Does this plan make sense?

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hipari
hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm jumping back on the bandwagon, so to speak, after letting myself go (again) for the beginning of the year. I struggle with staying consistent for more than a couple of months. My mind seems to think of weight loss and health as a project, but I really want to, and need to, achieve a consistent healthy and active lifestyle.

I'm getting married at the end of August (33 days to go), and my fiancé is also newly committed to health. I've struggled and been focused on wanting to improve myself for several years, he has now woken up to the fact that he isn't getting any younger, weight is starting to creep on etc. Last weekend, he booked us into a sports resort and got us both InBody body composition tests, and we agreed to go back on the second weekend of January and do another round of testing, that's 24 weeks from now.

Height: 173 cm / 5' 8"
Current weight: 100,5 kg / 221 lbs

My goal is averaging a 0.35 kg / 0.77 lb loss per week, which makes 8.4kg by the second weekend of January. For waist measurements, I'm hoping to average just over 0.4cm loss per week (I estimated a higher loss for the first weeks of bloat-losing, and less for holiday season), totaling 10cm for the time period. My fitness goals are to be able to comfortably run a 5K, and to improve with weight training (my trainer is giving me a new program to follow, so I'm looking to increase weights in that). I don't know how to set goals for body fat percentage and visceral fat, but those are something I want to see results on as they affect my health big time.

The thing is, I have a love-hate relationship with my scale and that seems to be the number one thing that turns this into a project in my head, and this isn't a project with an endpoint, this is a change. I also don't really care about how heavy I am, apart from health reasons and how easy it is for me to haul my own *kitten* around, and how easy it is for my fiancé to lift me. I care more about being healthy and physically fit, and looking good. So, the question is, how can I track my progress with something measurable and concrete to make sure I'm staying on track, without triggering that project mentality?

Tracking measurements seems to work for me, and additionally I was thinking of tracking the following habits:
- 400cal deficit 5*week (the other two days would be 250, giving some leeway for parties etc)
- 2500 cal weekly deficit (counting both daily and weekly so I shouldn't end up doing a binge-starve cycle, even though that seems unlikely for me)
- strength or cardio workouts 3*week (at least one of each, more depending on mood, weather etc)
- stretching / foam rolling / yoga 4*week (including both post-workout stretching and mobility work done on its own)
- bedtime at 10.30pm 5*week (to make sure I get enough rest)
- finish food diary every day

I have a Fitbit, which I use to track my burn. In the past, I've tested and checked that my Fitbit and MFP food logs match, ie. I lose what the deficit math says I should. My average burn is around 2500, meaning I'd eat roughly 2100-2200 calories per day. I currently have my MFP goal set on 2000, and divided it for meals per following:
- Breakfast 300
- Lunch 650
- Afternoon snack 250
- Dinner 800

I eat the same thing for breakfast pretty much every day. My fiancé and I do a weekly meal plan for dinners, and I usually go out for lunch with my coworkers. My office has a fruit basket for employees and my afternoon snack usually consists of a piece of fruit at work and then a bowl of yoghurt with granola or a small sandwich right after I get home.

I know this is a long post, but please let me know: does this make sense, both in goal-setting and in the plan for reaching those goals? How do I track this progress without the scale, are measurements and habit tracking enough?

Replies

  • hipari
    hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
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    Thanks for the feedback!

    The point regarding calorie decrease as weight decreases is excellent. I think I've seen a scale at the gym where my PT works, and I see him every other week. I could weigh myself there (I think every two weeks could be a decent interval), but that wouldn't be empty-stomach morning weight since I see him in the afternoons. I have to think about when, where and how to weigh myself at a good interval to make sure my calculations don't go totally off the rails but I don't start obsessing.

    Holidays & parties are precisely the reason I'm planning on following the weekly total deficit as well. Holiday season is, of course, a whole different thing. I'm not too concerned about the honeymoon, as historically I've always lost weight on vacation.

    The calories per meal goal is more of a guideline for myself to see how I could divide calories during the day, and it's easier to see my regular meal rhythm if I do something like go on a brunch where I eat a lot in the morning.

    My falling-off-the-wagon cycle seems to follow pretty much the same outline: 1. for some reason, I skip workouts for a week or two (sick, busy at work, holiday etc) 2. I get stressed and start comfort eating 3. I stay in the rut of comfort eating and not working out, usually even making excuses like "I need more carbs to fuel the workout tomorrow (which ends up being three weeks).
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    hipari wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    hipari wrote: »
    Thanks for the feedback!

    The point regarding calorie decrease as weight decreases is excellent. I think I've seen a scale at the gym where my PT works, and I see him every other week. I could weigh myself there (I think every two weeks could be a decent interval), but that wouldn't be empty-stomach morning weight since I see him in the afternoons. I have to think about when, where and how to weigh myself at a good interval to make sure my calculations don't go totally off the rails but I don't start obsessing.

    Holidays & parties are precisely the reason I'm planning on following the weekly total deficit as well. Holiday season is, of course, a whole different thing. I'm not too concerned about the honeymoon, as historically I've always lost weight on vacation.

