Good evening gang,

I have been on Atkins wol for about 10 mos now. I have almost reached my goal weight, but I am not really happy with the tone of my body. Lots of loose skin and not much muscle. My wife got me the BFL audio cd for Christmas. I started Saturday with cardio, and today was my first day with weights. I have not had a chance to completely finish the audio cd yet, but wanted to jump right into the program. I have a few questions if I may, sorry if they are answered in the book/cd, I just have not finished it yet.

As I mentioned above, I am on the Atkins wol. I currently weigh 208, how many calories should I be trying to consume each day while participating in BFL? I presume around 2000, for my weight? I think I may be taking a little more then this at present. Second, I know protein bars are useful in a weight program, I have a variety of bars in the house already, some atkins, some eas, and a couple other brands. Are these ok to consume? I know some people complain of stalls from these types of bars. I personally have not seen any major stall although I have not been eating them long. I purchased some Glutamine for recovery, and plan to get at least 5g right after my workouts.

I know I should work out on an empty stomach, is it ok to eat a protein bar right after the workout? Lastly, is it ok to use some nautilus machines, rather then free weights? I work out alone, and look pretty terrible when I am getting to the failure point of my reps without a spotter.

Thanks for any comments everyone, good luck with your challenges.

Chris

Welcome to BFL! I hope you enjoy it.

As for your questions, I'm not sure I am the best to answer, as I am early into my first challenge and not following any one eating plan strictly... but will try...

1. Calories -- My sense is that the same rules apply when doing BFL as when doing Atkins... ie, you want to be eating 10-12x your weight. BFL is very physically demanding, and you want to be fueling your body to sustain your workouts.

2. Protein bars -- I don't eat these myself, but I do drink protein shakes... I would think that the bars would be used similarly, in moderation -- just watch the carbs.

3. Post work-out eating -- I always eat w/in 45 minutes of completing a resistance workout, and 1 hour after cardio.

4. Nautilus -- I use a combination of free weights and nautilus myself.

Lastly... Have you read the BFL book? I find it really useful and inspirational, and go back to it frequently.

Hopefully someone w/ more experience will add their thoughts (and correct me if I am wrong!)

Take care,

Babs

I have the BFL audio book. It is not real practical as a reference unfortunately. I may pick up the paper back as well, just for that reason. Thanks for the info.

Chris

Welcome to BFL!

The book will help you alot, its nice to get the inspiration here and there... I think that if you are in Atkins Maintenance you should be okay. In my opinion Atkins is a good way to kickstart the process of losing weight and get your mind around carbs, insulin response and the overall understanding of low carbing.

BFL seems to use kindof a zone 40/30/30 approach, and he does not really advocate low carb, hence why many of us are doing LC BFL... modificaitons of our own.

Its great to ask questions in here, and it is also good to have some reading material to go by, do your research, then back that up with using the resources in here, that way you really truly understand your body.. its like creating an operating manual sort of speak... dont get me wrong, I am not saying you shouldnt ask questions here, just that I have found the time I have spent reading and researching has strengthend my motivation and drive and knowledge to keep tweaking the process..

anyway, long winded, but just my thoughts.

cheers,
j