Well folks it’s that time. It’s the end of my 12 week Body For Life challenge - so how did I do?

Well not as well as I had hoped. I’ve put on virtually no muscle whatsoever but it seems very people do with Body For Life. This is a realisation I had recently. Take a look at the before and after photos of some of the past BFL challenge winners.

The arms are virtually the same size. As is the chest. Sure they’ve lost some fat so the muscles show better but very few people really seem to bulk up on Body For Life, which is a shame.

I would have liked to have put on a little muscle but really don’t think I have. Though not having measured my % bodyfat there’s no way of being certain but I don’t think I look any more muscly now than when I started.

However I do look considerably more lean and toned - though I’ve still got some way to go. I’m very pleased with the amount of weight I’ve lost (and have done so at a sensible, safe rate) though I’d like to have gotten down the six-pack-slim, though that’s the next goal (which I’ll tell you about soon).

But check out the photos in the last post to see how slim I’m looking now. Not convinced? OK, here’s a comparison of me now versus before the challenge…

Quite a stark difference I think you’d agree!!!

Now the stats…

I think the photos help support these stats. During the Body For Life challenge I lost a huge amount of body fat around my upper torso - stomach, waist and chest and toned up at the same time.

I lost a total of 6″ off my waist and a little under 2 stone in 12 weeks. That’s an average of just a tiny bit under 2lb of fat lost every week for 3 months. Not bad at all, and the photos speak for themselves!

Now keep your eyes peeled for more information over the new week or two on exactly what you can expect over the next few months… 

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Perhaps not the best finish to my Body For Life challenge because I have just started a new job and have been training quite some distance from home so have been unable to go running at all this week.

I *did* go last weekend however and have been both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. I normally run 3-4 days out of 7 and this week have only run 2 days out of 7 which isn’t tremendously impressive.

However my newly improved weight training has been really tiring out my muscles. Still very little muscle to speak of, but I’ll discuss that in my “final comparison” post in just a few moments.

OK results at the end of the 12 week program are as follows:

Photos (this week on the left as always, last time on the right) - notice how I’m wearing jeans in this week’s pictures (for a change) - they’re a 32″ waist and don’t stay up without the belt!

This isn’t a very wordy post - I shall post again later today with the final figures over the whole course of the 12 weeks. All I will say is that I went out on Friday night and saw some people I haven’t seen in several months and got several comments about how slim I’m looking now - which is nice!

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Here’s an interesting discovery.

I’ve been reading Allen Carr’s Easy Way To Stop Smoking over the last few days. And damn food it is too.

You see, another goal of mine is to be a non-smoker by the end of the year.

Whether I’ll report on my progress here or build a new site for the purpose I’m not sure - but you’ll find out here whichever I decide to do.

Anyway, the principle of the Easy Way is to focus *not* on what you’re losing when you quit smoking - but rather to focus on what you’re gaining.

You’re gaining good health. More money. Better breath. And most importantly freedom from an aweful, disgusting habit.

Which is interestig because recently I wrote a very similar article about weight loss and getting fit.

It seems that without knowing it I have been applying the “Easy Way” to lose weight rather than just give up smoking. And as I know how well it’s worked for me getting fit, I’m *very* hopeful about the results when I quit smoking.

I’ll keep you posted!

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Now, some 11 weeks into the Body For Life challenge I have had a realisation.

Recently putting together a list of links I will be adding to this site soon to make it of more use to you, dear reader, I realised how many people claim that they have lost x lbs of fat and gained x lbs of lean muscle mass with such-and-such a program.

How do they know?

Well I’ve spent some time thinking about this and coming up with the answer but before I reveal it to you I’d like to make an admission.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

When I launched this site earlier in the year I decided I wanted to take as many measurements as possible as I didn’t know which ones would show the greatest change.

I also wanted to be able to “map” my progress - where (in time, and on my body) did I make the biggest (and smallest) gains and why.

As you’re no doubt aware I’ve been measuring my biceps, thighs, chest, stomach and waist and have been posting regular photographs - though the Weekly Updates have become less often to, hopefully, show greater changes between them.

I’ve also weighed myself regularly and reported on weight lost.

Principally I have found I have lost weight, and reduced the size of my waist and stomach, whilst my chest, arms and legs have stayed virtually the same throughout - somewhat frustratingly.

Which means next week when I finish the 12th week of Body For Life I shall be ditching it, to try another program that will hopefully help me build up some muscle as well as lose weight.

However, muscle and fat weigh different amounts, so I don’t know, of the weight I’ve lost, how much fat I’ve lost, and how much muscle I’ve gained.

I have results - but not the most accurate ones essentially.

So I am going to buy some calipers to measure % bodyfat so that between now and Christmas you’ll be able to continue watching the transformation (with the new program which will be revealed soon here) but have even more information on the results I’m achieving.

It’s just a shame I wasn’t doing this from the beginning of this Body For Life challenge or we’d have some even more interesting results.

Anyways…

Here’s how I figured out how to measure fat lost and lean muscle mass gained…

Firstly, we take our weight. Let’s say its 100lb here just to make our sample calculations easy. Then we measure our percentage body fat using calipers (the most accurate method). Let’s call it 20% (which is the average for a man).

The next week we do the same calculations. Let’s say I still weigh 100lb, but my % bodyfat is now 18%.

How much fat did I lose, and how much muscle did I gain?

Easy…

The first week I had 20% body fat. 20% of 100lb is 20lb of fat (yuck!!!).

The second week I had 18% body fat. 18% of 100lb is 18lb of fat.

So I lost 2lb of body fat.

Here’s another calculation to further explain what I’ve worked out:

The first week I weight 100lb with 20% body fat again.

The second week I weigh 103lb with 19% body fat.

So… the first week I have 20lb of body fat again.

The second week I have 19% of 103lb = 19.57lb of body fat.

So I lost 0.43lb of body fat.

Assuming everything else is equal - my skeleton weighs the same, I did the measurements on an empty stomach etc. then the rest of the gain will be lean muscle mass.

So I gained 3.43lbs of muscle.

So now you know…

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Just a quick request please.

If you enjoy this site, and you own your own website or frequent forums related to health, fitness, weight loss, diet, Body For Life etc. can you do me a favour and let others know about this site by posting a link?

I’m not selling anything here - this blog is a passion so please help me get as many visitors as possible to all this free information available.

Many thanks!

Oh, and let me know if you *do* link to me - I’d love to know where the links are!

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