Re: LL vs. BFL

[Guest guest]

Hi all! I hardly ever post but thought I'd chime in here. I've been mainly

following LL for the past 3 months or so. I'm pretty analytical so I love

all the charts and programs and tracking that is available through the LL

website once you become a member.

Some of the tools include the 'Nutrition Analyzer' that tracks not only

calories but also fat, protein & carbs based on grams *and* percentages (so

you know with each meal what percentage you ate of each - especially helpful

if trying to follow a 40% carb 40% protein and 20-30% fat eating plan, for

example).

There's also a tool called 'Workout Professor' and I don't think there's

anything else like it anywhere. You can pick from dozens of exercise

routines, even BFL routines. You enter in your max weight for 1 rep (there's

a calculator for figuring that), then the WP figures out the weight and

repitition you should perform for every exercise. After a workout, you go

back and enter in what you actually did (weight and reps) and it will

advance you to the next workout with it's recommended weight and reps for

each exercise for the next workout.

There's also a 'Calorie Calculator' where you plug in your info and weight

goal and it will calculate how many weeks it will take you to get to your

goal and how many calories you should be eating each week, and each day of

each week (with the zig-zagging method someone else mentioned). It will tell

you if you're per week weight loss goal is too high for the number of

minutes per week you're willing to perform. It will not let you go below a

certain calorie level, rather it will 'force' you to increase your exercise

minutes not reduce calories in order to reach the weight loss goals you

desire.

There's a tool called 'Lean Account' which is a week by week 'bank' where

you log minutes of resistance training, other activity, and your daily

calories (which it pulls from other tools where you already would log in

this information daily.) The lean account keeps a running 'balance' of your

calories and your weight loss and exercise minutes. It's nice if you start a

week on a Sunday (if that's the day you'll be eating your free meals for

instance) because you'll be able to see the calories that are left at the

end of the week that are available to you that day for your free day. And,

yes, free meals should be caluclated. Now, it's not recommended that you use

all these tools daily forever, just in the beginning and then consistently

for maybe 5 days a week until you reach your goals...

Based on your use of these tools, you're given a percentage grade everyday

of how you're doing with everything which is a nice quick, visual way of

knowing if you need to work harder in certain areas.

People get together to form team challenges that you can join and you all

compete for an agreed upon goal. The 'prize' could be money or whatever that

everyone pitches in. You 'compete' for a weight loss goal, or a high daily

grade, etc.

There are tons of recorded interviews, downloads, etc., etc. Too many to

list here. There's an email forum. There's teleconferences set up with the

coaches on specific topics. The book itself is absolutely amazing.

*Incredibly* detailed in every way. I think 99% of the people who join LL

are former BFL'rs who just weren't getting the results they wanted. Some

people, like myself, need more accountibility and more detailed tracking

methods to be sure I get the results I want.

Another difference I just thought of, LL recommends 1-2 free 'meals' per

week, not an entire free day. If nothing else I'd highly recommend the book.

It is SO informative!

HTH,

Christie M.

[Guest guest]

You can also track percentages and grams, activity, etc... through:

www.fitday.com

Just an FYI!

Thanks,

> Hi all! I hardly ever post but thought I'd chime in here. I've

been mainly

> following LL for the past 3 months or so. I'm pretty analytical so

I love

> all the charts and programs and tracking that is available through

the LL

> website once you become a member.

>

> Some of the tools include the 'Nutrition Analyzer' that tracks not

only

> calories but also fat, protein & carbs based on grams *and*

percentages (so

> you know with each meal what percentage you ate of each -

especially helpful

> if trying to follow a 40% carb 40% protein and 20-30% fat eating

plan, for

> example).

>

> There's also a tool called 'Workout Professor' and I don't think

there's

> anything else like it anywhere. You can pick from dozens of

exercise

> routines, even BFL routines. You enter in your max weight for 1

rep (there's

> a calculator for figuring that), then the WP figures out the

weight and

> repitition you should perform for every exercise. After a workout,

you go

> back and enter in what you actually did (weight and reps) and it

will

> advance you to the next workout with it's recommended weight and

reps for

> each exercise for the next workout.

