Recipe - Eating for Life - Lettuce Wrap

I just created this video recipe for the Eating for Life Lettuce Wraps menu item.

Overall, it has a good balance of carbs (33%), Protein (49%), and fat (18%) with a total of 226.5 calories. It is super easy to make and takes less than 30 minutes. More details at my google spreadsheet location below.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pvKzXxOx71wd6MTG3r1cCbQ&hl=en

Give it a try!

End of 2nd Week - May 26, 2008

Today rounded out the end of the 2nd week for this challenge (my second 12-week program this year), and the results are going the right way:

Start/Current Weight: 145.8 lbs / 143.2 lbs (good)

Start/Current Body Fat: 13.5% / 14.1% (not so good)

Attached is a current front shot picture of the progress.

2008 Challenge II - End of First Week (5/19/2008)

I just wrapped up the second week of this challenge, and the progress was slow but steady. I went from 145.8 to 145.0, so I lost almost a pound. Body fat went up, but I take that with a grain of salt since those body fat scales are so undependable.

Overall, it was a good week. Hit all my workouts, ate well, and had a fun free day. The Eagles were in town for a concert on Friday, so I took that as my free day.

Start of Next Challenge - Week 0 (5/12/2008)

Today is the start of my next 12-week challenge.

Goals:

Body Fat: Lose 3.5% body fat (get down to 10%)
Weight: Lose 10.8 lbs (get down to 135 lbs)

Let the game begin!! :)

1 month after body for life challenge - keeping it off?

I thought I'd update my blog and share the progress since I ended my 12-week challenge on 3/30. Since that date, I've:

1. Went on a 8 day boat cruise to the Western Caribbean (April 6th - April 13th)

2. Spent a weekend out with some friends (May 2nd - May 4th)

Despite those two events, I've continued to eat well and work out every day. The scale is still showing progress, and I'm at 145.4 w/ 14.2% body fat.

I'll start up my next challenge on 5/12/2008 through 8/4/2008.

What does the scale say?

Here's a view form the scale's perspective :) Week 0 vs. Week 13.

Done! Week 13 Finished and Final Pictures/Videos

Wow, 89 days certainly went by fast! I started on January 1, 2008, and I finished up today, March 29, 2008.


Results? They turned out pretty good - it even beat my stretch goals. Overall, I lost 26.4 lbs and 4.9% body fat.

I started at 172 and weighed in this morning at 145.6. My initial body fat was 20.3% body fat, and my scale said 15.4% today.

This video tells a good story - it was filmed at Day 0 and today. Check out the difference!

Chicken Kabob - Eating for Life Recipe

Here's another great item from the Eating for Life book. One of my favorites!

Eating for Life - Chicken Pomodoro

Here's a video of an Eating for Life recipe I did earlier in the 12-week program. VERY tasty and recommended.

Do I need to Join a Gym for BFL?

A question that is often asked is, "Do I need to join a gym for BFL?" IMHO, the short answer is "no" providing you have adequate equipment at home to work out all the body parts.

For me, I haven't been to a membership based gym this entire 12-week cycle although I do have access to one at my office. Why not? I find it easier to roll right out of bed and go downstairs to my basement to work out. I'm most motivated when I first wake up, so this works for me.

I also have a good amount of equipment:

Powertec Leverage Gym (http://www.powertecfitness.com/). This set has almost everything you need. It uses olympic free weights, so it's flexible in terms of weight that can be added/removed. It has attachments for the following:

• Leg attachment for quads/hamstring


• Pull down bar for lats


• Shoulder press


• Chest press


• Tricep pull down

Powerblock (http://www.powerblock.com/). This is a set of dumbbells that goes up to 45 lbs. By simply removing weight, the same setup of dumbbells will go down to 10 lbs and increase in 5 lb. increments. For BFL, this is perfect because I'll start on a lower weight for my first set and slowly increase it. I use this exclusively for the first 5 sets of my bicep workout. I also use it for triceps.

