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Health, Good Practises, and Exercise
- Thread starter Huntn
- Start date
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My day at the gym.
Arrived at the YMCA at 10am. They took my temperature with a forehead scanner. Slots in the gym are available every 15 minutes for 45 min and it appears that they are operating on an honor basis as far as when members leave. There were about maybe 15-20 people there.
I spent about 45 minutes stretching on the floor (mats were absent) and doing mat exercises, crunches, leg lifts, pushups, etc. I have a shortish free (light) weight routine, a leg lift machine, and then moved to the weight machines.
Those were not moved, spread out because there is not enough space. They have signs (ready to use) on them that after you use a machine, you flip the sign (Used). There were attendents cycling who fairly quickly wiped the used machines down and flipped the signs back to ready status.
I was dissapointed that in some places every other machine was roped off to maintain social distancing. The two machines I really wanted to use but could not, was the back extension (opposite of crunches) and the torso twist (core exercise).
It worked, but the sooner we get a vacine the better.
Arrived at the YMCA at 10am. They took my temperature with a forehead scanner. Slots in the gym are available every 15 minutes for 45 min and it appears that they are operating on an honor basis as far as when members leave. There were about maybe 15-20 people there.
I spent about 45 minutes stretching on the floor (mats were absent) and doing mat exercises, crunches, leg lifts, pushups, etc. I have a shortish free (light) weight routine, a leg lift machine, and then moved to the weight machines.
Those were not moved, spread out because there is not enough space. They have signs (ready to use) on them that after you use a machine, you flip the sign (Used). There were attendents cycling who fairly quickly wiped the used machines down and flipped the signs back to ready status.
I was dissapointed that in some places every other machine was roped off to maintain social distancing. The two machines I really wanted to use but could not, was the back extension (opposite of crunches) and the torso twist (core exercise).
It worked, but the sooner we get a vacine the better.
{Mini bulk phase}- 8 weeks, workout restructure coming.
AM: Six eggs, one bagel with peanut butter, one cup of 2% milk, 8 ounces of oatmeal.
Mid: Two chicken breasts. One cup of white rice. 12 asparagus. One cup of 2% milk
PM: 12 ounce steak (Flank typically). Sweet potato. One cup of 2% milk.
Late: Protein (Sometimes it’s shrimp, chicken, steak, etc) 8oz spinach salad. One cup of 2% milk.
No alcohol, (I rarely ever drink) no sugary soda, no artificials.
AM: Six eggs, one bagel with peanut butter, one cup of 2% milk, 8 ounces of oatmeal.
Mid: Two chicken breasts. One cup of white rice. 12 asparagus. One cup of 2% milk
PM: 12 ounce steak (Flank typically). Sweet potato. One cup of 2% milk.
Late: Protein (Sometimes it’s shrimp, chicken, steak, etc) 8oz spinach salad. One cup of 2% milk.
No alcohol, (I rarely ever drink) no sugary soda, no artificials.
I hit 30 pounds lost today. Last update I was around 28 pounds lost. Also upped my runs to seven miles. Still chugging along and making good progress.
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Swimming! You don’t need the pounding which will eventually catch up with you one way or another. I used to be a dedicated runner, which kept my weight off until my late 40s when I started gaining weight. I’m 67 and swim 2500 yards, 3 times a week, sometimes exchange a swim day for a light weight workout day At the YMCA.
I’ve actually been a runner since my late 20s but about three years ago I had a non-running accident that screwed up my knee. After surgery I kind of just quit exercising and started eating everything in sight. Before I knew it I was up to 240 pounds.
I think I was just worried about running after the injury thinking my knee would never be the same and it would hurt during long runs. I lost confidence in it being fully healed. So I started slowly in March just doing a mix of walking and running. Amazingly enough it has been totally fine. I guess it was more of a mental thing.
For me the key to avoiding running injuries over the years has been to always have a rest day between runs. I never run on back to back days. And on off days I do a good bit of stretching. I also replace my running shoes regularly. So far I’ve never had a running injury, knock on wood.
I think I was just worried about running after the injury thinking my knee would never be the same and it would hurt during long runs. I lost confidence in it being fully healed. So I started slowly in March just doing a mix of walking and running. Amazingly enough it has been totally fine. I guess it was more of a mental thing.
For me the key to avoiding running injuries over the years has been to always have a rest day between runs. I never run on back to back days. And on off days I do a good bit of stretching. I also replace my running shoes regularly. So far I’ve never had a running injury, knock on wood.
