New diet and workout!! がんばれ!

I'll be making more use of this blog as I journal to help support a new lifestyle. In the past year, I've been working a fairly physically demanding job while also being a student. As a result, I felt like I was getting enough activity and my time for other things ... basically disappeared. I finally have some extra time on my hands!

So, I decided to start working towards a better lifestyle. I put on maybe 10 lbs through the year but I think my muscle mass should be about the same (or more due to work). I can still do a few pulls up in a row but my diet has been going downhill. I'd been faithfully sticking to this diet a year ago and it went quite well.. I believe my boyfriend may also be willing to join in.

Diet
Things to eat
-proteins and fats: lean meats and occasionally red meat, fish, seafood, eggs, nuts, oils minimally
-vegetables: any and all but lighter on starch overall
-fruits
-yogurt, small amounts of milk for coffee/tea (I am sensitive to dairy)
-herbs, spices, tea, coffee
1200-1600 calories

Things not to eat
-everything else

Exercise
Workouts
-Zwows, P90x (even though I dislike those videos), or similar self made workouts 5 times a week. If they are intense, they can be for as little as 15 minutes. I did this before and know it is effective.
-stretching before and after working out or going to work
-throw in walking, hiking, biking, swimming, group casual sports games as I please (can be substituted for the workouts above)

My goal will be to maintain this for 3 months with cheat days no more than once per month. It is flexible enough though for me to maintain this plan. This will be starting tomorrow as I get groceries and get recipes set up. I will also be posting relevant recipes I try out here as well as the work outs I am doing if they are online. As a general explanation for the workouts, I included P90X because my boyfriend likes to do those dvd's and has them. In that genre, I really prefer Zuzuka Light who was the old host of BodyRockTv. I find working out with her on youtube enjoyable whereas the host of p90x is kind of annoying. For the sake of convenience and variety I am including both. In general p90x videos are long and not very effective in my opinion but I am willing to do them once or twice a week in a pinch.