Nautilus Preacher Bench. I use this rarely, but it is also good for biceps. It uses the olympic weights.

Nautilus Calf Raise. I use this for my calfs. It also uses the olympic weights.

Stationary Recumbent Bike. This is up in our bedroom, and it serves as a good source of cardio. It's not the best, but it works for me.

Preparing for Final Body for Life Pictures

LINK

For those of you that are submitting your package and pictures as part of the BFL submission, I thought I'd share something I learned in my first challenge. I wish I could take credit for it, but I shamelessly stole it from others (see link above). This is basically the routine that will maximize how your body looks for those final pics.

Will it help your diet? No. Is it a good long term approach? No. Will I look my best for the pictures? Yes.

5 Days Out (Monday 3/24/2008): Cardio
- Lower carb intake
- 10 glasses of water

4 Days Out (Tuesday 3/25/2008): Legs
- Lower carb intake
- 10 glasses of water

3 Days Out (Wednesday 3/26/2008): Upper Body (intense)
- Lower carb intake
- 10 glasses of water

2 Days Out (Thursday 3/27/2008): Light cardio
- Lower carb intake
- Use NWB (3 servings of 2 capsules each) - NWB is a water depletion supplement
- Drink lots of water
- Restrict salt (500mg – 1000mg)
- Consume simple carbs post workout (sweet potato, brown rice, oatmeal)
- 10 glasses of water

1 Day Out (Friday 3/28/2008): Posing only
- Lower/eliminate carb intake
- Use NWB (3 servings of 2 capsules each)
- Drink lots of water
- Eat less than 500mg salt
- Drink Glycerol cocktail (50 ml of glycerol *4 oz of red wine *12 oz of water *1 serving of creatine) in the evening
- 10 glasses of water (early in day, limit in the afternoon and evening)
- In the evening, have 2 bowls of Fruit Loop cereal

Photo Shoot (Saturday 3/29/2008):
-Drink Glycerol cocktail (50 ml of glycerol *4 oz of red wine *12 oz of water *1 serving of Creatine) in the morning
20 minute pump up session followed by carb snack (oatmeal cookie)

Other items:

1. You might want to start tanning now if you're going to do it.
2. Think about shavings - don't have to do it, but it makes a difference on the pictures

Start of Week 12

I just ended week 11 yesterday, so I did my weekly weight check in.

151.2 pounds with 15.1% BF. Overall, I'm down 20.8lbs.

I'm heading on a cruise ship to the Caribbean in early April, so I'm actually going to extend this 12-week challenge to 13-weeks, so this won't be my last week. I'm going to milk this thing for all it's worth!

The challenge was supposed to end on 3/24/08, but I'm really going to end it with my final pictures on 3/30/2008.

Updated Pictures - 3/13/2008

Here's a comparison of 1/1/2008 and 3/13/2008.

Start of Week 11 - 3/11/2008

2 weeks left in the challenge, and I weighed in at 153.2 lbs today @ 15.6% body fat. Not quite the results I was looking for, but I'll take what I can get. I'll update the pictures later on tonight or tomorrow.

3/25/2008 will be the end of the challenge, so just a few weeks left to knock this thing out of the park!!

Start of Week 10 - 75% Complete!

Start of week 10 results:

Current weight: 153.8 w/ 15.8% body fat.
Start: 172.0 w/ 20.5% body fat.

Last week I was in San Diego for work, and as I posted earlier, I kept the temptation to cheat at bay. I didn't touch an ounce of liquor and ate as best as I could while staying in a hotel room. I also didn't miss a workout.

Let's bring on the last 3 full weeks in the race!!

How to Survive BFL While Travelling?

This week has been hard - I left Atlanta to come to San Diego for a week long leadership conference in Carlsbad. You all know what leadership conferences mean - lots of food, full schedules of presentations, brainstorming sessions, and meetings. It also means late night events, hospitality suites open until 1am, and all the liquor you can possibility drink.

