Kicking Ass this Summer

[HazelMotes]

Well, here I am, a 26 year old grad student on a journey to kick ass. I hear tell that this is the place to do it.

My story is probably not that different from a lot of you all. I've been on the heavier side since middle school. I've gone up and down a lot over the years. The vicious cycle of eating shitty "food," being depressed, hardly moving, and terrible sleep patterns resulted in me being as heavy as 295 in the past. I've tried a lot of different diets and exercises over the years. They pretty much all work when I follow them. Of course, after I lost 20+ pounds I give myself some time off because I "earned it." You know the rest of the story.

Over the past six months I've gone from 278 to 250. I mostly did that by just eating paleo (with admittedly too much dairy). I didn't really exercise once the semester got into full swing. The last few weeks of the semester were absurdly stressful. I had major assignments and grading (I teach an undergrad course) piling up all around me. So that, together with all of the end of semester gatherings and graduation parties, resulted in me jumping back up to 260ish.

So, we arrive now at my goals for this summer:

drop at least 50 pounds. (though, I'd love to be under 200)

be able to do 20 push ups in a row (I can do maybe 3 now)

I've love to be able to do a pull up, which I am no where near doing now.

To do this I will:

go nearly full paleo (with an exception for low carb protein bars).

do the beginner body weight circuit at least three times a week.

drink less (I'm a bourbon man. Hoping to cut down to 3-4 times a week instead of 6-7 times).

walk for a minimum of thirty minutes a day.

Also, this is just the beginning of my summer of kicking ass. I also have a number of academic and personal goals not directly related to health. I will be applying for PhD programs this December (for admittance in the fall of 2013), and have a number of tasks and goals related to that. Chief among these for the summer is getting a badass score on the GRE (I didn't have to take the GRE for my current Master's program). I also need to have a thesis proposal ready at or near the beginning of the fall semester (September). There are a few other things that I won't bore you with

So, I have a lot of work to do this summer. I have no doubt that I can do it. It's simply a matter of if I will do it. And the answer to that question is: hell yes.

I look forward to hearing your stories and getting your advice on all of this stuff. For now, I'm going on a walk.