Who Knew?
Written: Apr 13 '00 (Updated Sep 28 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It works!
Cons: Myoplex is expensive, and the time limits for the workouts are wrong
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| nsgraham's Full Review: Bill Phillips et al - Body for Life: 12 Weeks to M... |
I've decided to finally take the leap, and come out of the "Body For Life" closet. I've been on the program now for seven weeks, and if I can't say that I'm a Body-for-lifer and proud at this point, then when?
Not that there's anything inherently wrong about the program. But when you look at the book - Bill Phillips smirking at you, the impossibly incredible transformation pictures, the subtle but persistent push for EAS's Myoplex suppliment - well, the whole thing seemed to me a bit shady. But, over a period of a few weeks of thumbing through it at Barnes and Noble, I decided to pick the book up. If I didn't like it, I could always return it. And, after skimming the thing, what struck me was the common sense that threaded it's way though the Richard Simmons huggy-feely type talk. Basically:
Eat smaller meals more often
and
Work out everyday but one.
What he said in the book backed up a lot of what I'd been reading from other sources. I decided to give it a go.
Now just to let you know, if you're considering taking the "challenge (the $100,000 contest EAS holds for the Transformation winner), you should to get your competitor form in *before* you start. If you go to www.bodyforlife.com, there's an online form you can use. Register, and they'll even send you a promotional video (without you even asking!). There are rounds and deadlines and that sort of thing. I started without even knowing about the contest, so I missed my chance. :(
My Budget Home Gym
Now, I'm a recent college graduate working in non-profit theatre. Read: no gym memberships. Most were too expensive, and the few in my price range (Ballys, etc.) require ridculous contracts. I also knew I'd feel more comfortable working out at home by myself. If this thing didn't work I didn't want any witness. So, because I love the internet and I don't have a car, I went to www.sportsauthority.com and bought a bench and two adjustable 20 pound dumbbells. That's all you need to start (well, you might want more or less weight, depending on your condition). Total cost: about $120. If you get used equipment, it could be even cheaper. For cardiovascular exercise, I just ran in place. In a few weeks, I saw an infomercial for the Orbitrek, and got one of those (review coming soon).
Food
This is, believe it or not, considerably more complicated than the training. On the Body for Life program, you eat less food, more often. (Phillips compares it to when horses graze as oppossed to bears gorging - I'm not sure that's a correct anology, but who am I?) You need to eat six times a day, and your meals need to have a portion of both a protein and a carbohydrate. There's a list of approved foods in the book. It looks large when you read it, but for me, it came down to buying alot of chicken breasts. What exactly is "orange roughy" (an approved protein) anyway? Be careful, because while turkey breast cold cuts are okay, turkey bacon isn't (only *breast* meat is approved). Fruits are a carb, which is annoying, but vegetables, the way I'm interpeting it, are a free, so I eat tons of baby carrots. I'll get into the Myoplex thing later. And you get one free day, where you can eat anything you want.
Actually Doing the Thing - Living the life
One thing to start - this is a lifestyle change. You're supposed to do the cardio three times a week in the morning before you eat, and, for fat burning purposes, you should do your strength training then too. This means making a commitment to getting up early. The nutrition for life requires that you eat during work hours. How do you handle this?
Well, I get up early. It's something I had to commit to, but once I reached the two week mark, I felt anxious if I didn't work out in the mornings (free days are still a little strange). As for the food, I take Myoplex. Myoplex Lite, to be exact.
Now, Phillips does say that you don't need to take Myoplex. But you do need supplementation, because you're cutting down on your calorie intake. Myoplex is more than sufficient in that regard - there's almost too much stuff in there. And it does make the meal thing easier, especially the bars. I eat two Myoplex Lite bars at work. They're a lot easier to deal with than the shakes. But looking at the ingredients, I think the shakes have more amino acids, and they definetely have more protein, so I try to drink at least one a day.
