30 Days Out

So....here it is.  I wanted to share the remaining four weeks of contest prep for two main reasons.  First, I've wanted to document this entire journey, but have never just had the gumption to do so.  Now that the weeks are dwindling down, I've found it increasingly important (and therapeutic) to blog some of my feelings and frustrations.  Secondly, I wanted to be able to share these experiences--the good and the bad--with each and every one of you (who ever may read this anyways!) to give you an idea of what things are like for me on a daily basis.

I met with my coach on 8/25 and had a successful visit.  I was nervous going into the session because I had "only" lost two pounds in two weeks and I had splurged on some food I probably shouldn't have had.  I'm only human.  There was a cookout/bday party I recently hosted and I indulged in a small piece of cake, some macaroni and cheese, a hot dog (no bun) and corn casserole.  ALL of things my body is not used to.  Prior to this slip I was maintaining a steady loss and my average weight was about 133.  However, after the slip, I bloated and retained some poundage, as my body was not accustomed to those foods.  It took like 4 days for my body to rebound back to a steady loss again.  Nonetheless, I got back on track quickly, and I'm now heading in the right track towards my goals.  Despite the progress, there's no denying that it's crunch time and that I still have a great deal to accomplish in these remaining weeks.  I pinched at 14.9% body fat, which was down almost 2% from the previous assessment, which had only been two weeks prior.  I was impressed with those numbers, as I was hoping for a 15.5%.  Anyways--the result of the assessment was to decrease my calories each week, cycling each day with my carbs and having three super low calorie days (1190 to be exact).  I was also instructed to try to do cardio twice a day, or when that's not feasible, do at least an hour session.  Cardio is now being done daily, and strength training is done 4-5x a week.  The current goal of my regimen is to maintain the muscle/lean mass that I currently have and shed the fat on top of the muscle, to give me an even leaner, more defined look. 

So what did today look like? 
Calories:   1270
Fats:         40grams (actually higher than recommended for today)
Carbs:       73grams (lower than I was alloted for today)
Protein:     138grams (also lower than alloted).

Workouts:   35mins elliptical on my lunch hour
                   40mins lifting, circuit training at 8:30ish pm
                   30mins running/3.5miles at intervals (max was 9.1mph)

Tomorrow is another lower calorie/carb day in which I'm alloted 50g carbs or less, and my protein intake is up to 180g.  I've already got my meals planned and packed for tomorrow...I just hope I dont deviate from the plan!