Do I need to make a correction?

After my last blog, a friend of mine chastised me for my measurement techniques and the way I was reporting my weight and body fat percentage values. Of course, if you read my early notes on my measurement techniques, you'll remember that my goal is a relative change and I'm not terribly concerned if my absolute reported value is a few percentage points off. However, she really got me thinking, and I decided to try to learn a little more about a few things.

First thing I needed to do was to understand the different techniques for measuring body fat percentage. Of course, you know I simply went and asked my good buddy Google. He returned all kinds of interesting and informative articles on the different measurement techniques and their relative accuracy. Here's one I particularly liked. That site also has a number of other interesting articles on body composition as well.

Of the different measurement techniques available, there are a few that are more accessible to you and me. I hear that there is a hydrodensitometry weighing tank here in the upstate, there probably are a few, but this is not readily accessible to me on a regular basis. This method is all about measuring the body's density. This comes from the volume displaced by the water, and the weights taken while both in and out of the water. This seems to me the most accurate, but read the articles - no single measurement method is the best.

I'm certain that much more accessible is the use of body calipers. I know that Coach Jeni has a set. She and I will be scheduling a measurement in the near future. In this method, a caliper is used to measure the thickness of a pinched skin sample in 3 or more places on the body. A complex set of formulas is then used to calculate the estimated percent body fat. If you have a buddy and a set of calipers, here's a cool site I found with the calculations already programmed, you just enter your specific information.

Perhaps the easiest and most accessible method for estimating body fat percentage is through the use of Bioelectrical Impedance. This is where a very small electrical signal is passed through the body and the computer calculates the body fat percentage. This is the method I've been using with my Taylor model 5598 digital scale. Turns out, this isn't necessarily the best method. Worse, the reviews I've read recently on my particular scale are not very positive.

One thing I've learned from this research - I should have been measuring myself in the 'athlete' mode. The scale has two settings according to your fitness or activity level. Wow! What a difference when I switched from the 'non-athlete' mode to the 'athlete' mode. I think the difference has to do with fat that could be contained within the muscles - an athlete is going to have less fat within their muscles than a person who does not exercise.

Yesterday is when I made this switch. In the morning, I was not pleased to see that my weight had continued to drop (down to 167 from what had been an average of 173.5), but it was showing my body fat percentage near 27%! I imagine I am losing some muscle mass while I am on this liquid diet, but sheesh! it can't be increasing my body fat percentage by that much!! So, after that research, I went in and changed the setting on my scale. The Body Fat reading? 17ish percent. Wow, now what?

So, what I'm saying is be very careful and do a bunch of research if you decide you are going to invest in a scale that measures body fat percentage.

Here's an article on body fat measuring scales: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/bodyfatscales.html
That same site has a great article on using the skin fold calipers: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/bodyfatcalipers.html

For my purpose, I'm going to stay with the 'athlete' mode on my scale, continue to gather the data and I'll continue to report. However, as mentioned, I'll be making an appointment with Coach Jeni to get the calipers out and make some measurements there.

A couple of other points that I found pretty interesting. Among the methods used to estimate body fat percentage there are a couple of simple methods that use only a tape measure and some calculations. Here's one site that requires some very simple measurements and returned for me a body fat percentage of 18.3%. I'm taking it for what it is, but it will be interesting to see how that number compares to the caliper method and the new readings from my scale in the 'athlete' mode.

I also found this other site that takes you through the method used by the US Navy to estimate body composition. I have not completed these steps yet, but will try to do that today as another estimate to add to my dataset.

So, what is my corrected body fat percentage? I have no idea. However, using the most recent data, I'm thinking it must be closer to 20% than to 24%. The most important thing I found in all of these articles is the same as the approach I have been taking all along - use the numbers as a reference and look for the change in value, not specifically at the absolute value of the number.

Update on body measurements, and how I am going to cheat on my plan...

So far things are going pretty well in changing my body composition. I'm not perfect by any means, however, I have made some very positive steps and I feel really good about the way I am eating and what I am eating.

