Change of Plans - Fat Loss

I belong to a training website - I call it my online locker room - called Training Anarchy. I recently posted my goals for the end of the year up there. They were:

1. 15% body fat or less;
2. bench = bodyweight;
3. squat = 1.5 x bodyweight; and
4. dead = 2 x bodyweight.

For posting this, I got chewed on a good bit, with the general tone of the response being, "You've been talking about your fat loss goals for months, and what have you accomplished? Shut up, and do something about it." First, I was pissed, and I think I even got defensive, although I tried not to. But, I'd raised my bench press a ridiculous amount in the past few months - who are these guys to give me grief?

But, of course, they were right. I kept saying that fat loss was my primary goal, but even if I ate right for a few weeks or otherwise talked the fat-loss talk, I was chasing strength goals, albeit not with my whole heart. (Otherwise, I'd have been eating even more.)

I think my aversion to fat loss comes from the very beginning of when I started lifting. I lifted for one reason, and one reason only - performance on the football field. I didn't do curls, because I was a quarterback, damn it. I lifted functionally, and it paid off. I didn't care if some of my friends had six-packs or large arms. I could squat a lot (with terrible form, but I didn't know better and either did my coaches), and my chest, shoulders, and triceps were strong enough that I could effortlessly throw a football 40 yards on a line with a quick, compact motion. I could run over most linebackers in the conference running the option (although I was still slow as dirt).

Anyway, to me, function always meant strength. I am now starting to realize that needs to change, and for two reasons. The first is that I need to live a long time. I have boys to support and future grandchildren to play catch with. From what I've read, there's no better way to increase the odds I'll miss all of that than to carry a spare tire around my middle.

Second, my job requires, in a sense, a bodybuilder's mentality. No, I'm not taking steroids and wearing flip-flops to the gym, but a big part of my job is what a jury thinks of me when they see me stand up in front of them in a suit, and I want them to think I'm James Bond with a beard. Right, now, they might thing I'm James Bond undercover in a fat suit, but that does not have the same effect.

Both of those things say I need to change my mentality and ht fat loss first. Do I need 8% body fat and a rippling six-pack? No way. Heck, my wife wouldn't even like me if I were that skinny. But, I do need to get to a healthy body fat % first. From there, I'll build the rest of my strength. I'm guessing that's about 15%, but we'll see when I get there.

How will I do it? I'm starting this first, which is Waterbury's 10 x 3 for Fat Loss. We'll see how it goes, and then I'll evolve from there.