that body you want (let that picture be your inspiration;
* a "6-pack" may not be a realistic goal;
* you must commit to working out for an hour 3 days a week, half of which should be cardio plus 20 min of strength and 10 minutes of flexibility;
* your face will improve with the rest of your body, don't try to "work out" your face, do use a good quality moisturizer and sunscreen;
* 11 kg? yes you will notice that on a scale in addition to your pants
* a day may come when you need to update your workout plan to address where your body is then, don't be afraid to re-visit the hive mind.
posted by ilsa at 12:00 PM on October 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

I am female, so YMMV. I lost about 30 pounds in four months on the plan. I concentrated mostly on cardio the first three months and had a trainer the last month, so while I slimmed down from about a clothing size 14/16 to a 6, I only had a little bit of muscle definition and looked nothing like the hardbodies in the book. I think they took ther weights VERY seriously and did all the weight lifter supplements like creatine, etc. If you look at what the Body for Life Challenge winners did, you'll see they supplemented with glutamine and used the myoplex shakes and stuff pretty extensively.

As for the eating plan, I only averaged about 5 meals/snacks a day because of time/hunger. This plan is simple to do, even if you don't cook much, which I didn't. I usually ate restaurant salads, the yogurt/cottage cheese combo, protein shakes, sandwiches on whole wheat with canned vegetable soup, Kashi Go Lean cereal with soy milk, Zone Bars, that type of thing. I probably stuck to the eating plan about 95 percent of the time outside of free days. I probably had one meal a day might have cooked. The Body for Life website has a ton of easy recipes that are within the plan.

As far supplements, I took flax oil, CLA, L-carnitine and pyruvate. Whether they had any effect or not I don't know.

I personally found the plan to be easy to navigate and was very pleased with the changes I made. I got a lot healthier and looked fantastic and kept the weight off for about two years. Then I moved back to the South and threw all those good habits away. Maybe I should get back on the plan myself.
posted by lemoncello at 12:09 PM on October 7, 2007

Oh, and as far as the face thing goes, I have a naturally round face, but with the extra weight I developed a huge double chin. This went away when I lost the weight.
posted by lemoncello at 12:13 PM on October 7, 2007

Body for Life is excellent, and I've been following it since mid-June (with a couple of breaks due to a chest infection and houseguests) since then.

I don't do the six meals a day thing, but I do have the Myoplex shakes that they talk about - one for breakfast, mid-morning I have cottage cheese and a banana, another Myoplex shake for lunch, miso soup mid-afternoon and then chicken or fish and veggies or salad for dinner, with maybe fruit and yoghurt for dessert, if I am not full.

The Myoplex shakes are available at most health/fitness stores, and I'd also recommend you pick up a couple of shakers - one for the office, one for home - because it takes only a few seconds to mix up the shake with water or milk (I always user water, and I always have the chocolate shake because the strawberry and vanilla aren't to my taste).

I've lost about 30lbs and have toned up, although I haven't been as diligent as I'd like to be with the exercise. I have a set of free weights, as well as a couple of kettlebells that I recently acquired, and I go to a gym to use the cardio equipment and swim. Although I have good intentions about exercise, when I get home from work, after a 5.30am start, I often really don't feel like it, so my results haven't been as impressive as I'd have wanted, but I'm still happy with my progress.

It's true that muscle weighs more than fat, because I haven't lost as much weight as I have when I've just dieted without exercise, but I'm wearing smaller clothes than I've been able to wear when I've lost 30lbs through dieting alone. So I must have toned up and have more muscle, but am nevertheless smaller than through just dieting.

Body for Life has been around for some years, and it's a very sound programme for anyone who's serious about getting fit.
posted by essexjan at 12:13 PM on October 7, 2007

Body-for-Life seems like kind of a scam. It is just peddling normal weight-loss advice in a fancy package.

Weight loss is two things: burning fat, and adding muscle. You want a lean body, so work on fat burning. Eat a diet high in protein and healthy fats (olives, olive oil, nuts) and low in carbs, especially high-glycemic carbs. If you are fat, it's because you live on take-out and noodles and are eating a diet high in processed foods, bad fats, and high-glycemic carbs. Eating five or six small meals a day is far better than eating two or three large meals, as it maintains your blood sugar levels.