The best part is that I really feel like I am eating more than I was before. I guess the important part is that the meals are better balanced and I'm eating in good quantities. A huge difference is in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. These make a difference as those are normally the times when I would be going for the reece's cup or whatever other evil chocolate that would be found nearby.

So, let's get down to the numbers: Recall, I am reporting only 7 day averages for weight and % body fat. Here's how they work out with today's calculation:
weight: 173.8
% body fat: 24.8.

In comparing those numbers to the numbers I posted previously, those changes are worth 7.2 lbs (down from 181) and 2.3% bf (down from 27.1%). It's not going fast, but I don't expect or really want it to go too fast. I want positive lifestyle changes that will keep me around for a long time - and in great shape for a long time!

Here's a screen shot of my charts:


I decided also to take my body measurements again this morning. I'm including the last measurements as well for quick reference.

Here's how they fall out:
Chest: 41.625" (down 2" from 43.625")
Waist: 37.125" (down 1.375" from 38.5")
Hips: 39.0" (down 1" from 40)
Thighs L: 23" (down 7/8" from 23.875) R: 23.125 (down 7/8" from 24")
Calves** L: 16.375" R: 16.5"

Not counting the calves, that is a total of 6.125" lost in just under a 2 month period. Funny how quickly it adds up when you are making multiple measurements.

I've put asterisks next to my calf measurements because they are actually showing bigger than the last measurements. It is easy to get a variation in my measurement of them with just a small change in tape placement. Quite a bit of taper on the calves. I will have to work on my measurement technique I suppose.

So, how am I cheating? A couple of days ago I did the most invasive part of my orthodontic treatment. In order to make my teeth straight, not only did I need to have the braces, I also had to have my jaw position corrected for an overbite of about 10mm.

How do they correct for an overbite you ask? Well, to put it in laymans terms, they broke my jaw in two places (near the hinges), moved it out by the necessary amount and then put three screws in each side to hold in it position while the bone heals.

What this means for me is that I am on a liquid diet for a minimum of 2 weeks, then I might be able to start chewing soft stuff. All depends on how well the healing goes and what the Dr. says. I dropped 2 lbs after only one day in the hospital. Thursday the 20th I ate no food whatsoever. Lots of liquids through the IV and cool water with small ice chips.

I don't think it's going to be a major problem though. I have lots of good ideas for liquid (or no chewing required) meals. Including smoothies, protein shakes, applesauce, pudding, soups, etc. Today is my first full day out of the hospital and I feel just as full as if I were eating 'normal' food. Maybe I won't lose any weight after all!

I'll keep an eye on it and keep you posted.

The value of exercise...

This can't be a blog about all the great things that exercise brings to you, there are too many benefits to list! I do know that for me and most of my friends exercise is a big part of our lives and I'm confident that without it we wouldn't have the great lives we have.

This blog is just to note an interesting observation I've made over the last week. Exercise has a very direct effect on my weight (duh)! Here's my most recent weight and body fat percentage chart:


Note the little up-swing towards the last data points as I have circled on both charts. These data points happen to correspond to a period of several days where Upstate South Carolina was shut down with the snow and ice. Of course I was not getting out on my bike, with those bad conditions. In fact, I wasn't getting out of the house at all for a couple of days. When I did finally decide to get out of the house on the wednesday to go to work, the roads were still horrible and that meant another day of no exercise.

If you count the number of data points, you can see there is 3 data points that create the upswing. Those are the three days I didn't exercise. When I finally was able to get in a run on the fourth day, you see that the corresponding data point goes back into the downward swing.

So, there you have it, documented proof that exercise is good for you! (as if you didn't already know that!)

Ok, so the next question you're going to ask is about the big gap in the middle of all that data, and why does the bf% jump after that gap? Well, that was over Christmas with family. It's a dark period in my efforts to improve my nutrition and change my body composition.

All I remember is there was lots of cookies, a number of different types of beer and more food than I've seen in a long time. That's all I am going to say about that.

Trending down!

