It seems so cliché to be posting a monthly Workout Plan on New Year’s Day, but I’m going to be that guy.  If you remember, I identified Physical Fitness as one of the skills I plan on improving during my participation in the 13Skills.com 13-in-13 Challenge.  There’s no better way to achieve that goal than to start right at the beginning.

Weight

I started my day with a weigh-in and, while I’m not putting the official number out for public consumption, I will say that it’s not a number I’m proud of.  I’ve also decided to take measurements as I’ve found that sometimes I don’t lose weight so much as ‘restructure’ my body.  The measurements I’ve chosen to take are as follows:

• Upper Arm (right and left)
• Waist (naval)
• Waist (belt line)
• Hips
• Mid-Thigh (right and left)

When I write my January recap and February plan, I’ll post the change in numbers so everyone can see the change I’ve made.

Diet

I’ve enjoyed the holidays F-A-R too much and to say that I’ve overindulged would be an understatement.  So, the plan is to put tight wraps on the diet this month.  I’m going to do my best to go to a Paleo-esque diet.  My caloric intake will be centered on the following:

• Lean meats
• Fish and seafood
• Fresh fruits and veggies
• Eggs
• Nuts and seeds
• Healthy oils (olive, walnut, flaxseed, macadamia, avocado, coconut)

But, more importantly, I’ll be avoiding the following items:

• Cereal grains
• Legumes (including peanuts)
• Dairy
• Refined sugar
• Potatoes
• Processed foods
• Salt
• Refined vegetable oils

These rules seem kind of strict, but I’m not too worried.  I’ve done this type of diet before with good results and I believe I can make it stick.  I know that I feel more energetic and wholeheartedly better when I’m eating like that, so I need to give it a solid try.

I do know, however, that I’ll slip.  And that’s fine.  I’m human.  I just need to make sure that a slip is just a slip and not a detour into eating poorly again.

Workout Plan

Being sick and working over sixty-five hours per week for the last three or four weeks have put my fitness level at essentially zero.  The whole month of January will be used to get a decent base back.  With that in mind, I’ve devised the following Workout plan for the four weeks of January:

Cardio Work

• Three cardio sessions per week (~30-min per session)

Strength Work

• Four workouts per week consisting of 50 push ups and 50 crunches each

January Goals

The workouts above are pretty basic and allow for some flexibility with my schedule.  They also will result in a solid base come February.  In order to gauge my success in January, I’ve set up these goals based on the results of the workouts:

• 12 cardio workouts (~360 minutes of cardio)
• 800 push ups completed
• 800 crunches completed

This plan starts today (January 1) and runs through January 26.  February 1 is the following week, so we’ll consider that the first week in February.  On February 27, I will post a workout plan for February and also post a January recap which will concentrate on weight/inches lost, workout goal status and overall recap of the month.

Do you like this workout plan? If so, let us know in the comments, on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter.  Why not join us? Give me a shout on any one of those platforms and let me know if you’re going to follow the workout plan with me.  It’ll be great to see who you progress too!

photo credit: joshuanewman via photopin cc