And so it begins...

Tomorrow, my quest begins for real.

Last week, we won our big trial - three weeks of intense trial preparation, two and a half weeks of intense trial work, little time for exercise, none for lifting ... it was quite a trying time. And now it is over. Since the trial ended, I have lifted twice, and had one HIIT session. I've found my old ab wheel, and have eaten pretty good about 75% of the time. Now, I'm ready to start getting ready.

By getting ready, I mean preparing for the birth of baby 3. I have twin boys who are about 28 months old. In mid-June, my third son will be born. My previous goal was to never let this child see me over 200 lbs. That may or may not be reasonable - it's probably just doable at this point - but I've been gaining so much strength and muscle in the last few months on my weightlifting program, I am less focused on that goal than I am on getting my body fat down quite a bit. In other words, I'm willing to take longer getting down in weight in exchange for the strength gains I'm realizing. So, I may be 210 or 205 when he gets here, but if I've got my squat back and am otherwise feeling in great shape, then I know I am moving in the right direction.

So, how will I get there? What is my plan? Well, it's four-fold:

1. Diet. I know that my diet is the biggest factor in my body fat, as it is in everyone else's. The good news is that I know what I need to do in order to get to a healthy body fat percentage. I need to eat as clean as possible (lean meats, fruits, veggies, only whole grain carbs), and I need to eat fewer calories than I burn each day. If I do that, I will get there.

Also, my body already knows this. I can tell when my body is craving the right foods, and eating them makes me feel better. So, when my brain or old habits kick in to suggest a Taco Bell run or having a second drink or something like that, I need to remember what I'm doing all of this for, and what I have to do in order to get there. My body will truly be happier even in the short term if I do it right. The long-term benefits cannot be questioned.

2. Strength training. I've recently become a huge fan of strength training. I've lifted for years, but now I'm really getting into the idea of lifting for pure strength. If I do that, size, body fat, etc. will follow. So, I have focused on the program set forth in Coach Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength for the past few months, and that will be my plan going forward. I will lift three times a week, alternating between two workouts for an ABA BAB schedule. The two workouts are:

Workout A:
Squat 3x5
Bench 3x5
Deadlift 1x5
Dips 3x_

Workout B:
Squat 3x5
Press 3x5
Power clean 5x3
Chins 3x_

I like the focus on squats, because my squat used to be a personal point of pride. In high school, I squatted 405 lbs. as an option QB, more than anyone else on my team. However, I did it with poor technique - in hindsight, I also probably wasn't going below parallel, as my high school football coach taught us that 90 degrees was the goal. In the process of squatting like that for years, I destroyed my knees. I have now been working on learning correct form for a year, and have started first with bodyweight, then the bar, and have slowly worked my way back up. My knees feel better than they ever have. It'll take months before I'm back in the 225-lb. range (for my 3x5 work weight), but that's where I'm headed.

3. HIIT. I also am a big believer in interval training for fat loss, and now I plan to get more serious about it. So, my goal is to get in at least two HIIT sessions each week. There's no magic here - these aren't exciting workouts, or particularly a lot of fun (at least for me), but they work.

4. Extras. I also plan on, if I can get my workouts done in the mornings, adding a little exercise at night. It won't take long, or shouldn't. For weightlifting days, I think I'm going to try to do a tabata session after the kids go to bed (like air squats or squat thrusts), followed by some ab wheel work. For HIIT days, I want to do a medicine ball route called the Med Ball 200. I want to eventually get it up to the Med Ball 400 by doing it twice, but let's start with something manageable and see where I end up. That should give me good abdominal work on those days, but I can always throw in some ab wheel if I need to.

Now, to stay true to all of this, I need to follow the same inspiration that got me to start this blog, the idea of becoming strong dust. I don't say this in planning to be preachy to anyone, but I really believe that my faith can be a huge asset in this endeavor. After all, I believe we've been given perfect bodies that know what they need to be healthy, and that making the right choices (order a salad, go to the gym, and yes, every now and then have that big piece of birthday cake) will make me happier both in the short and long term. Frankly, while I enjoy eating a donut, I don't like how I feel five minutes later. So, why do it? Staying tuned in to my body, a body already perfectly designed for this, will be a huge asset.

There's another aspect about using faith as a guide that I like. I am Roman Catholic, a faith that focuses heavily on the idea of redemption, reconciliation - second chances. My faith teaches that everyone may find paradise, no matter what has gone before, by sincere reconciliation. God doesn't just based on a whole life's worth of work, but how you finish the journey. This is important to remember, because it's so easy to eat terribly or skip an HIIT workout on the 5th, and just say, "Oh well, I'll get back on track next week," or even "next month." The better way is to get back on track immediately, as if the morning never happened. That's what I need to do, and what I plan to do.

This post has been rambling, for which I apologize. I plan on being more focused in the future, and while I will try to log my workouts here, I will also try to document the spiritual and personal journeys I plan to make at the same time (and which I will detail more later). Hopefully, those who read will find something of interest to them here.