I just tuned in to this forum after trying to ignore the need to exercise for a year! I went to the gym 3 times a week for 2 years doing weights and some cardio -spinning etc. It was great and I felt great. Then for some reason I stopped. Just couldnt get my motivation back again. I sooo regret that! I was down to 71kg (156 lb) and am now 80kg (176lbs) one year later. I am not even sticking to my low carbing consistently.

So I stopped by to see if I could get myself back in the mood. It is hard to find the time though. I used to go before work but now we have adopted the habit of eating a proper cooked breakfast so going before work is out.

I found all the Body for Life stuff in Woolworths here. I even took the before pictures but havent got any further with it because I am loathe to buy yeat another diet book. EAS had low carb drinks and bars alongside the conventional ones. The Low carb stuff tastes quite good. I think the bars have the usual hidden carbs though. So does the BFL programme give you a choice of low or high carb eating? Would be interested in hearing from someone who has been doing it for while.

I'm not much of an expert as i've only been doing it for a week but so far so good. I'm not into exercise really but this thing has got me up at 5.30 for 6 days and exercising for an hour. I'm enjoying the workouts - i like the idea of working hard for shortish periods rather than long slow exercise. Trying to achieve a "10" in each exercise has meant that i've increased weight or speed each time and this is a nice feeling.

As far as food goes, i'm mainly sticking to Atkins with a bit of Protein Power. I was on induction for a month and it was great. This week i've increased to 30g carb and have added a protein shake post workout. Weigh etc day is tomorrow so i'll let you know.

Ass far as EAS supplements...... i suppose its inevitable that he promotes the stuff his company makes but i'm not buying it. People say you need to to win the challenge but i'm a little sceptical. Even his low carb stuff seems a bit high for me and i've got hold of a very nice whey protein drink which for one serving has 36g protein and only 0.6g carb. I'm going to stick to that for now. Multi-vits and even things like creatine and glutamine are available much more cheaply.My main aim this time is weight loss and i think i've found something that works (low-carbing). I've really "bolted" BfL on and doing it my way. If it don't work then i'll try something else. Hope this helps

Cheers

Jon

This is a good idea.

For me the idea of exercise is very unusual. However for the last 11 days I've been getting up at 5.30 and working out for about an hour. I'm following the Body-for-Life regime (but not the 6 meals a day diet!) and am mainly aiming for fat loss, but any other benefits will be nice.

What I do is:

Tues, thurs, sat - cardio - 20 mins on bike changing up and down between intensity 5 and 9 and then up to 10 for the last minute. I usually stagger gasping off the bike and have to sit down. Also ab routine that I got from a mag which has crunches etc but also some stretching and bending (good as I am really not very flexible)

Mon, Wed, Fre - weight, alternating upper and lower body workouts. All the BfL workouts have one exercise per body part which is done at an increasing weight for 12-10-8-6 reps and then drop the weight and do 12 reps and then immediatley a different exercise - the aim to hit "10". I'm finding the workouts intense and the necessity to keep hitting 10 means you push yourself hard.

UBWO barbell bench press then dumbell flyes
barbell shoulder press then lat raises
Wide grip pulldowns then reverse grip pulldowns
Triceps pushdowns then lying triceps extensions
Standing barbell curls then hammer curls

LBWO Barbell squats then leg extensions
Godd mornings then leg curls
Standing calf raises then one leg calf raises

So far this seems to be working. I'm going to weigh on sunday but can already wear my jeans again!

Cheers

Jon

Jon, I absolutely love the title of your exercise journal! Well done on those jeans.... you must be beaming.

I look forward to reading more,
Nat

I have to confess the term "daily punishment" is adopted from a TV sitcom called "Father Ted". In case you haven't seen it it's about 3 strange RC priests in a vicarage on an island in Southern Ireland. In the episode about Lent they employ a nun to give them extra penance - the "daily punishment" - ice baths and flogging etc. The whole series is a bit strange and surreal and the term rather appealed to me.

cheers

Jon.

i've seen it a few times. Gets a bit too sureal for me. I prefer Friends ... or Porridge ... or the new one : Our Home.

Mind you since I discovered this Forum the TV has stayed off a lot ... which is goooooood.

Keep up with that bflife routine. Grrrrrreeeeeeeatttttt start.
Take care.

Sounds like an interesting show, and very educational, I didn't know nuns perform these services

Wa'il

{Wail: Sounds like an interesting show, and very educational, I didn't know nuns perform these services }

Interesting ... um can be sometimes
educational ... ROFL depends what one considers is education !

Fiona,

The French call "that" education anglais

Jon, if we're mocking up your exercise journal, just let me know. I can split these jokes into a seprate thread in the lighter side.

Wa'il

Just to say that as I've started a gym journal (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=22616) I won't post any more here.

Jon

Thanks Wa'il just leave them there - they'll make me smile as I drag myself out of bed at 5.30.

Awesome upper body workout today. Worked really hard, especially as for shoulder pressess I increased in 5kg rather than 2.5kg increments. I noticed they were hard but thought "I must be a bit weak today" and so pushed myself and did them all. THEN I noticed. So i'm going to have sore shoulders but its very illuminating re: mental strength vs. physical. I thought I should be doing it so I did.

Happy exercise (happy??!!)

Jon

If you like, Jon, this thread can be merged with your gym log, for posterity's sake

Nat

Yeah that would be good. Hate for those "before" photos to vanish!

Jon

I sent a request along that your journals be merged, Jon.

Nat

Good idea. I like the way it came together ...