I've formulated a plan and that, my dears....is what you call a start!

I think it's about time that I formulate a visible plan instead of wingin' it. I think that I do my best when I have a plan, as simple as it may sound. Over the summer, when I managed to lose 20 lbs. I was doing cardio and a weight training video. I didn't change my diet any but because it was summer, I'm sure that I ate a bit healthier and drank a lot more water.

Now I'm basically doing cardio. On the rare occasion that I do weights, I find myself meandering around the gym haphazardly trying out machines with no set reps, weight, or body part in mind. I figured it was about time to put something together to give me some sense of order so without further adieu......

The Plan

keep In mind that I am "baby steppin'" ( as Scale Junkie says)

►             Nutrition

First, I need to get in the habit of tracking my food intake. Since I am taking baby steps this go-round, I will try to track my meals for at least 2 days per week. I'll start off tracking what I normally eat for 2 days just to get an idea of how many calories I'm actually eating and from there, I'll try to keep the calories at 1549 or below. No, I didn't just pull that number out of my azz, I'm sure that I remember that as my allotted daily caloric intake from one of the programs that I was using.

I am also going to incorporate more fruits and veggies into my diet. Currently, I tend to stick with broccoli, spinach and sometimes Kale for my vegetables and aside from an occasional pear, blackberries have been my "fruit" of choice. I tend to go through phases with my fruit, for a while it was grapefruit, then oranges now blackberries. Of course seasonal changes facilitate some of my fruit swings but it's mostly my finickiness. Once I have this mastered, I will re-evaluate and update.

►             Water Intake

As far as my water intake goes, I drink "non-water" items so rarely that I really don't feel the need to cut them out. I may have tea, Powerade, Gatorade, or Vitamin Water but I don't drink them nearly enough for them to be a hindrance to my weight loss endeavors. I do need to "up" my water intake though so I will make sure that I am drinking a minimum of 64 OZ. of water a day and possibly more. I find that I don't drink nearly enough of anything during the winter. I just don't find myself as thirsty...anyway, I plan to drink so much water that I may have to take up residency in the bathroom or at the very least, invest in some Depends.

►            Cardio

I think that it is safe to say that I hate cardio. I'll do it because it needs to be done but I won't like it..with the exception of Zumba.

I have had the DVDs forever before I used them for the first time and I actually found myself smiling throughout the entire workout. Now, that I'm attending actual classes, I love it even more. I'm just a fan of Dancing in general. Hip Hop Abs, Rockin Body...I love it all.

My gym offers Zumba classes Mon, Tues, Wed, and Saturday so I have plenty of chances to attend. I think I will shoot for 3 days a week with the Zumba and on the 'off' cardio days, I will do some form of light activity like stretching( which I also don't do as often as I should) or maybe even yoga. I am so not flexible so I don't know how successful I'll be with Yoga but if the yoga in P90X is any indicator, I'm going to need lots of work.

• Mon,Wed, Sat -Zumba
• Tues- stretching
• Thursday-Yoga/pilates vids

►            Strength Training

I absolutely love strength training which is why I'm having a hard time understanding why I haven't picked up a weight in lawd knows when. I have told myself, too many times to count, that I need to get back to weight lifting. I have just about every Beachbody workout there is, Cathe Friedrich, Billy Blanks, Jillian Michaels..you name it, all just sitting around collecting dust! There is absolutely no reason for me not to get back to lifting other than sheer laziness. When I go to the gym, if I'm not doing Zumba, I'm on the treadmill or elliptical or Precor machine or something, which makes no sense considering the fact that I HATE cardio.

My lack of a plan is what is holding me back. I need to know what I am doing. When I tried BFL(Body FOR LIFE) Every Tuesday and Thursday were weight days. Upper body one day, lower the other day. 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6 reps. I enjoyed that plan so I think I'll stick with the twice a week strength training. I'll probably go with Cathe STS or Skogg Kettlebells this time.

►            Progress

I guess, I should take my weight and measurements...UUUGH...so I'll have something to gauge my progress by. I may even take a "before" photo and update it monthly although the chances of it making it on the blog are slim to none.

When I lost 20 lbs, I had a pair of jeans that I used to track my progress and that worked pretty well. I managed to get into them comfortably but now, I probably can't get a thigh in them. lol As for the scale, we have a love/hate relationship. When it shows a loss...it's all love but when it doesn't move...it's on and poppin'! I can't cut the scale out as much as I want to because Diet Power (the food tracking program that I will be using) requires a daily weigh-in. Anyway, that is the plan. feel free to add any suggestions.

Posted in: Planning