The Beginning of My Permanent Fitness Journey

Hello! So right after my last post, I thought I might as well just dive into the topics I said I'd talk about. So first, the more interesting one. I want this post to describe my plan, past experience, and the other things that people frequently ask at least in regards to lifting such as height, weight, and age.

Background

So I am 21, 5'8" (173 cm), and 186.6 lbs (84.4 kg) as of yesterday. In total, I have gained and lost about 100 pounds in the past 2 and a half years. That is, I have mainly stayed between 190 and 160 pounds. Unfortunately, most of the weight that I've gained back every time is fat and I'm basically starting over every single time. Well I aim to change that once and for all. A recent change in my life has given me the ability to be less restricted with my weight and how I work out.

Following the first time that I did keto, I began looking into powerlifting and I loved it. I got to lift heavy weight for the sake of lifting heavy weight. But I was required to focus more calisthenic workouts because it was better for me to be conditioned in that way rather than powerlifting. I also had to run lot in ways that I didn't really like, mainly distance running. I prefer HIIT. Now I finally get to do what makes me happier and I'm really looking forward to it.

The Plan

So what do I plan to do? It's looking to take about a year for me to get to the point where I feel happy and expect to mostly just maintain at. And that's starting with a hard cut for then next month and a half to 2 months. Really, it's once I get to the point to where I'm not really lean but I definitely not fat. In the past, that's been around the mid 160's to 170 for me. So that might take longer and I wouldn't be surprised if it does. After that, I plan to bulk to about 190 or 200. Not gaining any more than 3 pounds a month, which should take about 9 months. Then finally do one last cut to shave off the extra fat I put on. After that, I plan to do maintenance for pretty much the rest of my life.

In terms of workouts, I'm starting with stronglifts and I'm going to be doing it throughout my cut. Then I'm going to switch to either the Texas Method or Ivysaur 4-4-8, depending on how I look and feel. I ultimately want to become stronger and more muscular and I know I can achieve that through a combination of those workout programs. Right now, I'm thinking Texas Method the First half of the bulk and then Ivysaur 4-4-8 the second half. But we'll see! I also plan to plan somewhat often throughout all of this. Most likely HIIT twice a week. But that will heavily depend on how I feel.

So I think that's enough for tonight. I'll have the first real update on my cut tomorrow. In that, I'll explain what I'm doing and go in depth with my eating and workouts. Then, you may fire away at the criticism. I still don't know how to end these. Keep steeming? One day I'm gonna come up with something that'll catch on and I'll see other people use it and I'll be like "that's my thing" and they'll say they came up with it themselves and I'm just gonna let them go about their day because they'll probably have thought of it too.