Transformation Gallery

[barbevrn]

For the last 15 years, I have tried a series of yo-yo diets. I'd lose the weight just to gain it back. Over the years, it became increasingly difficult to get the weight off. I tried all of 2002 to shed 15-20 pounds with diet only without success. I know to some that it not a lot of weight, but on my short 5'1 1/2" frame it was enough to kill my self esteem. Each day I failed only served to re-enforce my lack of self worth and self discipline.

In August, I lost a brother to a multitude of health problems. He was short, overweight, had diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems. Shortly after his death, I began experiencing chest pain. The only thing that testing revealed was high cholesterol levels. The doctor gave me 3 months to get my lipid levels down or he was going to put me on medications. For the rest of 2002, I continued to try to lose the weight with diet alone....without success.

On Jan. 2, 2003, I started the bfl challenge. The road hasn't been easy and I haven't been perfect. At the six week mark, I found out my only son would be deployed to Kuwait. I floundered badly for a couple of weeks but continued to work out half-heartedly and my eating suffered. I had made myself a promise that I would finish this challenge, so I forged on.

Throughout the challenge, I relied heavily on inspiration from this board as well as a couple of other boards for women working on getting healthier. I took pictures at the beginning, 6 weeks, and end. I also took measurements every 4 weeks. Even when my mind told me that I wasn't progressing, I could look at the pictures and measurements and know that I really was. Your mind is a powerful tool, but if you let it work against you, it will.

On March 26th, I finished my challenge. I kept that promise to myself and it feels great. I know that with the proper planning, I can do anything I set out to do. I can't use the excuse of lack of self discipline any more. I will know that deep down it only means that I don't want it bad enough to carry out a plan.

I lost 11.5 pounds of fat and maintained my lean mass. My body fat dropped from 27.5% to 20%. I went from a size 12 jeans to size my 5/6's that I wore many moons ago at 10 pounds lighter. More importantly, my cholesterol dropped from 244 to 184! That took more weight off my mind than the weight off my body!

I tool CLA and GLA daily while doing this challenge. I lost a total of 4.75 inches off my abdomen and feel that CLA had a lot to do with it. Portion control with more frequent meals is a must.

Remember, this is about honoring self promises and progress not perfection.

I hope my story and results inspire someone as much as I have been inspired by these boards.

12 - Week Goals
1. I will lose 15 pounds of fat in 12 weeks. lost 11.5 pounds
2. I will reduce my body fat to less than 20%20% yes!
3. I will be wearing my 5/6 Levis in 12 weeks - Goal met!
4. I will weigh less than 120 pounds in 12 weeks. [b/]121, close enough, I'm claiming goal[/b]
5. I will finish this challenge Goal met!

----------------------01-02-03***01-30-03***02-27-03****03-26-03

HEIGHT**********5’ 1 1/2”*********************************
WEIGHT**********132.5******127.4*******124.0****** **121.0
BODY FAT %******
LEAN MASS WT.***
BODY FAT WT*****
NECK************13.25******13.00********13.0****** **13.0
UPPER CHEST*****34.5*******33.75********34.0********34.0
CHEST***********36.0*******35.00********34.5****** **34.5
BELOW CHEST****30.0*******29.00********30.0********30.0
WAIST**********28.5********27.25*******26.75****** *26.25
BELLY BUTTON***32.0********29.00*******27.75*******27.25
UPPER HIP********39.0*******37.50*******36.5********36.0
WIDEST**********39.50******38.50*******37.5******* *37.0
RIGHT THIGH******23.5******22.75********22.0*******21.75
LEFT THIGH*******23.5******22.75********22.25******21.7 5
RIGHT ARM******12.25******12.00********12.0*******11.75
LEFT ARM*******12.125*****12.00********12.0*******11.75
RIGHT KNEE******16.0*******16.00*******15.5*******15.25
LEFT KNEE*******16.5*******16.00*******15.75******15.50
RIGHT CALF******13.75******13.50*******13.5*******13.5
LEFT CALF*******14.5*******13.75*******13.5*******13.5


Test name---------------before------------------12 weeks
Cholesterol--------------244-----------------------184-----
LDL------------------------167-----------------------121.3--
Triglycerides------------160------------------------99------
HDL------------------------56------------------------45

[Tasmania]

Barbevrn... wow. That's all I can say right now. What an excellent job! Did you "officially" participate in the BFL challenge? I'd have to say that you would definitely be one of the top contenders for a prize.

