Countdown to 30: 10 Days to Go

4/1: 157.0
4/2: 155.0
4/3: 155.2
4/4: 154.6
4/5: 154.8
4/6: 154.2
4/7: 153.2
4/8: 154.8
4/9: 152.6
4/10: 151.2
4/11: 153.2
4/12: 152.2
4/13: 152.2
4/14: 152.4
4/15: 153.2
4/16: 152.2
4/17: 152.0
4/18: 151.8
4/19: 152.0
4/20: 152.0
4/21: 152.0
4/22: 152.6
4/23: 151.4
4/24: 151.4
4/25: 151.6

10 days to go. Taking stock, I can look back on the past 25 days and honestly say I've given it all I could so far. My diet has been really clean and healthy, I've been accountable with my portion sizes (I've been ranging between 1700-2300 calories most days, with an average of probably 1900 or 1950, depending on how much I worked out.) My exercise has been intense and effective, and more days than not I've doubled up with an AM & PM workout.

I feel and see results, too. I am definitely in the best shape of my life. I have way more energy, a more stable mood, and my sleep is much improved. My strength has remained steady or continued to go up, and though it's hard to judge my metabolic conditioning without a stable benchmark workout, I definitely perceive an improvement in my interval and intense crossfit workout times. My skill base in pose running, kip pull-ups and (hopefully, as of Kevin's lesson yesterday) c2 rowing has improved too.

Physically, I notice the greatest change in my arm and abdominal definition. I have more distinct cuts in my upper arms. My shoulder, bicep and triceps are standing out more than they ever have, and my abdominals look pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. I see less noticeable change in my lower body (where I tend to carry my extra weight), but my pants fit a bit more comfortably. These things are great.

Losing a percent or two of body fat has led to some unexpected physical changes too. I'm getting a bit vein-y, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I made peace with my forearm veinage when I started to increase my pull-up load a year ago, but now for the first time I am starting to see the veins in my biceps and lower abs. This is, I will admit, a bit creepy.

Of course, this brings up the question as to why I find the vein thing creepy....the circulatory system responds to the stress of increased physical activity like every other system: by getting stronger. Trained athletes develop a blood supply system that allows their muscles to work longer and harder under increased loads. The natural result of training, therefore, is increased veinage. At a lower body fat percentage one can't expect just the "pretty" parts of training--the muscles--to pop. The support system is going pop too.

So then, again, why are visible veins a bit creepy? I think the answer for me is two-part. First, I have always been terrified of shots & needles, and it's hard for me to see a big ol' vein without thinking of phlebotomy. Even typing this, I am squirming in my seat with discomfort at the idea of blood draws.

Secondly, a lot of visible veins represent strength, and are therefore masculine. And, as a girl, I want to look strong, lean and ripped, but I don't want to look masculine. So there's that: good old fashioned sexist social conditioning about what defines "feminine" and therefore attractiveness.

So what to do? Other than the veins, I'm thrilled with how I feel and look as a consequence of my increased training and super clean diet. I'm not going to stop training. After the 5 pound 5 week challenge is over I will increase caloric consumption to something in the maintenance range instead of the weight loss range, and with this my body may bounce back to it's happy place of 155. If not, well, I guess I'll just have to embrace my veins and the strength they represent.

But I'm still not going to dwell on the idea of blood draws.