FBF: Progress Report

I've lost two pounds. I always weigh myself in the morning. It's a bit of a cheat because your are dehydrated. But it's a good baseline without noise for comparative purposes.

I have a fat monitor scale. I've not stepped on it yet. You have to be hydrated well for it to give an accurate reading. I will do that today. I'm quite sure that my body fat % to lean mass is north of 30%. The woman to the left has somewhere in the 15-18% range.

Does that % give you some picture of a blubberous person? I'm sure that it does. And I assure you that I'm not. But weight in and of itself can be misleading. One can be seemingly thin in absolute pounds, but have too high of fat/lean tissue relative percentage. Conversely one can be seemingly heavy but have a low fat/lean tissue relative percentage. Muscle really does weigh more than fat! And...you can weigh more with lean muscle tissue and wear a smaller size than if you weighed less with greater fat%.

Here's a table from the American Council on Fitness on recommended body fat.


What stings is the "obese" rating on 32% plus (I pulled the table AFTER writing the introductory line). I'm sure that I fall into that category, but no one would ever look at me and say fat much less obese. My mother was always thin, but I'm quite sure that her body fat % was high because she did not exercise. Not a whit. Do you know YOUR body fat percentage? If you don't, it would be worth your finding out. In the spirit of transparency, I'll post mine here. (I'm secretly hoping for the batteries to be out or some other technical difficulty!) [7:51 a.m update: There were NO technical difficulties, I'm sorry to report. I'm sorrier to report that my reading was 32.9%]

While my caloric intake goal (1311) is not unreasonable, that I've had such a hard time staying within that limit tells me that my previous intake was considerably North of that. My stepmom struggles with managing her weight. She is also a much larger person than I am.I'm 5'5" and she is about 5'9" and much bigger boned (she's German). I remember that she was on Jenny Craig. They had her on a 900 calorie diet. I can say this: at 900 calories, you can barely keep your body functions going.

Personally, I think that it is pointless to try to lose weight without incorporating exercise. BUT, I know how easily activity eludes us in our everyday activities. Everything in my life that I need is no less than 15 steps from my office chair. The pedometer does not lie. I've worn that pedometer and have registered less than 1/2 a mile. Yesterday, though a rest day, it registered 3.04 miles, only because I consciously made myself get up.

Many years ago I served as a committee chair for the VSCPA. There was another chair who I had worked with who lived in the VA Beach area--so I only saw him once a year at our annual leadership meeting. In a one year interlude, he had transformed himself remarkably. commended him on his sveltness. He was very proud of what he accomplished. He did it by simply incorporating 2 habits into his daily routine:

• Each hour he would get up and drink 8 oz of water;
• He would walk around for 10 minutes.

What could be simpler? I incorporated this habit into my own routine. When you have a desk job (as I always have) it is too easy to sit for long periods. Trust me---I've set records. But it is not good for your body nor your brain.


I was so ravenous last night, that I cheated. I had 1/2 a roll and a beer with my dinner.