New Plan

No weigh-in today (I forgot).

As you can see from my last, oh, seventeen posts, I haven't lost any weight for a while now. This is my 118th post, and I still weigh about 200 pounds, which is what I weighed on my 100th post. This is not good.

So it's time to bring out the big guns again. Time to get fired up, and time to destroy my weigh-ins. There are 4 months left in the year. That's plenty of time to get to my goals if I really want it. And after laying off the workouts and diet for a while, I'm ready. Today is the beginning. I'm going to do what it takes.

What does this entail? Here's the plan:

1) Stick to a strict Zone diet prescription. For me that's 17 blocks per day (with a bit of added fat to round out the calories and allow for increased activity). The Zone diet works, plain and simple, I just have to stick to it religiously for a while.

2) Consistent workouts. I will be sticking with Crossfit, because it's the best way I've found to really get fit. I will get in 4 workouts this week, ramping up to 5 workouts a week for the next 4 weeks (Mon-Tues-Wed-Fri-Sat). Then a low-intensity week, in which I will work out 5 days, but will only do half the workload. After 9 weeks I'll take a week off from doing the Crossfit WODs, but will try to stay active with walking/jogging/swimming/gymnastics movements. Then I will repeat this cycle. I want to maximize my capacity, but also minimize my risk of overtraining and injury.

3) Minimize cheats. I've been letting *way* too much crap food sneak in to my diet, and that stops now. One cheat meal per week, on Friday night, is what I will be allowing myself, if I feel that I need it.

4) Maximize recovery. This means that I need to take the time to listen to my body and take care of it as much as possible. This includes foam rolling, soaking in the jacuzzi, and trips to the chiropractor if my back starts having trouble. I don't want to get sidelined due to a lack of recovery that could be avoided.

5) Reduce alcohol intake. The amount of alcohol I've been drinking lately has definitely taken a toll on my fitness. I've gotten into the habit of having a few drinks almost every night, as a stress reliever. That must stop. I'll need to replace that habit with healthier stress relief.

That's pretty much it. I had hoped I would be at my goal by my 25th birthday, but that didn't happen (Saturday was my birthday), so that's lit a bit of a fire under me. If I can stick to these 5 bullets for the next 4 months I will be at my goal before the end of the year, guaranteed. No more putzing around, it's time to get it done.