I’m annoyed with myself that I’m back at this point. I was at my goal weight, and I found myself at the point where the mind balks at the thought of doing this routine, this meal plan, this deprivation forever. I just gave up.
So, I’m determined to make it stick this time. I’m using My Fitness Pal to track my food choices but my caloric limit is 1600, so hardly deprivation. The purpose of tracking my calories is just to make sure I’m eating enough to maintain my muscle mass, not to restrict, otherwise I find I’m not getting enough protein and I’m too low on calories. The main method I’m using to control the amount I eat is through time. I’m eating inside an 8 hour window, and no snacking after 8pm (this is my weakness, especially when I’m tired).
I will be using the Body-for-Life Training System, which is Cardio 3x per week for 20 minutes (21 minutes) using HIIT, and Resistance Training 3x per week. Here is what this will look like.
Resistance Training:
Alternating Upper Body with Lower Body on a weekly basis, so one week Upper, Lower Upper. The next week Lower, Upper and Lower. This technique uses a personal difficulty scale of 1-10.
*EL is an abbreviation for Effort Level.
EL 6 (12 Reps).
EL 7 (10 reps)
EL 8 (8 reps)
EL 9 (6 reps)
Go down in weight to what was used for EL 8. Do 12 Reps.
Immediately switch to EL 7 weight and hit the same muscle group with a different exercise (example: bicep curls to hammer curls). Do 12 reps. Done.
Take a 2 minute break and move on to the next exercise. (Upper body will be chest, back, triceps, biceps and shoulders. Lower body will be glutes, hamstrings, calves, quads and abs.)
Cardio:
This system has only 20 minutes of cardio (HIIT) 3 days per week, starting at 2 minutes of warmup (should feel like an effort level of 5 out of a maximum of 10), then effort level 6 (1 minute), 7 (1 minute), 8 (1 minute), and 9 (1 minute). Return to level 6 for 1 minute of active recovery. Do this cycle 4 times (excluding the 2 minute warmup). For the last cycle, when you complete level 9, instead of dropping down to level 6, you go all out to an effort level of 10 (maximum effort) for 1 minute. On the stationary bike, this sequence is easily achieved with the difficulty settings. This sequence will also easily accommodate swimming and walking/running.
I’m going to pick up meditation again. I used to do it everyday for 30 minutes and I loved it. Why did I give it up?
I will also be aiming to drink around 64 oz of water per day.
I’m going to write down all my stats and take before and after pics. I’ll share them here when I reach my goal. I’m going to write a blog post per week on my progress to keep myself accountable.
If you’re trying this too, I wish you success and great results!