    The calories per meal goal is more of a guideline for myself to see how I could divide calories during the day, and it's easier to see my regular meal rhythm if I do something like go on a brunch where I eat a lot in the morning.

    My falling-off-the-wagon cycle seems to follow pretty much the same outline: 1. for some reason, I skip workouts for a week or two (sick, busy at work, holiday etc) 2. I get stressed and start comfort eating 3. I stay in the rut of comfort eating and not working out, usually even making excuses like "I need more carbs to fuel the workout tomorrow (which ends up being three weeks).


    If you want to have a successful plan you have to lose the wagon. You should never have the option to quit. If you deviate for a short time that has to be part of your plan. One of the the worst things I have ever done to my health is plan to start again because it gave me license to keep acting in a way that was contrary to my goals. As soon as I lost my wagon I was able to handle my shortcomings without stopping. If I eat too much one day that is part of my plan because my plan does not require perfection. I log it and move on to the next day. On holidays I eat more food. It is part of my plan so that I don't feel deprived. I log it and move on. That is why I said a lifestyle plan can't be static it has to be dynamic. It has to accept the fluid nature of a life.

    This actually makes a lot of sense. I can’t ”quit” a lifestyle. So, in general, I should be able to average those goals on a weekly, or even monthly level, but not expect every day to be perfect. Thank you for the insight, I really appreciate it. Time to go on a walk/run to digest and internalize it.

    Depends on what you mean by averages. I do look at averages but when it comes to how "good" I need to be I look at in terms of majority vs minority. In order to achieve my goals I need to be working towards them the overwhelming majority of the time. For me that is about 89 percent of the time. Sounds like a high number and it is but it also means that around 6 full weeks of my first year of weight loss was spent NOT losing weight. Most of that was planned in advance some of it was not. I am so much healthier now than I was before and I don't care even a little that I could have lost a little more weight. I am convinced that if I tried to be perfect I would have probably stopped in less than 4 months because that is how long my good weight loss efforts lasted. My not-so-great efforts lasted even less.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    NovusDies wrote: »
    hipari wrote: »
    If you want to have a successful plan you have to lose the wagon. You should never have the option to quit. If you deviate for a short time that has to be part of your plan. One of the the worst things I have ever done to my health is plan to start again because it gave me license to keep acting in a way that was contrary to my goals. As soon as I lost my wagon I was able to handle my shortcomings without stopping. If I eat too much one day that is part of my plan because my plan does not require perfection. I log it and move on to the next day. On holidays I eat more food. It is part of my plan so that I don't feel deprived. I log it and move on. That is why I said a lifestyle plan can't be static it has to be dynamic. It has to accept the fluid nature of a life.

    This is the truth of it all, right here. This and a calorie deficit is all anyone needs to now.

    If the plan can absorb the occasional planned feast, or spontaneous getting sick of the diet and going completely bonkers for a night, it can work well for a long time. If not, it's all going to end the day after the blow-out, because why would you go back to a depriving diet when you can just take another day off?

  • rosiorama
    rosiorama Posts: 300 Member
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    Just chiming in to agree with another poster who said that, if your plan requires you to be perfect, it isn’t a good plan.

    It’s easier said than done to stick with something long term. I think the most important thing to grasp in this weight loss/weight management/ fitness thing is that it’s LIFE LONG. I can get to my target weight. I can, and I’ve done it multiple times. It’s the long term thing after you reach the goal that’s hard. You can plan all you want, but life cunningly gets in the way of our plans. I read your plan, and it looks good in terms of words, but ultimately you have to live it day in and day out.

    This might not be the advice you’re looking for, but it’s the switch from short-term term diet mindset to longterm lifestyle that I continually work on. Good luck!
  • hipari
    hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
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    Thanks for all the feedback! I feel like I was halfway there with the thinking, already building in a couple of smaller-deficit days into my weekly plan. I find it very easy to throw everything off the window if I have no guideline goals to follow (I figure you all know the ”what’s one little bite gonna hurt” thought that easily multiplies itself to last for long periods of time). It’s the multiplying and extending of that thought that I struggle with.

    My plan does not require me to be perfect, it gives me goals to adhere to. As I mentioned in my original post, I’d like to not use my scale as it spins me into an obsessive project completion mode. That applies to anything that involves too much tracking. The other side of this issue is that without enough guidelines, goals and tracking to aim for, I end up repeating the ”nah, I can skip this workout/munch on this snack item/whatever and it won’t really matter in the long run”. Yeah, I know that one particular workout or cookie might not, but repeating that behaviour will. That’s what I struggle with, along with the thought of ”this is a temporary project that I’ll be done with at some point”.

    I’m starting to think the key here might be looking to make those habits I mentioned (deficit, food log, strength, cardio and mobility exercise, and bedtime) actual easy, lifelong habits. The last time I used the habit tracker app with proper internal motivation was to, along other things, cut back on eating meat. I did that successfully, haven’t used the app in 6 months or so, and I still eat a lot less meat (especially red meats) than before I started intentionally cutting meat and tracking the habit.
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 694 Member
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    Regarding your workouts, I find it helpful to have external goals to work towards.
    So I usually have a race or event I'm working for.

