30×90 Challenge: Losing 30 Pounds In The Next 90 Days

I have committed to the 30×90 Challenge.  You may not know what that is, since I just made it up.  The goal is to lose 30 pounds in the next 90 days.

I am not looking at this as a weight loss challenge.

I am looking at this as a lifestyle change.

The reason for this is simple.  I have done many “weight loss challenges” in the past.  Because I am so competitive, I almost always won the challenges, and at the very least, hit my personal goal.

However, I didn’t change my lifestyle.

So….I would eventually gain all the weight back.

And then some.

We all know that yo-yo dieting is not healthy for you.  This is exactly what I have been doing.  The only way to change this is to change my habits around eating and exercise.  And the only way to change my habits is to change my lifestyle.  That is why I chose the 30×90 challenge.  Thirty pounds is the amount of weight I want to lose.  And THIS STUDY shows it takes a person an average of sixty-six days to form a new habit (or break an old one).  I figured I would give myself ninety days, since I am definitely not average 🙂

Hence, the 30×90 Challenge.

I figure there are three things I need to focus on:

Food

Exercise

Mindset

For the rest of this post, I will break down these three categories in more detail, and explain my strides and struggles of each one.

Food:

Some eat food to live.

Me?

I live to eat food.  Food has always been an important part of my life.  I come from an Italian family, and no matter what, food always brings us together.

Stressed out?

No problem, just eat.

Happy?

Great, let’s celebrate with a big meal!

Do you see where the issues are?

However, its more that just eating habits.  It is the type of food I eat as well.  I love my carbs.  I love my sweets.  Carbs and sugar are the killers for me.  I know if I can cut back the carbs and all but eliminate the sugars, that would be 80% of the food battle won.  I am willing to bet I eat 700-1000 calories a day just in junk food.

The Food Plan:

Caloric restriction as a line in the sand will not work for me as a long-term lifestyle change.  I know this because during the past competitions, this is how I dropped most of my weight.  I enjoy the ritual of eating far too much to want to feel like I am taking part of that away from me.  What I need to do is change the types of food that I eat.  Here is a rough outline of what that looks like:

Weeks 1 and 2:

1.  Limit refined carbs to just two meals a day.  I currently have carbs at every meal.
2.  Limit snacks to fruit and nuts.
3.  Eliminate buying pre-packaged junk food.
4.  Add at least one vegetable to every meal.
5.  Start my day with 2 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar.
6.  Drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day.

Weeks 3 and 4:

1.  Limit refined carbs to just one meal a day, preferably at breakfast to give me ample time to burn it off.
2.  Cut out desserts that are not homemade.
3.  Experiment with 24 hour fasting to see how I feel about it.
4.  Eliminate any sweetened teas and soft drinks with the exception of tonic as a mixer with alcohol, which I don’t drink much of to begin with).

Weeks 5 and Beyond:

1. Eliminate refined carbs as much as possible (meaning anywhere except if we are at someone else’s house for a meal and there are no other options).
2. Skip desserts unless they are made from scratch and are Paleo based.
3.  If the fasting experiment goes well, incorporate it 2-4 times a month.
4.  Eliminate tonic by using club soda with alcohol or switch to only drinking wine.

Again this is a rough outline which will need to be tweaked from time to time.  Next let’s talk about my second biggest obstacle in the 30×90 challenge, which is exercise.

Exercise:

This is tough one for me, for the exact opposite reason food is.  I hate to exercise!  Well, I need to clarify that statement.  I hate to exercise when it feels like exercise.

The idea of going to the gym kills me.

Go for a run?  Not happening.

I actually don’t mind bodyweight exercises, so I can definitely reincorporate those into my daily routine.

The form of exercise I like the best is combative sports.  I practiced martial arts for most of my late teens and early 20’s and absolutely loved it!  Then work got in the way, and I broke the habit of training regularly.  Recently, I have been looking to get back into martial arts, but wanted to find something that was more practical from a self-defense point of view.  I researched Krav Maga, and felt it would best suit my needs.  I went to a class offered by Adam Scholl of Scholl Security Group, and was instantly hooked!  The class is exactly what I wanted from a martial arts perspective.

So what is the down side?

Good question.  It’s getting back into fighting shape.  Hell, it’s getting back into defending myself shape.  I have put on 30 pounds since I was at my peak physical shape and conditioning (hence the 30×90 challenge).  These classes are great, but 95% of the time is spent on actually working the techniques.  So…

1. I need to create time outside of these classes to do the work that will actually put me in a position to not gas out in a true self-defense situation (and to just get in better physical shape).
2. I need to find the motivation to utilize the time I carve out to get back in fighting shape.

Because of my competitive nature, I want to be good at every technique.  In order to do that, I have to get in better shape.  Period.  So, I think following through on the exercise portion of this should be easier than the food.  Time will tell.

That leaves us with….

Mindset:

Overcoming the mindset that this needs to become a lifestyle change for me is the one aspect that is the least black and white.  I have to figure out why the pain of being overweight and gaining back all the weight lost with other challenges is not as strong as the pleasure of the self-indulgence.  Because, let’s face it, at the end of the day this is what it comes down to…self-indulgence.

I think the best way for me to overcome this is through hyper accountability with a strong group who will not allow me to bullshit them about my results, or lack there of.

I think the second aspect of this is coming up with a plan that will make this feel like a life long competition instead of one with a defined start and end date.  That is my only issue with calling it a 30×90 challenge in the first place.  I think the best thing for me to do here is to have 30 day check ins via this website, to help keep me accountable over the long haul.

If you have any suggestions on the mindset part, I would love to hear them!  Please reach out to me via the “contact” page.