The First Year on BFFM in Review
So I have been following the program for one year as of today. There have been lots of mistakes, some missed goals, lots of knowledge gain and tons of great habits developed. I felt I needed to summarize the past year because I think there are some things that I have experienced that may help others like me.
My Background
Male. 37 years old. 6'0" tall. Mostly Endomorph (some ecto ... small joints). I work full-time in an office writing software. Think of the movie "Office Space" with less memos. I do not travel for work and I could literally sit in my chair all day long to do my job. I am married with two children who I take to and from school everyday so I am very busy at work and home.
I am not a personal trainer. I am not a competitive athlete. I come from a very overweight family and have always been overweight. I am still "on the journey". I bought the book in December 2004. Started implementing in earnest in May 2006.
After One Year
I am the leanest I have ever been (13% BF). However, I think my results are moderate compared to many people on this site. It took me one year to shed 30 lbs of fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle. I have seen people on this site do that in a much shorter time. I reached my initial goal even though it took me 6 months longer than planned. Fortunately for me, the greatest gift I received from all my hard work was not something I set out or wrote down to begin with. What was that? Well, somewhere along the line, without consciously thinking about it, the things I have been doing have become a lifestyle. I know why I do them. I know how to do them and I want to do them without even thinking about it.
I am writing this post for myself as well as to share my experience on the chance it can help someone. I think one-year is a good time for serious reflection because it gave me plenty of time to experience highs and lows. Time to get over the honeymoon period. Time where it was harder to execute than others (travel, family or personal illness, holiday seasons, minor injuries). Time to experience local seasonal changes (some weather can be more conducive than others to certain activity). Time to experience plateaus. Time to really listen and learn. It just seems like a good time to write this down.
Here are some of my biggest realizations that might help someone starting out ...
Do not expect results to come easily even though they might
The methodology of BFFM is simple. Implementation can be tough but gets more routine over time. I would hope everyone who goes into making these kind of nutritional and activity level changes goes in with the mindset that this is a huge challenge and will be really tough at times. That makes the journey incredibly rewarding. There are weeks where everything feels great. Your muscles feel tighter, clothes fit better, energy levels are high ... and I would say you can expect times of the exact opposite even though you are doing all you can. It is natural. The body is adapting. If you expect it to be all euphoria, I think you have a greater chance of getting discouraged. Tom put up a great article on the "Wedge of Discouragement". Read that. It is great.
Find things that constantly motivate you but do not confuse this with goals and visualization. Instead, use them both together.
I had a personal blog I kept some thoughts on the program and my progress. There were some emotions I had that really got me started. One was I had just lost my mother (she was way too young to die at 61) and I felt it was in great part due to her poor eating and exercise habits. I do not want to be like that as I age. That is a great motivator. Also, I have a long family history of depression. I am a very happy person but I know I am more susceptible than most and I am a firm believer I can avoid the issue with healthy eating and healthy activity levels as a base.
I also had some other emotions. Here is an excerpt from my blog in May of last year on some other reasons ...
These kind of emotions can really push you forward but I find they usually go away over time (even though it might be a long time for some). Use them to your advantage, but the only thing that will get you to your ultimate body is goals and visualization. Tom has written extensively on the site and in the book about them and they are really what you need.
I use both in combination. I search for little nuggets I can use as fuel to push myself. A compliment from someone, a new vein or line of muscle appearing in the mirror, a good weigh-in, or something someone shared. I can give some examples from this website. I am sure a lot of you are familiar with Adam Waters. He has written a couple of articles for the site and it a frequent poster. His "RealTimePhysiqueBlog.com" is amazing. I found his transformation to be very inspiring. One day I read him describing how his body feels at the end of his HIIT cardio. Basically, he was describing how he has nothing left at the end. He gave it his all. Well, that immediately makes me want to work harder. I can say my workout intensity went up just after reading that. Another example is John Bartlett. He is one of the great site moderators and is always helpful. He wrote the article on "re-feeding". He obviously has had fantastic results. In the article, he describes how his body feels from day to day during low-carb and re-feeding days. Immediately, this helps me get through some of those tougher days where diet is stricter than others.