[kinook180]

My Story:

I have been overweight pretty much my whole life since about grade 6. Tried and been on every diet possible. I lost 100 lbs when I was 17 and managed to keep it off till I went to University then I gained a little bit first year. But was still relatively average weight around 175 or so. Then in March 1997 I was told by doctors that I had Multiple Sclerosis. Well that was the beginning of destruction instead of repair. I began drinking a lot and eating very poorly. I stayed like this for about a year then progressively got bigger and bigger. When I graduated University I was 240 lbs and having serious health problems with my cycles. I had my cycle for 19 months straight, went on many different hormone pills and eventually became anemic and ballooned up to 307 lbs. WOW.. I had hit bottom I thought. THen along came a relationship that ended in me being cheated on, now I had hit the depths of rock bottom. I didnt' do anything for about 6 months then suddenly I decided this is just not working for me i cant live like this anymore. I was on Metformin and felt horrible, knee problems back problems always tired. So then it began, walking then walking and jogging then I went on Atkins and the weight began to come off quite quickly. I started in September 2001 and by September 2002 I was down about 70 lbs or so. BUt i stalled and fell off for a while and went from 229 to 249 pretty quickly. THats when i went back on induction and got down to 236 and then I found Body For Life. You can see for yourself below how it has changed my life. I see things very differently now, my motivation is constant, i feel great and if I helped just one person get motivated to change their life from what i wrote and my story then that is the greatest reward ever


So, here I am everyone, finished Challenge One and extremely happy and content with my physical and inner transformation
Thank you to all of you for your support not sure I could have done it without all of you.
In total I lost 25 lbs, almost 3 sizes, and this is the best part 27.5 Inches LOST FOREVER! I banished the fat from my body and its not coming back. For the first time I dont feel imprisoned by my body, I feel a sense of Freedom finally.


Week 1
Weight = 236
BF = 41%
Arm 12.7/8
Chest 38.7/8
Waist 38 1/2
Abdomen (belly button) 44
Hips/lower belly widest 54 3/8
Buttocks 53 3/8
Thigh 30 1/4
Calf 15 7/8

Week 12
Weight = 211
BF = ??
Arm 131/2..............................................+ 3/4
Chest 36 1/2..........................................- 2 1/2
Waist 34................................................ .- 4 1/2
Abdomen (belly button) 39.5..................- 4 1/2
Hips/lower belly widest 47 3/4............... - 6 3/4
Buttocks 48 1/4...................................... - 5 1/2
Thigh 27.5.............................................. - 2 1/2
Calf 15 .................................................. . - 7/8

[adpitan]

I don't have any pictures to share bc I was a big ol' dork and didn't take any when I started but I do have measurments.

Results:
1/20/03 4/13/03
Weight: 140....................135........... - 5
Neck: 12.....................12............ N/C
L Bicep: 10 3/4..............10............ - 3/4
R Bicep: 10 1/2..............10 1/2...... N/C
Underarms: 34..................32............-2
Bust: 33 1/2..............30............-3 1/2
Nat Waist: 28...................26 1/2......- 1 1/2
@ Belly Button:29 1/2.......28 1/2......- 1
Hips: 39 1/2..............38............-1 1/2
Saddlebags:38..................36...........- 2
L Thigh: 20....................19..........- 1
R Thigh: 19 1/2..............18.........-1 1/2
L above Knee: 15..............14.........- 1
R above Knee: 14..............13 1/2... - 1/2
L calf: 13..............13.......... N/C
R calf: 13 1/2........13.........- 1/2

