A renewed sense of urgency and excitement to get things to a healthy place. A dread about what will happen if I'm not where I want to be. Thinking, "Am I satisfied with where I am?"
I bet many of you have felt the same way when you approach a milestone age like 30. I've always been a bit of a forward thinker and I'm already thinking about my 30th birthday in December and what that will mean. For one thing, in turning 30, I'm saying goodbye to my twenties and its faster metabolism. For another, I'm saying hello to health being harder to maintain. I want to start out a new decade in my life fresh and satisfied with my soul and body.
I've been blessed to have had many life-changing events occur in the last year: graduating from seminary, starting a new job, and most importantly getting married to my love. They were a blessing and the fruition of work and prayer of many years. At the same time as being a blessing, those life events took their toll. All were stressful, took a lot of time out, and led me to be less healthy in the short term. I didn't make time to exercise. I overate. I prioritized getting through that time over stressing myself even more by adding in fitness to the mix. But now with things a lot more settled, I feel the need to seize the day and be proactive in my health. I'm not super unhealthy according to American standards, but I'm not satisfied with my weight, eating habits, and activity level.
To give you a picture, in the last 5 years, I've gained about 20 pounds. So about 4 pounds a year averaged (though really I've maintained the same weight the last year at least, but ballooned a lot when I came back from living overseas). Think about if I continue gaining the same amount each year? I will be more and more unhealthy and not as able to be there for my family. The older I get, the harder it will be to lose this weight and the easier it will be to have weight-related maladies.
So what to do?
I'm challenging myself to lose and maintain the loss of 20 pounds by my birthday in December. That's 7 months from today, so with well enough time to lose it healthily and also learn to eat and exercise more healthily to maintain that weight. Making a challenge like that will I don't want to fail and like seeing how far I can stretch myself. And if I do better and even lose 10 pounds more magically, then that's great!
So I've devised this challenge for myself. And am putting it out there so I don't just quietly give up. I know it will not be easy. And I will need to change my relationship with food - not overeating for comfort. And I will need to reacquaint myself with regular exercise - not overexerting myself so that I fail before I get too far, but not being inconsistent either.
But a goal without a plan will not necessarily work. Here's my plan to accomplish that goal. It may be modified:
- Eating:
- This week I plan on easing into eating small meals with no dessert except on my cheat day
- After this week for a few weeks, I plan to do the Military Diet with Glenn. Basically, half the week, you eat an extremely restricted calorie count, and the other half, you eat a less restricted diet, but still less than your normal calorie count. This is to kick-start the weight loss, but is not a long-term plan for maintaining a good weight
- I will use Calories In Calories Out (CICO) - eating less calories than I am expending
- I will gather data on calories eaten through the Samsung Health App
- Exercise:
- I will be active at least 30 minutes everyday
- I will work out at least 3 times a week
- I will gather data on exercise through the Samsung Health App
- Accountability:
- I'll update here at least once a week on Mondays on progress, but also other occasions
Wish me luck! Anyone else want to join in? Any recommendations or tips on healthy weight loss?
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