Although I awoke this morning to watch a lunar eclipse, because of the cloud cover, I am simply getting ready for work. I'll go in early and try to get out a little early. Since I'm up though, I thought I'd make a quick update.

The weight and body fat % is trending in the direction I have been hoping - DOWN! Here's a quick screen shot of my charts:


An interesting note: My Body fat % seems to vary much more than my weight in the day to day. This is reflected more in the chart for BF%. As you can see, the slope is not as steep and in fact it had a little upwards trend for a couple of days. I think the BF% is more dependent on my hydration level at the moment I step on the scale.

The food is making all of the difference. I'm really not exercising any more than before, just making much better choices with the food I'm eating. Perhaps the biggest change is the variety of foods I've been eating. I didn't realize that your body gets used to what you eat, therefore your metabolism becomes complacent. WHO KNEW!

Well, between Coach Jeni's advice and the meals from e-mealz, I've been eating a lot more variety. Not only is that good for my body, it's also good for my head. The best part, I feel satisfied (as in I'm not feeling starved throughout the day) with the meal plan I've been working with.

With the last round of Holiday meals coming up this week, it will be interesting to see how next week's chart looks!

Progress?

Progress, moving forward, keeping goals in sight and working towards meeting them. It's important that we can see progress being made. Progress comes in many forms, for some of my friends, it is in the form of completing a half or full Marathon. This weekend, MANY of my friends went to Kiawah and met goals they had been working towards for many months.

For some it was their first half or full and that was the goal. For others it was to set a new personal best. Congratulations to all of them for their efforts. Some perhaps didn't do as well as they'd hoped, but all were pleased with their result in the end. And, I suppose that counts big - one must be able to look oneself in the mirror and truthfully say 'I gave everything I had'. Kudos to all of them!

It's been a week since I posted my tale of the tape. Not a long time really, but progress towards the goal is being made, bit by bit.

So far, the changes are not big, but I'm not worried about how fast things change, only that they are changing and going in the right direction. Recall that my reported numbers are a 7 day average value. In fact, I don't calculate a value unless there are at least 5 data points.

Of course, being an Engineer, I keep all of this data in a spreadsheet and I have a little chart that shows the (5 to) 7 day average values. This allows me to watch the overall trend. I know, NERD!

In my spreadsheet, I actually started recording data points on November 3rd. Because of a couple of business trips in November, I have a bunch of days where I did not have the opportunity to obtain my weight and % body fat. I did have two points that I could count, as those first couple of points are actually 6 day averages.

While I posted last week's numbers in my tale of the tape posting, I should use that first point from November 10th as my starting weight. That value was actually 181 lbs (6 day average calculated on Nov 10, 2010). It shows up in my spreadsheet and in my chart, so it will be visible to me. The point in last week's tale of the tape was to report the information all at once - including the body measurements.

I did weigh myself on November 20th, but it is not a 7 day average (or 6 or 5, it is only one day) and that day's weight was 182.6 lbs! Since this is not an average value, it is not counted and not shown in my weight chart.

So, what do my weight and % body fat charts show? Here's the screen shots:

Yes, you can clearly see a downward trend in both the weight and the % body fat. I like that. That is progress towards my goal and it gives me motivation to continue.

What other progress have I made? I suppose it is visible in the chart above, but in my head it feels like a huge deal. I've been able to resist that stupid bowl of chocolate that lurks at my office! This has been the bane of my existence for a while now, and I knew it was not helping me one bit. We've moved into our new offices this past week, and that bowl is even further from me than before - that is a great thing!

The other big deal for me, I've been really good about the liquid carbs. Yes, I still like to have a beer (or two or three...), but I've pretty much kept that at bay even when I go out to a social event. Not totally, as I do enjoy a quality beer (for example a recent Pizza party I attended), but I'm making much more intelligent decisions about what and how much I eat and drink.

And speaking of eating, the funny thing is I feel like I am eating more food now (and losing weight / % body fat!) than before! I certainly do get hungry, but my plan says I should be eating a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack! These are the times when that bowl of chocolate usually began calling my name. Instead, I have a healthy snack that tides me over until my next meal. It is awesome!