When running I also allowed 48 hrs between runs, but my back no longer tolerates being pounded, hence swimming.
Cardio every single day for the last week. It’s been breaching over 100°, which is actually abnormal for my region. [And even into next week, we are exceeding 100° for the next seven days.]
The below picture actually was ported into the ‘activity thread‘ I’m involved in in the Apple Watch forum for all my ‘cardio adventures’.
Thought I’d share this little masterpiece from that thread.
Silo sunset
forums.macrumors.com
The below picture actually was ported into the ‘activity thread‘ I’m involved in in the Apple Watch forum for all my ‘cardio adventures’.
Thought I’d share this little masterpiece from that thread.
Silo sunset
Apple Watch Activity & Fitness Pictures thread
Good-morning. 82°. Look-up. It’s another sunny day!
forums.macrumors.com
Got this masterpiece coming today:
We were so impressed with Sunny customer service for our rowing machine, we went with them for an indoor cycle. This is their sort of "commercial" design, very beefy frame (~130 lbs), heavy flywheel (~44lbs), magnetic with dual couplers and micro adjustments, belt driven, includes SPD clips and a large device rack. I really liked the seat adjuster design (with the box railing), handlebars are 4 way adjustable - also killer reviews all over the net.
Originally we were pretty sold on the Schwinn IC4 (FYI, it's the exact same bike as the Bowflex C6), but they actually raised the price, while I had the bike in my cart, so I re-evaluated, and determined that while is has a slightly nicer gauge that includes BT/cadence, the device rack, adjustments, flywheel wasn't quite as good as the Sunny.
With this bike, we had to score our own cadence sensor, so we got the product from Wahoo (very highly reviewed), just a tiny little BT devices that stick onto the flywheel - and I actually used it on my outdoor bike, works amazingly well.
Anyway, Dick's Sporting Good of all places had the Sunny for $300 off, and since it's a beast, no free shipping, but they had a $15 off shipping promo, and a signed up for their newsletter for another 10% off, so the shipping was basically free. Wound up being ~$300 less than the IC4, even with having to spend $40 for the Wahoo.
So the elephant in the room, Peloton, right, we decided we did not want to pay $3000 for the first year for a "spin bike" with a huge fixed screen that can't do anything else. The monthly is $39 (plus, see below), the bike itself is good, but not better (in some ways not as good) as the options I was shopping, their required "setup fee" of $250 made my eyes roll. Here's the thing: we own a great tablet, neither of us are deeply into the whole heads up competition element, but the workouts are solid - and Peloton offers their same classes, via iOS devices for $12.99/month. They're even still interactive! The app can use any BT cadence sensor, and the only small thing to work out is the Peloton resistance vs. your bike, which if you've done any cycle classes, that's an easy thing to establish (especially with monitored / instructor indicated cadence).
We'll use our 12.9" iPadPro, and since they offer other non-bike exercises (same $12/mo), we can easily remove it, set it up anywhere in the house, or with the app on an AppleTV, do something in front of a TV. The other major perk, is with the Wahoo, we can also use the bike with killer cycle apps like Zwift (I'm actually pretty stoked about trying that one, it's a full virtual ride)
We're setting this up, and the moving the row machine into the top floor landing area, still on the waiting list for Core adjustable dumbbells that will eventually be in there as well - it's kind of a general purpose room, the little has her desk, keyboard (musical), setup in there, we're going to mount a TV on the wall, should be a great use of the space (most of which goes unused).
We were so impressed with Sunny customer service for our rowing machine, we went with them for an indoor cycle. This is their sort of "commercial" design, very beefy frame (~130 lbs), heavy flywheel (~44lbs), magnetic with dual couplers and micro adjustments, belt driven, includes SPD clips and a large device rack. I really liked the seat adjuster design (with the box railing), handlebars are 4 way adjustable - also killer reviews all over the net.
Originally we were pretty sold on the Schwinn IC4 (FYI, it's the exact same bike as the Bowflex C6), but they actually raised the price, while I had the bike in my cart, so I re-evaluated, and determined that while is has a slightly nicer gauge that includes BT/cadence, the device rack, adjustments, flywheel wasn't quite as good as the Sunny.
With this bike, we had to score our own cadence sensor, so we got the product from Wahoo (very highly reviewed), just a tiny little BT devices that stick onto the flywheel - and I actually used it on my outdoor bike, works amazingly well.