I read fitness articles or chapters from fitness books almost daily. This site is full of them. I have read every downloadable item on this site. They are a great addition to the book. Every article will add something to your motivation.
... but they don't replace those goal cards and ultimate body images in your head or on your fridge. Those are reprogramming the subconscious and vital to success.
Add some spice to your goal setting
Just like we need to mix up our workout routines and add ingredients to our daily menus to spice things up, I think that setting goals outside of those just dealing with body image can really help.
I think the main thing for most of us is to ultimately be lean and firm. I bet most of us have goals in that regard. I find that setting additional goals are helping me get there. For example, I have always had a goal to finally be able to execute 10 pull-ups (forward grip, straight-bar, shoulder-length) at one time. This goal may not mean much to some but to me it is a real stretch. I have NEVER been able to do pullups well. In grade school on up I could not do pull-ups. It is just a really weak spot for me. And it is a bit of an ego bruise to not be able to do them. This forces me to scrap the lat-pulldowns and really hit the pull-up bar using different grips, sometimes weighted down with a weight-belt ... but never missing a week where I was not doing some pullup routine a couple of times a week. Well, as you know, pullups recruit so many muscles that you gain all sorts of benefits from doing them. This really hit home to me and made me concentrate heavily on compound exercises. My routine the last six months makes heavy use of compound exercises (squats, deadlifts, rows, presses, dips, pullups, chinups). My results really went up after working those in. And I have a lot of that to thank from my initial pullup goal.
It is really exciting for me to write this next line. I can do 10 pullups! Put a gun to my head and I could do 13 in one shot. Even more exciting is I can now regularly do 10 wide-grip pullups at one time. My lats look nothing like they did a year ago.
I also have timed running goals (10K race in under 48 minutes). Waist-to-hip ratio goals (.81). Bench press goals (275 lb), etc. These really help! (I haven't reached any of those quite yet but I am darn close). I have more, but some of them really scare me (which is probably a good thing).
Listen to your body carefully and measure frequently
It might be my engineering background, but I enjoy analysis. It is a personal preference, but I take measurements everyday. I put them in a spreadsheet. I plot out charts of my progress. The spreadsheet calculates things such as my average weight the last 5 days, how my average weight this week and current weight compares to the same day last week. I record my workouts and calories expended during the day. It is an easy way for me to really know how I am doing now versus how I was doing last month or a year ago.
I am not saying you need to do this daily (most prefer weekly), but I have found that knowing this data helps me to stay on tack and worst case, not stray too far from the happy path.
When you hit a plateau, Dig Deep
Plateaus happen. They really are unavoidable and I found they get more frequent as you get leaner. When you feel you have hit one, read Tom's article on 25 Ways to Break Through a Plateau immediately. Inevitably there is something in there you might know but you started to neglect or never tried implementing. Also go back to the book and start reading. Some parts of the book will hit you in new ways and have deeper meaning as you get farther along in your journey.
As an endomorph, my major plateaus were broken by things like increasing veggies and cutting starches (especially at night). Another was by increasing real food intake (vs. shakes). Another was by ramping up water ... another by getting more intense and progressive in my lifting ... another by increasing cardio intensity while shortening the duration. There is constant evolution going on. The more you stay on top and adapt, the better you will do.
Your body will love the changes, but expect your body to fight you sometimes
If you are coming from the average American meal routine and starting up BFFM, expect your body to be shocked at first. If you are used to eating a sugary dessert everyday, you body will still want to do that and it will fight you to get it. I find that these types of cravings lasted a couple days. You get through it and it gets easier.
Your body craves rest like it does exercise. I also thought John Berardi had a great point in Tom's interview with him about "G-Flux". The chances of any of us (and by "us" I mean people with full time jobs ... just working hard to get lean and healthy) really truly "over training" is pretty remote. But we do get some fatigue of the central nervous system after longer periods of intense work. Having strategic "easy weeks" or "rest weeks" can really help. Expect this to happen. Don't let it get you down or make you feel like you can't go on. You just need some time off but keep eating well and keep active during the rest periods ... just let your body recover. then when you hit is hard again your results will go to the next level.