There it is, progress is being made. I will watch as those charts continue to show a downward trend over the next months. I do have some significant challenges ahead - Holidays with the family is going to be tough. Then, in January, I have to have some surgery as part of my orthodontic treatment. I'll be eating soft foods for a month or more. These will be challenging times to maintain a healthy balance of nutrition.

I've made it successfully through the Thanksgiving Holiday, so I have confidence going into the next phase of holiday parties. I've started the trend towards my goal, now I need to continue to progress!

The Tale of the Tape

So last week I wrote about goals for 2011. I also wrote that I would be taking some measurements and putting them out here for the record. I’ll tell you how I take the measurements.

Weight:
My scale measures both weight and % body fat.
Each morning when I awake, I take a quick trip to the restroom before stepping on my scale. I take the measurements while wearing my birthday suit. The best I can hope for is consistency in my procedure. Because my weight can vary from day to day, I use a rolling 7 day average for both weight and % body fat.
My base weight: 178.7 lbs, 26.4% (seven day average taken from Nov 30 to Dec 5)

I took some body measurements so I could establish a base. I used one of those cloth measuring tapes and made the measurements in inches.

Body Measurements
Here’s my baselines for the following:
Chest: 43.625”
Waist: 38.5”
Hips: 40.0
Thighs: L: 23.875”, R: 24.0”
Calves: L: 16.25”, R: 16.375”

Interesting that my legs are not symmetric. Not a big difference, but a difference nonetheless. Hopefully, I’ll end up losing only the fat and not any muscle during the next several months.

With my baseline established, I guess I can now set a specific goal for a percent body fat reduction. Since the ‘healthy’ body fat ranges I found in my internet search fell around 14-18%, It makes sense to target something in that range.

It’s interesting, if I multiply the weight above by (1-0.264) it should give me my lean body weight, right? The result of that equation is 131.6lbs. If I then take a ‘healthy’ body fat percentage of 16% (might as well target the middle I guess) and re-calculate a corresponding weight (using the lean body weight from above), I get a weight of 153 lbs.

I can’t imagine myself at 153 lbs. Even when I was in the Military, I weighed between 160 and 165. Thankfully, since I’m not targeting a weight but my body fat percentage, I’ll just monitor my weight and see how things go as the BF% drops.

It will also be interesting to see how things end up with the body measurements. I’ll post occasionally and re-take those measurements to see how it progresses.

Wish me luck.

Facing Challenges and setting goals for 2011

It’s interesting this time of year. So many of my friends are athletes. The great part is that while they are not ‘professional’ athletes, they are certainly more than ‘weekend warriors’. These friends of mine have set some pretty lofty goals for themselves. Because I know them, I have full confidence that they will meet those goals. Several of my friends are setting their sights on Ironman triathlons while others have goals associated with racing or charity events.

2010 was my first year of actually setting goals of this type for myself. I was pleased and a little surprised at how well I did. I definitely met my racing goals. It would be easy to argue about whether I met the goals for the Assault on Mt. Mitchell and Six Gaps. I feel good about my performance in both of those events despite the fact that my finish times were slightly longer than my specific goal for each event. Truthfully though, I hate that I have to put an asterisk next to those events.

So, what about 2011? There are a lot of things out there that I could challenge myself with. Removing the asterisks from the Assault on Mt. Mitchell and Six Gaps are certainly on my mind. I’ve been nominated to take over as Captain of the Greenville Spinners Racing Team so there will be some team goals along with my own racing goals. However, I have something else in mind that should actually help me in meeting those other goals.

I need to start with this: I HAVE NO DOUBT that I can complete any physical challenge I put to myself. Obviously, I’m not saying I could go out tomorrow and complete an Ironman - I would have to find a training program and apply myself to that program. In fact, I think the biggest challenge in completing an Ironman would be finding the time to do all of the training necessary.

