A Fresh Start

One of the things I have wanted to focus on is giving myself fresh starts, getting back on the wagon when I fall off, and not giving in to becoming a lazy couch potato even when other priorities in my life overtake fitness. That's what I need to to do right now - refocus.

The first thing I am going to do is give myself a break, as I need. Mentally, physically, emotionally, I am worn down. I'm edgy, I'm cranky, and I'm acting out. I've gone too long without a break from anything, and I can feel myself spiraling into a funk. (I'm avoiding using the word "depression" because I don't think I'm medically Depressed - with a capital "D". I'm just depressed, or in a funk, and these lift in time.)

This break will not mean that I stop doing anything at all. To the contrary, my goal is to leave this break feeling healthy, strong, and as light as possible. I expect this break to last about six weeks.

The break is coming - and, in fact, is largely brought on by - the imminent birth of my next son. That will turn my life upside down and destroy any semblance of a schedule for awhile. It will make it hard to get to the gym regularly, or to track my eating accurately, or any of the stuff that I have been doing. So, I'm not going to worry about most of it.

Instead, I plan to eat healthily, the way I've been eating when I have been tracking food, and minimize cheats. I plan to drink a lot of water and little alcohol.

I plan to lift as often as possible, with the only goal of improving my squat (which I will do following the Starting Strength template). I otherwise plan to use lower weights and higher rep schemes to work on form and range of motion, tiring my muscles without punishing my body in the way that heavy weights do. I'll probably use a lot of dumbbells, just to mix things up.

I also plan to log this stuff here, to the extent it's logged, but not anywhere else for awhile. My point in doing this just to refresh myself, get hungry for the strength training that will come when our schedule settles down, and hopefully help me lean out a bit in the process.