The last few weeks have been remarkably tough on the Fortress.

There was the ultimate high that, once broken through, led to a wall that just didn’t ever seem to fall. After reaching the 100-pound milestone at the beginning of March, I didn’t lose another pound for two weeks, no matter how hard I tried. Last Friday, the wall beat me, I am sad to say. After banging into it again and again for two straight weeks, I had had enough.

So I fell off the wagon over the weekend. Call it a three-day binge if you want. That’s pretty much what it was. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, eating like I was aiming for 370 by the end of the weekend.

But I can safely say that this was a physical binge only. My mind never really strayed from the task at hand. If I want to rationalize three days of eating like shit, I can do so by telling myself it was a needed respite and a chance to figure out how to tear down that fucking wall.

Sunday, free from work and any real responsibilities, I took a walk along the Vallejo waterfront. It was the first time I had walked outside in months. But I needed to clear my mind, needed to reflect on the first half of this diet, needed to devise a plan that would lead to success in the second half.

Somehow, I came up with something.

It is obvious to me, and probably to you, that the first half of this diet was, shall we say, casual. Off days were taken regularly, I ate extra calories here and there and I treated the gym like a chore instead of a certifiable path to health. I didn’t love being on a diet, I just saw it as something I had to do.

The lapses were clear to me, which was good as it gave me an idea as to where to begin the second half. That walk helped show me the way. Underneath an unusually hot California sun, I strolled through a dirt path next to the Mare Island strait.

It occurred to me that I should pay more attention to what I eat and when I eat it. I should go to the gym nearly every day. I should, in some way, have a time frame in which to lose this weight. I realized that I need an intensive, all-inclusive commitment to losing the last 30 pounds.

I knew things had to change, or I would stay at 270 for a long while. I don’t want that because 270 is definitely not the destination here. That would be like planning a road trip from New York to Los Angeles, but stopping in Nebraska instead because you were tired of driving. Right now I am in Nebraska. And you should know, Nebraska is my least favorite state in the union.

So here’s what I came up with for these last 30 pounds. Do I think that this plan will work? Yes I do, but mainly because I don’t have any other options right now. So here’s what I will be striving for from here on out: