Day 1

5/1/2002

Wednesday Beginning measurements & Upper body workout

After biting the bullet and realizing that the last 15 pounds aren't just going to fall off without a little help, I went to the library and checked out PP and tried for BFL but it was checked out. So I've started reading PP and found it to be pretty similar to Atkins but I'm looking forward to learning about BFL if somebody would just return it to the library!

Anyway, I still printed out my fitness logs from BFL's web site and started my "trial" period until I get my calipers and my BFL book. I figured if I at least "practice" my workouts I'll get into the swing of things. It's been years since I've lifted free weights and keeping the proper form is going to take some time. I'm also not too proficient at changing the weights on my dumbbells. Practice, practice, practice!!!

Measurements

Height 62", waist 29", hips, 38", weight 145 pounds
Using PP calculations, BF% 27.48
LBM 105 pounds
Pounds of fat - 39.85 (yuck)

Goal

20% BF (ideal 20-26%)
Which means the ideal weight for me is 131 - 141 pounds. I'm already at 145 but I'm going need to trim some fat and pack on more muscle to get to that range with 20% BF.

Minimum protein grams/day - 63/day
Average so far on Atkins - 95/day

Because I'm combining Atkins OWL (then Maintenance) with BFL I'm going to continue to eat in OWL keeping my carbs between 30-60 per day (after fiber).

So for fat, on average, I consume 187 grams/day (74% of diet). And for carbs, I averaged 52/day this past month. This whole month, I've been in OWL so my carbs are higher than the previous months. I've maintained my weight at 145 and my inches have been moving around my body. Fat redistribution... Hence my commencement of BFL!!

First Workout - Upper body

Now, I'm not sure how heavy my dumbbells are before I add weight but I'm guessing 4 pounds which I didn't think about until after my workout when I realized how weak I am.

Chest - Dumbbell bench press
x12, x10, x8, x6, x12, x12 = 9 pounds; not completely sure

Back - One are dumbbell rows
x12, x10, x8, x6, x12, x12 = 9 pounds; not completely sure

Shoulders - combo of front and lateral raises, cuz weights were too heavy to finish all sets with just one exercise... need smaller weights.
x6, x6, x4, x2, x6, x6 = all at 9 pounds; not completely sure

Biceps - Barbell curls w/EZ bar (i think the ez bar weighs like 20 pounds but again i'm not sure)
x10, x8, x6, x4, x10, x5 (couldn't finish set of 10) = 20 pounds

Triceps - Tripcep kickbacks
x12, x10, x8, x6, x12, x12 = all at 9 pounds; not completely sure

After working out, I had 3 fried eggs w/ 1 T ketchup, and 3 glasses of water, 1 cup coffee. Took 2 amino acid tablets.

Not feeling very sore yet... But I'm totally pumped that I finished my first workout.

Hey there Annie, you are very organized! Hopefully that person with the BFL book will return it to the library!

Looking over your information I would suggest two things: Increase your protein. Aim for 1g of protein per lb of body weight. Specially if you are going to be doing the BFL Cardio. This thread has a kind of overview as to what BFL is like, cardio and weight lifting wise. It should help you out until you get the book.

If you want to know the weight of the bars, take them on the scale with you! EZ curl bars tend to be around 11 lbs and the dumb bell bars w/o the plates between 2 - 3 lbs. When lifting those first 12 reps are supposed to be easy. They are your warm up - often you'll use 2 or 3 lbs for this set. Remember, it's not the number of lbs that matters - its the effort you put into it!

If you have a look through a few of our BFL gym logs, you'll see the method to the madness that is the BFL system - your 12, 10, 8, 6, then last 12 are all one exercise (say Shoulder press) and that last 12 for shoulders is another exercise (usually side raises or front raises). It is on this second exercise that you want to reach failure. It takes some tweaking to get this right - but you'll figure it out

HTH
Nat

Thanks Nat!

I was a bit confused when I was looking at my training logs. I couldn't figure out what the final two 12's were for. I got the logs from the BFL site but the two are different. One said for the last 12, "choose another exercise from the same group" and the other just said "high point" and since I didn't have my book yet I just went with another 12 of the same exercise. Now I know! Yeah!

