Monday, January 03, 2022

goodbye, fun; hello, discipline (+ other plans for 2022)

Today, January 3, I start back on my strict regimen, but I'll be adding to it as I'm able. A reminder of what that means, for now, over the course of a week. For diet:

MWF: carnivore OMAD
TR: 24-hour fasting
Sa: morning shake, then fasting
Su: regular keto (under 50 g carbs)
+ cheat days 2X/month, although maybe only 1X in March (doctor's appointment 3/31)

For exercise:

MWF: 140 minutes's walking
TR: 80 minutes' walking + 1.5 staircases
Sa: long walk (@ least 18K)
Su: jump rope

That's the basics. I still need to determine what I can and can't do with resistance bands, bodyweight calisthenics, and other possible cardio (including, maybe, jogging!). More will be added to my plate as 2022 progresses. The goal this year is body recomposition, so at some point, perhaps by late spring, I need to determine what my body-fat percentage is, then see about reducing that percentage a reasonable amount while increasing muscle mass, which will also increase my basal metabolism. (I should see whether MyFitnessPal allows you to record your body-fat percentage.)

Other goals (as explained before):

1. 50 pushups (same goal as for 2021)
2. 120 seconds' planking (same goal)
3. 2 pullups (same goal)
4. walking: 30 km at 4.8 kph (maintaining)
5. building staircase, B1 to 26: 1.5 times (maintaining)
6. weight: 85-90 kg (pref. by the end of July)
7. fasting blood glucose: 95 (maintaining)
8. resting heart rate: 65 (get there and stay there)
9. blood pressure: 120/80 (get there and stay there)
10. body fat percentage: ???? (I'll get back to you)
11. ketone count: 1.5 or higher (I'll get back to you)

Some of the above goals are contingent on my shoulder's getting better this year, which it may not. I'm going to try to force the issue with steady (even mildly aggressive) therapy, and we'll see how that goes.

Since we're on the subject of plans, here are some other plans.

Cleaning projects:

• clean bathroom floor and walls
• clean bathroom sink
• clean bathroom fan (now caked with lint-like dust)
• clean gas stove (covered in grease)
• clean kitchenette area (grease, dust)
• clean whole floor (nooks & crannies = really dusty)
• clean fridge interior & doors
• declutter (throw away unused stuff; don't hoard)
• organize paperwork (bills, etc.)

Stuff to buy:

• new glasses (been using Mom's all this time, but they're now blurry)
• new desktop home computer (stick with Mac or go rogue?)
• new desk (been wanting for a while)
• new chair (also been wanting for a while, but not as urgent)
• shelving to install over bed & inside closet (the fight for space is real)
• Swiffer brooms & wipes from Costco (big help for above cleaning projects)
• new queen-size blanket

The blanket is a bit of a sad story. My current blanket cover started to fray and rip because of its age. I ordered a new queen-sized blanket cover via Coupang some weeks ago; the cover came and was way too huge. I don't want to order a "twin" cover because I think that might end up being too small. I'm now thinking it may be easier just to buy a whole new blanket that'll adequately cover a queen-size mattress, whose measurements I've saved on my phone. My current blanket is ancient, anyway, so it's a candidate for the clothing-donation basket in our building's basement.

Special projects:

Learn Spanish. Olly Richards, here we come! I hope to get started around mid-January and be at about the intermediate level by the end of the year.

Get on Substack. This is a subscription service where an author can opt to have people pay for his writing. Might there be people out there who'd pay for mine?

Book projects:

I'm ready to start editing the manuscript for my movie-review book, which is going to be huge, and which I'm going to sell three ways: (1) as a self-published dead-tree volume that I'll personally mail here from Korea; (2) as a print-on-demand (POD) book via Amazon's CreateSpace; (3) as an e-book, also via Amazon. Option (1) will doubtless be the most expensive option; I don't see many people ordering a copy of my book directly from me, even if they get the benefit of having it signed. Who am I, after all? I'm a nobody, and how personal is the personal touch of a signature from someone you don't know? Option (2) is a bit worrisome given my experience will POD, which can sometimes result in shoddily printed work. Option (3), the e-book, will doubtless be the best and cheapest option for most people, especially as e-books continue to grow in popularity. I plan to keep the e-book price low: about $1.99, despite my book being many hundreds of pages long.

I also have my homeschooling book, which I'm planning to have out sometime in the latter half of this year. This book, too, will be in both dead-tree and e-book form; the e-book will once again be $1.99. I think affordability will be an attractive feature of the book, which aims to be a primer for parents who want to assume the role of teacher in their kids' lives.

So 2022 is going to be an ambitious year. Right before midnight struck tonight, I had one final taste of naughtiness: I combined a heaping tablespoon of Nutella with a heaping tablespoon of almond butter. The resultant taste wasn't spectacular, but it was good. And that'll have to hold me until my first cheat day this month, which will be either Friday the 14th or Sunday the 16th. Two cheat days in January and February, then maybe a single cheat day at the beginning of March because my doctor's appointment is March 31, and I want to make sure my numbers are again low. I'm going to try to take carnivore more seriously as a diet this time, and the weight ought to start dropping off in a few weeks as it did the first time I tried carnivore. I won't start weighing myself again until next week (am a little scared, frankly, about how much weight I've regained over the past two weeks), but it'll be nice to see all numbers and indicators sliding down, as God intended, over the next three months.

I hope your 2022 is either very relaxing or very purpose-driven—whatever makes you happiest. Stay tuned for more progress reports soon.



1 comment:

John Mac said...

Wow, that's a very ambitious plan for 2022. Good luck with accomplishing all those goals, both physically and, um, literally.

Speaking of books, I guess I'm old school. Back in my previous life I was both proud and comforted looking at my collection of hardbacks in the bookcase. Are you limiting your reading to e-books these days? You mentioned having space issues, so that would make sense I suppose.