The Lock-In Plan
One fixed day, repeated. Strength and cardio up, 188 lb down to 165, built around US market hours from Puerto Rico.
- Start
- Mon, Nov 2, 2026
- Goal
- 188 β 165 lb
- Pace
- 1β1.5 lb / week
- Food
- 2,000 kcal Β· 199 g protein
- Eating window
- 09:30β18:00
- Lift
- 12:30β13:20
Where the day stands
β
US markets run 10:30β17:00 Puerto Rico time from Nov 1, 2026 to Mar 13, 2027 and 09:30β16:00 from Mar 14. Puerto Rico has no daylight saving, so only the market rows move. Lifting sits in the midday lull in both seasons: after the 08:30 and 10:00 New York data releases, before the 14:00 Fed announcements, and clear of earnings, which print before the open or after the close.
Everything else follows from these
- Eat between 09:30 and 18:00. Outside it: water, black coffee, electrolytes.
- Eat the same three meals daily. Breakfast 09:30, lunch 13:30 with the whey shake right after lifting, dinner 17:30 with family.
- Lift 12:30β13:20 in the midday market lull, three hours after breakfast. Monday, Wednesday and Friday in weeks 1β3, then MondayβFriday once you have earned it.
- Easy cardio every morning at 06:15, before breakfast. 30 minutes on weekdays, longer on weekends.
- Lights out 22:00, wake 06:00, weekends included.
- Sunday: at most one calorie change, following the check-in steps in order.
Calibrate
Three lifting days at 2 sets. Eat the menu exactly; the weigh-ins establish your real rate of loss.
Cut
Earn the full split and full volume. The Sunday steps hold loss at 1β1.5 lb a week.
Hold
Step up to estimated maintenance in one move, then keep the 7-day average inside 163β168 lb.
Three meals, all from Costco
Weigh meat raw. Cook chicken and steak with zero-calorie spray; the tablespoon of olive oil in the salad is the only added fat. Pick a calorie level or a dinner swap and the menu and totals update.
Swaps: up to three dinners a week. Salmon is about the same as the steak (β15 kcal, +2 g protein); chicken is β92 kcal at the same protein and is only allowed at level 0 or above. Drink about 3β4 L of water a day, more on sweaty days.
The trainer's split, earned in three steps
10β12 reps (squats 12β15), stopping 1β2 reps short of failure. Two light warm-up sets on the first lift. Rest 2 minutes on the first two exercises, 60β90 seconds on the rest. When every set reaches the top of its range, add 5 lb (upper body) or 10 lb (legs) next session.
Ready for the next step?
Move up only when all four hold. Otherwise stay at your current step and recheck next Sunday.
Recovery rules
| Signal | Action |
|---|---|
| Every 6th week (6, 12, 18) | Deload: 2 sets per exercise, same weights, same number of days |
| A lift falls two sessions running, or sleep under 7 hours | That day: 2 sets per exercise, skip the finisher and intervals |
| A joint hurts during an exercise | Stop that exercise; next time try the machine or cable version only if pain-free. Pain lasting a week: see a physical therapist |
| Missed session | Skip it and continue the schedule; never double up |
| Market moving at 12:30 | Count it as a missed session; never push the lift into the evening |
| Overloaded day | Minimum day: the three meals, a 20-minute walk, the sleep window; no lifting |
| Sick | No training until 24 hours symptom-free; restart at 2 sets for a week |
The 50-minute cap
The cap includes warm-ups and transitions. If a session will run long, drop work from the bottom of the day's list: overhead tricep extensions Monday, preacher curls Tuesday, the bike and then wall sits Wednesday, "Y" raises Thursday, the finisher Friday. Protect the first two lifts and their rests, and never run past 13:20.
Cardio
| MonβFri | 06:15, 30 min: incline walk, elliptical or easy swim. Start at 3.0 mph and 5% incline; add 1% a week up to 10β12% while you can still talk in full sentences |
| Saturday | 06:15, 45β60 min easy; from week 4, finish with 6 Γ 30 s hard / 90 s easy |
| Sunday | 06:15, 30β45 min walk |
Eight hours, five supplements
- 22:00β06:00, weekends included.