Total inches lost: 16 3/4

I have had the best time while doing this challenge. There has been just the best support anyone could ever have doing this. I started this challenge bc I wanted to get down in weight, trim up the body fat and have some good muscle tone and I needed a challenge, a good kick in the butt really. I didn't really have too many expectations when I began simply bc I knew this weight didn't magically come on overnight and except for lipo it was not going to magically go away overnight. This challenge gave me structured guidelines to follow which was definitely needed in my carb challgenged household. I have learned more about nutrition and weights and cardio than I ever would have anticipated. My cardio has dramatically increased beyond my wildest dreams, I never would have imagined doing 6 miles in an hour, let a lone setting the challenge of a 10 min mile. When I first started losing weight approx 2 years ago it was bc I was unhappy and tired of being the "fat friend" and having all these fat days and wearing the same size clothes as my mother who is 21 yrs my senior and when a size 16 was starting to get just a bit snug. I embarked upon a weightloss journey, making it a new lifestyle. But none of the reasons I listed above have anything to do with me emotionally or spiritually, they were mostly superficial reasons. However, this transformation that I began in Jan of 2003, has been about me for the first time. For the first time I am happy with the changes I have made bc they were for me and had nothing to do with anyone else. I am now fitting very comfortably into a 5/6 and smalls and even extra small in somethings.

This has been amazing and fun and I thank everyone for all the support that has been given and all the advice that has been given.

[Damaris]

HEY HEY HEY

[BFL Chick]

I am finally done! I am so glad that I found this BB. Thank you all for your help and support!

Here are my measurements:

Before/After (change)
Neck 13.5/13 (-0.5 inch)
Arms 10.625/10.5 (-0.125 inch)
bust 41/39 (-2 inches)
Underbust 34.625/33 (-1.625 inches)
Natural Waist 33/31.5 (-1.5 inches)
Hips 38/37 (-1 inch)
Butt 46/44 (-2 inches)
thighs 27.5/26.25 (-1.25 inches)
Calves 15.875/15.375 (-0.5 inch)

Total inches lost 10.5

Went from a tight size 10 to a comfortable size 8.

Lost around 10 lbs of fat and gained around 2 lbs of muscle.

Although I didn't reach all my goals, I am more than happy with my results...I have become much stronger. I can now open snapple bottles all by myself!

[DiamondDeb]

First, a little background:

• July 15, 2000 ~ Started Protein Power at 282.5 lbs. I had dieted most of my life and was convinced that if this didn't work I would be obese for the rest of my life and end up with weight-related physical problems. Perhaps fear of that is what made me such a good LCer.
• July 16, 2001 ~ One year and 83 lbs after starting PP, I began my first BFL Challenge. Having learned my LC lessons well-carbs are the enemy-I stuck with PP and increased my carbs to a maintenance level of about 60g ECC, which is what other LCers were doing. I suffered from glycogen depletion and tried to get my post-workout Myoplex shake in before it started me but wasn't always successful. It didn't occur to me to change my nutrition. After all, carbs are the enemy! I dropped 2 sizes.
• October 15, 2001 ~ I began BFL Challenge II and decided to add extra cardio to get even better results. I kept my nutrition the same and soon found myself very tired. I lost my desire to workout and had to force myself. My weight loss had stalled and I was frustrated. I thought I was doing everything right! I felt wiped out all the time and friends told me to take a break. I finally asked for help from PP's bodybuilding guru and on his advice I ended my challenge after week 8. The changes he suggested were 1) take one week off from working out, 2) get more rest (bedtime was around 3:00 am), 3) eat 1g of protein per pound of current body weight. (PP nutrition is based on LBM.) and, hardest of all, 4) dump cardio for better results. I use LifeForm to plan/track my meals and I was completely freaked out when I was my calories go so high. Anything over 1400 made me gain weight. I put my trust in my friend's 20 years of bodybuilding experience and saw immediate results! I felt better, my energy came back full force...and then some, and I started losing again, bring my total lost up to 100 lbs! My reward was a pair of diamond earrings!
• January 7 - June 23, 2002 ~ Body Rx Giving up cardio was very hard for me. I loved HIIT and running on the treadmill, especially. All the other advice my friend had given me worked, so I decided to trust this, too. Body Rx was the first program I'd heard of that did not include cardio. I figured it was exactly what I needed!