How can you survive BFL for events like this?

So far, I've been successful and keeping to the program 100%. Here's my tips:

1. Use the gym! The resort I'm staying at has a great workout facility, so I've been hitting it up either every morning or late afternoon after the sessions close and before dinner. Take advantage of the opportunity to try some new workout equipment.

2. Bring some food. I made sure to stop by a grocery store when I arrived and picked up a cooler with ice. I stocked it full of apples, yogurt, and string cheese for snacks. I also brought from home Myoplex protein mixes for breakfast (skipped the buffets), Myoplex protein bars for lunch (skipped the lunches), and multivitamins.

3. Choose carefully at the dinners. I've been lucky so far to find some things not covered in sauces and sweets. Last two nights I've had lean meat, and I've kept the portion sizes down to a BFL level.

4. Get to bed early. With the hospitality suites open until 1am, I've made every effort to avoid them after our evening events. Last night, we went to Miramar (home of top gun) for a dinner event and concert with Kenny Loggins, and afterwards, I called it quits. Skipped the hospitality suite completely.

5. Avoid the booze. For me, even a few glasses of liquor alters my judgement around what I should eat. I drank diet coke on the rocks last night. Amazing how good it feels to get up in the morning while all of your peers are dragging in!

6. If possible, choose healthy activities. Yesterday, we had the choice of golf, surfing, kayaking, sailing, or visiting the massage. I would normally jump all over the golf choice, but I know myself too well. If I play golf, I'll drink beer. If I drink beer, I'll end up eating a bunch of garbage. Instead, I took the massage and spa. A 1-hour massage, time in the steam room and sauna did the body good.

I'm back home on Thursday night, so I'll make sure to weigh in the next morning to see if I've lost/maintained where I was before I left. I suspect I will.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race - Week 8

I did my weight in for the start of week 8 today, and I'm down another pound. Came in at 155.6 lbs. As they say, "slow and steady wins the race!"

This week should be good, but I'm a little worried starting on Sunday. I'll be travelling for work Sunday - Thursday for a conference, and it's hard when you're on the road to stay away from the food and liquor.

I'll post up my plan to keep on the path prior to leaving for the trip.

50% Done! Start of Week 7 & Updated Pictures

Week 7 started today, so I'm at the 50% mark!!! The official weigh in was 156.6, so a little less than the previous day. In 42 days, I've lost 15.4 pounds.

Attached are the week 0, 4, and 7 picture comparisons.

End of Week 6 - 2/11/2008

Today marks the last day of week 6 - I'll have completed 50% of my Body for Life challenge by the end of today. I'm pretty excited about the results after just 42 days!

Start: 172.0
Current: 158.0

I'm down exactly 14 lbs, and that exceeds my target for the half-way mark. I would have thought I'd me more near 161. My overall goal was 151.6, so I only need another 6.4 lbs to meet that. The stretch goal was 148, so there's a good chance I'll make that, also!

Updated pics coming after my official weight in and pictures in the morning.

Week 5 Wrap Up - 2/5/2008 (Day 36)

Today is the start of week 6, and I did my weight in again this morning. I ended up at 159.6 with 17.5% body fat. Since I started 36 days ago at 172.0 and 20.50% body fat, I'm down a total of 12.4 pounds.

Overall, the week was good - I managed to hit all my workouts in addition to playing ice hockey 3 times during the last 7 days. My free day wasn't terribly bad as I was able to keep my beer intake down to just 2 beers and a rum & coke on Friday.

Bring on week 6!

End of Week 4 - 1/28/2008

Well, today is the end of Week 4, and tomorrow will be my weigh in. As usual, I haven't looked at the scale since last Tuesday, so I'm not sure what to expect.

My math tells me I should be down another 1.6 lbs based on an estimated 5,858 week caloric deficit. Assuming 3,500 calories = 1 pound of fat loss, that would put me at 159.1.

