Food: Considering Beachbody's P90x Nutrition Plan

This summer I've really enjoyed using the P90x workout videos to get myself in shape for an athletic event in September. But it has also caused a spike in my own body image issues.

I'm very small for a male (5'5" and 120 lbs). But that's not the problem -- I like thinking of myself as lean, compact and sexy to other gay males. So of course I think I'm not lean enough. I stare at my tummy, pinch its layer of fat, and think of the six-pack abs that other men and teenage boys have. Why can't I have that too, especially if I'm doing all this exercising?

I'd have to fix my diet.

So I want to get rid of the layer of fat over my tummy; I'm interested in the "Fat Shredder" phase of the P90x Nutrition Plan.

This plan comes with a warning:

Those who are reasonably fit and have more body fat can use this phase more easily than someone who is very fit and doesn’t have a lot of excess body fat to lose. This stage is designed to cut down your body fat percentage, and as this happens, your available energy should also decrease. Therefore, Phase 1 should only be extended if you need to drop more fat and also feel like you have ample energy to push hard during your workouts. Conversely, this phase could be shortened by a week or two if your body fat is already low and you feel like you don’t have the necessary energy to get the most out of your workouts.

This brings me to the first question of health and body-image ethics:

If my body-fat percentage is already at a healthy level (just under 15%), then is it really good for me to attempt to bring it down to 10% or even 5%, the level of trained athletes?

I think the answer is: yes, it's a good idea to try, but let's not get to obsessed about it. It's a good idea to understand more deeply what foods I'm putting into my body, the total calories, the amount of protein, of fat, of carbohydrates,  and of the various proportions of these. I won't calculate these obsessively at every meal, or even pay as much attention as I am now for the long term. I just want to take, let's say thirty days, and try to control the intake. I think the feeling of control and knowledge will help me in the long term.

This has become long. I'll post again with a basic calculation I just completed over my late Saturday breakfast (obviously my boyfriend is gone for the day, and I'm enjoying a bit of leisure time.)