The Plan

Yesterday I discussed my history... how I got to where I am today. Now, it's time to think about how I'm going to dig myself out of this hole that I've been digging for the last decade.

There's several things that need to happen for any diet to work for me:
1. It can't be a "diet"
2. It needs to be flexible.
3. I need to be able to eat no matter what situation I find myself in
4. Exercise will be the primary focus of whatever plan I go with.

Lets start with "It can't be a Diet". The second I hear the word "Diet" I start to cringe. Immediately my mind goes into overload with the idea that I'm "giving something up". I'm the kind of person that once something isn't available to me, I want it more than ever! When I was on Weight Watchers, I wanted burgers and fries more than anything else. When I was on Atkins, anything bread or starchy immedately became the most important things in my life... "Who needs to diet, just gimme some toast!". The new diet needs to be able to let me eat pretty much whatever I want. Burgers, Fries, Junk Food... whatever! There's going to be ONE exception to this rule: No Soda. Yes, I have to give up soda. For one, it's pure empty calories. If I stand any chance of getting my body under control, the soda HAS to be the one thing to go. It will be replaced by heavy amounts of water and tea, and a coffee every once in a while for a caffine boost.

Whatever I do, it needs to be flexible. Just like I mentioned above, I need to be able to eat pretty much anything. When I get a craving for McDonalds, I can't deny myself the wonder of McDonalds burgers. The more I do that, the more I'm going to fight myself, and that's just a losing battle altogether. If I want McDonalds, well by golly, I'm going to get me some McDonalds! The issue isn't what I get. The issue is just how much of it do I consume. This ties into my 3rd point: I need to be able to eat in whatever situation I find myself in. When I'm at work, my team has a tendency to want to go out for lunch... pretty much every day. I need to be able to do that, and still stay with the program. If we go to Fuddruckers, I need to be able to get something that I like, but still keep it within the parameters of the plan. Taking the advice of a friend of mine, the solution is relatively simple and elegant. Eat 1/2. Some places, this is pretty easy to do. At McDonalds, I won't get the 2 Big Macs, large Fry and large soda. Instead, maybe a single Big Mac, small fry, and water or ice tea. Immediately, my caloric intake has been reduced well below half of what it was to begin with. Places where I can't reduce the size of the meal that I order, I'll just eat half the portion. Lets say I go into a mexican restaurant and order my usual. I'll just eat 1/2 of all the items on my plate, then take the rest home for later, or perhaps just let them take it away. If I can stick with it, this would seriously reduce my caloric intake, though I'm not sure if it will bring it to weight loss levels given my current level of activity.

That is why I need to incorporate exercise into whatever plan I come up with. Over the years, I've let myself go. My muscle mass is pretty much dilapidated, and my metabolism is shot. In order to have any success with whatever plan I go with, both will have to be amped up quite a bit in order to have any affect. Currently, I'm looking to incorporate an hour a day minimum towards working out and exercise. I'm looking to get in a mixture of cardio, weight training, and calisthenics. The cardio and weight training, I should have no problem with, as long as I can keep myself entertained... music and TV will do that. I'm hoping by incorporating calisthenics into my exercise plan, it will also help to build on my flexibility, as well as working muscles that probably wouldn't be reached by my standard cardio and weight training regiments.
I've never been able to do sit-ups, push-ups, or any type of calisthenics very effectively, so I'm hoping by really working at that, I'll be able to push myself in ways I haven't been able to do so before.

By following this plan, I think I've got a good shot at knocking this out of the park. Now, mind you, the plan is NOT set in stone. This is a growing and changing plan, that can be modified and adapted at any point. If I see something isn't working, I'll work to see what I can change to make things more effective. One thing that will definately change is the work out frequency and length, which I hope to increase as time goes on. This is just the "starter plan" that I've devised in order to kick start the entire regiment.