The 52 Plan: My Latest Attempt to Fight the Fat

Before all this bullshit went down with my former job, I was looking at this year in Kansas City as an opportunity to point my life back in the right direction. One of the things I have struggled with for years is my weight. I have tried all sorts of self-made diet and exercise regimes but they were all essentially unhealthy. They also attacked the symptoms more than the disease. I am gluttonous and slothful (both physically and mentally). For the past two months I have been on a course to correct these personality traits by gradually changing my lifestyle. Now, I have passed the easy parts and I am getting to the challenges. I once read somewhere that letting other people know your goals is a good way to hold yourself accountable.

I started with identifying four areas in which I want improvement: what I drink, how active I am, what I eat and how much I write. My former therapist told me that it takes about 28 days to make a habit. What do you know? If you take the 52 weeks in a year and divide by four areas of improvement, you get 13 sets of 28 (more or less). My therapist also said, no cheating days. If I was trying to kick heroin, I wouldn't give myself a "cheat" day. Cheese fries are almost as bad.

It all started on 4/1/13 and will end on 3/31/14. Every week, I start a new phase. Each phase lasts 28 days. They overlap, obviously. So far, I haven't failed at anything yet. But, as you will see, the worst is yet to come.

Week 1: Drinking Phase 1 (drink whatever I want, whenever I want).

Week 2: Drinking Phase 1, Exercise Phase 1 (whatever exercise I happen to get in the course of a day).

Week 3: Drinking Phase 1, Exercise Phase 1, Eating Phase 1 (eat what I want, when I want).

Week 4: Drinking Phase 1, Exercise Phase 1, Eating Phase 1, Writing Phase 1 (don't feel pressured to write anything). So you can see, for the first month, it was kind of business as usual.

Week 5: Drinking Phase 2 (Sodas at meals, and one as a "snack"), Exercise Phase 1, Eating Phase 1, Writing Phase 1

Week 6: Drinking Phase 2, Exercise Phase 2 (Walk 30 minutes, two days a week), Eating Phase 1, Writing Phase 1

Week 7: Drinking Phase 2, Exercise Phase 2, Eating Phase 2 (three meals a day, one snack- source not important), Writing Phase 1

Week 8: Drinking Phase 2, Exercise Phase 2, Eating Phase 2, Writing Phase 2 (write 20 jokes in the next 28 days- this has been my Oscarbot3000 stuff and I wrote some material as if I was going to do standup).

Week 9: Drinking Phase 3 (Soda at meals only, diet soda otherwise), Exercise Phase 2, Eating Phase 2, Writing Phase 2

Week 10: Drinking Phase 3, Exercise Phase 3 (walk 30 minutes twice a week, also twice a week do a 10 rep set of pushups, situps, crunches and light weight lifting), Eating Phase 2, Writing Phase 2

Week 11: Drinking Phase 3, Exercise Phase 3, Eating Phase 3 (three meals and a snack from home otherwise, this one is more economical than healthy), Writing Phase 2. This is the week I am in as I write this. So far, no problems sticking to this. I am eating a little less than normal and exercising a little more.

Week 12: Drinking Phase 3, Exercise Phase 3, Eating Phase 3, Writing Phase 3 (come up with four new comic book ideas, journal at least once).

Week 13: Drinking Phase 4 (Orange Juice for breakfast, soda for lunch and dinner, diet soda otherwise), Exercise Phase 3, Eating Phase 3, Writing Phase 3

By this point, we will be at the end of June and a quarter of the way through my program. Notice, nothing too shocking or drastic so far. I think the first 13 weeks will be relatively easy (I mean, I am already almost done with week 11).

So what do I have to look forward to in the dog days of summer?

Week 14: Drinking Phase 4, Exercise Phase 4 (walk 30 minutes twice a week, do the other thing twice a week but up the reps to 20), Eating Phase 3, Writing Phase 3

Week 15: Drinking Phase 4, Exercise Phase 4, Eating Phase 4 (breakfast is locked every day at one biscuit and a special k bar- basically what it already is but these are 500 calories altogether), Writing Phase 3

Week 16: Drinking Phase 4, Exercise Phase 4, Eating Phase 4, Writing Phase 4 (come up with three screenplay ideas and outline them, journal at least twice during this month)

Week 17: Drinking Phase 5 (OJ for breakfast, real soda one meal, diet soda at the third), Exercise Phase 4, Eating Phase 4, Writing Phase 4

Week 18: Drinking Phase 5, Exercise Phase 5 (Walk 30 minutes every other day, with the pushup/situp routine every other day with the reps still at 20), Eating Phase 4, Writing Phase 4

Week 19: Drinking Phase 5, Exercise Phase 5, Eating Phase 5 (breakfast is set, one homemade meal, one meal out), Writing Phase 4

Week 20: Drinking Phase 5, Exercise Phase 5, Eating Phase 5, Writing Phase 5 (come up with 3 short story ideas and outline them, journal at least four times)

Week 21: Drinking Phase 6 (OJ for breakfast, diet soda at meals, one real soda for a "snack"), Exercise Phase 5, Eating Phase 5, Writing Phase 5

Week 22: Drinking Phase 6, Exercise Phase 6 (this begins my couch to 5k program every other day with the pushup/situp deal in between upped to 25 reps), Eating Phase 5, Writing Phase 5

Week 23: Drinking Phase 6, Exercise Phase 6, Eating Phase 6 (breakfast is set, two homemade meals and one "whatever" snack), Writing Phase 5

Week 24: Drinking Phase 6, Exercise Phase 6, Eating Phase 6, Writing Phase 6 (come up with two novel ideas and outline them, journal at least 8 times)

Week 25: Drinking Phase 7 (OJ for breakfast, diet sodas all other times), Exercise Phase 6, Eating Phase 6, Writing Phase 6

Week 26: Drinking Phase 7, Exercise Phase 7 (continue couch to 5k and increase reps to 30), Eating phase 6, Writing Phase 6

So, you can see, by the halfway mark of the year, I have eliminated full sodas from my diet, started running again and cut out fast food/order in food. All the outlining of writing pays off in the second half of the year. Eventually, the diet soda gets replaced with water. It is all very slow but I think it will create healthier habits for me. I have already worked out twice this week. I will post updates as I go.