Re: New member / bio here, and a few questions.

[Guest guest]

,

Welcome!

So you know, I am NOT near your current body fat or weight, but have

been following the BFL program for quite a while and have made

significant progress. I've started with significantly more body fat and

a lot more weight (like more than doubled yours). I seem to have

leveled off in the 240 to 250# weight range. In the last nine months or

so, my weight has generally remained the same (+/- 10 pounds), but in

this same timeline, I have packed on nearly 3 inches of lean mass at my

chest, swelled up my arms quite a bit, and lost just short of another

inch in the waistline, so...

I do believe your goals are realistic and achievable. ...Especially for

someone still under the age of 25. (I happen to be closing in on 47.)

But, if it takes more than 1 challenge to get to your goals, will that

be so bad? I think the great value of this BFL program is the learning

experience of how to eat right and exercise. Once you conquer these

basics, it will be up to you as to how you want to sculpt and build your

body. And, once at goal, you will want to maintain your Body for LIFE,

so this will, hopefully, become more of a lifestyle than a short term

exercise program for you.

The BFL method is to count portions, not so much calories, but, to fine

tune your nutrition, you can consider calories, too. As a rule of

thumb, if you want to increase lean mass, take your lean body mass in

pounds and consume 1.2 (or more) grams of protein per pound of lean body

mass. Match that with an equivalent or slightly larger amount of

natural (not processed) carbs, then divide that total by .8 (to account

for about 20% of the total in fat) to arrive at your target calories for

the day. Split that amongst 6 meals in the day, evenly spaced, and...

Voila'! ...Your nutritional formula for success!

We are led to believe that performing HIIT cardio is better in a fasted

state to more effectively burn fat, but, you may have to adjust this to

meet your own work, life, and exercise schedule. If you can do it first

thing in the morning, you might be able to meet those guidelines,

otherwise, it will not fit into a proper meal schedule.

I do not know of any fasting requirements for the resistance exercises

and much of the research I have done suggests that replenishment of

protein may be fine even DURING the exercises. ...Like a protein shake

to sip on.

It has been suggested to me by another respected fitness email pen pal,

Jon Benson, to include upwards to 25 grams of L-Glutamine as a

supplement in your intake, too. This, I believe, protects and helps

your body rebuild your muscle tissue faster. Generally, the L-Glutamine

supplements directions I have suggest not taking more than 5 or 10 grams

per day, so I happen to keep at the 5 - 10 gram level, but other

supplement manufacturers may vary.

For adding the bulk, one last, but very important, element is to really

tear down your muscles for them to rebuild bigger and stronger. Be sure

to strive for those true level 10 intensities and you'll be on your way

to being the HULK in no time.

I hope you find this info helpful. We'll be looking forward to your

glowing progress reports.

--

Remember...

Progress, not perfection!

--

Holowko, CPA, CCP

PO Box 444

Lafayette Hill, PA 19444-0444

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E-mailto:gholowko@...

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firebird908 wrote:

> Hi everyone, my name's , I'm 20 years old, 175lbs. 6'1 " and

> measuring first thing when i wake up my tanita scale tells me about

> 15.1% body fat (worst case scenario is in the morning when your

> dehydrated). This will be my first challenge and I am currently on

> day 3. My main goals for this challenge are to get a better defined

> chest/back, bigger arms, and a visible 6 pack. Seeing as though I'm

> already fairly lean I hope that these goals are reachable. Basically

> I would like to drop to below 12% bodyfat or whatever it is that will

> define my stomach and then gain a lot more muscle. Do you guys think

> this will be possible in the 12 weeks? It sure seems like it should

> be from the other stories i've heard.

> A few things i need clarification/confirmation on. I used the

> calulator on the website for calories, and I was told to gain muscle

> and lose fat i would need about 207g of carbs and protein a day about

> 2000 calories total and 46 grams of fat. I used another site to

> calculate my BMR and it told me about 1900-2000 also, is eating 2000-

> 2100 calories a day going to be too low to gain a significant amount

> of muscle?

> Also, on the when to eat before and after workout, am i right

> about this? I think I read to try not to eat 3 hours before your

> workout, does this apply to cardio and lifting or just one? Also

> after the workout, I'm supposed to wait an hour after cardio but not

> after lifting right? How am i supposed to do this if I want to wait 3

> hours, do the workout then wait an hour? That's almost 5 hours with

> no food.

> Anyway, I look forward to helping you guys out and hopefully I

> can pick up some helpful stuff while i'm here too, good luck everyone.

>

> -

>

>