Plan of Attack

So, I’m pretty excited for my new gym membership.  I really want to hit it hard.  I know I’ve said similar to that before where I had high hopes and big plans for myself when it came to the gym.  And yes, I meant it every single time.  But I’ve gotten so close to my goal this year, I want to make for sure I reach it next year and then MAINTAIN it!    I want to bust through the mental blocks that have been keeping me from moving forward and making me stumble more than I think I should be stumbling.  My incidence of regaining some of the weight I had lost recently was due to an issue with medication.  However, that has since been remedied and I’m tired of saying that I regained some weight for that reason and I’m just having issues rebalancing everything.  I’m tired of that because now it’s just an excuse.  A ridiculous one at this point.  It’s no longer valid.  It’s been over 2 months since the issue was fixed and I haven’t lost any more weight to get back to where I was before that whole thing started.  In fact, I HAD gotten back down to within about 5 pounds of where I was before, but then I started going back up again.  So frustrating.  I know it’s my eating and I’m sick of how that is as well.  when I had my welcome session with Josh at Gold’s on Monday, he asked me how my eating was and I said it was “trying.”  So then he asked what I’d eaten on Sunday.  I had ice cream, beef bulgogi, and salmon.  2 of those things are good choices…the ice cream…not so much.  I was embarrassed to say that I’d had it, but I have to be honest or I won’t be able to move forward and reach my goals.

 

I’ve decided that I want to be at my goal by the end of the 12 week bootcamp program I signed up for at Gold’s.  It starts January 21^st.  So it finishes up on April 8^th.  That’s just in time for my Oregon trip in May.  Awesome!  My goals are:

• 145 lbs and/or 23% or less body fat

 

Here’s my plan of attack!  My weekly schedule will look something like this:

• Sunday: long run of 10+ miles, then to the gym where I’ll do the ladder for at least 5-10 minutes.  Then I’ll do lower body exercises.

• Monday: 4-6 mile run (possibly with speedwork like fartleks), ladder, combat fitness exercises (see below), core exercises.

• Tuesday & Wednesday: rest.

• Thursday: sports therapy (RunLab), then a 4-7 mile run.

• Friday: rest.

• Saturday: RunLab for soft tissue treatment, 4-10 mile run, ladder, upper body exercises.

 

That might seem like a lot of rest days, but that’s only because I work 17 hours on those days and literally do not have time for any workouts other than walking on my lunch breaks and doing my best to hit my 12,500 daily step goal.  Then, after the bootcamp starts up on next month, I’ll have my soft tissue appointment at RunLab, then to the gym for bootcamp, then I’ll do the ladder and upper body workout, then I’ll hopefully be able to take a run down the street and back to finish it up. And then, if I can manage to swing buying a 12 session personal training package, I’ll be doing that on Mondays with a run.  I’ll try and schedule that session for 10 so I can run prior to my session as I know I’ll be spent afterward.  I have no doubts that Josh will work me out to my limits.  And in that case, I’ll also move the combat fitness exercises to Sundays, after my long run and then I’ll do a full body workout of strength exercises on Saturdays post-bootcamp session.

 

Then, the only other thing I have to worry about is my eating.  That’s the main thing, really.  They say that bodies are made and/or broken in the kitchen.  So I really have to do my absolute best to succeed at keeping my caloric intake under serious control.  I know I can do it.  I did it this summer…easily.  I just need to simplify everything so I have no excuses.  The rotisserie chickens worked really, really well for me and I really liked them.  they were super easy.  I love the Chobani Flips Greek yogurts.  I love the ease of having pre-boiled (yea, I’m lazy like that) eggs for my breakfasts.  And I love sweet potatoes.  And I love apples and the Skinny Pop popcorn is a great way to snack for a while without taking in a ridiculous amount of calories.

 

Something that will help me achieve my goal of eating better and more simply is that I’m going to do a frugality challenge after the first of the year.  In January I’ll track and log ALL of my purchases and expenditures, divide them into mandatory, cost of living expenses and discretionary, not necessary expenses.  This will help me come February when I cut out at least 75% of my discretionary expenses.  I’m not going to get rid of cable at this point.  My plan is to get rid of it when I move and just get better internet.  But I can pretty much cut out all other non-necessary expenses.  So, I will set a limit of 1 INKnBURN purchase a month and 1 meal out a month.  Plus I want to start price shopping.  I’ll make my grocery list a week ahead of time and when I’m shopping for one week of groceries, I’ll check prices on what I want to buy the following week at different places, including the Amazon Pantry, and buy from wherever is cheapest. 

 

So, there you have it, my grand plans for the next 5 months.  Sure they’re aggressive, but they’re also totally doable.  After I’ve reached my goal, I can back off a little bit for the maintenance phase, but I don’t want to lose my focus again.