Anyway, Dick's Sporting Good of all places had the Sunny for $300 off, and since it's a beast, no free shipping, but they had a $15 off shipping promo, and a signed up for their newsletter for another 10% off, so the shipping was basically free.
Wound up being ~$300 less than the IC4, even with having to spend $40 for the Wahoo.So the elephant in the room, Peloton, right, we decided we did not want to pay $3000 for the first year for a "spin bike" with a huge fixed screen that can't do anything else. The monthly is $39 (plus, see below), the bike itself is good, but not better (in some ways not as good) as the options I was shopping, their required "setup fee" of $250 made my eyes roll. Here's the thing: we own a great tablet, neither of us are deeply into the whole heads up competition element, but the workouts are solid - and Peloton offers their same classes, via iOS devices for $12.99/month. They're even still interactive! The app can use any BT cadence sensor, and the only small thing to work out is the Peloton resistance vs. your bike, which if you've done any cycle classes, that's an easy thing to establish (especially with monitored / instructor indicated cadence).
We'll use our 12.9" iPadPro, and since they offer other non-bike exercises (same $12/mo), we can easily remove it, set it up anywhere in the house, or with the app on an AppleTV, do something in front of a TV. The other major perk, is with the Wahoo, we can also use the bike with killer cycle apps like Zwift (I'm actually pretty stoked about trying that one, it's a full virtual ride)
We're setting this up, and the moving the row machine into the top floor landing area, still on the waiting list for Core adjustable dumbbells that will eventually be in there as well - it's kind of a general purpose room, the little has her desk, keyboard (musical), setup in there, we're going to mount a TV on the wall, should be a great use of the space (most of which goes unused).
The cycle is awesome!
Hahaha, the delivery person didn't it put it on the main landing area because of the steps, it was standing front of the garage, all 140lbs of it. It wasn't fully assembled but the main frame and fly was, so that was about 80-90 lbs to lug upstairs, but not terrible. Everything went together easily, except the handlebars - the mounting hole wasn't super clean, so I used some 3-in-1, turned the fastener in slowly, backed it out, cleaned it, repeat, finally got it to tap in perfectly square and all the way (it was actually a hand fastener for adjusting the front to back of the bars).
Very high quality components, including the pedals (that can be a so-so grade component on lower end bikes), super smooth resistance (belt + magnetic), I attached the tiny Wahoo cadence sensor to the left/non-drive crank, used their app to confirm operation, super slick/simple, then we've (as I mentioned above) have been using the Peloton app. work with both our existing heart rate sensor, and the cadence sensor! The resistance was super easy to correlate to the called resistance during a class (it's a full turn per 10). We get all the metrics minus the "power" rating (which is only for ranking, which we have zero interest in ...).
Moving an extra TV and ATV we have to the wall in front of the bike and rower, with a beefy mount that has a 60˚ swivel, so the little G can swing it around to face her desk and watch TV too
Hahaha, the delivery person didn't it put it on the main landing area because of the steps, it was standing front of the garage, all 140lbs of it. It wasn't fully assembled but the main frame and fly was, so that was about 80-90 lbs to lug upstairs, but not terrible. Everything went together easily, except the handlebars - the mounting hole wasn't super clean, so I used some 3-in-1, turned the fastener in slowly, backed it out, cleaned it, repeat, finally got it to tap in perfectly square and all the way (it was actually a hand fastener for adjusting the front to back of the bars).
Very high quality components, including the pedals (that can be a so-so grade component on lower end bikes), super smooth resistance (belt + magnetic), I attached the tiny Wahoo cadence sensor to the left/non-drive crank, used their app to confirm operation, super slick/simple, then we've (as I mentioned above) have been using the Peloton app. work with both our existing heart rate sensor, and the cadence sensor! The resistance was super easy to correlate to the called resistance during a class (it's a full turn per 10). We get all the metrics minus the "power" rating (which is only for ranking, which we have zero interest in ...).
Moving an extra TV and ATV we have to the wall in front of the bike and rower, with a beefy mount that has a 60˚ swivel, so the little G can swing it around to face her desk and watch TV too
The cycle is awesome!
Hahaha, the delivery person didn't it put it on the main landing area because of the steps, it was standing front of the garage, all 140lbs of it. It wasn't fully assembled but the main frame and fly was, so that was about 80-90 lbs to lug upstairs, but not terrible. Everything went together easily, except the handlebars - the mounting hole wasn't super clean, so I used some 3-in-1, turned the fastener in slowly, backed it out, cleaned it, repeat, finally got it to tap in perfectly square and all the way (it was actually a hand fastener for adjusting the front to back of the bars).
