Thoughts: I’ve been obsessing about the mechanics of Body for Life again this morning, or, more specifically, BFL nutrition for maintenance.

Palm-fist portion sizes + authorized foods list + exercise = caloric deficit every week

I’ve logged my food religiously since starting the program on May 31, 2004, so I know that an entire day of BFL portions rarely amounts to more than 1700 calories with 1400-1600 being the norm, and the daily maintenance needs of a woman working out 6 days a week is between 1900-2400 calories depending on her weight. That is why BFL works as a cutting diet–nothing fancy, just the traditional dieting formula of:

If Calories In < Calories Out, then Fat Loss = TRUE

with a little addendum of:

If Weight Training = TRUE, then Muscle Loss = FALSE

This sort of leads to another question…there are women who have been doing BFL for over a year who are still eating by-the-book portions without increasing their intake even though they reached goal weight after just one or two challenges. They are maintaining while still working out 6 days a week at around 1500 calories a day with one free day that, assuming a maintenance level of 2000 calories, would have to be 2000+3000= 5000 calories in order to make up for the deficit amassed during the week. I know there are some rip-roarin’ free day eaters out there, but 5000 is a LOT of food unless you are bolting down huge hunks of cheese and fried chicken on free day and washing it down with gallons of caramel frappucinos with whipped cream. Much of that food won’t even be absorbed. So even if your metabolism IS kept somewhat revved up by free day in spite of the deficit during the rest of the week, doesn’t the fact that these women are no longer losing any weight while NOT increasing their portion sizes from the same diet that used to cause them to drop pounds imply that their bodies have adjusted to the lowered intake and their metabolisms have slowed down and reset several hundred calories below normal?

The BFL book never mentions a single thing about increasing your portion sizes once you reach goal weight. You are supposed to stick with palm-fist portions and authorized foods forever. I don’t mind the authorized foods part, but I worry that the BFL purists who insist on NOT knowing how many calories they are ingesting while adhering to the strict palm-fist rule for the rest of their lives are setting themselves up for some grim repercussions if they ever do try to consume healthy foods at the correct calorie level.

I know that BFL is a lifestyle change, but honestly, I do not want to have my metabolism effectively lower itself to “maintenance at a paltry 1600 calories a day” when it should be a normal, healthy 2000-2400 as long as I’m keeping up with my workouts.

It’s one thing to consciously decide to make BFL a permanent lifestyle change because it is a healthy, balanced way to live and eat, and quite another to HAVE to do so because you’ve unwittingly reset your metabolism 500 calories below standard and will blow up like a crash dieter if you go off plan.

So that is my only serious gripe about the BFL book: There needs to be a diet guideline in there for people who have achieved their goal weight and just need to maintain. It doesn’t have to be fancy. For me, it’s as easy as doubling the portion sizes of three of my meals each day, or spreading three shakes out over my 6 meals–essentially drinking half a shake with each normal meal. Something as simple as “Increase the size of 4 to 6 of your meals by 1/2 serving” would do the trick.

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Nutrition (1800-2000 calorie maintenance day)

1: Strawberry banana shake with GNC Creastack (3×1 veggie omelette with 1/3 c. oatmeal)
2: Chicken veggie stew (Apricot cheesecake bar)
3: Cottage cheese and blueberries
4: Crispy treat bar
5: Bennigan’s grilled chicken salad with balsamic vinaigrette and roll
6: Crispy treat bar

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil

Calories eaten / deficit for yesterday = 1987 / -145 (target 0)
Water: 14 cups
Ratios: 38% carb / 40% protein / 22% fat

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Workout:

8 am: Max-OT back and biceps
3 pm: 1 mile walk (15 min, 4 mph)

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The Awful Truth:
1. Probably didn’t get enough sleep again.

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Brownie Points:
1. Got my walk in again.
2. Ate on plan yesterday.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Tidy up the apartment.