Give Me Bananas

Here’s an other guest post for you guys – by the fabulous Janetha over at meals & moves! Some of you probably know her blog and how Body for LIFE worked for her but for those who don’t here’s a great post about BFL. Janetha’s results were truly stunning and I admire her courage to post pictures like these on the internet:

Yeah Janetha, I totally stole that pic from your page. But just look how fab she is!!

Without more rambling from my side.. Here’s Janetha:

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hey there, give me bananas readers, how’s it going?  janetha here.  i write a blog called meals & moves.  i focus on documenting my healthy eating habits and my workout routines while adding a side of sarcasm when i can.  if you are into that, check it out.

the lovely karin has asked me to ramble up a guest post for her while she is off frolicking in the far off land of japan.  specifically, she has asked me to ramble about body for life, which is a workout/eating plan that i have had lots of success with.

in a nutshell, the body for life (that will now be referred to as BFL from here on out because i am lazy) plan is to eat 5 to 6 small, balanced meals for 6 days of the week.  by balanced i mean 40% of your daily calories come from carbs, 40% of them come from protein and 20% come from fat. also, you are to workout 6 days a week, alternating strength training days and cardio days (3 of each~a total of 6 workouts weekly). one day a week, which BFL calls "free day", all rules are thrown out the window and you can eat whatever you’d like and take the day off from exercise. 

the official "BFL challenge" is actually a 12 week long program, but as the name suggests, it is best to follow this plan "for life"~which is what i try to do.

i don’t want to take up too much of your time with my rambles, so if you would like to read more about my personal successes with BFL, you can check out my BFL page on my old blogaroo~click here.  and for my more detailed account of BFL you can click here.

NOW.. to keep things entertaining, i have decided to do the top ten reasons body for life is rad.

number 10

• you get to eat every 2 to 3 hours and are never, ever hungry. it is also OK to eat right before bed.  it is actually not good to go to bed hungry because that is a solid 8 hours (ideally) without food.  your muscles NEED nutrients so your body does not start eating away at your muscles.  my rule of thumb? never let my stomach growl.  if it does growl, i always imagine my hunger chipping away at my hard earned muscle and i quickly get something in my belly!

number 9

• the workout plan is a TOTAL of 3 hours and 15 minutes each week.  3 of the days you do 20 minutes of high intensity interval training (your cardio days) and the other 3 days you do strength training (alternating upper body workout day and lower body workout day).  it blows me away that i was able to lose 10% body fat in 12 weeks by working out just over 3 hours a WEEK.  who doesn’t have time for that??  one hour of cardio a week? yes please! i hate cardio.

 

number 8

• you don’t have to count calories.  ever.  you simply use the fist/palm method.  meaning, you eyeball your carbohydrate and protein portions by making them roughly the size of your clenched fist or your open palm.  strangely enough, if you do this and then plug the actual portions into a calorie calculator, they do end up balanced and the portion size falls right into your calorie range for your body size.  it is fool proof!  but don’t forget to throw in your healthy fat and added veggies.

 

number 7

• you feel better.  not only are you dropping pounds and gaining muscle and LOOKING better.. you actually feel better.  everyone i know who has followed the BFL plan has said that they are all around happier.  there is something to eating clean and exercising regularly~it really boosts your mood.  a natural high, if you will.

 

number 6

• you are building muscle so your metabolism will actually burn more calories just by sitting around.  this is called your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and the more lean muscle you possess, the more calories you burn throughout the day–even in yours sleep!  BFL helped me gain 10% lean muscle in 12 weeks and that meant more calories burned and more calories consumed.. which, for me, rules.. because i love food.  my metabolism lets me eat more food but i don’t gain because my lean muscle needs those calories!

number 5

• it’s easy.  the workouts are outlined and i never have to go to the gym and wonder what i am going to do.  i get in, get the workout done, get out and get on with my life.  i am never having to wander or wonder while at the gym, which is a total time-waster.  the BFL workout and eating plan is so simple and easy to follow.  i love it.

 

number 4

• it’s free!  who wants to pay to lose weight? uh, not me.  the only money i’ve spent on BFL is on the book, which actually my mom bought for me but you could easily check it out from your library.  i can’t believe the amounts of money people invest in weight loss programs (which often times don’t even work!)

 

number 3

• it teaches you valuable things about food and exercise that you can use for the rest of your life.  it is not just a 12 week program.  it is actually manageable enough that you can follow this program every day and not fail.  instead of having an intense 12 week weight loss session and then reverting back to old habits, which will ultimately make you gain the weight back in the long run, you can actually do this forever and ever and maintain your ideal level of fitness with ease.  i have learned so much about food and exercise and, to me, this knowledge is priceless.

