Low Carb Livable
The low carb program that I have found to be the best so far is the Body For Life program. The program itself entails both an eating program set out to balance your metabolism by eating several small meals a day and an exercise program that in itself has worked for thousands of people and is pretty doable. I will describe their program in short detail and then explain how I made the Body For Life program work for me in my own way.
In the Body For Life program there are 5 components that make the program work:
The first component is exercise, strength and aerobic of some form is a must. The workouts are not too grueling and can be modified to suit your body and weight for the time that you start out.
The second component is to break your meals to 5 or 6 meals a day. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and every 3 to 4 hours after that to help keep your metabolism stable. You will notice that once you start eating every three hours, your body will ‘expect’ to eat every three hours and notice hunger pangs by the time you reach 3 Ã?½ hours or later, reminding you that you have not eaten your meals yet.
The third component is if at all possible, protein supplements. You can replace at least 2 or 3 meals a day with either a protein shake or bar, making sure that they are of a high nutritional value and that you have AT LEAST carbs and proteins evened out or more protein than carbs listed on your nutrient breakdown.
The fourth component is water, water, water. Water is a must to help keep your body replenished, your skin looking healthier, to help wash out any toxins that your body is ridding itself of while you are losing weight and to help give yourself a ‘fuller’ feeling. Very often people mistake hunger for the body’s need for water. Once you are feeling thirsty, you are already starting into dehydration, so drinking at least 8 – 8 oz of water a day or more is very important. Some people even suggest that you drink half of your weight in ounces, in water a day. If that is feasible I would suggest doing that, even if it means running to the restroom more than normal. The health benefits are great!
The last component is the best as far as I am considered. The program allows you to take one day off a week to eat what ever you would like to eat. I do mean ANYTHING! Those chips that you have been craving or that chocolate �©clair, whatever! Now that is a great reward that is worth working even harder for every day of the week!
I did follow the meal plan, but did not always buy supplements or protein bars, so in place of them, I ate cheese snacks, boiled eggs and other whole foods in their place. I did enjoy using the protein bars and they really helped me stay full, but I could not afford to have them every day. I did not use the protein powder supplements until after I was working for a couple of weeks because of monetary restraints and only used the supplements when I did not have time to fix a snack or small meal during mid meal times. They were good especially when I was on the go!
I did not follow the workout either exactly either. I did follow the weight workout to my best ability, but could not lift the weights as they suggested at the higher weight sets. I started out real low and did as many as I could. I would go from the lowest set of weights to highest, working the sets usually completely up till the last two sets, when it would really get hard for me.
For aerobics I did not necessarily do what I should. I walked some days, I did some dancing other days and some days I was not so good at staying on the program by not doing any aerobics (mainly cause I dislike aerobics big time!).
Now, working this program is not always the easiest for everyone to try to work with. Buying protein supplements or working the strength or aerobic training workouts are not always feasible. You may not be able to afford supplements or protein bars, you may not be able to work out the way suggested, and as shown above the way I worked the program at first I was able to get my maximum benefits and I did lose weight! In fact I lost 30 lbs in less than 2 months. I also saw body change in pants size which meant way more than even the weight loss. It is always exciting to see that you cannot fit into your pants anymore because they are too ‘BIG’. YAY!
This type of program is definitely worth checking out, looking into; dig, dig for everything you can find on programs like this and then if they don’t suit you, make them your own. Kick it around, up and down a bit. As the saying goes ‘kick the tires’ but in this case you may just get rid of that ‘spare tire’ you have been wanting to ‘throw’ away!
