Customer Reviews

Body for Life Success Journal

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

My fiance did one challenge of BFL while I was away at basic training, and since I've gotten back we've started on challenge number 2. He lost 40 pounds of fat in the first challenge and gained quite a bit of muscle mass (drool!). This journal helps you keep track of what you're doing exercise-wise each day, which in turn helps you keep to the program and meet your goals.

My only complaint about the whole BFL program is the constant pressure by the journal and book to recruit your friends in to it. It has a "daily goal" of encouraging your friends to do BFL, or encouraging them while they're on it. I guess it's a marketing ploy to get more people to buy the books and journals. I do recommend the program to my friends, but I don't fill out that part of the journal every day. There are also some other parts of the journal that are tedious. I concentrate on filling out the parts dealing with exercise and food/water - and leave the other parts blank.

I'm currently in the process of my second Body For Life challenge, and I really wish that this journal had been available for me the first time. I'll be honest - I am disorganized. I'm not talking mildly disorganized, I'm talking a complete mess. With the last challenge, my meal and workout progress was written on whatever scrap of paper I could find, and I eventually stopped writing it down altogether...bad idea!! Charting your progress is one of THE most important parts of the program...it ranks up there with eating and weight training. This book provides adequate space to keep up with your daily progress, as well as a few added bonuses that you can't get by downloading the pages....#1, it offers inspirational stories and photos of past winners every day. Nothing motivates me more than seeing someone who has been successful. The 2nd thing it offers is space to write down WHY you want to be successful on the program and what you'll do to help others after you succeed. These things put you in the winner's mindset, and help you tackle the emotional issues behind poor health habits. I'd definitely recommend this book to people entering their first challenge and who want every edge they can get, and also to the repeat challengers who just can't seem to stay organized without help. However, if organization and motivation is not an issue for you, then save your money and download the progress sheets from the Body For Life website.

I started my first Body-for-Life challenge on 1/6 and finished 3/29. This book was very important because I was able to keep track of my meals and workouts while reading the encouraging words of Bill Phillips as well as a successful transformation daily.

The daily progress reports are VERY important for your success. The meals help you keep track of what you have ate so far (as well as planning), and you can review your previous workouts to better plan your next workout. Not to mention you can look back at how far you've come! BFL provides these sheets in the original book and their website, but having this all organized in this journal right in front of you with inspirational words from Bill makes it easier than printing out the pages everyday.

I read half of the Transformations before I even started! They go into alot more detail than just looking around on the web...you can see how different beginning stats work for different people...and how many 12-week Challenges it may have taken *some* of them to get there.

Plus, if you actually read his words, he offers you a little deal if you're unhappy ;)

There will ALWAYS be anti-BFL people out there. All you have to do is look for the personal pages on the internet. Everyone knows the secret to losing weight: Exercise & Eating Right. Bill Phillips did not invent anything new, nor does he try to fool you into thinking so. He offers a structured program and mental encouragement towards realistic goals. If you actually read his book, follow his program, and track your hard work (like in this journal), you will look great in 12 weeks. I did, and I'm now in Challenge 2.

Whether you are a novice at the Body for Life challenge or an experience veteran, this Success Journal is an important part of making the Challenge experience a positive one. It requires you to really get involved in the challenge, tracking your progress on two fronts: physical (the training and nutrition) and mental (your focus and on helping others).

By actively filling out all the sections of the journal, you keep the changes you're experiencing in the forefront. It's easy to just focus on the workouts, but the mental and nutrition parts of this program are equally if not more important.

I've completed two official challenges and 3 unofficial ones, and though I've gotten great results so far, I feel using this Success Journal will enable me to surpass my previous Success and finally achieve my goals.

I cannot recommend this Journal highly enough. I really like the amount of detail, the success stories included throughout the book, and Bill's comments for each day. It's highly motivating, inspiring, and a terrific addition to a Body For Life challenge.

I first read this book 7 years ago and still refer to it from time to time. It has brilliant no-nonsense and practical advice for anybody who wants to transform their body the only way possible (that is, diet, weights and cardio). However, I have taken away one star for two reasons: Firstly, there is this constant advice for you to take the authors EAS supplements as part of the successful 12 week program which is annoying if you are an international reader who does not have access to the stuff. Perhaps if he had suggested generic equivalents to his products for those who can't access or afford his expensive stuff then it wouldnt be an issue. Secondly, as the wife of a bodybuilder and as a person who has been weight-training for seven years, I know for SURE that some (not all) of those bodies used in the success stories were transformed partly through the use of steroids. Sure they trained and dieted to get to such low body fat and muscle-gain, but those of us who live in the gym and are experienced past the beginner stage, know what it takes for someone to change from "fat beer gullet" to "six-pack hunk" in twelve weeks. I still recommend the book though, I just didnt want someone struggling with their weight (as I once did) to think it is completely possible to get so much muscle in such a short space of time without drugs. But having said that, I have watched many people in the gym follow this program and lose a lot of fat in twelve weeks.

