"Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen."~Peter Marshall
Diary:
D: steak salad & 1 beverage
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B: bagel and peanut butter (men's breakfast)
S: protien bar
L: lean cuisine, xs energy, vitamins
S: tuna and crackers
G: elliptical 1.76 miles, 354+ calories, walk 1 mile, sauna (added an extra minute on elliptical for this three weeks - up to 20minutes total.)
Notes:
You have been waiting for it, and here it is. The 3rd measurements are in! Of course, there is some discrepency and dispute, and now that I have thought about it, I would like to get in a delorian and travel back in time to redo my original weigh-in. Read on....
Feb 18, 06 (at home using 2 analog scales)
Weight 414
Feb 21, 06 (at clinic using 1 digital scale)
Weight 429.20
Ok, we have an obvious problem here in the tune of 15.2 lbs difference. Here is the historical truth of this problem:
1) the scale at the clinic has a 440lb limit, meaning that if you are obese and looking for western medicine to help you lose weight, they can't. (By the way, they don't have blood pressure cuffs big enough for obese people, and other tests aren't meant to be useful for overweight people either.) I don't ever want a doctor or nurse to tell me to lose weight, because I am very quick to ask them how they expect to do this without giving fat people a way to weigh themselves properly. Don't even get me started, because as I have mentioned, I have not found 1 (ONE) doctor inside the clinic or hospital that has had any real guidance for me. They are quick to snark at me and tell me that I am fat, but when we get that part of the conversation, they have very little REAL HELP to offer, past anything I could read in a "weight loss for dummies" book. Wow, I like the view from my soapbox. Let me get down now. I digress...
2) I know that on 7/1/2003, I weighed 487.5lbs, because I got weighed at a hospital. So this is my biggest recorded weight, but it wasn't taken during my largest size, so I am sure that I was heavier than this.
3) I have been trying to use two cheap analog scales at home to measure my weight. These scales have never been tested, and I don't know if they are individually correct, let alone correct being used together. They are also difficult to read, as they move since I am using them both together and difficult to stand still. Also, if I shift or move any part of my body, the weight changes, even if I move my head they change, so I am not sure I am getting the right weight.
4) I am assured that I have been losing weight, because of 2 things. The first is the fact that the last time I tried to weigh on this scale, it wouldn't give me a number, and I was over 440lbs. Therefore I have AT LEAST lost 10.8lbs according to the hospital clinic. Secondly, I have lost 1 pant size and 2 shirt sizes, and I don't think this could happen without weight loss.
So now that we have reviewed the history, there is a choice to be made.
a) Start the calculations with this weight, disregarding the previous numbers. From now on I will use the clinic's scale to get the accurate weight until I am able to use a new digital scale. (I have one in mind as a goal item, that will be my under 330lb reward. Here is some information:
Body Fat/ Water Analysis Scale
The system measures weight in 0.2 lb increments. Provides total percentage of body fat and body water in 0.1% increments. Body analysis is programmed based on age, height, and gender. Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA) conducts a safe current through foot sensors distinguishing between muscle and fat.
But placing your feet on a fat-analysis scale also puts them in contact with electrodes that send a small (and undetectable) electrical current through the body. The scale compares the current entering the body with the current leaving it and calculates body fat composition using bioelectric impedance analysis, or B.I.A., which is based on the difference in the ways that an electrical current is affected by muscle and fat.
The reason is that muscle is about 75 percent water and a good electrical conductor, while fat, which is only about 20 percent water, is a poor conductor. In fact, fat is such a poor conductor that the original electrical current is diminished as it travels through fat. Impedance is a measure both of this resistance and of reactance, the ability of body tissue to hold a charge and thus delay its passage through the body. Generally, the faster the current moves through the legs and midsection and the less resistance it encounters, the leaner the person is.
