Last Updated on May 22, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
One of my goals for the year was to look amazing by the time I visit Utah for my youngest son’s graduation. Well, I have 5 weeks left and haven’t really lost all that much weight over the past few months. So, what can I do to reach my goal in 5 weeks?
The most important aspect is my effort. I haven’t really been all that motivated since January. Sure I lost a little over 10 pounds so far, but that pales to what I would have lost if I maintained motivation to lose weight.
Let’s see what I can do if I actually put in the effort.
Losing Weight in 5 Weeks
I often talk a big game, but I don’t follow my own advice. Which is really silly if you think about it. I could have hit my goal weight some time last year, but I have a plethora of excuses and reasons why I didn’t.
Most of the time, it’s because I have a few bad habits that are difficult to break. For instance, I still have a bit of a problem snacking at night. However, this is getting easier to manage since I’ve been streaming live on Twitch again.
I don’t like to eat on camera.
OK…so what’s the plan for the next 5 weeks?
A Workable Plan for Myself
Why don’t I try to follow some fitness diet or hire a personal trainer? Because everyone is different. What works for one person doesn’t mean it’s going to work for everyone. Which is why I push for finding things that work for you.
These are the things that work best for me. It’s how I’ve lost nearly 70 pounds so far. The only real difference is actually sticking to the plan every day this time around.
Setting the Goal
In reality, setting a goal weight is a bit tricky. Not everyone will reach what they perceive to be a healthy weight, and it’s usually because of their overall build and genetic makeup. Some people are just built a certain way.
My original goal is 180 pounds. Because I am naturally a big guy to begin with, I highly doubt I will make it that low. I believe somewhere around the 190 mark is more realistic simply because I have a lot of muscle mass.
The thing is to not get upset if you don’t reach certain goals. If you’re built like an amazon, you’re not going to weigh 120 pounds. You need to adjust your goal weight as you lose fat simply because you might define more muscle and build yourself up.
Personally, I prefer taking pictures and body measurements rather than relying too much on the scale. It’s a better recording of how much you’ve actually changes during the process.
OK, so my tentative goal is to weigh 214 by the time I wake up Monday morning in a hotel in Ogden. This is under the average of losing 0.4 pounds per day – which I have done easily in the past.
But because I don’t want to frustrate myself or stress out about losing weight, I’ll keep the goal at 214. If I lose more, great. If not, then I at least hit my goal.
The Diet
For this experiment, I’m going to stick with my Net 600 Calorie diet. It worked well the last time I tried it for a week. Let’s see what it can do for me by May 21st.
This usually entails each meal being under 350 calories. Often, I’ll have a protein and some vegetables for lunch and dinner while having Cream of Wheat, oatmeal or eggs for breakfast.
On average, I burn twice as many calories as I consume in a day. The part I have a problem with is mindless snacking. I’m not even hungry and I’ll grab something to munch on at night.
What I need to get back into is working for my snacks. When I lost the first 20 pounds, I kept my calorie intake in the green according to MyFitnessPal. If I wanted something extra, I had to literally work for it. I remember walking three miles just so I could have extra pizza.
That’s the mentality I need to get back into. Being positive about my journey and forcing myself to abandon bad fitness habits.
Getting More Exercise
At the moment, I am doing OK when it comes to exercise. Almost every morning I play some Kinect tennis and burn just over 400 calories while dancing around like an idiot.
Hey, it works for me.
However, I think I can handle far more than what I’m doing. Now that I have air in the bike tires, it’s time to hit the road and start diving into why I built this website in the first place – to cross the state of Colorado on a bike.
Because I want to have a ripper body to show off in May, I need to do more than a few bike rides and video games. Yes, I know it’s bad to focus on a “revenge” body. But, I’m not just doing this for my ex or other people who thought I’d be fat my whole life. I’m doing it for my own benefit.
Plus, I want to see if my grandma recognizes me when I surprise her.
It scared the hell out of me when my heart stopped, and I don’t want to experience that ever again. Ever. Strengthening myself through various activities only works to keep my alive and safe for one more day.
To meet my goal in 5 weeks, I’ll start back into working out during my breaks while writing. Every hour or so I stand up and walk around simply because my knees hurt. How about I add some push-ups or lying leg raises into the mix?
I think I’m also going to focus on setting some new personal records in Exercise.com. I’m already working on the push-up record, but let’s try to shatter a few others before May 21st.
Accountability on YouTube
One of the biggest reasons why many people, including myself, fail at losing weight is because of a lack of accountability. I know I talked about this before, but I am going to try to put more effort into the YouTube channel.
Mostly, it’s to help myself stay the course. It will give me a visual record of my progress while putting myself in front of an audience.
In the short-term, 5 weeks really isn’t all that long. It’ll go by pretty quick, and I want to make sure I am in top shape before then. Hopefully, sitting in front of the camera three times a week will help reinforce my motivation.
Time is Running Out
At the end of 5 weeks, I’ll write a far more in-depth article about how much I lost and exactly what I did to lose it. However, you can follow along on my YouTube channel if you’re curious.
The hardest part about all this is motivation and effort. I need to stay the course each day if I want to be 214 by May 21st.
Let’s see what I can do without fad mainstream diet plans or personal trainers. This is all from home with the exception of maybe going to Planet Fitness as a guest once in a while.
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