K, for protein, I'll adjust and eat more meat/eggs with my fat not a problem. Meat, cheese, mayo roll-ups, yummy. I've already worked 6 small meals into my day so I'll just adjust them a bit. Before I added BFL, my favorite Atkins snack was celery and cream cheese, but now that I'm lifting, I need more protein. I'll have to did my protein shakes back out too.

Our curl bar is heavier than most. I found the weight on it. But those dumbbells will need a trip to the scale!

I'm not too keen on all the plan vs. actual business yet. I will either need to tweak that or what I prefer to do is Just Do It. How much time to you spend writing down your plan?

Annie G.

Annie, I tend to plan my UBWO and my LBWO for 4 weeks in advance then just play with the weights as I get stronger. I d/led the exercise 'book' - its about 1.2 megs and it has all 84 days in it. I divided it in half for the first 6 weeks and made a copy of the whole thing - this way I have one set aside for challenge number whatever.

Figuring out your desired weights takes about 2 or 3 practice runs. You may be able to press 20 lb dumb bells if you just pick them up, but pressing them for 6 reps (after having done 10 lbs and 15 lbs and 17 lbs at the other levels) will be another story. Best advice is to start lighter and adjust as you learn what a 10 on each exercise is for you. Some will surprize you (both in good and not so good ways!)

Planning it out ahead of time for me is usually just hitting the 'print' button after I've increased the weights as needed. I do this the night before and make sure I can find everything I need at 5 AM the next morning.

Nat

I downloaded the logs too and luckily w/ our T1 line at work it was done quickly. I decided to save a bit of paper and "edit" it a little bit so I have a week on a page. Work got down on us for using so much paper (if they only knew...)

Yes, I really have no clue what to put in for weights yet. I just tested this morning with 1 weight for all (partially because I wanted to make sure I made it to my 9 am meeting this morning) But now that I know how long it takes to do the workout I can actually change my weights between reps.

Annie G.

Did my 20MAS this morning. I tried to do it to Billy Blanks's Tae Bo. I kept in mind the MBM Intensity levels and if I was to drop back down to a 6, I'd just march in place for that minute. Boy, did I hit my 10. Thought I'd die. Luckily, though, the tape is longer than 20 so I got to shut it off before Billy noticed me leave the class For my minute 20, I just marched in place again. I did my own cool down before having breakie.

Already today, I've eating quite a high amount of carbs for me. Usually by lunch, I've only had about 12.

Today (before lunch), I'm at:

Calories Eaten (so far) Today
source grams cals %total
Total: 883
Fat: 73 656 74%
Sat: 36 322 37%
Poly: 7 59 7%
Mono: 24 219 25%
Carbs: 28 89 10%
Fiber: 6 0 0%
Protein: 34 137 16%
Alcohol: 0 0 0%

I was hungry after my workout, but had a hard time eating all my eggs and I actually had to force myself to eat my toast. I've usually had my snack by now, but I'm still not hungry. I may just skip it since I had such a big breakie.

Man, did I eat yesterday (it was my Day 1). I plugged all my goods into Fitday as usual.

Calories Eaten Today
source grams cals %total
Total: 3006
Fat: 256 2307 76%
Sat: 122 1095 36%
Poly: 26 234 8%
Mono: 89 797 26%
Carbs: 53 190 6%
Fiber: 5 0 0%
Protein: 130 519 17%
Alcohol: 0 0 0%

Almost got all my protein in. Should've added that second scoop of protein shake. My carbs were near the middle of my own LC road which is fine. Should still be in ketosis, which I'm going to try for at least a week or two while starting BFL.

The food planning is sort of working for me so far. I only plan a few meals ahead so it's not like I do the whole week in advance. I hope I never have to do that...

Where to begin... Attempted my LBWO this morning. Not very coordinated that's for sure. I tried my best to figure out how to get the DF's bench set up for leg extensions & hamstring curls. Couldn't figure out the hcs for the life of me. But I got my le in. So I definitely need to learn how to use the equipment or find some way to do the exercises with my free weights.

