Woke up this morning and realized I need a change. I thought it through, and I could use some help deciding on a plan.
The Situation. 38 year old male. CW 253.0. BF% 36.9%! Just found that out today on the fancy new scale my wife bought. Overall have a great life (great wife, awesome dogs, good job), but kind of just let myself go somehow and didn’t even realize it. Used to be an athlete. Up until ~4 years ago I worked out daily (quit after moving to a different country), played regular pick up basketball, was on a traveling softball team, ran half marathons and climbed 14’ers. Now I can barely walk to 2nd floor without being a bit winded. Job is so stressful I drink every night. When I drink I snack. And snack and snack. Cheese, chocolate, etc. Checked my blood pressure recently...was 139/92. Damn!
So! It’s time for a change. Starting today.
The Numbers My first thought was “go on a diet” and lose 33lbs to hit GW of 220. At 2lbs / week I could be at goal in ~17 weeks. That’s this summer! But then I started thinking, I don’t want to just lose weight, I want to be fit again. So...I’m thinking I should focus on the BF% as much as the weight. I’d like to get back to 20% BF, which means I actually need to lose ~50lbs fat and gain ~20lbs of muscle (253 x 36.9% BF = 93lbs fat minus 220 x 20 = 44lbs fat goal = 49lbs reduction, 253 - 49 = 204, which means need +16 lbs muscle to hit 220).
Am I over-thinking this or is it making crazy awesome sense?!
My Plan. At my current weight and mostly sedentary activity level, I need 2500 cals / day to maintain 253lbs. To lose 2 lbs a week, I’d need to shave 7,000 cals a week (3500 cals per pound x 2), or 1,000 cals a day. That means I can only eat 1500 cals a day. WTF! That honestly doesn’t seem doable for me, is likely too drastic and I probably will freak out and fail. So! What I’m thinking is this : I won’t “diet”, but rather just start living the way I’d need to in order to maintain 220lbs @ 20% BF. The progress will be slower, but much easier to achieve. This would mean I actually need to INCREASE my daily cals from 2500/day to 2800/day, which is maintenance for 220lbs with a 4-5 workout per week schedule. Am I even crazier or is this still making a ton of sense? At this rate, I should lose ~0.5lbs per week, which will mean it’ll take almost 2 years to get to my goal of 20% BF (assuming I put on the 16lbs of muscle, which is harder to calculate). If I drop to 2500cals a day I could lose ~1lb / week, which would mean I’d hit goal within a year. Will start at 2800 and see how it goes...
The Assumptions. (1) I need to quit drinking. Today. My new rule : no drinking at home anymore, unless we’re hosting friends (maybe 2x per month) or we’re out being social (maybe 2x per month). I’m pretty anti-social so this shouldn’t be hard, and when I do drink, I’ll keep it light at maybe a couple beers or a cocktail. (2) I need to manage my work stress. So! Today I’m going to start doing yoga 30 mins a day (“fat guy yoga” at my house) and I’m going start meditating. I found an app (Headspace) and I just need to do it. Will start at 10 mins a day and try to get up to 30 by adding a minute everyday. (3) I need to keep the 2800 cals CLEAN. I’m going to stick to chicken and seafood, with maybe some steak 1-2 x per month. I love veggies, so will stick to veg + meat type of dinners. Smoothie every morning, salad at work (healthy one, we have a salad bar where you can customize them), meat + veg at night, protein shake after workout. Will stick to cauliflower rice and zucchini noodles and other healthy alternatives. Need to find some healthy snacks, researching now so I can keep some handy... (4) Start working out! I’m going to start tomorrow, and will plan on an ‘every other day’ routine. One day run, next day lift. Cycle and repeat. I downloaded the 10K runner app, which basically gets you from couch to 10K. I’ve had several knee surgeries from sports injuries in my teens and 20s, so will see how that goes, back up plan is biking. On lift days, I’ll do a standard lift schedule (Chest, Back/Bis, Shoulder/Tris, Legs). Haven’t lifted in years, so will start off extremely light on weight + reps. Also, I’m going to get a basketball hoop and start shooting around at my home, then later join a group of friends who run full court b-ball games after work, but that will likely take me a bit until I’m in shape enough to play.
Feeling super motivated right now, but haven’t even started! Its going to be a major uphill battle, so hoping someone can poke holes in any parts of my plan that don’t make sense. I’m sorta kinda pumped to get going. I feel that excitement in your stomach you feel when you’re about to start a multi-day hike or long journey. Life is funny how you can try and struggle and fail so many times, then one day you wake up and you just KNOW. You know that feeling?I’ve got it dialed in right now, I just need to keep my head in this space. I think I’ll go try my first meditation then go to work (I took the morning off). I’ll check back in after work and see, based on your comments (or lack thereof), if my plan is good or totally idiotic 😏
Sorry for the long post, but needed to put this out in the world somewhere as I’m too proud (or scared of expressing vulnerability?) to people in my life besides my SO.
Thanks all-
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