Getting Back Into Fat Burning Mode! Time’s a Tickin’

Last Updated on May 21, 2023 by Michael Brockbank

One of my goals was to look my best by the end of March. However, I haven’t been putting in the best amount of effort. Lifting weights can only go so far. I need to get myself back into fat-burning mode if I want to hit my goals.

And as time is ticking away, I need to get serious about it right now. This morning, I’m feeling up to the challenge.

Been Kind of Slacking

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been kind of slacking in the health and fitness department. Sure, I’ve been going to the local rec center and getting some weight training in. I’ve even broken several personal records.

However, I still am not burning as much fat as I should. Most of that is because of the amount of crap I’ve been eating lately.

When it comes to the caloric intake, I’ve been slacking on keeping it trim.

But this morning, and actually starting last night, I’ve had another renewed sense of self-awareness. I feel like I can accomplish anything today, whether it’s losing weight or excelling as a writer.

Now if I can just maintain this mentality throughout the day, every day.

And that’s what it’s all about, really…being able to consistently keep your mind focused on what you want to do in life. When your thoughts bounce around as much as mine, it’s quite difficult, though.

What I Do for Fat-Burning Mode

So, I have a tentative plan for burning some fat and looking my best by the end of March. It’s nothing too extravagant, such as forcing diets on myself that I hate.

It’s more along the lines of how I lost most of my weight 80 pounds ago.

Keep Calorie Intake Low

First, and foremost, I need to start keeping an eye on maintaining myself in the green in MyFitnessPal for calories. Obviously, I’ll lose weight if I stop snacking on horrible stuff at night.

Again, I need to get back into the mindset I had when I weighed 300+ pounds. If I wanted those extra goodies, I had to “pay” for them. This meant that I would do what I could to burn the calories to afford snacking on something.

If I want an extra slice of pizza, it’s going to cost me 2.5 to 3 miles of walking.

And yes, I lost more than 20 pounds in a month and a half doing this. So, I know it can be done, and I can get back into fat-burning mode by watching my intake through MyFitnessPal.

Xbox Kinect Play Every Morning

One thing I’ve been slacking on so far in my Year of Effort is playing the Xbox Kinect. I have several games that work up one hell of a sweat inside a 30-minute window.

On days I go to the rec center, I need to play at least once in the morning. On days I don’t, I need to play at least twice.

For one thing, this will help me burn calories I might want to use for various snacks throughout the day.

Since Google has all but sunk this blog, I think I’m going to get back into case studies for gamifying fitness on the Kinect on ColoradoPlays.com. Doing the case studies seemed to help me focus on playing and getting back into fat-burning mode.

Pushing Myself to Be More Active

No matter what, I need to push myself to be more active. Since I quit smoking, I just don’t get up and move around as much. This is because I used to go out and walk around the yard during my “smoke” breaks.

One thing I plan on doing is more housework. I’ll be moving soon, and I would like to leave the house in great condition. So, I’ll be putting more effort into cleaning and straightening things up over the next few weeks.

Playing more of the Kinect will add quite a bit of physical activity. But, I’m going to need a bit more if I plan on meeting my fitness goals by the end of March.

If I can find a way to record more than 13,000 steps in Fitbit, I’d be set. Usually, this results in burning more than 3500 calories in a day…which is usually about 1500 calories more than I normally eat – even with midnight snacking.

Doing More Reps with the Weights

I think I am going to shift to lower weights at higher reps at the rec center. Before, I was trying to add a bit more muscle mass and stick to 20-rep intervals. However, higher reps would mean more of a calorie burn.

As it stands, I can get my heart rate to around 114 BPM on average while lifting weights. I suspect that I can surpass that by doing lighter weights at greater repetitions.

So today, I am focusing on 25 reps instead of 20. I’ll monitor my heart rate through the Fitbit Charge 3 to see if I can get more of a cardio workout while lifting.

Hitting 10k Points for Upper Body Work in Exercise.com

One of my goals for today is to see if I can get over 10,000 points in Exercise.com. I’m going to do this with nothing but upper body work, because I can really rack up the points using my legs.

My core needs a lot of work. Everything from the waist up needs some fine-tuning. I have a tentative plan to do so, which involves what I mentioned above with doing more reps.

Theoretically, I should be able to lift more in total while working out.

How Much I Can Lose in 7 Days

On average, I can personally lose between 3.5 and 4 pounds per week while maintaining caloric intake and being more physical. I’ve done it before, and I’m positive I can do it again.

However, I can feel my age creeping up on me. Pitting myself against my 20-year-old is a challenge as his metabolism runs much higher than mine. But, I’ve got something he doesn’t…ambition.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s doing a good job trying to lose enough to go into the Air Force. But I don’t think he’s doing enough. Then again, neither am I.

Which is why I wanted to put myself back into fat-burning mode. All of this requires a shift in my mindset.

Can I Turn Everything Around in 5 Weeks?

Today, I have five and a half weeks to see what I can do. According to my past, I could weigh just under 210 in that time. But that’s not going to happen unless I get serious about burning some fat and curbing my eating habits.

I would really love to do a before and after photo in March. But I want the pic to show a profound difference. And that’s not going to happen unless I change the way I view my own levels of health and fitness.

Can I make a difference in such a short amount of time? I know deep down in my soul that yes, I can do this!

It All Comes Down to Seriousness

I’m still working on my Year of Effort and putting my life back in order. I need to get as serious about my health as I am with my writing career. And although I’ve added a great deal of muscle mass, I need to go back into fat-burning mode if I want to slim down.

And this all starts with changing my mindset and putting in the effort to do so.

Nothing is going to change unless I make it happen. So, I am ending February on a high note and meeting my fitness goals for March…damnit!

About Author

Michael Brockbank

Since 2015, Michael has put in the effort to lose more than 80 pounds by gamifying fitness and eating proper portion sizes. He conducts extensive research into various health and fitness products to provide the best answers possible according to his own experience and knowledge.

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