Very high quality components, including the pedals (that can be a so-so grade component on lower end bikes), super smooth resistance (belt + magnetic), I attached the tiny Wahoo cadence sensor to the left/non-drive crank, used their app to confirm operation, super slick/simple, then we've (as I mentioned above) have been using the Peloton app. work with both our existing heart rate sensor, and the cadence sensor! The resistance was super easy to correlate to the called resistance during a class (it's a full turn per 10). We get all the metrics minus the "power" rating (which is only for ranking, which we have zero interest in ...).
Moving an extra TV and ATV we have to the wall in front of the bike and rower, with a beefy mount that has a 60˚ swivel, so the little G can swing it around to face her desk and watch TV too
Excellent! I had a Lemond Revmaster which worked really well, despite the bad reputation.
Glad to see y’all have kept it up despite everything. I’ve been sorely lacking. Between unemployment and COVID, I’ve been struggling with some depression, lost motivation and put on about 10 pounds this year. Started running and biking again. Unfortunately some jerk (<- I wanted to use a much stronger word here) busted our neighborhood pool gate so it’s been closed all summer due to liability. But I’m signing up for a gym on Friday to resume swimming and some strength training.
The cycle is awesome!
Moving an extra TV and ATV we have to the wall in front of the bike and rower, with a beefy mount that has a 60˚ swivel, so the little G can swing it around to face her desk and watch TV too
Right got the extra Sony mounted, went with the same company, but one bracket down (the other was really for 75+" sets), still uses a full width plate (4 lug bolts into the studs @ 16"), still tilt 12˚ and angle adjustable to ~45˚ Moved an extra AppleTV to it, tucked all the cables, still might do into the wall, we'll see. Definitely buying another one of the same brackets for the little G's room/TV.
This is super cool: the Peloton App on an iPhone + the matching app on a Apple Watch, all connected through the Health app, the watch provides real time heart rate to Peloton, and as mentioned, the Wahoo sensors provide cadence. Then we AirPlay the app the new TV/ATV setup right in front of the bike!
Peloton App left, Apple Workout (all linked through Health), on the right.
FYI, this also allows for per-person stats, because Peloton removed profiles from the app a few months ago (I guess they figured that would be a possible incentive for buying their hardware).
I also scored a set of Core Home adjustable dumbbells, a little tricky to acquire (without paying some idiot on Ebay 2-3x the retail price). These are __very__ cool, they adjust from 5-50 lbs each, you just rotate the handle, and it connects to plates, and when you lift it up, everything locks. You can do a killer circuit, and swap weights in seconds, and the foot print is nice and small (the plates are nice and thin), they take up very little room.
The other day I did a strength / HIIT combined, used bands (door anchored, the bands are good for some strength moves vs. the dumbbells), weights, and the workout was running on the Peloton app up on the big TV and we have a nice open area in the landing/workout/2nd Office/Beat Lab
Loving this, while we liked to workout, the gym for us, was sort of a drag, hard to do a circuit if it was busy, needing to be there in advance for some classes, meaning with the drive a 25-30 minute workout was well over an hour of time. So we have the bike, the rower, weights and a full set of Go Fit bands.
Going to change the lighting/fan, move some things around, hahaha, I've got weights under a keyboard (the musical kind), so it's a touch muddled at the moment. Pics later when it's all put together
I am in the early stages of a similar setup for my wife. I think I understand your setup. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
1) Peleton App running on iPhone (I’d try to put it on her ipad, but same difference I think)
2) Wahoo cadence sensor connected to iPhone via Bluetooth which provides data right into the Peleton App
3) Apple Watch provides heart rate data directly to Peleton App (this is where I’m confused, is there a Peleton Watch App?)
4) Peleton app records workout with HR & Cadence data.
Hey!
1) So, the Peloton App works on iPad and iPhone, we initially just used our 12.9 Pro (since we didn't have the TV setup yet), it works great, uses sensors, etc., the downside being no integration with health/Watch. On the iPad, You get the cadence data (via the Wahoo sensor) and HR data if you're using a standalone BT HR monitor (but it won't get HR data from the Watch, there's a couple of hacky apps that attempt to do this, I tested, too much hassle).
