My 30-day goal kicked off on January 10 and ran through February 8. Starting weight was 168 lbs, and my target weight was 158 lbs. I was not concerned with BMI, BMR, lean muscle mass, or the size of my waist – my goal was simply to drop 10 pounds with a balanced diet including (2) SmashPacks a day and 30 minutes/day of bodyweight exercises, daily walks or bike rides, and a few short runs per week - How'd I do?
the entire 30-day SmashPlan has been fun and relatively easy overall; every day I have enjoyed the convenience of grabbing a SmashPack pouch no matter where I'm headed. Breakfast has been on autopilot for the past month, I don't need to think about what I should eat, and there's been no reason to grab a muffin or breakfast sandwich at a drive thru when I have a nutritious meal right there in my cupholder.
I've been talking about running streaks a lot lately, and for me, it has been an eye-opening experience for the past couple weeks to have one singular and simple goal that needs to be completed each day; running one mile. For a week or a month it may not be a big deal, but when stretched to a year - or the longest streak ever at 52 years set by Ron Hill, it can become daunting.
I knew one day I would wake up and be closer to 50 than I was 40, and even as my 46th anniversary of getting my newborn butt slapped like Cher playing tambourine passed today, it really didn't bother me that much at all. While age *is* just a number, an aging body knows what it's like for Father Time to beat your butt - well, like that whole Cher analogy in the first sentence. Circle of life baby, Hakuna Matata.
Each day has become a little easier and the resulting change in my physique has me pretty psyched - belly is flatter, man-boobs are way less perky, my jeans fit better (it's pretty damn cold in AZ right now), and I can wear a SMedium t-shirt without looking like I'm in a sausage casing.
Speaking of "SmashPlan" this weekend I managed to smash my head into a few other players diving for a ball playing goalie, and in-turn messed up my left shoulder. Instead of letting that sidetrack me, I'm pivoting... and going streaking!
Starting over is never easy, but once you find that spark of energy - that motivational drive to make it happen - you're on the right track to reach your goals. Day 1 was a breeze, and I find myself falling back into my old, healthy, habits once again.
My SmashPlan Fitness program is designed to be very, very simple. 400 calories/day from additional exercise isn't a huge hill to climb, and about 60 minutes of nearly any moderate activity is more than enough to hit that mark. And once again, I'm creating the SmashPlan Fitness portion to meet my goals and work to my strengths; I personally like bodyweight exercises and running, and live in a community where I can get out and ride my bike or hop on the treadmill
30 Days - 10 Pounds. I'll be focused on calories and protein, not overly concerned with carbs, macros, timing, etc. The key word is simple. As you can see by the final numbers in this nutritional plan, this is a reduced calorie "diet" for 30 days. The food options are light on calories, and you can see by the meal choices I'm not starving myself by crash-dieting, I'm choosing healthy, low-calorie options and sensible portions of things I actually like to eat.
168 is my new 208. I'm using "fat" as a relative term; while I've never been anything but an OK athlete, I used to be considerably heavier than I am today. The guy who was steadily approaching 210 pounds, smoked up to 2 packs of cigarettes a day, and couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without catching his breath was exorcised in 2001 when I'd had enough and dropped 60 pounds. Since then, I've had my "hey, let's run a marathon this weekend" weight of around 148 lbs. and my "it's off-season, so a cheeseburger is OK" weight of 155-159 lbs.