BODY Rx:

There were several of us starting BRx at the same time. We understood incorrectly that we needed to increase our YELLOW carbs as much as possible in Cycle 1. It was scary to actually try to eat so much but I bought whole wheat bread and tortillas, rice, couscous, etc. And of course, popcorn! Lots of good GREEN carbs, too...fruit and veggies and Fiber One cereal! I discovered that I have a sensitivity to something in whole wheat breads and gave them up, choosing sprouted grain products. I was eating so many things that I never did on PP, that I really didn't miss having a free day! I felt like I was indulging in forbidden treats everyday! And during the first 2 cycles, I enjoyed 1-2 RED foods per week, if I wanted them. Of course, we now know that it wasn't really necessary to eat so many YELLOW carbs, but I think it was good for me. It taught me that carbs are not the enemy after all!

Along with all those YELLOW carbs and all that fiber and protein, too, came higher calories than I ever thought I should eat-especially if I wanted to lose weight! After being convinced while doing Protein Power that I would gain weight eating anything over 1400, this took a leap of faith on my part! Each cycle reduces YELLOW carbs, but since protein and fiber increase, my calories stayed higher than I was used to. The truly amazing part to me is that I actually lost weight eating close to 1000 calories (sometimes more) more than I used to! I'm not going to complain! It's great to be able to eat instead of deprive myself! I jokingly tell friends I eat enough for a family of four! And after spending the weekend at a friend's lake house, she no longer worries that I'm going to become anorexic!

The 4 day split was new to me and I was shocked at how sore I continually got from my workouts! I can't begin to tell you how much stronger I have become doing this program! The numbers simply do not reflect the gains I've seen! Right from the start, I lifted more-much more in some cases-than I thought I could! I increased weights just about every workout. It was easy to let the heavy weights become too important and when I realized that my form was beginning to slip, I backed down on the weight and made sure I used perfect form, then increased the weights again slowly! I met a goal I never even dreamed possible when I did a 600 lbs. leg press the last week of Cycle 2.

Dr. Connelly says that 70% of your success comes from the nutrition. The workouts are icing on the cake! I believe it! I have had tendonitis in at least 1 elbow since last September. It spread to both elbow and one shoulder. One doctor's orders, I finally had to quit all upper body workouts for a while. I did no UBWOs for the last half of the program. I stuck with the nutrition and did well anyway!

Like magic, when I started Cycle 2 ~ Getting Sculpted, I started seeing all sort of great muscle definition! I really didn't see much of anything doing BFL and this was totally amazing to me! LOL! It still is! And it happened so fast! I enjoyed Cycle 2 nutrition. The level of YELLOW carbs is not too high. I added fiber supps in Cycle 2 to help me get my 45g in. The extra protein took a bit of planning, but I simply increased my portions sizes a bit.

Cycle 3 was a completely different animal! I decided to give up several things I didn't have to. I guess I wanted to do everything I could to guarantee success. Breads, were eliminated. I cut fruit after reading several opinions that it has no place on a cut. Carrots and yogurt went too. The only YELLOW carb I ate was a large serving of steel cut oats for my proatmeal every morning. RED foods are not allowed in Cycle 3, but I had no problem sticking to plan. Of course, by the end of June I had quite a list of treats I wanted to indulge in!

My body seemed to know exactly what Cycle 3 was all about! The inches started melting away and I even lost weight! I was amazed and thrilled, to say the least! I was so glad I had stuck to the program! I lost almost twice as many inches in 6 weeks as I had in my first BFL Challenge! Naturally, I wanted to get as much out of Cycle 3 as possible and after checking with the BRx site, I decided to do it twice instead of moving on to Cycle 4 nutrition. I was told that my progress would slow some, and it did. BRx suggested I add fruit back in, and I planned to, but never did. I think I was afraid I'd eat too much. I do NOT recommend cutting fruit from your diet. Certainly not for 3 months, as I did. There are too many good nutrients in fruit to cut it completely for so long. I doubt that cutting fruit did much, if anything, to help my progress. The one thing it did do is make me very hungry for fruit, especially strawberries!

