I have changed the design of No. Calories Needed. I wanted a site that would better match the look-and-feel of my other sites. I have also decided to ditch the whole “I’m not on a diet – I just want to feel better” thing. The truth is, I need to lose weight. I am 5’8 tall and I weigh 242 pounds. While I like the idea of focusing on the “whole person” – I’m more of a goal-driven type of dude. I need a specific, achievable goal. So, I am going to go old school and create a chart and track my progress.
Introducing The 33 By 33 Project
The Goal:Â I want to lose 33 pounds before my 33rd birthday, January 13, 2008.
The Diet:Â I will eat healthy proteins, complex carbohydrates, fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Exercise:  I will push myself – I am going to try to go to the gym (at least) five days per week. I will alternate strength training and elliptical work.
Ten pounds per month sounds reasonable. Any adult should be able to push himself for three months. In the past, I’ve set goals based on tables and charts – this time, I simply want to get below 210 and go from there.
If you have advice or feedback, I’d love to hear from you. When I started my debt reduction blog, I found that I was motivated by readers and their comments. Also, if you would like to follow my progress, please subscribe to No. Calories Needed via RSS or via Email.
If you are really serious about this, check in here every day and post about your daily plan and your daily challenges. You have restarted this blog several times, but you don’t seem as committed to it as you are to your no credit needed blog. Share with us! If you don’t talk about the challenges, you won’t get any fabulous advice for dealing from your loyal readers! And the WTGs when you are doing great are extra incentives to keep going. So talk to us!
Also, I’ve said this before, don’t Overdo the exercise. Too much and you injure yourself which sets you back and discourages you. Slow and steady with the training.
33 by 33 is totally doable. I was also at 242 (though, at 6’1″!) and I lost my first 30 pounds in right around three months by essentially doing what you’ve outlined in this post: eating smart and working out 3-5 times a week. Granted, everyone’s body is different, but you don’t need to starve yourself (in fact, I eat more, in terms of quantity of food than I did before I started focusing on my body — it’s just healthier stuff) or push your body to the extreme limits to obtain this goal.
What I found helpful, as someone who also is goal-oriented and likes to track things in spreadsheets and whatnot, was to create an Excel worksheet that had my exercises on one sheet and my weight on another. Additionally, I tracked what I ate on thedailyplate.com — not really to ‘count calories’, but to keep an eye on what I was putting in my body. And, I journaled about it and had some accountability there with progress pictures, check-ins, and venting about my frustrations (it’s a protected journal, or else I would link to it).
Somehow, it all came together and I have incorporated healthy eating and working out into my lifestyle. I’m no longer really actively working to lose weight (I’ve lost 50 pounds altogether since April), but am working towards increasing my fitness and getting back to the athlete I was in high school (I’m 27, so 9 years ago).
And, as Beth said above me, write about your challenges and your successes. It helps. It does.
For what it’s worth, too, one of my favorite weight loss bloggers started and stopped her blog for over a year before fully committing to losing weight, and she had a lot more to go than either one of us: Half of Me.
NCN,
I would second the posting everyday. You LOVE to post. Just put more of your energy to this blog than No credit needed. You can still blog about debt – maybe do a combo weight/money thing that can be used for both sites. For example, how much money you spent on eating today? How much wear you got out of your gym shoes by going for a 5 mile walk? And, how many dollars/mile should you get out of your shoes. Combining the two allows you to utilize the discipline you have from overcoming debt and apply it to losing weight.
GO NCN!