- Last food by 18:00, four hours before bed.
- No caffeine after 12:15 (the pre-lift coffee).
- Screens off at 21:30; the phone charges outside the bedroom.
- Dark, cool bedroom, 65β68Β°F.
| Time | Supplement | Dose | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06:00 | Zero-sugar electrolytes | 1 packet in 1 L water | Replaces sweat losses in the heat |
| 09:30 | Creatine monohydrate (ON) | 5 g | Strength; the most-studied safe supplement [6] |
| 09:30 | Collagen peptides (Vital Proteins) | 2 scoops | Optional; part of the old routine |
| 13:30 | Whey (ON Gold Standard) | 1 scoop | Complete protein after lifting |
| 21:30 | Magnesium glycinate | 200 mg elemental | Optional; may help sleep. Skip with kidney disease |
One decision a week
Weigh daily after waking and keep a 7-day average; measure your waist at the navel on Sundays. Enter the numbers and the five steps run in order. Sleep and training fixes can stack; food changes at most once.
The calorie ladder
| Level | Adds to the level below | kcal/day | Protein |
|---|
The top covers the estimated maintenance range (2,600β2,800 kcal) with room to spare. If a step would move you above +6 or below β1, stay where you are and see a doctor or dietitian. "Full menu" means your current level, including the allowed swaps, with nothing unplanned added or left out.
The five steps, written out
- Recovery fixes (any week; training and sleep only). Under 7 hours of sleep on 3+ nights: 2 sets this week and fix the sleep routine. First lift down two sessions in a row with sleep on track: 2 sets for one week. Either sign still there after two weeks: see your doctor.
- Under-fueling (any week; overrides every waiting period). Lifts still down after a 2-set week, or hunger or fatigue disrupting work on 4+ days, while on the menu, sleeping 7+ hours and still losing: up one level, stop.
- Hold entry (first Sunday at or below 166 lb). The remaining deficit is about 500 kcal a day per 1 lb a week of loss. Add it to your level's kcal, move to the closest level, stop. Expect a 1β3 lb rebound over two weeks, mostly glycogen and water.
- Wait. No change before week 4, within two weeks of the last change, or with fewer than 6 of 7 days on the menu.
- Weight action. Cutting, by weekly loss: more than 1.5 lb, up one level; 1.0β1.5 lb, stay; 0.5 to under 1.0 lb, stay if the waist is down, otherwise down one; under 0.5 lb or gaining, down one. Hold, inside 163β168 lb: falling more than 0.5 lb a week, up one; within Β±0.5 lb, stay; rising more than 0.5 lb, down one. Above the band and falling, or below it and rising: stay. Below the band and flat or falling: up one. Above the band and flat or rising two checks in a row: down one.
Maintenance is confirmed after two "maintenance level" results in a row. Then keep weighing daily, run the Hold check on the first Sunday of each month, and go back to weekly checks after any other result.
Milestones and your log
The shaded boxes are the milestones for the 7-day average: guideposts, not deadlines. Off a milestone, follow the Sunday steps; never add extra cuts or cardio. Your log stays in this browser only.
One Costco run a week
Quantities cover the base menu; adjust for your level and swaps. Ticks are saved in this browser and reset with the button.
Prep
- Sunday (60 min) and Wednesday (30 min): bake 1.75 lb of chicken at 425Β°F for 20β22 minutes to 165Β°F inside. Portion it with broccoli and mushrooms; cooked chicken keeps 4 days in the fridge.
- At the market close: sear the steak about 4 minutes a side to 145Β°F, rest 3 minutes, eat at 17:30. Use a thermometer.
- Sunday: wash the greens and tomatoes.