There are so many wonderful benefits to eating nutrient-rich food
Although it may fight the change at first, your body will respond in all sort of positive ways if you give it time. Natural food (think A-grade on Tom's list) give your body so much more of what it needs that cravings for less-quality foods starts to diminish greatly.
Learn to love salads. Even when you go out, most places will serve a great salad. Don't be too afraid of dressings but don't go overboard either. They are so satisfying (and I have no history of being able to eat salads more than once or twice a week much less twice a day). You will gain great immune system benefits as well as increased brain function and higher energy levels. If you love salads, you can get them almost anywhere (except little league baseball field concession stands ... ha). Your complexion will improve as well.
You might find even better reasons than "looking good" as you go along
Finally, you might start out only concentrating on obtaining a lean body, but the other rewards for going on the journey, I believe, begin to outweigh the satisfaction of seeing a leaner you. Your progress will likely affect others close to you to make changes over time. For me, my kids have taken notice and even though they are very young, they have more interest in healthier foods and staying active. My wife started eating a lot more vegetables and fruit and cut out almost all sweets. Her complexion and health have greatly improved. Going back to my family history of depression, I have noticed amazing mental health benefits from exercise and good food. My energy feels very sustained. The physical changes translate naturally to more confidence. People do take notice and do react to you differently. Being lean is great, but I think I enjoy the other stuff more.
Thanks for listening. I look forward to learning a lot more this year as I work towards some even greater goals and hopefully offering any assistance on the forums where I can.
My Background
Male. 37 years old. 6'0" tall. Mostly Endomorph (some ecto ... small joints). I work full-time in an office writing software. Think of the movie "Office Space" with less memos. I do not travel for work and I could literally sit in my chair all day long to do my job. I am married with two children who I take to and from school everyday so I am very busy at work and home.
I am not a personal trainer. I am not a competitive athlete. I come from a very overweight family and have always been overweight. I am still "on the journey". I bought the book in December 2004. Started implementing in earnest in May 2006.
After One Year
I am the leanest I have ever been (13% BF). However, I think my results are moderate compared to many people on this site. It took me one year to shed 30 lbs of fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle. I have seen people on this site do that in a much shorter time. I reached my initial goal even though it took me 6 months longer than planned. Fortunately for me, the greatest gift I received from all my hard work was not something I set out or wrote down to begin with. What was that? Well, somewhere along the line, without consciously thinking about it, the things I have been doing have become a lifestyle. I know why I do them. I know how to do them and I want to do them without even thinking about it.
I am writing this post for myself as well as to share my experience on the chance it can help someone. I think one-year is a good time for serious reflection because it gave me plenty of time to experience highs and lows. Time to get over the honeymoon period. Time where it was harder to execute than others (travel, family or personal illness, holiday seasons, minor injuries). Time to experience local seasonal changes (some weather can be more conducive than others to certain activity). Time to experience plateaus. Time to really listen and learn. It just seems like a good time to write this down.
Here are some of my biggest realizations that might help someone starting out ...
Do not expect results to come easily even though they might
The methodology of BFFM is simple. Implementation can be tough but gets more routine over time. I would hope everyone who goes into making these kind of nutritional and activity level changes goes in with the mindset that this is a huge challenge and will be really tough at times. That makes the journey incredibly rewarding. There are weeks where everything feels great. Your muscles feel tighter, clothes fit better, energy levels are high ... and I would say you can expect times of the exact opposite even though you are doing all you can. It is natural. The body is adapting. If you expect it to be all euphoria, I think you have a greater chance of getting discouraged. Tom put up a great article on the "Wedge of Discouragement". Read that. It is great.
Find things that constantly motivate you but do not confuse this with goals and visualization. Instead, use them both together.