You are not going to be able to spot-reduce your face or waist. It's a myth. You can't control where the fat on your body comes off, that's just a function of your genetics.

You can build muscle and lose fat, but you can't do the two together as effectively as you do one or the other. That's why bodybuilders go on bulking-cutting phases--they first eat tons to provide the calories so their hypertrophic muscle workouts build huge muscles, and then eat a low-calorie, incredibly high-protein, high-fat, low-carb diet to cut the fat around the pumped-up muscles.

Personally, if you really want to be fit go to Crossfit. It's effective and they provide scaled workouts for beginners.
posted by Anonymous at 12:15 PM on October 7, 2007

I think my face is thinner too. It's impossible to 'spot reduce' weight from a desired area, but I've definitely seen an improvement.

This is me in June. (And no, I did not realise what those leaves looked like when I bought that top.)

And in September.


And on 5 October.
posted by essexjan at 12:23 PM on October 7, 2007 [2 favorites]

However, the "before-and-after" pics at the beginning of the book give me the impression that the program can cause me to be one of those over-muscled people. While I want to have a nice, lean body, I don't want to be huge. What should I do?

I don't understand this fear, although it seems to be pretty common. If you ever get to the point where you don't want to bulk up anymore (and most people never will get there) just stop or cut back on the lifting. What's the big deal?
posted by callmejay at 12:26 PM on October 7, 2007

Best answer: Congratulations - if you stick with it, the BFL program really does work. When I did it, I used a few other web resources that you might also find helpful.

Anthony Ellis was one of the original BFL champions; Dr. John Hussman has lots of helpful info in his site with details on why the BFL program works well. Also, Tom Venuto's site and e-book were a great help to me.

For excercises, the ones in the BFL book are very good, there's also this excercise directory and lastly, Bill Pearl has a 20-month plan that is very well-documented.

Enjoy!
posted by GoshND at 12:59 PM on October 7, 2007

Body-for-Life seems like kind of a scam.

Not true. You don't need to buy anything from them. The ramped intensity repetition sequence is very effective, both in my own limited experience, and in the opinion of friends who are quite experienced with various workout routines.
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:24 PM on October 7, 2007

You look great essexjan! I thought there was something changed in those pictures.
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:28 PM on October 7, 2007

BFL does work pretty well but you will need to follow the diet at least somewhat closely. The exercise plan is a good introduction to efficient exercise for beginners. I rather doubt it will give you the body of any BFL winner, but it will get you reasonably fit. But the exercise plan without the diet is not going to give you the results you are looking for.
You don't have to do the whole myoplex-brand shake six-meals-a-day thing. If you break down their diet, the big thing is to get enough protein, cut out the excessive refined carbohydrates and eat smaller portions. But doing the diet at least somewhat to spec for a while is a good idea because it will help you get the hang of portion size, macronutrient (fat, carb, protein) breakdown, and possibly meal timing. Do the diet with the goal of learning how to eat well for yourself. You will want to get rid of most of those mypolex shakes, I promise you.
posted by ch1x0r at 1:45 PM on October 7, 2007

I strongly recommend something I've seen work on a friend who managed to lose 70lbs in about 8 months (and I'm doing it myself), just reading through The Hacker's Diet.

It's free. It's simple. It's easy to stick to. It's meant for building a lifetime of healthy living, without taking away from your lifestyle, hectic work schedule, or inherent laziness (my laziness is what's kept me from ever working out).

Obviously, since it's free, it can't hurt you to take a look. Just start by reading the chapter "Engineering" and I think you'll have an entirely different view of weight loss and exercise than any other book will give you.
posted by revmitcz at 2:07 PM on October 7, 2007

schroedinger: Body-for-Life seems like kind of a scam. It is just peddling normal weight-loss advice in a fancy package.


