Six days and 5 nights in paradise might seem a short time, but it’s enough time to undo a lot of hard work.
On July 20, I weighed in at my doctor’s office at the lowest I’ve ever been: 135! And they were using the same scale I used at the gym, a professional grade Health-O-Meter. The nurse remarked that the weight loss was a great achievement. Of course, it was no small feat, given that I was required to fast for at least 12 hours for a blood sugar test.
In retrospect, 12 hour fasts are common in my schedule. With the exception of coffee in the mornings, I don’t generally eat my lunch until 1-2pm. My last meal in the evening usually occurs around 8pm at the very latest.
Fast forward to the Hawaii vacation, access to all my favorite Asian foods and –wham– an easy 8-10lbs regained (back to 145lbs on the night I came home). But some of those pounds dropped easily within the next few days, putting me back on the 140 line.
Some of the vacation photos I took are a really eye-opener though. 30% body fat on a 5’3″ frame just isn’t very flattering…and I actually purchased a new bikini set during the trip. There were soooooo many “beautiful” people on the island, I just didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. Again. Ugh is for ughhhhleeee!
Ok, so enough self-reproach. I’m launching a 4 week challenge to myself (inspired by NerdFitness’ current 6-week challenge) with some very specific goals to achieve:
1) Eat paleo/primal for a 4-week stretch (the longest I’ve done is 2 weeks straight) . On those days that willpower weakens, achieve at least 70% primal eating.
2) Eat at goal 1300 cals (net) a day for 6 days a week (I can do 5 days straight, but break on the 6th–so time to push the envelope). Realistically, I should feed my body more during strength training days–but with the idea of keeping the goal in sight.
3) Push-ups: 100 pushups a day for 4 weeks. Everyday. For the last 19 months, I have not gained the upper body strength that I desired. Time to shut up and do the work.
4) Strength training: lift weights on my dinky/ghetto barbell set, even if I never add another plate, for 4 days out of the week. I might shop for a kettlebell on this one.
I had planned on starting this yesterday on 8/12. I was off to a great start until today–ice cream ruined me (and I was actually craving bread pudding) and no gym class today.
The game starts tomorrow. Let’s see how we play.
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