6-month plan and milestone-goals along the way:

73CL350

First, I am here for Friends, Advice, Motivation, and Support... So thank you anyone who reads and double thanks to anyone who comments. Constructive criticism is also welcome.

Small background:
Height: 5' 8"
SW: 186.3
GW: ~149 (goal is body fat 12.5%)

I’ve had huge fluctuations in weight, and have trouble sticking to a diet once fall hits. 2 years ago I got down to 17% bodyfat, and then let it all go and gained 40 lbs. I have also historically been a daily drinker. I had a 6-8 beer a day habit until October first when I quit cold turkey. What I need is a huge motivator… a huge “grand prize” to think about when I need motivation. So I have set three huge benchmarks for over this winter:
1) No Alcohol for 6 months
2) No out to eat lunches for 6 months
3) Be 12.5% bodyfat by April 1.
It’s a massive undertaking… but I think if I do this I will go into April 1 ready to slow-bulk; and summer is always the easy time for me to diet and exercise.

The grand prize? A new motorcycle! I love my old 1973 Honda; but it’s well past its prime and I spend more time repairing it than I do riding it.

For me, cico with high fat and moderate to low carb works for me. Hit that calories goal every day…but an undertaking of this size will take so much more than that.

April 1 is a long way away and the goals seem unachievable … so I have broken this up into monthly goals and here they are:

October – Kick the alcohol habit.
November – Establish a workout routine
December – Just be good about cico, every day (holidays and all, bit of a rest here).
January – Recomp month. Lift heavy… stay in caloric restriction (calorie limit to be determined based on Jan 1 projections).
February – intermittent fasting as much as possible. Would like to do several 48 hour fasts this month...considering fasting every Saturday and Sunday.
March – flexible based on where I am at the end of February. I am reserving all of march for makeup time. It might be a VERY hungry month. If it goes well, it may be “keep lifting and eat well”. It’s a moving target this far out.

I plan to keep this thread as the “me” thread and will keep people in the loop as progress and stumbles happen.

Moderators: If this is not allowed in M&S, let me know and move it.

73CL350

Today is day Ten, and here are my victories and shortcomings.

Victories:
#1 Ten days alcohol free. Double Digits, Yay! consensus on Sober Squad is the tenth day is the worst, so let’s hope I’m cresting the hump. Every day is still hard.
#2 I’m down 5 lbs.
#3 I bought and am using a food scale ! Zero out to eat lunches

Shortcomings:
#1 I really thought I’d lose more than 5 lbs seeing as how much water weight most people lose early on.
#2 Instead of alcohol I’ve been drinking juice. Several days over 100 grams of carbs, and usually juice is half my daily carb intake
#3 very few workouts, and when I do, low strength, no stamina. I’m not worrying too much about this just yet. Tackle each problem one at a time.

Colleen_1168

The safe suggested weight lose is 1 - 2 lbs a week so you are right on point! I had a long feeling sorry for myself talk with my trainer on this subject so believe me lol! I would suggest that you add water (I'm supposed to drink 80 oz a day) and subtract the juice except for small quantities. This helped me a lot. Keep up the good work!

73CL350

@Colleen_1168 ... thanks for stopping in! It's like I know I should drink water but I want something strong tasting.

I just found this monk-fruit sugar substitute and have been making lemonades with it and its zero calories and amazing! Im usually very sensitive to the fake taste of sugar substitutes and this one i really cant tell at all. Yesterday I only had 38g of carbs !

I'm thinking coolaide with monk-fruit sugar may be my saving grace!

bvff35

I like your plan and goals! Keep up the great work! I have a 6 month plan but not as detailed as yours. Mine plan is a work in progress. Congratulations on your efforts! It isn't always easy

73CL350

@bvff35 ... what are your goals ? Do you have a specific diet you follow ? Thanks for stopping in!

bvff35

@73CL350 My short term goals for right now is just moving more and eating healthier. By 6 months from now, I would like to lose 35 pounds, still be eating healthy 90% of the time, and be able to jog (even very slowly) 5k without feeling like I'm about to die. Yeah, that's how out of shape I am right now, unfortunately.

elisa123gal

I realize extremes get us to goals..but then when the pendulum swings back..it isn't good. When it comes to my diet and drinking I am really working on balance right now. I don't want to "have" to quit drinking or go on a strict reduction again.