2) Yes, the sensor zip ties to the left crank, it just starts working, I used their own app to test it, but it's not needed (I guess it can also do things like update the firmware). FYI, they also make an RPM sensor, but that doesn't have much value on a fixed gear spin bike, but you can get it to work, it might work with like Zwift (I'm going to do a Zwift ride today I think)
3) Yes! It's super cool, my ancient AW doesn't support it, the wife's is a Series 4, not sure of the specific W/OS/series requirement. So once you have the Peloton App on the iPhone, and the matching AW app, and, you allow the Peloton app to access your health data, it's all just kind of magic. She starts a ride on the Peloton app (on her iPhone), I have to select the cadence sensor each time on the iPad, but her iPhone now seems to pick it automatically after she paired it one time (and that was through the Peloton iPhone app). That's it, she does the ride, and all that data I showed above is available.
Basically the health app integration creates a workout record, based on information being sent by the Peloton app (which acquires HR data from her Watch via the Peloton Watch App).
Note that I'm using a BT HR sensor we owned, it's actually from Orange Theory, but works great.
4) Yes, the Peloton app _and_ the standard iPhone Activity app as well. You can see the data present on both matches (calories, HR), and then you get a little more cycle data on the Peloton app (like cadence), plus the Peloton app breaks the HR down into zone categories.
So again, since I re-read this, and wasn't sure if I wasn't clear, I was a little rambly ...
iPad w/ Peloton App
Works with Wahoo cadence sensor
Does not work with Watch for HR
Does work with BT HR sensors
All workout results are in the Peloton App
iPhone + Apple Watch w/ Peloton App(s)
Works with Wahoo cadence sensor
Does work with Watch for HR
Does work with BT HR sensors
All workout results are in the Peloton App
All workout results are also in Activity/Workout on iPhone
BTW, if you haven't purchase your bike yet, I did a decent amount of research, I might be able to save you some time.
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Thanks for the speedy and detailed reply! Believe it or not, it makes sense what you posted, though I had to read it twice.
It looks like the easiest path, given what we have on hand at the house is just going through her iPhone. She has a s3 watch, so that’s probably good enough for now. As far as bikes, I have a couple of mag trainers* and her bike is currently in one of them. Probably not as good as a spin bike for the purpose, but still ought to work. That just leaves the cadence sensor, which I can pick one up easily enough.
*i picked up the first one for $20 when I bought my bike. Then last November, I bought 2 more within a week for $10 each.
This, this, this, but it goes the other way, too. I lost 40 lbs between January and May this year just by monitoring my calorie intake, staying active, and drinking a lot of water (at least a gallon a day). Doing so helped me develop a better sense for when I’m full, rather than stuffed, and when it’s time to say no. I struggle to call it a “diet” at all because it’s a diet that’s easy to stick to for losing or maintaining weight — not excluding entire portions of the food pyramid, not starving myself, and so on, just being mindful of how much I’m eating.
If drinking a lot of liquid helps satisfy hunger, maybe I should be drinking more!
That's part of what I did! Always a glass of water before a meal; helped me eat a little less.If drinking a lot of liquid helps satisfy hunger, maybe Imshould be drinking more!
This is a terrific point. It's so easy to eat way past being plenty full, just jam in another 300, 400, 500 calories because it tastes good, or you "don't want to waste", or whatever. The wife and I always just say to ourselves, that as adults, if we want more, we can get more. Instead of that 3rd appetizer, if I really want it after I'm done, order up! It rarely happens, though we were at Universal much earlier this year, ate early (it was our arrival day), knew we'd be hungry later, so I scored a couple of extra entrees, it was quite a scene at 1am ...
We even got into the habit of splitting something, unless we're on a NFG day (hahaha, we had one of those from Osprey Tacos last week ...), we're at a new special place and want to try several things, or we're specifically getting more to have for later, the next day, etc.
This is not from me but a friend of mine. I’m interested in this but just don’t know what I’d eat. I love my cereal in the morning, toast and sandwiches. I just can’t imagine not eating these. Ant thoughts/advice?
