It's the end of Day 2. I weighed myself this morning and am below 200lbs! Hooray! Okay, I'm not totally surprised, but I am proud of myself. I wanted to make a post on the weekend when I'm super excited and on point with my goals.
My Macros
You might be curious as to what my daily macros are and what I eat. First off, let me preface this by saying I eat enough food on my restricted paleo diet. If I was hungry, I'd eat.
Calories 1200, Protein 150g, Fat 40g, Carbs 60g
I know it doesn't seem like much, but I have a tough time eating all 1200 calories. I get close. Before I get criticized too much, let me just point out that 1 cup of broccoli = 55 calories whereas 1 cup of rice = 160 calories. It's all in your choice of food. My BMR is around 1400 calories, so I'm in a little deficit regarding food.
Here's a peek at what I ate today by 5pm:
I won't lie. That plain can of tuna is pretty rough, but it helps get my protein levels in. I know, its probably silly of me to mark that I had my vitamins, but it's just something I do.
I really like using My Fitness Pal (free site and app). If you're looking for some way to track your nutrition and your exercise, check it out. What I really like is you can create your own recipes - which is what I did for my green smoothie - and you can use the app to scan barcodes for nutrition data.
When it comes to water, remember that it's best to drink 1.0 to 0.5 times your weight in ounces. 0.5 x your weight = A 1.0 x your weight = B A to B = water range in ounces
I'm sure you didn't just want to read about my macros and how much water you should drink each day. I have some thoughts and concerns for the next 4 months.
Coach - Do I need a bodybuilding coach? I've reached out to a few people, but everyone is busy or they haven't responded. I don't know that it's absolutely necessary. Maybe I'll get a coach after I compete for the first time or maybe I just won't need one. I have some online support via facebook groups.
Burning Fat - I have a ways to go, I think. According to Arnold Schwarzenneger, the key to burning fat is to 1) eat 1g of protein per lb of body weight (ex. 200lbs = 200g protein) on days you train and a little less on rest days; 2) eat low amounts of fat and only healthy fats; 3) reduce your carbohydrates as low as possible without going into ketosis; and 4) do 45-60 min of aerobic exercise 4-5 times a week. I'm taking his advice and am working on eating a little more protein. The rest I think I have down! I also tend to do 30-40 min of cardio, but I do that 6 times a week. I think that's okay. It seems to be working.
Hormones - Honestly, I'm a little worried about my hormones since I've had thyroid and adrenal issues in the past. I have to keep my stress levels down because that seems to be a big deal for my system. I'm not lingering too much on this. It's just something that I'm aware of. I think if I was too stressed or if I was off balance hormonally, I wouldn't be dropping weight. That tends to be a good indicator for me.
Wednesday - Wednesday is my new leg day. It's also the day that I'm most likely to not want to hit the gym. I friggin' love leg day. I just need to step up my game and NOT miss it. I did think about rearranging my workouts so leg day was a different day, but I thought "nah, I'll be more likely to go on Wednesday if it's leg day". Good intentions.
The Little Things For Competition - I didn't think I'd be so concerned about the "little things" that go along with bodybuilding competitions. I have a practice suit for posing. Boy do I currently look terrible in it! lol I think I'm going to have to start getting waxed so I get a little used to it before competition time. Those suits don't cover a ton of stuff, if you know what I mean.
I've also never had a spray tan before and am not really looking forward to it. If I compete, I'm going to see about finding a hotel with a pool. I hear that a chlorinated pool can help remove a spray tan. Sleeping with a spray tan sounds terrible too. If you're curious, start looking into it. Crazy!
I'm also a little worried about posing, but I did talk to my gym to see if we could arrange for some posing clinics. That might start pretty soon. I know there's another lady at the gym who wants to compete in the wellness division, so there's interest. Maybe I should start asking around for posing coaches.
Lack of a cohesive local bodybuilding community makes all of this a little hard as well. I'm trying to find some people. I know they're out there. I just don't really know them. It would probably be a little more cohesive if there was a local competition, but all the in-state competitions are down in the Eagle River/Anchorage area.
Further Posts - I don't think I'll post every day, but I'll probably post at least once or twice a week. I like hearing feedback. I like questions from people. I guess the best way to engage people is to ask a question.
Question - Where are you at? What is your current fitness and nutrition strategy? Are you happy with it? Do you want to change it up? What are your current goals? Do you need any help figuring things out?