Software then compares this data to data from a reference population - people of similar weight, age and height - stored in the processing unit's memory and calculates body composition (usually displayed as the percentage of tissue that is fat). Several variables can affect an impedance-analysis scale's accuracy. If someone is bloated or dehydrated, results will be off - often as much as 3 percent. In addition, since the current only travels as far as the hips, someone who carries a disproportionate amount of weight in the upper body may not get a true picture of their body fat content. (Because the analysis involves a small electrical current, researchers and manufacturers caution that anyone with a pacemaker or other implanted electrical device may want to find an alternative. Pregnant women should also avoid using an impedance scale. )
I would still do my mathematical calculations to figure my estimated fat %, but it would be interesting to see what this scale's predictions are. Unfortunately, it is going to be a long while until I am 330lbs, so I am going to have to hoof it to the clinic every three weeks when it is time to measure.
b) what do I do about the challenges that I am in the middle of? How do I know my starting weight? I guess for the St Patrick's Day challenge, it really doesn't matter, because my original goal was to lose 40lbs, then I changed it to 56.08lbs, and now my current goal is to be under 400lbs. This is somewhat dissapointing, because based on my previous (incorrect) measurements, I was 414lbs, so I only had another 15lbs to go. Now that the measurement is at 429lbs, I still have a long way to go to reach the goal. I also have no way of prooving that I lost 56.08lbs. My scales indicated I was 470lbs to start with, but these scales were measuring light (based on the recent measurement), so I could have started larger than 470. The problem is prooving it. If we agree to assume that I weighed over 470lbs, and I am now at 429.2lbs, then I have lost 40.8lbs so far, and need to lose another 15.28lbs to make it to my first goal, and 29.2lbs to make it to my preffered weight for the St Patrick's Day challenge. I am going to have to discuss this whole thing with Mike. We might decide that it is obvious that I have lost 40lbs, and plausible that I have also lost 56.08lbs. The under 400lb number, if I can reach it, would be the ultimate answer. With 30 days left, I am unsure that I would be able to safely lose that much weight.
For any other upcoming challenge, I am going to use the clinic's weight as the correct weight.
Ok, that is that. Enough said about weights and how I got to weights.
Measurments in Inches
Bust/Chest 58.50
Waist 68.00
Hips 58.00
Thigh 32.00
Neck 18.50
Calf 20.50
Bicep 17.00
Forearm 14.50
Difference over Previous -0.50 inches (gained)
Difference Overall 6.75 inches (lost)
Calculations
Estimated Lean Body Weight 276.61
Estimated Body Fat Weight 152.59
Estimated Body Fat % 35.55%
Estimated BMI 55.10
% of Weight Loss -0.19%
% of Total Weight Loss -11.96%
So how do I feel? I little confused about the math and dissapointed at my current state. Since my waist size stayed the same in the last 3 weeks, but I lost overall weight, my estimated fat % went up to 35.55%, even though I believe that I have been losing weight in my shoulders, chest, and back. I don't measure these parts, so it doesn't really show on the calculations. Also, the fact that my scaled weighed me 430lbs last time, but the scale at the clinic weighed me at 429.2, means that by the calculations I have lost .8 lbs in 3 weeks. Since I don't have proof to dispute this, and based on the fact that I actually GAINED .5 inches in my measurement, it would appear by the numbers that I have actually GOTTEN WORSE on my program!
However, something in my body has GOT to be happening, or else all of the ellipticle work I have been doing is useless. Would I be able to go 1.61 miles and burn 301+ calories (which is what I did yesterday, Tuesday) at the gym?
Dang. I hope that next time I measure (March 11) we will see some real change.
Today one of my cheerleaders indicated that I should just go back in time (virtually) and add 15.2lbs to my other measurements done on the home scales. This is the fair way to account for the different weights and, in all actuallity, the rest won't matter much, becuase we can go from here starting with the correct weight that we know. If I do this, which I think I will, then my starting weight would have been 485lbs and the last weigh-in would have been 445lbs. This seems like a more logical number, becuase of the fact that the clinic scale would only go to 440lbs, and three weeks ago, I couldn't be weighed on this scale - i was too big.
I will make this note on my charts.
Remind me after next weigh in to post the charts and graphs.
The current goal is to get down to 30% body fat. According to the calculations, I need to lose 34.04lbs to get to 30%. This loss would also get me under the dreaded 400lb mark. This would be a make it or break it milestone.
Current Countdown:
17 days - next weigh-in
23 days - St Patrick's Day Challenge
41 days - Biggest Loser Challenge
48 days - Twins Home Opener
96 days - Memorial Day
tommorow we discuss the crock pot experience and what i need to do next time, + Friday, special event - discuss the "Perfect Male Body" and what it would take to get there...
more later.
Chazz
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