The truth is less than 24 hours away :)

Updated Pictures - 1/1/2008 vs 1/22/2008 (3 week comparison)

I'm finally getting around to posting my pictures. The pictures on the left are from 1/1/2008 (day 1) and the pictures on the right are from 1/22/2008 (3 week comparison). I'm down about 11 pounds, and I'm starting to see some differences.

The biggest difference though is in my clothes - after the holiday period and 12 days off work, I really struggled to get my work pants on. They are fitting much more closer to normal now!!

Start of Week 4 (1/22/2008)

Week three wrapped up yesterday, and I did my weigh in this morning. Results?

Start: 1/1/2008 - 172 lbs

Current Weight: 160.8

Total Loss: 11.2 pounds

Overall, it was a good week. I hit all my workouts. I ate well all week although I did go a little crazy on my free day. I had some friends over to play poker on Friday night, and we pretty much ate and drank until 4am. It was only my second free day in 21 days, so I didn't feel too guilty about it :)

I'll get some pictures of the progress posted up soon.

Week 2 - Day 7 (Day 14)

Today is the end of week 2 (day 14), and I felt like I had another good week. I hit every workout and ate well. My free day was enjoyable, but I managed not to go completely crazy.

I started the week off at 163.8 pounds, and based on my estimated caloric deficit for the week (burned 6,373 more calories than I consumed), I'm estimate I lost 1.82 lbs. This is based on the theory that a pound of fat loss equals a 3,500 caloric deficit.

In short, I think I'll be at 161.98, down from 163.8 when I weigh in tomorrow. I haven't been on the scale since last Tuesday, so the truth is less than a day away!

Chicken Pomodoro - Eating for Life Recipe

Here's another great recipe from the Eating for Life book that I made today - Chicken Pomodoro from page 183. It takes about 30 minutes to make and makes 4 servings.

Calories: 402
Fat: 11g
Carbs: 43g
Protein: 38g

Give it a try!

Day 11 - Taking First Free Day

Today is Friday, and it's Day 11 out of 84, and I'm taking my first free day. This cycle around I'm trying not to go too crazy and keep it around 1.6 x my normal daily intake. During non-free days, I aim for 1,570 calories. That means today, I should not exceed 2,512.

I did start off the morning with an apple fritter from Dunkin Donuts though... :)

Video - End of Week 1 Weigh-In

I didn't touch the scale between the start of the challenge and the end of week 1, so the results were as much of a surprise to me as anyone!

Week 2- Day 1 Weigh In - The Devil Went Down to Georgia

5:45am - Woke up and made coffee
5:50am - Asked my wife to take week 2 pictures and video me on the scale
6:00am - Got on scale

Results? 163.8lbs @ 19.4% body fat (down from 172). Something just ain't right. The scale is woking properly, but I was not expecting to lose 8.2 lbs in the first week.

I suspect it's because I did my original weigh in (Day 1) on New Years day, coming off a week of just eating and drinking tons of garbage. Plus, you add in a week of eating healthy, doing my creatine loading phase (although I drank a LOT of water this week, creatine is still a diuretic), working out hard, and playing ice hockey the night before getting on the scle, you can get some skewed results that first week.

I'll stay the course for week 2 and monitor the results, and I don't expect another week like this. If I do, I'll need to increase my caloric intake because 8 lbs per week is NOT what I'm trying to do. I'm aiming for more like ~2 lbs per week.

One thing I have learned with this program is you shouldn't get hung up on the scale - don't get too excited on pounds lost or gained in a week (yes...it is possible to gain. The pictures will tell the real story. How you feel inside will tell the real story.

I'll add the video from my weigh in later tonight.

Mom's Chicken Enchiladas - Eating for Life Recipe

Here's a quick 2-minute video of me making an Eating for Life recipe for Mom's Chicken Enchiladas. If you haven't picked up this book, I highly recommend it! It has a ton of great recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, etc. for those of us on the Body for Life program.