But here's what I did:

Quads:
Barbell squats: x12, x10, x8, x6 - 20#, x12 - 30#
Leg Extensions: x12 - 25#

Hamstrings:
Dumbbell lunges: x12 - just body wt, x10, x8, x6 - 8#, x12 - 10.5#
Couldn't figure out how to get machine to stay put so missed out on my Lying Leg curls. Dammit.

Calves:
Standing Heel Raises: x12- bw, x10 - 21#, x8 - 26#, x6 - 30#, x12 30#
Need another exercise since I really didn't know another way to exercise my calves.

Abs:
Floor crunches: x12, x10, x8, x6, x12
Reverse crunches: x12

Notes: Routine took forever because of all of my problems setting up the bench for le and hc. Need to brush up skills. Also need to have a listing of exercises for different muscle groups. BFL sheet didn't have appropriate exercises for my equipment.
Felt a tremendous burn during my 10s today. Also noted very challenging to walk down stairs after workout.

Supplements:
1200 mg glutamine
3 Amino Fuel tablets
5000 mg creatine in coffee
+ regular vitamins

Breakfast (post workout):
3 eggs, 2 scoops protein shake mix, 3 oz half/half, 3 oz cream.
"Protein crepes" w/3 T butter and 1 serving of sugar free syrup.
1 cup coffee, 4 glasses H20
*had to spread out breakfast, got stuffed before I could finish*

Annie check out www.exrx.net - they have a muscle directory and you can pick and choose the exercises you want for the various groups.

You will definitely be feeling this workout later - going down stairs may even be a problem - it was for me! You might try increasing glutamine to 10-15g a day (divided by 2 servings) It is only at these levels that you'll benefit from it for muscle sparing and relief from DOMS.

Nat

I'm planning a trip to GNC for lunch cuz my current form of glutamine is only caplets. And I'm not taking 10-15 of those, blah. I'm also running out of protein powder so the list is growing...

Thanks for the tips, Nat!

Looking forward to measuring in a week or two. Hopped on the scale and my muscles are already swelling, up 2 pounds!

Annie G.

Where to begin... I did stop at GNC on Friday and get plenty of glutamine powder, mega whey shake mix and more fiber Took a Mega Whey shake for a snack on Friday. Darn thing filled me up and I couldn't eat lunch til 3. Messed up my whole meal schedule.

Skipped my trial 20MAS on Saturday. My legs were so sore I could barely walk. I kept taking glutamine (15 mg) throughout the day and it barely helped. Guess those lunges are a silent killer.

Sunday was still leaving me sore as he**. I just can't believe how out of shape I am. My ab workout from Friday was terrible. I used to be #1 at crunches in HS. Like 100 in 60 seconds. Now, I could barely handle my BFL workout for abs. Sad. Really sad.

Trying to drink up my Atkins shakes by mixing them with my Mega Whey. Atkins shakes suck when compared to Mega Whey. They're so much more tasty and since they're made with Splenda the carbs are still nice and low for the 40 grams of protein they provide. A scoop of chocolate Atkins with 2 scoops of strawberry MW is pretty decent.

I still am having a hard time eating all my meals. Working out has really had a different effect on me. I used to get famished after working out but now I actually don't have an appetite at all. Its really weird.

I had high hopes for doing some fun cardio this weekend with DF's kids. But all I could squeeze out of my body was some gardening. I did a hours worth of raking and leaf hauling which I would consider cardio just not very fun. At least I was able to move around a little.

I just hope all this protein doesn't pack on the fat. I think I'm burning it all off with my BFL workouts.

Also discovered that Free Days are not for me. I am so sick today (monday) with a terrible carb hangover. Not good. Just going to stick to LC Sundays. Not worth the agony.

