I thought today I’d post some of my thoughts on the “Free Day” that is included in the Body for Life fitness and nutritional plan.
First, for those who don’t know, Body for Life is a very simple program to follow. Just plan everything and stick to it. No counting calories, no fad diets, no extreme workouts, just a no nonsense, balanced approach to a healthy lifestyle. Basically, the plan calls for 6 days of exercise, which includes 3 days of strength training (with weights/machines) and 3 days of cardio (running/jogging/cardio machines, etc). Also, 6 days of eating good balanced meals 5-6 times per day. This basically means 5-6 meals (and what I call snacks) made up of a small portion of protein, a small portion of good carbohydrates, and throughout the week eating a few foods that have essential fatty acids in them, also known as EFAs or good fats.
All, that being said, it’s basically SIX DAYS ON, 1 DAY OFF.
As one who follows the Judeo-Christian belief system, I see great significance in this arrangement, whether it was initially intended or not. In my set of beliefs it’s imperative to take at least one day of rest each week. Every other day is meant for work.
That aside, it’s a great system. Enough “work” to get you super excited about having one free day to NOT exercise, and to eat whatever you want, and enough “free day” to make you want to get back on the “healthy” stuff again.
I think psychologically speaing, it’s a good system. Basically you reward yourself for a week of hard work and discipline. And that reward is just sweet enough, and yet a bit “bitter” to make you really appreciate the good healthy stuff. Now, before I go any further, just know that when I refer to our free day, it’s not a huge ALL YOU CAN EAT, stuff yourself to the gills, eat until you drop marathon pig-out session. But it’s just a time to have a soft drink, a burger and fries, that dessert you’ve been craving, some pizza, or whatever you crave during the week, you get the picture.
Because you’ve been disciplined and stuck to your plan all week, our metabolism is pretty much in high gear. By having some of the foods you really enjoy that aren’t quite as healthy, in moderation, you get to pacify that craving, but your metabolism is high enough to burn it off without problems. Just remember it’s not a contest to see if you can eat as many bad calories as you did the previous month in just one day.
We take our free day on Sunday, because it works well with out schedule. Choose which one works best for you and then stick to it. If for some reason your schedule doesn’t permit you to keep a free day on that planned day, choose another one for that week, and then get back to the plan the next day. Just remember, 6 days on, 1 day off.
Hope that gives you an idea of how it works!
We’ve been working the Body For Life program for 6 weeks now, and we’re 2 days into our 7th week. We did upper body yesterday and it was a good tough workout. I ove the “pumped” feeling I get in my arms after the upper body workout!
Have a great week.
Russ