I too quit drinking last January when I started my journey. Now I only drink on the weekends and take weekdays off. It isn't just a weight thing..but a keep your liver healthy thing too. Same with my weight.. I am making the decisions I must to keep from regaining. I regained a bit this summer and had to do the hard work to get that 5 or so pounds off before I totally blew it.

Now that I'm at maintenance, I focus on balance..no extremes. and it is work just like weight loss to change my default buttons that were all-in or all-out when it came to food and alcohol.

Good luck as you work on what works for you.

73CL350

bvff35 wrote: »

@73CL350 My short term goals for right now is just moving more and eating healthier. By 6 months from now, I would like to lose 35 pounds, still be eating healthy 90% of the time, and be able to jog (even very slowly) 5k without feeling like I'm about to die. Yeah, that's how out of shape I am right now, unfortunately.

Well we are both trying to lose the same amount of weight! I wouldn't wait much longer before hitting it hard ... that's already a pace of 1.75 lbs a week, and you have to account for the holidays which are bound to make eat less a struggle for all of us.

Jogging a 5k is no joke! Are you doing any training as of right now ?

73CL350

@elisa123gal Thanks for coming by!

... yeah I know the extremes are unsustainable. I'm hoping after this 6 months I will be ready to eat maintenance calories and do lifting etc just as everyone is ramping up for "summer bod". Having a huge grand prize at the end also helps to focus on. "Do you want that hamburger... or a better motorcycle?"

I'm also not trying to quit alcohol forever, but thought the cleanse would reset my habits so I could enjoy a few beer with friends eventually, but re-classify it as a treat not an every day thing.

steveko89

Hey @73CL350! Overall, I think you've got a pretty solid plan, good on you committing to making positive changes.

Two pieces of advice I feel compelled to share:
- The wiki for the dedicated fitness subreddit (r/fitness) is a treasure trove of well-curated, concise information on lifting and nutrition. I highly recommend checking out the "recommended routines" page there when the time comes where you want to take up more exercise. Getting into lifting was the best decision I ever made as far as getting to my physique goals and I wish I'd stumbled onto this subreddit as a resource sooner.
- I don't necessarily see anything wrong with your behavioral goals but I suggest focusing on them in the periphery in relation to consistently being in a deficit and exercising. In my experience, when I take care of the big-picture items (calories, accurate logging, and exercising consistently) the minor habits tend to take care of themselves more easily (alcohol consumption, generically "better" food choices, navigating holidays, etc.). Similarly, don't worry yourself too much about carbs, meal-timing, or fasting if you're not nailing those core principles; I know they're very much in-vogue methods and topics but the impacts from them at face value are minimal at best.

73CL350

@steveko89 ...thank you so much for your insight! I will delve into the subreddit this weekend.

To expound on my reasoning a bit:

The alcohol has been a crutch for me for a long time, basically drinking from after work till bed time ever day ... so the quitting and cleanse is my #1 goal as of now. Concurrent to weight loss and physique... maybe even slightly MORE important. It's to prove to myself that I CAN quit... also to save money.

No out to eats is largely a financial decision ... I'm taking the money saved from no alcohol and no out to eats (100$/week) and putting it in my bike fund so come April I'll have a good start on my upgrade.

Staying in the deficit ... is an every day thing. It is the underlying foundation and I do understand that. Maybe it was such a bedrock foundational point that I didnt emphasize it enough ... but yes... all of these sub goals go hand in hand with an e v e r y single day deficit.

Good point about the carbs... my buddy was saying "40grams of carbs? That's not keto!" ... it's like ... no, it's not ... it's a reasonable goal that keeps me full and help ms lose weight". I do like the idea of losing all my water weight just for the encouragement of seeing the scale drop... but i know that fat loss is the goal and for that, I just need a daily deficit.