I had a personal blog I kept some thoughts on the program and my progress. There were some emotions I had that really got me started. One was I had just lost my mother (she was way too young to die at 61) and I felt it was in great part due to her poor eating and exercise habits. I do not want to be like that as I age. That is a great motivator. Also, I have a long family history of depression. I am a very happy person but I know I am more susceptible than most and I am a firm believer I can avoid the issue with healthy eating and healthy activity levels as a base.
I also had some other emotions. Here is an excerpt from my blog in May of last year on some other reasons ...
Other things that motivate me are just the attitudes I receive from people (most who are a**holes to begin with). For whatever reason, because I am a bit soft and generally more reserved, people either ignore you or make rude comments from time to time even though they are not conscious if it. I don't treat people with such disrespect and cannot understand why other people do.
F*** them. They aren't worth my time and I need to harness those negative feelings and use them as motivation. Brother-in-law says "take a look at yourself now ... you are the skinniest you will ever be". You wouldn't think that was all that bad. But it was a backhanded compliment. I had lost some weight and was feeling good about it. I had on a surfing outfit and he made that comment. Basically, it was obvious to him I had lost weight but instead of a compliment, he comes with a back-handed one saying, essentially, you can expect to look like sh*t from here on out or "you have peaked". If you knew the guy, you would know what I mean. Anyway, screw him. In a way, that really motivates me to hear comments like that.
These kind of emotions can really push you forward but I find they usually go away over time (even though it might be a long time for some). Use them to your advantage, but the only thing that will get you to your ultimate body is goals and visualization. Tom has written extensively on the site and in the book about them and they are really what you need.
I use both in combination. I search for little nuggets I can use as fuel to push myself. A compliment from someone, a new vein or line of muscle appearing in the mirror, a good weigh-in, or something someone shared. I can give some examples from this website. I am sure a lot of you are familiar with Adam Waters. He has written a couple of articles for the site and it a frequent poster. His "RealTimePhysiqueBlog.com" is amazing. I found his transformation to be very inspiring. One day I read him describing how his body feels at the end of his HIIT cardio. Basically, he was describing how he has nothing left at the end. He gave it his all. Well, that immediately makes me want to work harder. I can say my workout intensity went up just after reading that. Another example is John Bartlett. He is one of the great site moderators and is always helpful. He wrote the article on "re-feeding". He obviously has had fantastic results. In the article, he describes how his body feels from day to day during low-carb and re-feeding days. Immediately, this helps me get through some of those tougher days where diet is stricter than others.
I read fitness articles or chapters from fitness books almost daily. This site is full of them. I have read every downloadable item on this site. They are a great addition to the book. Every article will add something to your motivation.
... but they don't replace those goal cards and ultimate body images in your head or on your fridge. Those are reprogramming the subconscious and vital to success.
Add some spice to your goal setting
Just like we need to mix up our workout routines and add ingredients to our daily menus to spice things up, I think that setting goals outside of those just dealing with body image can really help.
I think the main thing for most of us is to ultimately be lean and firm. I bet most of us have goals in that regard. I find that setting additional goals are helping me get there. For example, I have always had a goal to finally be able to execute 10 pull-ups (forward grip, straight-bar, shoulder-length) at one time. This goal may not mean much to some but to me it is a real stretch. I have NEVER been able to do pullups well. In grade school on up I could not do pull-ups. It is just a really weak spot for me. And it is a bit of an ego bruise to not be able to do them. This forces me to scrap the lat-pulldowns and really hit the pull-up bar using different grips, sometimes weighted down with a weight-belt ... but never missing a week where I was not doing some pullup routine a couple of times a week. Well, as you know, pullups recruit so many muscles that you gain all sorts of benefits from doing them. This really hit home to me and made me concentrate heavily on compound exercises. My routine the last six months makes heavy use of compound exercises (squats, deadlifts, rows, presses, dips, pullups, chinups). My results really went up after working those in. And I have a lot of that to thank from my initial pullup goal.
It is really exciting for me to write this next line. I can do 10 pullups! Put a gun to my head and I could do 13 in one shot. Even more exciting is I can now regularly do 10 wide-grip pullups at one time. My lats look nothing like they did a year ago.
