Some time ago I read a good book, Atomic Habits by James Clear — a bit repetitive, but it helps you really internalize certain concepts. Building a habit is indeed hard work, but there’s one thing the book doesn’t emphasize enough: how damn easy it is to fall into a negative spiral.

In previous years, I struggled immensely to get back in shape. At the time, I reached an unsustainable weight: 99 kilos. Over the course of a year and a half, between diet and gym, I’d lost more than 20, reaching a shape I considered satisfactory. I thought I’d got it, that I understood how my body works. Instead, the trap was just around the corner.

Sure, I can come up with plenty of excuses: multiple moves, job changes, and other more intimate emotional upheavals. But the truth is I haven’t really understood anything. One moment of weakness was enough to trigger a negative spiral: if I skip one workout, I can skip two; if I skip two, maybe I’ll pick it up again next week. With food, it’s even worse, because you feel authorized by trips, events, dinners with friends, and then you find yourself eating junk at home because, hey, “I’ve already cheated.”

The situation isn’t dramatic: ups and downs aside, I’m still fairly trained. I’ve gone back up to about 85 kilos, with a decidedly worse body composition, but it’s not a disaster. Based on past experience, I should be able to lose about 1 kg per week. In two months I could be in a good place, but I need to devise some strategies.

A trick that helped me a lot in the past was meticulously tracking progress and sharing it. Social pressure is an excellent incentive, especially for someone like me. Just remember the marathon preparation!

Let’s lay out the goals:

  • gym training 5 times a week
  • at least 10,000 steps a day (it’s cold and rains often, running is out of the question)
  • follow a low-calorie diet, without extremes but without cheating — I’ll mark cheat days on the calendar
  • sleep at least 7 hours a night (this one’s the hardest)
  • at the start of each week, I’ll publish the previous week’s progress: weight, steps, workouts, cheats, and hours of sleep

The goal, then, is to reach 80 kilos by March 16: 5 kilos in 6 weeks. An ambitious but achievable goal.

I’ll be in touch!