Travel
Hotel dumbbells for the day's muscle group. At restaurants, chicken or steak with salad and rice; count an uncertain day as off the menu for the Sunday check-in. Resume the routine when you're back; never compensate with skipped meals or extra training.
The reasoning, with sources
~2,000 kcal to start
Estimated maintenance at 188 lb with this activity is about 2,600β2,800 kcal, a deficit of roughly 600β800 kcal a day. From week 4 the ladder steers by your measured rate instead.
200 g protein
About 1.1 g per pound, above the ~0.7 g/lb (1.6 g/kg) intake beyond which extra protein added little muscle on average [2], and within the range recommended for lifters in a deficit [3].
09:30β18:00 eating
It matches what worked before and keeps dinner at the family table. An 8-hour window cut fat mass while keeping strength in resistance-trained men [1]; an early window improved insulin sensitivity and blood pressure in a small controlled trial [7].
Lifting at 12:30
You train fed, three hours after breakfast, with lunch straight after, in the quietest hour of the trading day in both seasons.
Earned volume
Three days at 2 sets, then five days at 2 sets, then 3 sets: about 18 sets a session at most, so you recover while eating less. The full 4-set program comes back at goal weight.
Daily easy cardio
Talking-pace cardio builds aerobic fitness at little recovery cost; weekly intervals raise VOβmax, and higher fitness is associated with lower long-term mortality [5].
8 hours of sleep
In a controlled study, dieting on 5.5 hours of sleep cut fat loss by 55% and increased loss of fat-free mass [4].
Creatine
5 g a day of creatine monohydrate supports strength and is the most-studied safe supplement [6]. Expect 1β3 lb of water weight when you start.
Caveats
Calories and macros are planning figures from package labels and USDA data; check your packages, which change by batch. The studies support the approach, not this exact window or schedule. Get a physical with blood work (typically lipids, A1c, kidney function) in the first two weeks and again around week 12. Stop exercising and get checked promptly for chest pain, fainting or unusual breathlessness.
Sources and evidence
Labels: Kirkland rolled oats (150 kcal, 5 g protein per Β½ cup); Three Berry Blend (70 kcal per cup); Vital Proteins collagen (70 kcal, 18 g protein per 2 scoops); Kirkland chicken breast (110 kcal, 24 g protein per 4 oz raw); organic broccoli (25 kcal per 85 g); Tasty Bite brown rice & lentils (390 kcal per pouch); Kirkland top sirloin (156 kcal, 24 g protein per 4 oz raw); pumpkin seeds (280 kcal, 15 g protein per β cup); olive oil (120 kcal per Tbsp); balsamic (45 kcal per Tbsp); Greek nonfat yogurt (100 kcal, 18 g protein per β cup); ON creatine (5 g per serving); ON Gold Standard whey (120 kcal, 24 g protein per scoop). Mushrooms, greens, tomatoes and sockeye salmon (131 kcal, 22 g protein, 4.7 g fat per 100 g raw): USDA FoodData Central.
- Kirkland Greek nonfat yogurt
- Kirkland Three Berry Blend
- Tasty Bite brown rice & lentils
- Vital Proteins collagen peptides
- Optimum Nutrition creatine
- Moro T, et al. Effects of eight weeks of time-restricted feeding (16/8) on basal metabolism, maximal strength, body composition, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk factors in resistance-trained males. J Transl Med. 2016;14:290.
- Morton RW, et al. A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52:376β384.
- Helms ER, Aragon AA, Fitschen PJ. Evidence-based recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: nutrition and supplementation. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014;11:20.
- Nedeltcheva AV, et al. Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153(7):435β441.
- Mandsager K, et al. Association of cardiorespiratory fitness with long-term mortality among adults undergoing exercise treadmill testing. JAMA Netw Open. 2018;1(6):e183605.
- Kreider RB, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:18.
- Sutton EF, et al. Early time-restricted feeding improves insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, and oxidative stress even without weight loss in men with prediabetes. Cell Metab. 2018;27(6):1212β1221.