Myoplex is expensive, but if you order it from enutrition through www.bizrate.com, it's 20% off. (Tell Bizrate nsgraham sent you!) And if you email me, I'll tell you how to save even more. I've gotten it down to about a $1.25 a serving - only a quarter more than the Slim Fast and Jenny Craig bars.
Training - Strength and Cardio
You alternate between Strength training (weights) and cardio every other day. It comes down to about 4 hours a week. Not bad for these results!
The one major problem I have with the Book is that it doesn't give you an idea of how much weight to begin with for someone your weight/sex/height. I've started light - my increases are in 2.5 pound increments, but I think I might be undertraining some. The exercises, however, are comprehensive, giving you a full workout in about an hour. (The book says 42-46 minutes, but I've never, ever been able to hit that.) The key is the intensity intervals that Phillips uses. I used to do 60-80 crunches straight until I couldn't go anymore. Now I do 12 and it hurts (a good thing). Also, although he gives two exercizes that people with a home gym can do for every other muscle group, he forgot to add a second one for quadriceps. I just do 3 wall sits for 30 seconds each for that.
The cardio is also an intensity workout, which is why it only takes 20 minutes. Any moving exersize that gets your heart going and that you can vary the intersity works - running, biking etc. You really sweat after one of these workouts.
Your motivation is all of those pictures of the transformees. Go and look at them right now. Don't you just want to do what they did?
So, at the seven week mark, I have lost about 12 pounds and two inches off my waist. I'm starting to get definition in my arms and calves. What's great about this program is that it doesn't rely on anything but your own will and self disipline. It's like something you could have come up with yourself, if you had the training and the time and the research and all that.
*******
9/28 Update-
Wow! This is my most popular review by far - the response has been amazing! My thanks to everyone who wrote me - I'm so glad my little old story's actually been helpful to people.
A few more things -
Read the comments on this review. I've found that measuring your body fat is a really essential step of this process - it really helps you to get a real idea of your true health.
Get some weightlifting gloves. It will save your hands. Try to get the Bollinger Neoprene ones. The leather ones stink and stain your hands.
Okay, so this is how I buy Myoplex kinda cheap.
Back when I wrote my review, bizrate.com had a deal with enutrition, where everything you bought through them was 20% off. No longer. :-( But here are some other ways:
Enutrtion still has some coupons, and first time customers get $10 off their first order, plus free shipping. Go to www.fightdivx.com/coupons.htm to find some (as well as many others). And I have a calendar that gives you one coupon a month - MFSEP for September, MFOCT for October, etc. I don't remember what each one is actually worth, but it'd be fun to try.
Vitaminshoppe.com also has a lot of good deals.
And I'm really into eBay right now for my EAS products. I can get a box of Myoplex Lite there for $30, including shipping. alterna-med.com is a good seller, as is gary@healthfooddepot.com.
And that is, really, everything I know.
So, how am I doing?
Well, I'm in my 10th week of my second challenge. In total, I've lost almost 20 pounds. My body fat is somewhere between 23% and 18.5% (depending on *so* many different factors). There have been good weeks and bad weeks, and 2 day long free days, and times when life has gotten in the way of my workouts, etc. What I try to keep in mind is that this is a lifetime process, so mess ups are fine. I'm only human, after all. As long as I keep to it as well as I can, it'll work. It can't not, really.
I recently returned to a job I left a year ago. My weight change has been as such that I've noticed it, and my boyfriend noticed it, but people who saw me every day didn't quite get it. But my goodness! I was a bit down when I took the job back - I wasn't quite sure I had hit a weight loss plateau or not. But the comments! For the first week, people kept on telling me that I lost weight, that I looked really great and all of that. It really made me feel better and helped me recommit to the program. And it gave me a great sense of accomplishment, it really did.
If you really want a scientific explanation, and some great tips, or if you're on the program and it just doesn't seem to be working for you, try this site:
www.hussman.com/eas
It's amazing.
Okay - THAT's everything I know.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
nsgraham
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Member: Nadine Graham
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Reviews written: 47
Trusted by: 34 members
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