End of Week 2

So this last week we did a lot of traveling for some of my gigs which added a bit of a challenge to working out and eating right. We managed to fit in all of our workouts and eat what we needed to though. The main thing was planning ahead.

Last Sunday night Liz and I went to Grand Rapids to celebrate our anniversary. We planned ahead and made sure the hotel had a fitness center and good breakfast foods. It turned out that they only had treadmills but with our hotel key card we were able to use it to get into a nearby gym for free. And no the cards were not used to break into the gym. 

Later in the week we traveled to northern Michigan and stayed with my aunt and uncle. My aunt saw on Facebook that we were doing this program so she got on the Body for Life website and had meals from the website prepared for us which was so amazing to us that she would go to those lengths. Thanks, Aunt Mary!

With all the traveling, we used that time in the car to plan out meals and workouts. Some things were hard to figure out. We had to make some special stops for good foods. We also had to do a couple of night workouts to get them in but we did it.

Today we weighed ourselves and took photos again. My weight was the same. Liz, however, lost an amazing 8 pounds from her starting weight. In our photos we noticed that we both had more muscle definition as well.

Besides the physical changes, we both are becoming more motivated in general. We are more easily staying on top of tasks that need to get done. We have more energy for daily stuff. The soreness from the first week is wearing off and we are recovering much more quickly from the workouts.

We continue to struggle with figuring out how to win this thing. We know we are definitely making gains for ourselves as noted above; regardless of the competition. Even though we are following the program correctly we know we need to go above and beyond. Today in church I found a new hope for this. Our pastor shared this quote from Saint Augustine.

Pray as though everything depended on God.  Work as though everything depended on you


What a great quote!  I think we've worked fairly hard at the Body for Life challenge but we still have room for improvement.  We've been praying about it but I know we are not relying on God very much.  As our pastor explained, this balance of prayer/faith and action/works is very hard to find.  Most of us tend to be either works based or faith based.  As part of the Body for Life challenge we have decided that we need to work to find this balance.  We will pray knowing all our dependence is on God's will, guidance, grace, and mercy in this challenge.  We will also workout, eat, and plan knowing we have to DO the right things to win.

May God bless you in your won challenges you are facing.

Week 1 Done

Actually a little more than one week. We put in a good first week. We met all of our food requirements and workout requirements. Hitting the level 10 intensities is hard. In the book it says you won't always hit them. It's difficult because we are still learning what our bodies can handle. We are trying to avoid injury so we let up a bit sometimes. Overall we are both surprised at how hard we have been able to train without injuring ourselves. The 4 or 5 days we were very sore and tired but now on day 8 we are beginning to get energized and we are recovering much quicker. I had read multiple times from other people who have done the program that they actually gain a lot of energy from doing the program.

One of the problems I'm working through is trying to get more sleep. I'm always hit or miss with sleep. My mind is very active so it's hard to calm it down. The last few days I have been sleeping better though. It's hard to say why. I have been trying to finish any eating 3 hours before bedtime. Also I'm certain the exercise is helping in some way.

The other problem I have is that I'm trying to gain some weight. I know that may seem ridiculous to some of you reading this but I've always been the skinny guy. Kids used to call me toothpick. So I'm actually struggling to eat enough food to gain weight. It's hard to get a lot of calories when you are eating good healthy foods. I'm gradually learning how to eat more and that's what I will continue to work on throughout the program as I think that will be the hardest challenge for us to win this competition.

So far we are right on track but to win we know we need to keep stepping it up. We are competing with a lot of other people all over the country (maybe world). It's going to take going the extra step that others won't be willing to take. So far we've learned it takes a lot of planning to make sure we are ready for all of our meals and workouts. We are traveling a lot so that makes it even harder.

Continue to pray for us as we continue to try to be more disciplined and learn what it will take to reach our goals.

God bless

The beginning

So my wife and I decided to do the Body for Life program.  This is a 12 week training and nutrition program.  The very general idea is that you take 12 weeks and try to be as efficient as possible with eating right and exercising.  You can learn more at http://bodyforlife.com for specifics.  We purchased the book (used) for $4 on Amazon.  It's written by Bill Phillips who designed the program.  I'll try to explain the recommended plan by the creator of this program.

The Workouts

The training part of the program includes alternating strength training days with aerobic exercise days.  On the strength training days you are alternating upper body and lower body.  So Day 1 was upper body strength training.  You pick a strength training exercise for each muscle group (chest, shoulders, triceps, back, and biceps).  With each exercise you have different intensities and reps (number of times to perform the exercise).  For the intensities you have to rate them a scale of 1 to 10.  1 is basically doing nothing.  10 is giving everything you've got.

Here's the plan for each exercise:
12 reps - intensity 5 (easy, just getting blood flowing and muscles moving)
1 minute rest
10 reps - intensity 6 (still warming up but a little harder)
1 minute rest
8 reps - intensity 7 (not too easy, not too hard)
1 minute rest
6 reps - intensity 8 (this should be hard)
1 minute rest
12 reps - intensity 9 (this is very hard)
no rest
12 reps of a different exercise for same muscle group - intensity 10 (a 10 is very hard to achieve because it requires you to go beyond what you think you are capable of doing)

So do the above for each muscle group with 2 minute breaks between exercises

For aerobic days it is a 20 minute workout using the intensity scale.  You can do any aerobic activity such as biking, running, swimming, etc.  I'll likely be doing mostly running.  We did pick up a stationary bike for $20 at a yard sale so we have no excuses if for some reason we can't get out of the house or the weather is bad.
The intensities change every minute during the workout here's the list of intensities per minute
5 5 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 10 5

The Nutrition Plan


The best part about this program is how simple the nutrition plan is.  No calorie counting.  Just portions.  A portion is considered the size of your fist.  Mr. Phillips has you eat 6 meals a day that all contain a protein food and a carbohydrate food.  For at least two meals he wants you to have a vegetable.   Some other things are avoiding fatty foods, inc, drink 10 cups of water a day, and eat a tablespoon of unsaturated oil daily (found in foods like salmon).

Rest Day


The program allows for one free day a week.  This day you don't exercise to give your body a break.  The other thing is you can eat whatever you want.  So any sweets or fatty foods you've been craving you can have on this day.

Conclusion
So there's the basics of the program.  I will do my best to include useful information on this blog such as our goals, plans to win the competition, why we are doing this, photos, and any requests and questions from you guys.