The Body for Life Diet Plan
Besides utilizing the cardio, upper body and lower body workouts, understanding the Body for Life diet plan might be the most essential part of completing the program with success. Like I stated before in my summary of The Body for Life Challenge, I have been working put regularly for years with moderate success. I believe following The Body for Life diet plan will bring me the success I have been looking for. I have read and re-read both the original Body for Life Book and the newer Eating for Life book which elaborated further on The Body for Life diet plan. I can save you some reading and summarize what The Body for Life diet plan consists of.First off let me stress that The Body for Life diet plan is not actually a diet at all. Bill Phillips, the author of the two above mentioned books stresses over and over that it is not a diet but more of a lifestyle change. The only real restriction you have is in portion control. There is no calorie counting involved in this plan! As long as you eat from the three groups of foods that he recommends you eat at every meal and stick to portion controls you should not have to worry about counting calories. The food categories consist of proteins, carbohydrates, and vegetables, which are all part of Bill's authorized food list. Not having to count calories is nice but the hardest part of The Body for Life diet plan will be eating all six meals a day and spacing them out 2-3 hours apart.
Eating Six Daily Meals:
These six daily meals consist of one portion each of proteins and carbohydrates. Vegetables should be consumed with two of your daily meals. The portion size of carbohydrates and proteins is the size of your hand clenched in a fist. Also with every meal you should drink a large glass of water as Bill Phillips recommends drinking 10 glasses of water a day. As I stated above eating these six meals a day is going to be one of the hardest parts, first because the restrictions on what you can eat and second the amount of times you have to eat. I recommend going to the Eating for Life website or purchasing the book so you know more about what foods you can and can not eat on this plan. Getting in the six meals a day can be hard because of time constraints and because of budget issues. To make it easier to get in six meals a day you have to plan out your meals in advance. Precooking your weekly meals is also a good idea, it will save you time each day and it will make it easier to follow the plan. Planning in advance allows you to avoid the pitfalls of not having anything ready to eat, then instead of cooking something you just eat whatever is quick. When I start my program I will give you a list of what I ate for all six meals of the day. Another way to get in your six daily meals is to substitute in Meal Replacement Shakes and Bars. So instead of cooking six meals a day you can substitute in a meal replacement shake or bar. This will not only save you time, it will also save you money if you purchase the right shakes.
Why would six meals a day work?
Are you thinking: Why should you I eat even more meals than I am eating right now? Why would six meals a day work? A lot of people believe that eating less will bring the results that they are looking for. In fact, you might actually be losing muscle and gaining weight if you are either starving yourself or are only eating two to three large meals every day. By following the Body for Life diet plan and eating six small meals a day and exercising properly you should see better results than starving your self or over eating.
Every ones metabolism is different, but if you are eating only two to three large meals every day then you are not making your metabolism work as hard as it should be working. Or, you might feel tired and you might just spend the time in between the two or three large meals snacking on junk food. If you are always hungry and tend to shy away from eating when you should, you are probably not helping out your body. Instead of burning fat, by not eating enough during the day your body is actually storing fat and eating away at your stored protein instead. Along with this your body will not have the energy it needs. So when you make it to the gym you don’t really feel like exercising, or you end up only workout for a short period of time.
Body for Life Sample Meal Plan:
Breakfast:
Four egg whites, one yolk, two pieces of whole wheat toast, tall glass of water
Snack 1:
Meal replacement supplement (protein shake), mixed with water
Lunch:
Baked chicken breast, steamed brown rice, side of broccoli, tall glass of water
Snack 2:
Meal replacement supplement (protein shake), mixed with water
Dinner:
Salmon filet, one medium baked potato, 1 cup steamed vegetables, tall glass of water
Snack 3:
One cup of fat free cottage cheese, one cup pineapple tidbits, handful of almonds (no salt added) and one tall glass of water,
Eating Plan Summary:
1) Remember portion control
2) Each meal should consist of one portion carbohydrates, one portion protein
a. two meals should include portion of vegetables
3) Drink lots of water. Try to get in 10 glasses of water a day. This will help you to hold off the hunger if it is not time to eat the next meal yet.
4) Space the meals out 2-3 hours
5) Plan ahead. It makes sticking to the Eating for Life plan much easier
posted by Oshburg @ 11:44 AM
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