COVID Was An Excuse For Me To Get Lazy - Time to Reduce

I hate excuses. They shut our corporate gym down and since I didn't get to do what I wanted, I decided to not do what I needed to.

But....I know the drill.

I don't know how much I weigh today. I'll get a starting weight later, but I do know how my clothes fit and what my body fat looks like. And it doesn't look or function the way it did a year ago. Since I like to lift, I'll use the following to get where I want to go (in order of importance):

1. Calorie deficit 300-700 per day target (maybe a little higher for the first couple of weeks) - heavy on protein, carbs/fat wherever they fall
2. Strength training 3x per week - ease in, but with progressive overload in mind
3. Enough cardio to cover work capacity in strength training.



80% of my (return) to where I need to be will be in kitchen. 20% will be strength supported by enough cardio.

Posting here for posterity - and to be accountable - at least to me.

Having successfully done this before I know a few things:

1. The only thing that will reduce fat is calorie deficit.
2. The only thing that will preserve muscle is strength training (with an adequate amount of protein).
3. My bathroom scale numbers will fluctuate exactly as they always have and I will not trust the number it gives.
4. My kitchen scale numbers do not lie and I will trust them.
5. I will allot space for a couple of cookies or so every day on average.


Glad to be back.