>

> There's also a 'Calorie Calculator' where you plug in your info

and weight

> goal and it will calculate how many weeks it will take you to get

to your

> goal and how many calories you should be eating each week, and

each day of

> each week (with the zig-zagging method someone else mentioned). It

will tell

> you if you're per week weight loss goal is too high for the number

of

> minutes per week you're willing to perform. It will not let you go

below a

> certain calorie level, rather it will 'force' you to increase your

exercise

> minutes not reduce calories in order to reach the weight loss

goals you

> desire.

>

> There's a tool called 'Lean Account' which is a week by

week 'bank' where

> you log minutes of resistance training, other activity, and your

daily

> calories (which it pulls from other tools where you already would

log in

> this information daily.) The lean account keeps a

running 'balance' of your

> calories and your weight loss and exercise minutes. It's nice if

you start a

> week on a Sunday (if that's the day you'll be eating your free

meals for

> instance) because you'll be able to see the calories that are left

at the

> end of the week that are available to you that day for your free

day. And,

> yes, free meals should be caluclated. Now, it's not recommended

that you use

> all these tools daily forever, just in the beginning and then

consistently

> for maybe 5 days a week until you reach your goals...

>

> Based on your use of these tools, you're given a percentage grade

everyday

> of how you're doing with everything which is a nice quick, visual

way of

> knowing if you need to work harder in certain areas.

>

> People get together to form team challenges that you can join and

you all

> compete for an agreed upon goal. The 'prize' could be money or

whatever that

> everyone pitches in. You 'compete' for a weight loss goal, or a

high daily

> grade, etc.

>

> There are tons of recorded interviews, downloads, etc., etc. Too

many to

> list here. There's an email forum. There's teleconferences set up

with the

> coaches on specific topics. The book itself is absolutely amazing.

> *Incredibly* detailed in every way. I think 99% of the people who

join LL

> are former BFL'rs who just weren't getting the results they

wanted. Some

> people, like myself, need more accountibility and more detailed

tracking

> methods to be sure I get the results I want.

>

> Another difference I just thought of, LL recommends 1-2

free 'meals' per

> week, not an entire free day. If nothing else I'd highly recommend

the book.

> It is SO informative!

>

> HTH,

> Christie M.

[Guest guest]

I track those things on my PDA. There are several pretty cheap

($12-$20) programs for Palm and Pocket PC operating systems for

logging food and exercise, including some that are BFL specific. It's

a lot more portable and doesn't require Internet access.

I have a question for for and Christie--Would you say that most

of the women using the LL club are still trying to lose weight/fat

(and had trouble doing it on their own with BFL for whatever reason)

or are there a number of them who were already at or close to goal

weight when they joined and just trying to really get lean, build

muscle, and improve their definition? Basically, is LL a hardcore

program for leaning out?

I'm asking because I'm interested in LL, but to be honest, I'm already

VERY organized, self-motivated, well-read, and generally good at

micromanaging my training and diet on my own. As I mentioned, I

already zig-zag my calories, track my intake (in calories, grams and

percentages), plan my meals, know exactly how much of a deficit I need

to run in order to hit my goals, and train hella hard (including

Hussman's extra cardio tweaks and pilates/ballet/bootcamp vids several

times a week in addition to the BFL standard workouts). I'm already

within 3-5 lbs of goal weight and in the 17.5%-19% body fat range

after 18 weeks on self-managed BFL. (16.19% according to the

skinfolds taken at the gym this week, but I think that's a bit

optimistic though flattering.) The Workout Professor seems like a

nifty tool, but the nutrition tools don't seem to provide anything

that I'm not already doing for myself. I'm shooting for some serious

fitness model muscle and definition, and I'm pretty sure I can get to

it on my own eventually by just continuing to train hard (upper body

especially) and then cutting.

I don't need a babysitter to hold my hand; I need a drill sergeant to

challenge me and push me HARD.

Would you recommend LL to someone in my situation?

Maggie

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 17:38:39 -0000, <michelle@...> wrote:

>

> You can also track percentages and grams, activity, etc... through:

>

> www.fitday.com

>

> Just an FYI!

>

> Thanks,

>

>

[Guest guest]

I thought I would add my 2 cents, I am also a LL member and I love

it. I can still do all my BFL things that I love, but I would have

never have seen my abs had I not started tracking everything and

counting my calories! It is really an awesome club!

~Stacey