Week 5 Update - Wait Week 5?!

My 30 days are over, and yet I am still going. That was the purpose of this whole thing, as silly as some may have thought it was! Going into this I was aware the psychology behind a 30 day challenge is to make the change a habit and a lifestyle, not necessarily become ripped and shredded at the end...though one can dream. I'm going to continue on with what I have started with the purpose of getting healthier, stronger, and leaner, but what I'm going to give up is the strict mentality I adopted for the first 30 days. Let's face it, I'm not competing for any fitness competition (I have thought about it) and I don't have a deadline to meet for any other special occasion, so beating myself up (mostly mentally) is not worth it at this time.What I don't want to do is let the knowledge and the success I have gained in the last thirty days go to waste. So here is where I will relax a bit:

• Sugar - It has been my weakness from day one. I have found though that trying to cut all added sugar out of my diet is just not going to work for me at this point. What I have agreed to is to limit myself to two servings of fruit a day (and I'm not going to stress about other foods with natural sugar in them), and I'm going to try and stick to only 25-35 grams of added sugar a day. That's foods with sugar in the ingredients. If I want that cookie or that piece of cake, I will have it. If it fits into my macros, awesome! If it doesn't? I'm going to relax! Life is too short to live without cake!
• Cheat Meals - I am wrapping my mind around either a 80% or 90% clean lifestyle. Meaning the other 20%-10% is where the 'bad' stuff can be incorporated. With all the social norms it is very hard to eat clean 100% of the time. When I do try to not give in, especially in social situations, I end up beating myself up about it instead of patting myself on the back! My psyche needs cheat meals and as long as the majority of my weekly intake is clean, I think I can overcome the guilt of making a not so healthy choice every now and then. 

Today I had a breakthrough on my macro nutrients. I have been trying to get everything into a perfect 40/30/30 split between carbs, fat, and protein, while keeping my protein at 1g per body weight (140lbs), and my fat at 70g (or half my body weight). With what I had in my myfitnesspal.com account I couldn't seem to get there! It was so frustrating trying to make these equations work right for tracking. Then I realized my calories were setup to lose 1 pound a week and my exercise goals were setup for 60 minutes 5 times a week. I have determined my body likes 140lbs and I don't want to lose weight. Anytime I go down a pound or two (137 being my lowest achieved weight) it doesn't seem to stick. So calories were floating around 1600ish, which I always seemed to be exceeding. Once I upped them to 1850 calories I was able to make my ratios work and meet my protein and fat requirements (within a gram or two). If I do decide I want to drop weight, the calories I burn in my workouts is where I need to do that. I moved my exercise goal to 75 minutes 5 times a week because that is what I have currently been maintaining. With all the goals (food and fitness) met, it still has me at losing half a pound a week, but with the addition of a cheat meal every now and then and relaxing on my sugar, I'm figuring I will be maintaining the number on the scale while hopefully seeing improvement in muscle tone.

I have yet to run my measurements. Part of me does not want to know my measurements. I don't think I have a true perspective on what measurements are appropriate for a fit body and I find myself reverting back to the supermodel frame of 34-24-34 and 19 inch thighs. I think I need to do some more research before I subject myself to a smack to the psyche. I do however need to calculate my body fat percentage. Maybe that is a goal I can accomplish by next week!

Oh hello back muscles! Where did you come from?