I also have timed running goals (10K race in under 48 minutes). Waist-to-hip ratio goals (.81). Bench press goals (275 lb), etc. These really help! (I haven't reached any of those quite yet but I am darn close). I have more, but some of them really scare me (which is probably a good thing).
Listen to your body carefully and measure frequently
It might be my engineering background, but I enjoy analysis. It is a personal preference, but I take measurements everyday. I put them in a spreadsheet. I plot out charts of my progress. The spreadsheet calculates things such as my average weight the last 5 days, how my average weight this week and current weight compares to the same day last week. I record my workouts and calories expended during the day. It is an easy way for me to really know how I am doing now versus how I was doing last month or a year ago.
I am not saying you need to do this daily (most prefer weekly), but I have found that knowing this data helps me to stay on tack and worst case, not stray too far from the happy path.
When you hit a plateau, Dig Deep
Plateaus happen. They really are unavoidable and I found they get more frequent as you get leaner. When you feel you have hit one, read Tom's article on 25 Ways to Break Through a Plateau immediately. Inevitably there is something in there you might know but you started to neglect or never tried implementing. Also go back to the book and start reading. Some parts of the book will hit you in new ways and have deeper meaning as you get farther along in your journey.
As an endomorph, my major plateaus were broken by things like increasing veggies and cutting starches (especially at night). Another was by increasing real food intake (vs. shakes). Another was by ramping up water ... another by getting more intense and progressive in my lifting ... another by increasing cardio intensity while shortening the duration. There is constant evolution going on. The more you stay on top and adapt, the better you will do.
Your body will love the changes, but expect your body to fight you sometimes
If you are coming from the average American meal routine and starting up BFFM, expect your body to be shocked at first. If you are used to eating a sugary dessert everyday, you body will still want to do that and it will fight you to get it. I find that these types of cravings lasted a couple days. You get through it and it gets easier.
Your body craves rest like it does exercise. I also thought John Berardi had a great point in Tom's interview with him about "G-Flux". The chances of any of us (and by "us" I mean people with full time jobs ... just working hard to get lean and healthy) really truly "over training" is pretty remote. But we do get some fatigue of the central nervous system after longer periods of intense work. Having strategic "easy weeks" or "rest weeks" can really help. Expect this to happen. Don't let it get you down or make you feel like you can't go on. You just need some time off but keep eating well and keep active during the rest periods ... just let your body recover. then when you hit is hard again your results will go to the next level.
There are so many wonderful benefits to eating nutrient-rich food
Although it may fight the change at first, your body will respond in all sort of positive ways if you give it time. Natural food (think A-grade on Tom's list) give your body so much more of what it needs that cravings for less-quality foods starts to diminish greatly.
Learn to love salads. Even when you go out, most places will serve a great salad. Don't be too afraid of dressings but don't go overboard either. They are so satisfying (and I have no history of being able to eat salads more than once or twice a week much less twice a day). You will gain great immune system benefits as well as increased brain function and higher energy levels. If you love salads, you can get them almost anywhere (except little league baseball field concession stands ... ha). Your complexion will improve as well.
You might find even better reasons than "looking good" as you go along
Finally, you might start out only concentrating on obtaining a lean body, but the other rewards for going on the journey, I believe, begin to outweigh the satisfaction of seeing a leaner you. Your progress will likely affect others close to you to make changes over time. For me, my kids have taken notice and even though they are very young, they have more interest in healthier foods and staying active. My wife started eating a lot more vegetables and fruit and cut out almost all sweets. Her complexion and health have greatly improved. Going back to my family history of depression, I have noticed amazing mental health benefits from exercise and good food. My energy feels very sustained. The physical changes translate naturally to more confidence. People do take notice and do react to you differently. Being lean is great, but I think I enjoy the other stuff more.
Thanks for listening. I look forward to learning a lot more this year as I work towards some even greater goals and hopefully offering any assistance on the forums where I can.
posted by George @ 7:15 AM
0 comments