Early in May, I e-mailed some questions about the program to the BRx site and, after receiving answers from a rep, I received an e-mail from Dr. Scott Connelly, the author of Body Rx! It took a while before I realized it was actually from him! We started up a nice e-mail correspondence and it turns out he is planning to start a new line of food/supps. He asked for my help in finding out what type of products people with our lifestyle would like to see. He also spoke of interest in media publicity involving women on his program. Body Rx received o publicity because of it's release date-9-10. The planned book tour was canceled due to the events of the next day. I was asked to find some other women who having results similar to mine. Scott called me in the middle of June and we talked for a couple hours. He has so many wonderful ideas; I was very impressed and learned a great deal! We continue to keep in touch and I am grateful to have his expertise available to me. Recently, he suggested that there is a possibility of my working for him, but we haven't had the opportunity to discuss it yet. That seems to incredible to possibly happen, so I'm taking the "I'll believe it when/if it happens" attitude!

Body Rx has been a wonderful experience for me. I have grown stronger in body and soul and gained immeasurable self-esteem and confidence. This is a program that fits my lifestyle.

THE STATS:


.............Cycle 1........Cycle 2......Cycle 3......2nd Cycle 3.........Totals
Bust:........N/C.............-.50"...........-2.00"...........-.50"............-3.00"
Chest:......-.50"............N/C............-2.00"...........-.75".............-2.25"
Waist:......NC...............NC..............-3.50".........-1.50".............-5.00"
Naval:.....-.50"........+1.25"..............-6.25".........-1.25".............-6.50"
Hips:........N/C..............N/C...........-4.25"............-.50".............-4.75"
Rt. Thigh:..N/C..............N/C...........-2.00"............-.25".............-2.25"
Lt. Thigh:..N/C..............N/C...........-2.00"............-.25".............-2.25"
Rt. Calf:....N/C..............N/C.............-.50"............-.25".............. -.75"
Lt. Calf:..+.50"..............N/C.............-.50"............-.75"...............-.75"
Rt. Biceps:N/C..............N/C.............-.75"............-.50".............-1.25"
Lt. Biceps:N/C..............N/C.............-.75"............-.50"............ -1.25"
Neck:.......N/C............-.25".............-.75"............-.125"..........-1.125"
Total
Inches:.+.50"...........+.75".........-25.25".........-7.125".......-31.125"
Weight:
180.......182/+2 lbs....178/-4 lbs.....171/-7 lbs......164/-7 lbs.......-16 lbs.
BF%:.......N/C............-.83............-6.66............-2.65.......-10.14%
Fat lbs: .+.80............-2.70..........-13.80............-6.90.......-23.40 lbs.
LBM:....+1.20..............-.30...........+9.80............-2.50........+8.20 lbs.

[kinook180]

Hi everyone, Well i did C2 have already started C3 I waste now time. I had a crappy last 4 weeks and only lost about another 4 lbs and a few inches in the last 4 most of it came off in the first 8 weeks... I dropped down to a 14-16 in a size 34 Levis Red Tag jeans wooohoooo !

I lost 22 lbs and approximately 20 inches

Body For Life Challenge Two April 14th – July 6th

Week One
April 14th, 2002
Weight = 216
Body Fat = 37.4
Lean Mass = 136.5 lbs
Fat = 79.5 lbs
Bicep 13 1/2
Chest 36 1/2
Waist 35
Abdomen 40
Hips (widest area) 48.5
Buttocks 49
Mid Thigh 25
Right Thigh 28.5
Calf 15

Week 12
July 6th, 2003
Weight = 194
Body Fat = 31
Lean Mass = 134
Fat = 60 lbs
Bicep 12.75
Chest 36.5
Waist 32.75
Abdomen 34
Hips (widest area) 45
Buttocks 46
Mid Thigh 22.5
Right Thigh 26
Calf 14.75

In total for 2 challenges I have lost 47.5 inches and 42 lbs since January 2003 !

Here is a link to my body for life tracker i got my pics developed for week 12 but the after shots are digitals till i get the others scanned..