Dumbbell Bench Press
x12 - 2.5# ea
x10 - 8# ea
x8 - 8 # ea
x6 - 13# ea
x12 - 13# ea

Dumbbell Flies
x12 - 8# ea

One Arm Dumbbell Rows
x12 - 2.5# ea
x10 - 8# ea
x8 - 10.5# ea
x6 - 13# ea
x12 - 15.5# ea

Back Extensions
x12 just body weight

Dumbbell Front Raises
x12 - 2.5# ea
x10 - 5.5# ea
x8 - 5.5# ea
x6 - 5.5# ea
x12 - 5.5# ea

Lateral Raises
x12 - 5.5# ea

Dumbbell Curls
x12 - 2.5# ea
x10 - 5.5# ea
x8 - 8# ea
x6 - 10.5# ea
x12 - 13# ea

Alternating Dumbbell Curls
x12 - 13# ea

Tricep Kickbacks
x12 - 2.5# ea
x10 - 5.5#
x8 - 8#
x6 - 10.5#
x12 - 10.5#

Bench Dips
x12 - body weight

Overall, I had a great workout. I love working my upper body because I seem to improve very quickly. Plus, I really don't have a tough recovery the following days.

I took 5 gm of glutamine and 5 gm creatine in my coffee following my workout. I made a MW shake with another 5 gm glut for a pre lunch snack. Took a couple amino acid tablets for misc. aminos. Started on ECA stack but only at half the recommended dose. I know from previous experience not to start out at the full 2 tablets right away

Well see how my triceps feel tomorrow...

Didn't happen. No Tae-Bo. I hear Billy's after me. In the am I put away 4 baskets of laundry so the most cardio I got was up and down 2 flights of stairs 8 times! I opted out of exercise to catch up on chores.

Did my LBWO in 42 minutes. Not bad at all. Legs are still burning.

Quads:
Barbell squats:
x12 - 20#
x10 - 25#
x8 - 30#
x6 - 35#
x12 - 40#
Leg Extensions: x12 - 20#

Hamstrings:
Dumbbell lunges:
x12 - 3#
x10 - 5.5#
x8 - 8#
x6 - 10.5#
x12 - 10.5#
Lying leg curls:
x12 - 20#

Calves:
Standing Heel Raises:
x12- 21#
x10 - 26#
x8 - 31#
x6 - 36#
x12 - 36#
Seated calf raise:
x12 - 36#

Abs:
Floor crunches: x12, x10, x8, x6, x12
Reverse crunches: x12

Breakie: mock danish w/2 eggs (down from usual 3), cup of joe, 3 glasses water, and my protein shake 3 hours post workout (w/glute 10 g, creatine 5 g).

Did my 20 minutes with Billy this morning. Once I get the tape going, I'm fine. He's really motivating. It's just getting to that point that kills me. I just prefer doing my weight training but I know I need the cardio too.

My legs are still sore from yesterday's workout. I actually had an appetite this morning thanks to my high carb pizza dinner last night. Figured I'd burn it all off this morning. Well, the glycagen in my muscles anyway. Back to ketosis for me...

Just not feeling very well though. I don't know why I do some things. Slap hands, pizza = bad tummy ache.

Wow, moving up on all my weights and so far so good. Feel that burn!!!

Barbell Bench Press
x12 - 20#
x10 - 25#
x8 - 30#
x6 - 35#
x12 - 45# *the Standard Bar, The BIG One*

Dumbbell Flies
x12 - 8# ea

One Arm Dumbbell Rows
x12 - 8# ea
x10 - 10.5# ea
x8 - 13# ea
x6 - 15.5# ea
x12 - 18# ea

*Finished at just the burning/shaking point*

Back Extensions
x12 just body weight

Dumbbell Lateral Raises
x12 - 3# ea
x10 - 5.5# ea
x8 - 5.5# ea
x6 - 8# ea
x12 - 5.5# ea

*Very hard to do more weight right now*

Front Raises
x12 - 5.5# ea

Barbell Curls EZ Bar
x12 - 20#
x10 - 25#
x8 - 25#
x6 - 25#
x8 (sb 12) - 30#

*maxed out at 8 on the 30#*

Alternating Dumbbell Curls
x12 - 13# ea

Tricep Kickbacks
x12 - 5.5#
x10 - 8#
x8 - 10.5#
x6 - 13#
x12 - 15.5#

Bench Dips
x12 - body weight

What an awesome WO this morning! Really moving up fast in weights. Super pumped even 5+ hours later!

Took supplements, 10 g glute and 5 g creatine in post workout shake at 10 am.