The Body for Life Plan

What is Body For Life? Body For Life is a complete lifestyle change. A diet and fitness overhaul in a world where processed foods are a quick and easy staple for any busy persons diet. It is so easy to pop a low-fat frozen dinner in the microwave, or munch on some low fat cookies and chips and think we are being good to ourselves and eating fine. Yet most of us are still overweight. Why is that? Processed foods are helping us keep that weight on. Normally when a product has says low fat, it means something in the ingredients was taken out and replaced with sugar or chemicals. Yuck! Unfortunately, as we all know sugar turns to nasty fat that sticks to your thighs. Ever notice how those processed fat-free cookies and fat-free chips just cause you to be hungry ten minutes later? They lack the proper nutritional content that keeps your body full longer and send a rush of insulin that causes you to be ravenous. Then you crash and feel horrible. Your tired, you have overeaten junk and you feel depressed.

The plan itself was founded by Bill Philips, a former competitive bodybuilder. He is also the founder of EAS. EAS is a company that specializes in selling nutritional products and supplements.

Body For Life encourages clean eating. Choosing a lean protein and a healthy and filling carb eat each meal helps you stay full longer. The meal plan encourages you to eat three balanced meals and three balanced snacks daily. Some examples of some healthful foods the plan encourages are lean ham, lean chicken, lean steak, egg whites, fruits, veggies, and whole grains such as whole wheat pasta, brown rice, potatos, etc. You eat this way six days a week and then one day a week you have what one might call a "cheat day" but Body For Life prefers to call it a "free day". You can eat anything you want that day. Having a free day once a week not only helps some people psychologically realize they are not starving or depriving themselves, but it actually has been shown to help shock the body into losing weight sometimes.

The exercise routine is pretty intense. Three days a week you lift weights, three days you do an intense twenty minute cardio routine using a method of varying intensity levels. During cardio You start out the first five minutes working out at an intensity level of about a five (This varies on what you would personally consider a five) and work up to what you would consider a nine, and then start back down at the five again, and go back up to the nine. You repeat this pattern until the last two minutes or so of your 20 minutes when you really push yourself to a level ten. This routine can be done using any piece of exercise equipment or even just walking/jogging/running around your house.

During the days you weight train, you will alternate upper body and lower body workouts every other day. The Body For Life book outlines each exercise for you. You pick two exercises from each muscle group to do. You lift five sets of one of the exercises, and one of the other. The intensity level for the weights is the same as it is for cardio. You start out lifting the first set at a level five, and then your last set of the first muscle group should be a nine. The one and only set you do for the second exercise you chose should be at a level ten intensity. Confused yet? It is a bit confusing, but very effective. You repeat this pattern for each muscle group until you have finished all exercises in the upper or lower body group.

I myself have tried the plan and if you work it, and push yourself, it WILL work. I managed to lose fifteen pounds in a month. It is definitely a healthy way to eat and lose weight while building muscle.

If anyone is interested, Body For Life is always holding a twelve week challenge where you can enter and do the plan for twelve weeks. You take your before and after pictures and document your progress. Then you send in your results and are entered to win money and prizes. I personally think this is a great way to stay healthy and get fit. It isn't the easiest way of life to stick to, but it is well worth trying. It may seem like alot of work, but it really isn't. You get your cardio workout in less half an hour, and the weights workout is only forty-five minutes. Have you ever wanted a six pack? This is the way to get it. You definitely won't get one eating fat-free cookies and diet soda.