While I'm a huge BFL fan and believe it is the ONLY successful weight loss program out there and I think Bill Phillips rocks, this journal was NOT helpful. I need something I can put my own things in (pictures, for example). I needed to reorganize the pages to make it more user-friendly. I did not follow his workout days as my schedule starts with cardio instead of weights. Plus, there are only SO MANY daily goals you can have before you need a rubber stamp pre-printed with "Sign onto the BFL website" or "Drink enough water". I prefer the regular BFL book and my own binder, thank you very much...

Personally, I really like it. It has helped to keep me motivated and I like going back and reading my goals. I know a lot of people are giving it poor reviews saying that it's just like the BFL book but it's really not. Every day you write your goals and ways to achieve them for the next day. You plan out all of your meals and workouts all in this one journal. I like having my own personal journal where I can record everything rather than printing off a bunch of the sheets from my computer. This book is your "binder" in which you track it all - workouts, daily food intake, thoughts, etc. On most of the pages it's got a bunch of pictures of success stories and tips from Bill. I LIKE THAT! For me, every little bit helps. If I don't have to print off the daily sheets and can have it all in a book with tips, motivation from Bill and lots of pictures of past BFL success stories, then it's well worth the 25 bucks.
And as for the guy who gave the bad review who complained about the color of Bill Phillips' hair, OH PLEASE! I'm sure that the #1 concern of everyone trying to complete the BFL program is the current color of Bill's hair... AND just think, what if Bill actually did lighten his hair...horrors! I mean, it's not like he's human or anything.

I've been in the fitness industry for over a decade, and of all the programs out there, I keep coming back to Body for Life as one of the most sound and accessible programs. It is based on solid principles -- nothing "far out" or particularly controversial. Just solid science nicely packaged in a manageable amount of exercise and a sustainable nutrition program.

For my personal taste, the "rah rah" motivational parts of the original book were a bit over the top. I sort of extracted the program elements from the book and follow those, and skipped over the rah rah. If that's how you were too, you're not going to really like the journal. You're better off downloading the plain workout and diet tracking sheets from the website and using those (or making your own version).

If, however, you loved the emotional side of the book and you're a big fan of day-to-day inspirational stories and such to keep you on track, you'll love it.

So 4 stars for being what it sets out to be (even if that strikes me as corny...)

The body for life plan involves planning your eating and exercise sessions in advance, and then keeping detailed records of them on a daily basis. The program is a "12-week challenge" - i.e. 84 days.

This journal provides all of the necessary forms in a hardback, mini-binder sort of format to plan and track your eating and exercise sessions for those 84 days. Additionally, for each day there is a motivational type blurb and a new "success story", complete with the before and after photos.

It's a bit pricey but it's a great tool for getting organized and tracking your progress. It will also provide a record of your progress.

A couple of minor gripes: 1) Sundays are free days so he doesn't provide pages for those days. It would be nice to have at least a couple of blank pages in there for your notes and observations for those days. And 2) Since the program is all very regimented, so are the forms which means that if you want to deviate from the program or "tweak" it a bit to fit your schedule/lifestyle the journal is going to either not fit at all or be a bit out of whack.

Overall, it's a good tool for your first "12-week challenge". I'm guessing that if you go on to do more challenges you'll end up devising something of your own creation.

I am new to BFL and find the journal immensely helpful. After reading the book, I knew it was a straight-forward program and simple enough for anyone to follow, but it does take discipline..something I'm not very good at.

The journal is an awesome tool that helps me keep the focus and discipline I need to get the full benefit from the program. It adds accountability...something I really need. I enjoy sitting down each evening and thinking about what I did to succeed that day, or what I failed at and can improve on tomorrow. And when I get down, I can look at the transformation pictures and strories and realize that those people had hard days, too, and they picked themselves up and made it to the finish line, and I can too!

I really recommend it for newbies like myself to help keep on track. I'm sure that it is helping me succeed!