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Health reset

I posted about my stalled weight loss the other day to work out some frustrating thoughts I had on the subject. I haven't been frustrated about my weight exactly, as it's stayed about the same for the last several months (relatively speaking). What's frustrating is that I haven't made any progress because I've been inconsistent.

That being said, I've tried to come up with a plan to become more consistent.

I mentioned Jedda's 75 My Way plan that she came up with, based on the "75 Hard" challenge. She modified the plan to her own version to fit her own lifestyle and expectations and I am on the same page. The "75 Hard" challenge sounds useful but I feel that it's specific to the person that started it. Reading the article about it I'm not surprised - it was created by a motivational speaker. If there's one thing I assume about motivational speakers, it's that they are super confident about a plan that worked for them, and are 100%, absolutely sure that this is a one-size-fits-all method. I mean look at this quote (emphasis mine):

75 HARD is the only program that can permanently change your life...from your way of thinking, to the level of discipline you approach every single task in front of you with.

Sure, okay. Anyway I think Jedda's approach is the right way: create a challenge that is specific to you, within the framework of the 75 day challenge. The goal is to reach at least 245 lbs (from my current trend weight of 253.7 lbs as of today) by the end of the 75 days.

So here's what I've got (and this challenge starts today).

The 5 rules

Jedda's rules are based on the original "75 Hard" challenge, and I've accordingly created my own rules based on hers. So I guess this is a third-hand modified challenge. I will expand on the rules below.

  1. Follow a 2,231 calories per day plan
  2. At least 30 minutes walking (or 7500 steps) per day, AND additional 30 minutes cardio per week
  3. Floss & brush teeth nightly
  4. Read a few pages from any book each day
  5. Take regular measurements

Bonus rules:

  1. Listen mindfully to one music album per week
  2. Write in my journal at least 3 times a week - focusing on detail

About those rules...

  1. This works out to 15,617 calories per week. Daily adherence is not absolute as long as I stick within the weekly number. Will be adjusted higher based on daily exercise level, but will try to reduce eating back burned calories as much as possible. This includes daily logging as best as I can. (In other words estimate where I don't have exact numbers.)
  2. I already have weekly exercise and movement covered, but I need to add more to my regime. 5 extra minutes with the dog twice a day will cover it most of the time, but I can easily go back to my lunchtime walks at work. The extra cardio - easily achieved by 1-2 bike rides. Biking to work would be good if I can do it. This is in addition to 3 softball games per week, one personal training session per week.
  3. This is a health rule rather than a fitness rule. It's too easy to fall out of the habit of flossing, but very easy to get back into it.
  4. Not that difficult a rule for me to follow. But similar to the nightly flossing & brushing, it's an easy habit to keep but also easy to break.
  5. Doesn't have to be weekly, but progress will be seen mostly in measurements so I should be doing this minimally every week but I will settle for monthly.

Bonus rules - these are things I would like to do but aren't absolutes.

  1. I always have music on in the background but I've gotten away from my Sunday night routine of folding laundry while listening to an album (a physical album, but for this challenge I'll accept digital if there's something I want to hear). It doesn't have to be Sunday nights, it can be any time.
  2. A couple of years ago I set a challenge to write in my journal every day. Lately there are stretches where I won't write anything for days or weeks at a time. I would like more consistency. Additionally, I want to include as much detail where possible. I don't want to make an entry like "I did xyz today. It was fun."

Notably I left sleep goals off the list. I'd like to hit consistent numbers but softball can be cruel - we have games starting as late as 9:30pm, and two nights of the week we go with the team for drinks after earlier games. Sleep is a sacrifice we make for softball. We play until the end of October.

The numbers

Start date: Thursday June 19, 2025
End date: Tuesday September 2, 2025

Current weight: Scale: 252.4 / Trend: 253.7
Goal weight: 245.0
Trend weight is based on daily scale entries that ignores the noise of spikes in either direction. The goal weight is at least 7 days of a consistent trend weight.

Measurements:
Waist: 123 cm | 48 inches
Hips: 110 cm | 43 inches
Neck: 45 cm | 17.7 inches

Body Fat %: ~35.1 % (based on this body fat calculator)

Expectations

Obviously my expectation is to meet (and surpass, if I can!) my weight goal. But overall I expect to re-build habits and keep them going long-term.

The one thing I'm not sure about is whether or not I reset to Day 1 if I miss any of my absolute rules. I guess that's what makes the "75 Hard" challenge "Hard". But I also don't think that going to that extreme - restarting every time something is missed - is really conducive or necessary to build proper habits. However, to avoid breaking habits I think I should reset the count if I miss at least 3 days in a row - of any rule.

It's so, so easy to break some of these habits (especially when it comes to flossing), so knowing that I have to start all over again might be a good motivator to have in the back of my head.

Tracking - I haven't figured this one out yet. Should I use a calendar? Create a page in my bullet journal? I don't know. For now I'll mark "Day 1" in my bullet journal entry today and worry about the rest later.

Updated 2 months ago

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