I feel like I was very ambitious in setting out to improve my health (both diet and exercise), in that I didn’t achieve all my goals, but I did make progress.  That’s actually very good!  If I hadn’t been ambitious I wouldn’t have pushed myself, but also I have to recognize that progress is still progress, and that not fully succeeding is not the same thing as failure.

Now that the new normal is less sodium, no processed sugar (except for ice cream) and more successful dinners (I’m getting the hang of lentil soup, water-packed tofu and tilapia!) it’s probably coming up on time to make another round of improvements.  My weight has dropped only very slowly (also my scale isn’t very accurate but it’s consistent, which suggests I’ve lost about 15 pounds since I started in June) and I know a lot of that has to do with food choices, so I think another round of improvements is on the horizon.  The original goal was to reduce both sugar and sodium, which only the former had much success, so maybe a new round of restructuring is called for.  But soy sauce is so tastyyyyyyy.  Oh well.  Here I will do this in two parts: the diet aspect and the exercise aspect.

The diet aspect (“diet” meaning food, not going on a diet.  The goal is to make the new normal)

• The “Body for Life” program, at least what I can see on the internet, has a lot of aspects in common with my plans.  Once the Soylent comes in I want to give that a try, especially since I can’t seem to eat healthy lunches (dinners are much easier)
• One cheat day per week seems good.  I’ve had more success than I expected in cutting sugar (not counting ice cream) so that will continue, and the goal is to cut sodium completely except on cheat day.  Right now 100% is the cutoff for “OK”, perhaps soon I should move it to 75% as OK.  I can always cook with less soy sauce!  Measuring it out seems to be working also.
• Needing food in a rush seems to be the #1 reason I end up getting Chipotle or Subway (not bad, since that’s more fixable than just being tired).  Can still eat those on cheat days of course, since avoiding starvation mode is good, but better planning can eliminate eating them on other days (need to make Sunday lunches before Exalted that can just be microwaved… or else make Sunday the cheat day?)

The exercise aspect (again, the goal is sustainability)

• Working backwards: The goals of exercise are:
  • Increased bone density
  • Increased stamina
  • Athleticism
  • Martial ability
  • Beach body
• This means a complete exercise regimen should have:
  • Bone density: strength training (currently lacking except for 7-min workout)
  • Stamina: Cardio work (currently lacking, DDR contributes some)
  • Athleticism: HIIT (Quidditch, DDR, Kinect and 7-min workout contribute, this seems to be my current plan’s focus)
  • Martial ability: Martial arts (aikido!, also having a punching bag would be great)
  • Beach body really has more to do with diet, but in general this is also attainable through a sustainable routine and more strength training (getting overworked on Mon/Wed is a serious problem for this, since they are as tiring as workouts but don’t give the same benefits)
• Aikido isn’t really very heavy on conditioning, and ingress basically turns into a relaxing walk, but they have their purposes so I won’t abandon them.  It’s more a matter of making a more efficient use of time.
• I have been procrastinating on getting a gym membership etc, but I think a 24-Hour Fitness Super Sport membership would be a good thing.  I also just ordered some fat burning stuff like what Charlotte used, I will give it a try.  Definitely not going to rely on it, just to try and up the ante for a bit.  Gotta be nice to my liver though!
• Definitely wish I’d taken some “before” pictures of myself.  Hard to track my progress solely with (inaccurate) weight measurements.  I should probably get a more expensive scale, though if I’m actually going to 24HF I can weigh myself there.
• SO!  To add to the training regimen:
  • Strength training 1x or 2x (max) per week, complete with some kind of checklist or something (want to construct a separate spreadsheet that can be checked off)
  • Cardio (running should be incorporated several times per week I think, while HIIT produces more overall health benefit I think I should also be able to just flat-out run 5 miles like before… also because I HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED!  Also maybe incorporate the kicks again? For better lower-body strength)
  • These are both doable through 24HF.  I’ve been reluctant for a number of reasons, mostly revolving around time/money efficiency, but if I want to take the next step (and also improve bone density and sexiness) this is probably the only real way to get it done.  TIME TO COMMIT!
    • Slots for 24HF workouts: Tu/Th/Fri morning before aikido (this requires better sleep discipline), Tu/Thu evenings (if I bring or buy dinner), Friday, Saturday.  Goal should be to do strength on 1 or 2 of those days, cardio on 2.  Maybe sub DDR in to one Tu/Th.  Also need to scheme what dinner to bring and how to eat it.
• Also once 24HF is properly settled, I should shoot for doing iaido.  Because iaido is awesome.

SATURDAY PLAN!

• Go to the GYM!  Sign up, work out, etc
  • This means I’m skipping the faculty gathering.  Oh well.  Still need to focus on myself first.
• Then do shopping, including for chicken/barley stew and lentil soup materials (also cat food)
• Then come home and finish grading
• Then do whatever (including kinect? Maybe I’ll be too tired)

The grading takes energy thing is lame.  Need to be able to be functional while tired.