The Plan

The day of my first weigh-in, I will be meeting with a personal trainer to make a plan for the 90 days. There will be discounts available if I want to utilize a personal trainer and/or a nutritionist for the whole challenge as well. I am not convinced I need these things--what I need is commitment and consistency. Ask any chronically overweight person, and I guarantee you they know WHAT to do; they just have trouble maintaining the motivation to actually DO it. I have a plan, though I am flexible and very open to input from the trainer when I meet him/her.

Nutrition: Over the past dozen years, I have read more about nutrition than just about anyone I know. I believe I know how to create a healthy and sustainable diet, both for weight loss and for maintenance. I know that there is a mindset to treating food as body fuel and still getting pleasure from the acts of cooking and eating. I will begin with elimination, then proceed with an additive eating agenda.

• Throughout the challenge: No potatoes and no deep fried foods, period, ever. Avoid refined sugars and carbs. Avoid fatty cuts of meat and too much dairy fat. Shoot for 5+ servings of fruits and vegetables per day, always.
• Weeks 1 and 2: Eliminate all sugars and carbs from my diet and eat a combination of lean proteins and low-sugar vegetables. This means no fruit, no natural or refined sugars, no grains, no potatoes, and no high-sugar vegetables like peas, carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, or corn. No booze. It's only for two weeks (you can do anything for 2 weeks!) to reset my blood sugar levels, reduce sugar cravings, and jump start the weight loss. This is essentially phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, though I can't get behind that diet's use of artificial sweeteners--YUCK!
• Week 3 - the end of the challenge: Add limited whole grains, lower sugar fruits (no high sugar tropical fruits like mango, papaya, and pineapple), and all vegetables to my diet. Stay limited on sugars, and only allow natural sugars into the diet (honey, turbinado sugar). Continue to avoid fatty meats, refined carbs, etc. Limited red wine is ok, but I'll keep that to weekends. This is essentially how I should be eating all the time, and how I want eat in general.
• Notes: 
• Cooking is essential to success. It's very hard to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight while eating out or eating processed foods all the time.
• This doesn't mean I plan to go 90 days without ever eating in a restaurant. However, it does mean that I need to take care when eating out to make smart choices.
• I know that supplements are currently all the rage in fitness circles, but they are not for me. I believe I can get what I need from whole food, close-to-the-ground eating. 
• Sodas are gross and not a temptation for me, so no need to cut those out. That's huge for a lot of people, and I am lucky that I don't like them to begin with.

Exercise: I know that I need a combination of cardio, resistance, and core training. I also need to be very careful with both my right foot and with my left knee. I am planning to combine in-gym and out-of-gym experiences to make the most of what time I can carve into my schedule to work out. Here's what I want my week to look like:

• Every day: Walk a minimum of 30 minutes. This will happen at a variety of times, depending on weather, work schedules, etc. I prefer to walk outside if I possibly can, but I'll do whatever I have to do to make it happen. I really want to try to hit that 10,000 mark on my fitbit if i can do it!
• Sunday: Sundays are already family gym day. We go to the Cary gym in the morning, check the kids into the kid center while Jason and I work out. I am doing a combination of stretching, light weights, body weight exercises, and calisthenics. It takes about an hour. Then we go for a hike/walk/scooter ride as a family in one of the local parks--we are exceedingly lucky to live in an area where we have so many lovely wooded walks from which to choose!
• Monday: Off except for regular daily activities.
• Tuesday: 5:45am Barbell Strength class at the Apex gym. Tuesday is also weigh-in days, so I need to see what that entails.
• Wednesday: 8:00pm Zumba class at the Cary gym.
• Thursday: 5:45am Barbell Strength class at the Apex gym.
• Friday: 5:00pm Zumba class at the Apex gym.
• Saturday: Something fun and active with the kids--activities on Saturday will vary.
• Notes:
• 30 Day Fitness Challenges: I really like the idea of getting through 3 of the challenges from this site during this overall weight loss challenge. They only take a few minutes, and it's something I can do at home in the evening after the kids are asleep. These are the 3 I will try to do, in this order:
• 30 Day Abs Challenge
• 30 Day Arms Challenge
• 30 Day Little Black Dress Challenge
• Try-It Tuesdays: The overall challenge provides the opportunity to partake of Tuesday classes designed to encourage us to try new classes, classes outside our comfort zones, etc. Those I will keep and eye on and try if they look interesting and, more importantly,  if I can fit them into my already crammed schedule. That's a play-it-by-ear situation.

This sounds like a lot, i know, but the truth is that a) it will take a lot if I am going to make my own goals in just 90 days, b) I already eat pretty healthy and cook a lot--the nutritional plan above is just more focused, and c) the workouts listed should total about 1.5 - 2 hours per day, and not all at once. It should be both possible and maintainable.