I’m doing this really early because tomorrow is a 6am morning. I’m really going to try and be in bed by 9:30 (which for me is a struggle). The mild weather here today has turned and what you have is a lot of icy patches. I know I was good at putting down sand around our place, so I’m hopping the college will as well. I know, ha ha!

I’m doing well enough on the weight loss, but I have to admit that I’m not loving OPT. I think I’m just not into it enough now that I’m back in school. I have more trouble hitting the macros and I’m considering ditching it. I know from last semester that I can do better with slightly lower protein levels (30%+ vs 40%). I knew that I’d likely have problems with it, and once you start modifying it, it’s not OPT… so I’m seriously thinking about going back to something of my own design. As I wasn’t doing badly with my plan before I think it will suit me better. I was going to try and stick it out longer, but after planning meals for the next few days… I’m just not into the meal plan.

So I think starting tomorrow I’m going to go back to Power Training 3x a week, with slightly lighter weights, and will do two hours of cardio sometime during the rest of the week. I’ll go back to the food levels that I was at in December and see how that does until the end of the month. I’ll probably adjust the calories down in Feb or Mar, but we’ll see.

I think the program has a lot to recommend it, however, I’m really getting sick of the food. I’m slightly boxed in because I already have some items made (dinner stuff, lunch meats, soups) which makes me slightly less flexible. The only way I’ve really been able to meet the macros is to pretty much have a protein shake as a snack and use a lot of egg whites at breakfast. It’s left me planning meals that I often don’t want to eat. I thought I could stick it for 12 weeks, but I’ve decided against it.

So, tomorrow I’m back to my usual routine. That will be (at least until the end of Jan):

2000 on rest days / light cardio days (Mo, We, Sa)
2150 on higher cardio day (Fr)
2300 on lifting days (Tu, Th, Su)

What I’m planning is to lift Tuesday, Thurday AM, Sunday. On Friday morning I’ll do an hour of cardio at the school. I know from the past that for whatever reason this always ends up being higher HR cardio than I plan to, so I’ll do the 2150 that day. When the weather is better I’ll likely go outside and stick with the lower cals. Of course by that time I’ll be on lower calories anyways.

One last compliance checklist, but I may come up with something else. I’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

Day: 17 / 84

Exercise: Resistance A2 - Yes, Cardio - Yes (snow shoveling)
Warm-up: Yes

Recovery: Yes

Food (2100 max): 2091 - Yes
Macros (40P, 25F, 35C): 33.4P, 29.8F, 36.8C - No

Water (4L min): Yes

Weight (AM): 249.4
Weight (Day 1): 256.8
Change: -7.4

Overall - 83%