Hiyah Optimist Doing this for health reasons is one of the prime reasons many of us picked up this little book. Definition is just a bonus! Getting all your ducks in order before you started was definitely a good idea. If you like structure and order you should enjoy the next 12 weeks - and you've definitely found a great place to get answers to questions. If you scroll back a few pages in this forum you'll find posts from when this area first started up - lots of good information is burried back there. As for your list of questions:

The idea behind the 6 meals is to consistently be supplying your body with the protein and energy it needs to repair the tissue you're shredding with your resistance workouts. I realize that getting your head around eating that many meals a day can be daunting, but I can honestly say that after 18 months of eating this way I can't imagine not doing it. The biggest hurdle for me was planning out meals that were smaller - you're trying to make it through 3 or 4 hours, not 6, so you need less fuel. I found using fitday to preplan 4 or 5 common meals I enjoyed made this easier - I could just mix and match the meals throughout the week. Having a protein shake post workout set to deliver x amount of carbs / protein also made life easier - one less 'meal' to deal with!

Too much HIIT will definitely be catabolic. Doing slower long cardio occasionally isn't as big a deal - just make sure you're eating your 6 meals with adequate protein (do you like how I snuck that one in again? lol) Something else to think about - if you've been doing long slow cardio for years (like many of us had) then this is going to be big change (i.e. shock to the system). Shocks to the system can often result in dramatic results.

The best advice is usually to do the sets / exercises as described for your first 12 weeks - until you're very familiar with the different exercises and how they target your muscles. Keep in mind that you are to change the exercises you do every 4 weeks or so (this is about how long it takes for your muscles to adapt to what you're doing) By the time week 5 rolls around you'll have done some searching and you'll have 2 new exercises picked out that target all muscle groups. Remember, you're not working out those areas more than 2x a week - sometimes only one time a week. I never really found myself bored.

They should run between 40 and 50 minutes - well under the 60 minute recommended limit. They will take longer at the outset as you get used to the routine, though. I never listend to anything, to be honest - I would have the TV on although I didn't pay much attention to it, sorry can't help much here!

Nat