The impact of diet and daily exercise on weight and % body fat; for those who might be interested in such things. I did six months worth of a whole-food plant-based only diet, then six months of a no-sugar low-carb only diet (The Wheat Belly Diet, kind of). The former demands no meat, fish, dairy, or bad oils, but grain-based foods, such as breads, are a go. The latter demands no grain-based products, very low cabs, or anything that can cause sugar spikes. Meat, fish dairy are a go, but no bad oils. So, percentage body fat down from 23% to 15%; weight down from 15.5 stones to 12.5 stones; waist size down from 34" to 30". Over the last six months my HDL, LDL, HbA1c, and triglycerides have all come into the normal range, for the first time in over a decade. Yet, I've never eaten so much meat, fish, and dairy. Cooked breakfasts a couple of times each week kind of doesn't make sense. But the bloods don't lie. So, I'm staying on the low carb diet for another six months, but introducing intermittent fasting to improve autophagy. Hopefully I'll still be around to give you an update, just in case you're interested, like. Sorry, should have said I'm not taking any statins...
The impact of diet and daily exercise on weight and % body fat; for those who might be interested in such things. I did six months worth of a whole-food plant-based only diet, then six months of a no-sugar low-carb only diet (The Wheat Belly Diet, kind of). The former demands no meat, fish, dairy, or bad oils, but grain-based foods, such as breads, are a go. The latter demands no grain-based products, very low cabs, or anything that can cause sugar spikes. Meat, fish dairy are a go, but no bad oils. So, percentage body fat down from 23% to 15%; weight down from 15.5 stones to 12.5 stones; waist size down from 34" to 30". Over the last six months my HDL, LDL, HbA1c, and triglycerides have all come into the normal range, for the first time in over a decade. Yet, I've never eaten so much meat, fish, and dairy. Cooked breakfasts a couple of times each week kind of doesn't make sense. But the bloods don't lie. So, I'm staying on the low carb diet for another six months, but introducing intermittent fasting to improve autophagy. Hopefully I'll still be around to give you an update, just in case you're interested, like. Sorry, should have said I'm not taking any statins...
Going low/no carbs takes a bit of work, and it depends where you're coming from. We're not much on sweets, don't do non-diet soft drinks, so right up front, some major sources of carbs were never a factor for us.
There's a satisfaction element of carbs that can be hard to overcome, so you really have to make sure everything else pushes some buttons. I've seen people go low carb, and their meals are dull baked chicken breast and a plain vegetable (and it usually doesn't last). For example, we've been doing delicious stuffed poblano peppers, cheese, meat, sauce, seasonings, they're super satisfying, spicy, while being no/low carbs - we use low carb tortillas, they save a ton, stil taste great, and we load them up with all day simmered-in-salsa boneless/skinless chicken thighs. Sure, we also do sliders with super lean ground beef, no fries, but really good buns, sure, it's a spike in carbs, but it's one day, and again, very satisfying. I won't get into too much in terms of specific recipes, the main takeaway is, low carb can be really good, and the occasional large carb intake can keep you sane
A year or so go, we did a hardcore 30 day burn, with about another 30 where we maintained very close to the same guidelines - and then tapered off into a more maintainable plan. The first 30 was zero carbs, zero booze, zero dairy, it was not fun, but we needed a real kickstart - the other thing that does is establish the eating pattern, it resets your "needs", so coming out of those 60 days, we were able to shift back towards more carbs, but while still keeping them low.
When you do eat carbs, they should be whole grain, and everything else should of course be healthy, i.e., healthy fats, nuts, lean proteins, good balance of everything else. Depending on your age, or just your general perspective on health, cutting out heart healthy whole grains. Also, switching out white starchy carbs like russet potatoes for sweet potatoes does keep a decent about of carb intake, but the health benefits of the latter are outstanding.
Here's the thing: we love to have a good time, we eat, drink, er, well, _did_ travel, so we tend to tick-tock between very controlled intake and out of control
I'm not going to half-ass some of my joys, like beer. Sure there's some lo-carb swill, but that's not in the cards.I guess my point being: there's sort of two stages, the initial target, whether that's BF, weight, and/or some other health metric (like your HDL / LDL ratios), and the speed at which you'd like to achieve those (in, if course, following safe and healthy guidelines - then - there's maintenance, keeping those achieved goals intact, and what's required, and how reasonable are those for your life/lifestyle (see beer comment above). I'd also add, your general physicality, how active of a lifestyle you lead, your age, all these things can, and will affect your targets - and that's OK, a 50 year old body isn't the same as a 25 year old
Maybe you determine some target goals, go hardcore (which includes a working out which I didn't even address, but for those first 30, we were doing 800+ calorie workouts, 5 days a week), get some good meal plans put together, do 21 days with a radically changed diet, then see if you can do another 21 (or even need it), and what a "This makes me happy while still helping to maintain my current health metrics" looks like.