Good luck and on with C3 for ME....

http://www.bfltracker.com/searchprofile.cfm?id=1825

[mrscarrey]

Hey everyone. You can go to my webpage to see my body for life results from a couple years ago.

http://www.geocities.com/mrscarrey/

[elisasadler]

Hello all and i would like to start by congratulating u all on the success and inspiration for people like me ...my name is Elisa and I began the low carb journey 7 weeks ago and am down 41 pounds today..here is my question and I will very much appreciate any replies...my concern is this ..I hear many people who have made their goal talk about tummy tucks and having excess skin removed from the tummy area ...is their any hope that I can reach my goal with 110 more pounds to lose.... and have firm skin just from working out.....please reply and give me your experieences with this or knowledge of this...thanks to u all for being my support

[VoiceTeacher]

Hi Guys:
I'm new to this forum... this website actually. I've tried to do the BFL challenge so many times, I'm embarrassed to even admit it. But I'm looking for support from somewhere. I just put on 20 pounds over the past 6-mos, and to tell you the truth... I am just sick and tired of this yo-yo that I've been on the past 10-years! I need to make a change, and I don't know where to start. I am inspired by people who can actually get through this challenge and I think that if I have some cheerleaders routing for me, I think I can actually make it this time.

I work part-time, have 2 elementary school age children and a supportive, and overweight husband that just might join the bandwagon if I really get this ball rolling. I need help with commitment, willpower and discouragement. Can you guys help???

[SherryBerry]

Originally Posted by VoiceTeacher

Hi Guys:
I'm new to this forum... this website actually. I've tried to do the BFL challenge so many times, I'm embarrassed to even admit it. But I'm looking for support from somewhere. I just put on 20 pounds over the past 6-mos, and to tell you the truth... I am just sick and tired of this yo-yo that I've been on the past 10-years! I need to make a change, and I don't know where to start. I am inspired by people who can actually get through this challenge and I think that if I have some cheerleaders routing for me, I think I can actually make it this time.

I work part-time, have 2 elementary school age children and a supportive, and overweight husband that just might join the bandwagon if I really get this ball rolling. I need help with commitment, willpower and discouragement. Can you guys help???

to the BFL BB VoiceTeacher!,

Join us in the "daily chat" thread...that's where most of us hang out. Everyone that posts there is very suppotive and encouraging. We also just shoot the breeze on there. We do other plans like BFFM (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle) by Tom Venuto, BodyRx, as well as BFL. Looking forward to your seeing your posts in the "daily chat" thread. You can do this!...I've yo yo'd for so many years and finally found something that works for me.

[inatic]

My transformation has taken about 3 years( so far,I am not done yet Definitely not one of those quick result challenges.. but you know, that fitness and health is a life long goal, not just a 12 week challenge. Some of us need more time.....

I was inspired to do something when i got a picture back of me a few years ago. Shocked, i couldnt believe I was that "fat" . Pictures dont lie. With an impending family wedding as my motivation and turning 40 I started on a weightloss journey, that turned into something more I fell in love with weight training.

You cant fight the internal power and strength that begins to develope when you start believing in yourself!!. Though the mirror wasnt as rewarding, the intrinsic feelings were. As I began to change on the inside, the outside slowly came around as well.

It wasnt an easy road for me.. though i was eating well, working out hard, the loss was really slowly. I found out that I was fighting my body with thyroid disease. Through half my challenges I fought constant exhaustion, very slow weightloss and too many sypmtoms of thyoid disease to list. Many days the only energy i had was spent working out. I felt sorry for my family( married, mom to 5 boys!) nearly quit teaching preschool (have taught for 8 yrs) , as there wasnt much of me to give at that time, but i was determined that no matter what, i had to fight for my health. Giving up wasn't an option!

I found LCF, The BFL BB and NonstickPam107 (here at LCF) , and finally got treated for my Hashi's autoimmune thyroid disease.

Persistance (did i mention i am as stubborn as they come and hard work has paid off. Here are some comparision shots of my latest challenge vs when i first started. In three years (age 40 - 43)I went from well over 35% body fat to 10%. I lost from a size 16 down to a 2/4 and went from 168lbs to 135lbs. I went from a sick depressed person to some one who feels like she is on top of the world, HEALTHY AND VIBRANT!

Ileen's Latest Challenge Pictures 6/1/05 You can also view my journey here: http://community.webshots.com/user/inatic

THough our journeys all take us down the same road, it is different for all of us. Be patient and love yourself, you'll get there. It doesnt matter how fast, it matters that you get there and more importantly STAY there

[elisasadler]

You look freaking great!!!!!!!!!!!!