My ability to be skeptical of the Body-For-Life system was shattered when a co-worker of mine (at the time) won their challenge. I've been following the workout routine from the book for 8 years now and it's been a life changing experience. I'm sure there are other good workout and diet plans out there as well, but the advice in the Body-For-Life book has been solid in my experience. Good luck!
posted by The Gooch at 2:57 PM on October 7, 2007

My fiancé tried BFL for awhile. I could definitely tell the difference in his face.
posted by desjardins at 3:04 PM on October 7, 2007

Best answer: I did BFL for the full 12 weeks back in 2002, lost 30 pounds and felt great. I didn't spend any money on supplements, myoplex, etc - check that, I bought and used GeniSoy in a morning shake.

In all the diet worked fine for me. At the time I was a road whore and spent about 7 hours a day in my car. Because of this, planning the meals was the hardest part.

I highly recommend working out first thing in the morning, and with BFL this is very doable. 45 mins on weight days and 25 on cardio days is something most schedules can handle. The early workouts help to motivate you for the rest of the day and working out before you eat breakfast jumpstarts your metabolism for the day.

Unfortunately for me, I've put back on about 20 of the pounds I lost in '03 and am about to attack my waistline again. As it turns out, I'm going to be doing a CrossFit workout program with a modified BFL diet. I'm seriously considering blogging the entire process in order to keep myself motivated and to document my progress.

Best of luck as you start BFL.

After babbling on I realized that I haven't answered your questions :)

1) Don't worry about it.
2) The meal plan is fairly important. Do your best and figure out a workflow that works for you.
3) You'll notice it on the scale, especially if you're not loading up on whey protein 3x a day. Who cares if you're considered "overweight" or not. Do the work, feel good about it (and how you look), and your spot on the weight chart will handle itself.
4) If you've had a lean face in the past, you'll likely lose some weight there too.
5) Pictures are good, good videos are better, a trainer critiquing your form is best.

Again, best of luck. Please come back to this post and let us know how you've done.
posted by stuboo at 3:35 PM on October 7, 2007

I don't understand this fear, although it seems to be pretty common. If you ever get to the point where you don't want to bulk up anymore (and most people never will get there) just stop or cut back on the lifting. What's the big deal?

Yes, please, don't forego the weightlifting because you're afraid of getting too big. If you just focus on losing weight you'll lose lean body mass along with fat. The pounds will come off, and the scale will show you very nice numbers, but you won't look your best. You'll end up skinny fat: thin and flabby, rather than trim and toned. Skinny fat sucks. You don't look that great, and it's really not a whole lot healthier than just being plain fat fat.

Putting on muscle takes a lot of hard work. It doesn't happen by accident. So eat right, do cardio, and lift heavy, and you will look damned good!
posted by Khalad at 5:51 PM on October 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

I like the Body For Life program, as far as diet/exercise programs go. It's realistic. If you put in effort, you'll see success.

One thing you should start doing immediately is track calories. Fitday is what I'm familiar with, but there are others out there.

I lost about 30lbs following most of Body For Life (among other things), but I made it a goal to get to the gym at least three times a week. Lifted weights and did cardio. I didn't get huge, muscle wise, but lost a lot (too much, perhaps) of weight. That said, I didn't take the supplements, which might have resulted in more bulk. I also ate smaller meals, and more of them. Probably not 6 - but 4 or 5 most days.

The HIIT cardio seemed to work really well for me. I took up yoga as well, and I really started to notice I was shedding the pounds after that. I think the fact that yoga had me at the gym twice a week ensured I got there to do weights/cardio before or after too. You want to schedule exercise for a certain time so many days a week. If you decide to go "whenever", you'll probably find you don't go as often as you had initially hoped.

If you can hit the gym right after work, do it. If you get home first you'll find a few excuses not to bother hitting the gym that day.

Oh, and I'm in the process of uploading a bunch of older (pre fitness changes) photos to my flickr account, and am amazed at how much slimmer my face is now.
posted by backwards guitar at 7:38 AM on October 8, 2007

Congrats essexjen, you look fabulous! Very inspirational!
posted by goshling at 12:45 AM on October 10, 2007