Eventually I hope to get to the point of "oh, you want chips? Go run a mile." ...but for now I am not eating back excersize calories.

As for physique ... I plan to start a slow bulk and lifting program AFTER all of the above on april 1st.

Thanks again everyone who read and commented. It is very encouraging to have people cheering me on.

steveko89

73CL350 wrote: »

@steveko89 ...thank you so much for your insight! I will delve into the subreddit this weekend.

To expound on my reasoning a bit:

The alcohol has been a crutch for me for a long time, basically drinking from after work till bed time ever day ... so the quitting and cleanse is my #1 goal as of now. Concurrent to weight loss and physique... maybe even slightly MORE important. It's to prove to myself that I CAN quit... also to save money.

No out to eats is largely a financial decision ... I'm taking the money saved from no alcohol and no out to eats (100$/week) and putting it in my bike fund so come April I'll have a good start on my upgrade.

Staying in the deficit ... is an every day thing. It is the underlying foundation and I do understand that. Maybe it was such a bedrock foundational point that I didnt emphasize it enough ... but yes... all of these sub goals go hand in hand with an e v e r y single day deficit.

Good point about the carbs... my buddy was saying "40grams of carbs? That's not keto!" ... it's like ... no, it's not ... it's a reasonable goal that keeps me full and help ms lose weight". I do like the idea of losing all my water weight just for the encouragement of seeing the scale drop... but i know that fat loss is the goal and for that, I just need a daily deficit.

Eventually I hope to get to the point of "oh, you want chips? Go run a mile." ...but for now I am not eating back excersize calories.

As for physique ... I plan to start a slow bulk and lifting program AFTER all of the above on april 1st.

Thanks again everyone who read and commented. It is very encouraging to have people cheering me on.

Good deal, you've definitely got a good mentality then. I totally get the alcohol and lunches out being problematic outside the fundamental weight loss goal; caloric lunch excursions were definitely something with which have had to contend.

As someone who feels they started lifting too late (generally in life, not in the context of weight loss), it's it's something you want to pursue I wouldn't wait until April if you can start now. I've not encountered anyone who's said "man, I wish I'd waiting to start lifting" but have come across plenty who say "why didn't I start this sooner?"

73CL350

^^ good point ... and lifting some weights don't take too long really.

I have a (gym is too strong a word) fitness area in my basement and the cobwebs in it are depressing. I'll have to get it all clean this weekend! Thanks for the motivation.

73CL350

Day 20.

I am down 10.4 lbs and feel confident saying most of my water weight is gone... so the upcoming losses should be mostly fat. Losses will be slow from here forward but it's more targeted so my confidence is high.

Still alcohol free, some working out here and there, not much ... but I'm on track.

Hunger is an issue but I'm getting through

jhilkene

73CL350 wrote: »

Day 20.

I am down 10.4 lbs and feel confident saying most of my water weight is gone... so the upcoming losses should be mostly fat. Losses will be slow from here forward but it's more targeted so my confidence is high.

Still alcohol free, some working out here and there, not much ... but I'm on track.

Hunger is an issue but I'm getting through

Nice job!!
Hope each day gets easier, and you feel better overall.

73CL350

Today is day 30.

Still no alcohol ... I am down 12.0 lbs.

Had some hiccups, a 3 day road trip which was almost all fast food ... and some strong hunger but I'm staying in my goals.

73CL350

i only planned to do 10-day updates ... but i had a huge scale-woosh today and i'm finishing october down 13.8 lbs for the month !~!

november starts tomorrow and phase 2 of the challenge begins ... establishing a workout routine.

steveko89

If you're looking into strength training, r/fitness has a concise list of recommended programs in their wiki https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/recommended_routines

73CL350

Thanks Steve! You've been a wealth of resources all along this journey!

steveko89

You got it, man! HMU if you want ever want to chat or bounce ideas around.