    I do well with fitness classes because it isn't negotiable and becomes a fixed habit. Tuesday is yoga night, Wednesday's we play tennis, etc. I do well with a timetable. And of course because they are things I like doing it is a lifestyle, if I miss a day or two because of work it's annoying.

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    hipari wrote: »
    Thanks for all the feedback! I feel like I was halfway there with the thinking, already building in a couple of smaller-deficit days into my weekly plan. I find it very easy to throw everything off the window if I have no guideline goals to follow (I figure you all know the ”what’s one little bite gonna hurt” thought that easily multiplies itself to last for long periods of time). It’s the multiplying and extending of that thought that I struggle with.

    My plan does not require me to be perfect, it gives me goals to adhere to. As I mentioned in my original post, I’d like to not use my scale as it spins me into an obsessive project completion mode. That applies to anything that involves too much tracking. The other side of this issue is that without enough guidelines, goals and tracking to aim for, I end up repeating the ”nah, I can skip this workout/munch on this snack item/whatever and it won’t really matter in the long run”. Yeah, I know that one particular workout or cookie might not, but repeating that behaviour will. That’s what I struggle with, along with the thought of ”this is a temporary project that I’ll be done with at some point”.

    I’m starting to think the key here might be looking to make those habits I mentioned (deficit, food log, strength, cardio and mobility exercise, and bedtime) actual easy, lifelong habits. The last time I used the habit tracker app with proper internal motivation was to, along other things, cut back on eating meat. I did that successfully, haven’t used the app in 6 months or so, and I still eat a lot less meat (especially red meats) than before I started intentionally cutting meat and tracking the habit.

    Easy is the best plan, imo. Learning how to manage yourself is vital too. I suffered a lot of failure by mismanaging me. You are on the right track. You were with your opening post too. We see a lot of people come through with detailed plans so I was just giving you my life is the plan not plan the life spill. I came up with really detailed plans in the past but I got too married to them and then when I deviated I considered it an immediate fail. Plans will have weak spots and we just have to keep adapting them.

    I have found that I also work best within a limit. I view most things in relation to maintenance and deficit calories. There are days I eat maintenance for special occasions or just because I needed to but that was my limit. If I wanted to go over I set the limit at maintenance plus a half. If I wanted to go a under I would look at it as a half deficit day. In this way I always had some form of calorie goal in mind. I have only deviated from this system one time in which I planned to go a little nuts because I was experiencing some diet fatigue. The deviation worked and my fatigue was resolved which goes to show that the plan that had already worked over a year at the time needed a curve ball in it.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,611 Member
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    I will throw an even bigger curveball to your thinking.

    1950 to 2250 (with a bit of rounding) are the approximate maintenance calories for a lightly active to active person of your height and gender when they weigh well within the healthy weight range.

    "All" you have to do to get there is pretend you're already there... and start and keep eating at your (new) maintenance!

    You're not dieting and going off plan; you're just practicing at maintaining your new weight level! And figuring out a balance of nutritious and for fun foods for you to keep eating over the next 5++ (and not 1 or 2) years.
  • hipari
    hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    I will throw an even bigger curveball to your thinking.

    1950 to 2250 (with a bit of rounding) are the approximate maintenance calories for a lightly active to active person of your height and gender when they weigh well within the healthy weight range.

    "All" you have to do to get there is pretend you're already there... and start and keep eating at your (new) maintenance!

    You're not dieting and going off plan; you're just practicing at maintaining your new weight level! And figuring out a balance of nutritious and for fun foods for you to keep eating over the next 5++ (and not 1 or 2) years.

    Hmm, this is actually pretty genius. Sure, I won’t know what exactly is my maintenance level until I get there (that’s a 300 cal range you presented, which is quite a lot), but that idea takes the ”it’s not a project, it’s life” thinking to a more concrete level.

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,611 Member
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    hipari wrote: »
    Hmm, this is actually pretty genius. Sure, I won’t know what exactly is my maintenance level until I get there (that’s a 300 cal range you presented, which is quite a lot), but that idea takes the ”it’s not a project, it’s life” thinking to a more concrete level.

    And that's the idea. Because you truly realize that you're not "off" and "on" and are not "dieting" and depriving yourself; but are, instead, training yourself to meet your new healthy weight targets and learning (or re-learning as the case may be) what your normal should be.

    As to the range... it will always be a range and slightly inexact (says the guy who calculated/s deficits to 100 Cal a day). People are more or less active at various times and their range changes. But, over a long enough stretch of time, consistency in logging and averages work out fine to predict changes to one's weight trend. And in terms of activity, a lot of people as they lose weight do become more active. So even if sedentary today, envisioning an active maintenance is not an impossible stretch.
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
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    I just recently decided not to weigh myself (maybe ever). My scale was hidden from me somewhere in the house because it also plays with my mental thoughts and can get me binging. How about using a pair of jeans or a dress that is snug/tight. You can try them on every month and see if they feel better. Then you will have known if you lost weight.

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