Generally, when folks (me included) do something for the first time they have a 2 part goal. Part 1: Complete the event. Part 2: Meet some time goal they have selected based on their ability. This is pretty much how I set my first goals for the 2009 Assault on Mt. Mitchell. I had no doubt whatsoever that I could complete the ride. My only real question was whether it would take me 12 hours or 8 hours. I set my time goal at 8 hours and was pleased when I beat that goal.

I have a problem though. I’ll never really take training for an event like that totally seriously. I like spending time with my friends and enjoying a number of social activities. When it comes down to it, I’m pretty unlikely to do a 100 mile ride if all of my friends are only doing a 60 mile ride. Or, if I am scheduled to do a 20 mile run and none of my friends are running that day, I’d probably choose to join them on a bike ride. I want to hang with my friends during and after whatever activity we choose.

Part of the reason I would not take a training plan totally seriously is because I really have no doubt I can complete the event. Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely NOT saying that {name the physical challenge here} would be easy - I know it wouldn’t be easy. Also, This is not pure arrogance on my part. What it is, is a statement about how well I know myself.

I’m sure it goes back to my Military days. There were days that really sucked. I can’t even put into words how bad some of those days sucked. Days where I was lucky to have 2 or three hours of sleep, one meal, carrying a 80 plus pound rucksack (along with assorted other gear weighing upwards of 20 plus pounds) up and down mountains, through swamps, at night, rain, snow, you name it. If there was a mission to accomplish, we were out there. In fact, we had a saying - if the weather was really bad (and worse was better), we would say ‘This is Ranger weather’.

Obviously when it came to the weather conditions, There wasn’t much we could do. When it came to the mission, the only things I could do was my job. Sometimes I had input on how, when and where we moved, but even then, I’d take bad weather over good weather any day. The enemy is a lot less likely to detect you when they are trying to stay warm or dry or awake. So, we put ourselves out in the worst conditions imaginable. Yeah, we could and did complain about it, but that was usually before or after the fact. During the time when it sucked so bad we usually had a strange smile on our faces. You learn to adjust your attitude about what you are physically experiencing when you know you are the baddest MFs in the jungle (or mountain or swamp or whatever).

Not surprisingly, that ability to cope (and sometimes thrive) when the conditions suck the most has stuck with me. That is why I have no doubt about completing an event (given an appropriate level of preparation). So, when I consider these types of events (half or full Ironman, marathon, others) the level of challenge I feel is a little diminished. So, what am I going to do?

I thought about it a lot. For all of the challenges I considered, only one gave me pause. In fact, in my mind, I question (still, even after several weeks) whether I’ll be able to attain the goal. I’ve fought this feeling of doubt about this goal for a long time. My whole life probably.

So, what’s the goal? The goal is to bring my body fat percentage down to a level of what is generally considered healthy. I haven’t picked a number yet, but according to what I can find, normal male body fat levels should range between 11 and 22 % (One site says 11-22%, another I've found says 14-18%). I’d rather find myself nearer the lower end of that scale than the higher end.

This is really not just about some level of vanity I have. Of course, I want to look more like the cyclist I really am, and certainly I want to be more of an animal when I climb. Most importantly, I want to make a positive change in my lifestyle that hopefully will provide me with a long and healthy life. This has to come through a healthy nutrition plan - something at which I am NOT good.

Where am I today? Well, I’m above the ranges listed above for body fat percentage. This Thanksgiving holiday hasn’t helped, nor has 2 weeks of business travel leading into this holiday. Worst perhaps is this crazy problem I've been having with my left calf when I run - keeping me from getting out and running as I would like to when traveling.

When I get home, I’ll post up ‘the tale of the tape’. Taking some general body measurements (weight, % body fat, some measurements - stomach, thighs, chest, etc.) and posting them up. As much as I am embarrassed by it, I’ll even post a photo. I'll also give details about how I'm making these measurements.

I need the help of my friends. This challenge intimidates me more than any physical challenge I’ve ever considered. I’m really nervous about whether I can do this. Help me stay motivated and on track with my eating - also, help keep me accountable for my food choices. A big thanks to Coach Jeni for putting up with me already.

There it is, it’s in writing so it now becomes even more real.