Nerd Fitness - Day 0 - Reset

For over a month, I've made no progress on fitness.  Diet or exercise.  I gave up.  I binged most days, and though I haven't weight myself in a while, I'm probably around 267lbs or so.  Maybe more, for all I know.

I'm not ready to give up.  So I'm taking on a longer project.  365 days.




I'll still stick with the Nerd Fitness Academy (http://academy.nerdfitness.com) principles and levels, though I may be a bit flexible on the exercise side.  Was gonna put this off even because I'm finishing up grad school this week with lots of writing to go, but fuck that.  Let's start now.

There's something exhausting about binging, so I don't want to waste time putting off something that'll probably help my focus anyway.

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Nutrition Plan:

The NFA leveling system is still great, but I'm going to try to push harder through it.  Levels 1 and 2 are already completed.  Those are the ones about watching what I eat and trying to eat less.  Done.  Next up is level three.

Ultimately, the NF Academy goes through ten nutritional levels, but puts level 7 as the usual goal.  That's what I'll go for.  In addition to trying to each level's main progression quest then, I'll look for a way to make the things each level teaches sustainable in the long term - habits, infrastructure, etc.

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Exercise Plan:

This is where I'll adapt a bit of what NFA suggests.

I plan to work on two components of NFA exercise - paths and classes.

My path is the bodyweight path.  It will start with the recruit workout, a basic workout of three sets of bodyweight exercises.  Once I successfully complete that, there are further bodyweight progressions for the long haul.

The class system is more complex (and more interesting).  There are three classes that interest me most: scout, monk, and druid.  Scout quests focus on running, biking, and swimming.  Monk quests focus on progression in martial arts.  Druid quests focus on meditation and yoga.

I'll start with the scout class, but may "multi-class" later or just flat-out swap classes.  I'll roll as scout for this project, but after the 365 days, I may well switch to monk.  Fencing can qualify as a martial art, and even though there's no belt system (the focus of the monk classes), there's a competitive rating system which I can use as a substitute.

So.  Path and class.  I'll gradually build them up side-by-side.

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Weight Tracking Plan:

Weight will fluctuate regularly on this plan.  It'll go up and down regularly, and that's fine.  I will try to not feel down when weight goes up.

And yet, there's satisfaction in seeing it go down, especially on a plan like this where I want to see long-term change.

So I'll weigh in most days.  Maybe even every day.   And I'll only mark it on this blog when that weight goes down.

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What's next?

Nutrition Level 2 ("Awareness and Tracking"), Questing to Level 3 ("Liquid Calories Reduced")

To level up, I must minimize liquid calories for one week.

There are a few issues with this to address.

I like tea sometimes, but rarely drink it.  I instead opt for bottled frappuccinos, hot chocolate, chocolate milk, and other sweet drinks.  Especially when out.  At home, it's usually cans of diet soda, which are okay but not ideal.  I'll search then for ways to make water and tea easier to drink regularly.

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Exercise - Level 1

I'll start here with a focus on effort rather than specific results.  For the next month (really, through the end of February), I'll have one day of the recruit bodyweight workout and one day of walking.  That's it.  Lay the foundations for good habits.


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Day 0 Music: I love listening to music, and think it'll be fun to add a song to my daily posts.  Just something I'm listening to or something that fits what I'm feeling.  I dunno.  Something like that.  Doesn't have to be any meaning attached to it.

I thought of putting some kick-ass "Let's go!" music, but that's not what I've been listening to upon starting.  Maybe tomorrow.  Just a Donald Fagen solo song I enjoy.

They may fix the weather in the world,
Just like Mr. Gore said.
But tell me: what's to be done
About the weather in my head?