Based on my estimate, the dinner contains:

Calories - 425

Fat - 14g

Carbs - 43g

Protein - 29g

Week 1, Day 7

Today represents the last day of week 1, and I think I've done pretty well. To recap, I worked out 6 days and I ate right every day. I didn't take a free-day only because my birthday is on 1/9, and the family will be going out that night. I thought I'd save it!

I have kept accurate records of what I ate each day (see summary info above), and based on an estimated daily caloric burn of 2,490 calories, I should have a ~8,100 caloric deficit for the week. If we assume it takes 3,500 calories to make up a pound lost, I'm going to guess I've lost 2.33 pounds in fat. Of course this is all theoretical!

The proof will be when I weigh in tomorrow morning. I haven't touched the scale since 1/1/08, but I'm going to guess I check in around 169.

Reverse Comparison - April 2006 to Present

As I get close to the end of the first week, I wanted to share a reverse comparison - normally, people show their before and after pictures. I'll be doing that over time, but in this case, this is an after-before shot.

The picture on the left was taken in April 2006 after my first Body for Life 12-week program. The picture on the right is current, taken after the holiday period.

My goal is to get back to that point, and I really believe 12-weeks is just the right amount of time!

Recipe for homemade protein bars?

I found this recipe on the Internet a few years ago, and I've modified it slightly.

Nutritional Information:

These are appromiate and based on my ingrediants (i.e. EAS brand protein mix, etc.)

Calories: 276
Fat: 5g
Protein: 29g
Carbs: 32g

Ingredients:

3.5 cups oatmeal
2 cups fat free milk
1 package fat free, sugar free jello-o pudding mix (I prefer banana flavor, but try experimenting!)
8 servings protein powder (I also use banana flavored protein powder)

Directions:

1. Mix oatmeal, milk, pudding, and protein together in a large mixing bowl
2. Hand mix the ingredients until smooth
3. Pour into 8 separate serving containers (see video) or into a muffin pan, separating into 8 servings
4. Freeze

These protein bars do NOT require cooking - to eat, simply remove from the freezer and eat. I'll take one out in the morning before work and pack it in my lunch bag for breakfast after a workout.

Make sure to eat it before it gets warm though - they can get messy/sticky otherwise!

Nick

Ever use Fitday.com?

In past challenges, I've found fitday.com to be a great resource in tracking my daily caloric intake. Even though the BFL book talks mostly about portion size (fist size, etc.), I prefer to track using individual items and calories.

For this challenge, my daily goal is 1,570 daily calories with a split of 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat. Here's a sample of my plan for today.

You can also go to the link to the right under "What did I eat today?" to see my history.

Nick

Welcome back, my old friend (Day 1 - 1/1/2008)

Ever done the wrong thing, knowing that it’s wrong, but you do it anyway? You know there will be consequences, but you just hope that it will not happen to you. Maybe luck will come your way, and you won’t pay the price. Perhaps the penalty happens slowly over time and you choose to ignore it before it’s too late.

That is where this story begins. It’s now January 2008, and the holiday season ended with a bang. Between mid-October and the end of 2007, I ate and drank my way up 20+ pounds.

How did it happen? I’ve successfully completed three Body for Life 12-week challenges, and at my best, was at 141 lbs. with 11% body fat (summer of 2006). I know what it takes to get in shape. How does this still happen to someone who knows better?

I think there are a lot of reasons, and we can talk about them in this blog. Certainly one at the forefront is attention – paying attention to the program and not wavering from the course.

Day 1 of my fourth Body for Life challenge started on 1/1/2008, and I’ll be tracking my progress over the next 12-weeks in detail via this blog. I'm starting at 172 lbs w/ 20.5% body fat.

Welcome back, my old friend. After a long hiatus, I am glad to see you again.

Nick