 

number 2

• it’s fun.  i never get bored with dreaming up new, balanced recipes.  i love converting other meals into body for life approved meals.  the workouts are quick and interesting and never too long that i get bored.  i could never, ever be on a treadmill for longer than a half hour. how boring. the weight training part is also fun because it is interesting to come up with new exercises to pair with each other for each muscle group.  call me a nerd, but i love that sort of thing.

 

number 1

• FREE DAY!  seriously, this may be the best part of it all!  let’s face it.  it is impossible to be on our best behavior 100% of the time.  there is always one challenge or another that we will face.  maybe it is a birthday dinner out or plans with friends that get in the way of workout time or a mega-huge craving for some ice cream.  yes, getting in shape takes hard work and determination but it should by no means be torture.  that is no way to live.  with free day in the plan, you only have to be on your best behavior 85.57142857% of the time.  that other 14.42857143% of the time anything goes.  what i like to do is write down any cravings i may have during the week and then when free day rolls around, i can choose to indulge in those cravings or there are often times that the craving does not even sound good a few days later.  also, free day can vary from week to week.  what if i have a party on friday one week but i usually take my free day sunday? no big deal, free day is breezy like that.  also, if you choose to take your day off from exercise and clean eating the same day that is great but if you want to split them up that is fine too.  my mom (who had baller results from BFL check her out here!) likes to take her free day from clean eating on saturday and then her day off from exercise sunday.  totally legit.  oh free day, i heart you.

 

there you have it. ten fantastic reasons to try BFL.  hope i have convinced you that BFL is fabulous.  if not, no hard feelings.  but if you are looking for a way to lose some fat, gain some muscle, rev your metabolism and stay sane all the while.. i highly suggest BFL! for reals.  and if you have any questions about it you can pop over to my blog and ask your little heart out!

karin has also asked me to suggest some BFL-friendly vegetarian meal options.  i am not vegetarian and i can see how BFL would be challenging to come up with the right amounts of protein with a vegetarian diet (and more so, vegan)~but it CAN be done.  i have designed a total day’s worth of vegetarian meals following the BFL steeze!

i have included links to the recipes and/or the post where i ate the listed meal.  just click the name and it will take you to it, complete with photos!

meal 1: protein pancakes or waffles topped with 1 TB natural peanut butter, black coffee 

meal 2: 3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese + 1/2 cup garbanzo beans + 1 tsp hidden valley ranch seasoning

meal 3: sun dried and spinach omelette + side of fresh fruit

meal 4: two almond chiaseed protein muffins

meal 5: "hamburger salad" using a high protein veggie burger, lots of veggies, topped with mustard & low carb ketchup (make sure it has no HFCS) + baked sweet potato fries

meal 6:  8 oz fat free greek yogurt + 1/2 cup granola or cereal + 1 TB natural peanut butter

there you have it! some other options include tofu stir fry, protein shakes using protein powder+fruit+almond or soy milk (using a frozen banana works best as it creates the consistency of ice cream!), 2 string cheeses+an apple, 2  hard boiled eggs+an orange, flat out wrap+low fat cheese+vegetarian pepperoni+veggies (baked as a "pizza"), edamame (perfectly balanced by itself!).. lots more options but i will stop there

there are a few more tips i have learned from BFL that i want to point out:

• always do cardio on an empty stomach and wait at least an hour after cardio before eating.  you will burn more fat if you do your HIIT in a fasted state.
• try to drink at least 1 gallon of water each day. it will work wonders, i promise.
• never let more than 30 minutes go by after strength training before getting some protein + healthy carbs into your system.  the form of a protein shake is best since liquid is digested quicker.
• if you screw up or go off track, don’t sweat it. just keep plugging along and act as if it never happened. none of this "starting over" garbage.
• one quote i love to live by: "nothing tastes as good as being fit feels"~sometimes when i am about to take a donut from the break room i say this to myself and realize that the momentary indulgence is not worth the extra time it will take to hit my goals. plus, that is what free day is for

i hope my tips have been helpful to at least one person!  if not, well, like i said~ya win some ya lose some

thanks to karin for letting me guest post and thanks to you for reading along!

something i do on meals & moves is ask a couple questions at the end of every post.. so, i figured i would do that here!

Qs~

1. have you ever followed a workout/eating plan?  what was it?  did you have success? in addition to BFL, i have also tried the isagenix cleanse.. you basically have to starve yourself for 4 days and it was not for me.  yes, i lost weight, but i eventually gained it all back!

2. what is your favorite form of protein? mine is greek yogurt, hands down!

xo. janetha b.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at 9:50 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.