My name is Steve Saunders. I've been thinking about and applying the psychology of weight loss for years. I'm hoping that I can share some of the things that I have learned.

0 to 60 in 6 Months (not 6 days)

My first attempt at an exercise plan this year was 0-60 in 1 week. I hit it super hard out of the gates. As I wrote last post, I crashed and just stopped mid week. This time I will try an evolving progression from reasonable to more rigorous over the remainder of the year.

The Crash

Last post I talked about becoming enamored with CrossFit, jumping into the deep end both feet, then sputtering and crashing and just stopping all together.

Be tough, work through the pain, Those words can be attractive and inspiring, but will probably fail for for people starting at the bottom rung of the fitness ladder. I don’t care how tough you are mentally, if you push yourself beyond reasonable limits your body and mind WILL MAKE YOU STOP. No matter how much you have been attracted to vigorous activities in the past, I advise caution. A crash will set you back.

Lets Try This Again

I realize that two of the attractions of going all out are

  * The satisfaction and pride that comes with completing hard work
  * The positive physical after effects (endorphins, elevated mode, etc)

I have designed a program that is meant to be vigorous enough RELATIVE TO MY CURRENT FITNESS LEVEL to tap into the benefits above, but not so vigorous that I crash, based on the following principles

  * An evolving approach that incrementally adds intensity over the
    course of the remainder of the year
  * Everything should be planned relative to current fitness level,
    which will increase over time.
  * High enough impact to promote changes, and allow me to feel proud and
    to feel exhilarated
  * Not so intense that I bail/crash.  Going for exhilaration, not annihilation

Also, it is very important that I treat this as a fluid endeavour. If I need to change things in order to keep the enthusiasm high and the mental resistance under control, I WILL DO SO.

OK, that all said, here it is

Stay tuned! Steve