Body composition

Goal Post #4

At some point during the summer of 2017 we got a scale that also measures our fat percentages. To figure out how everything fluctuated, I went a little overboard - weighing myself twice a day (or more). Nic threatened to toss the scale if I didn’t knock it out, so I limited myself to bi-weekly weigh-ins. This is still difficult (I want to know all the data all the time!) but healthier than obsessing over every tiny weight change.

The university I attended for undergrad had a P.E. requirement every semester. Homework was workout time and finals had two
parts: a body fat composition test (nicknamed the “pinch test”) and a timed physical challenge: running, walking, biking, or
swimming. Completing a certain distance in so many minutes or less earned an A, same distance at a slower time a B, and so
on. Even then, I loathed running with every fiber of my body, so for six semesters I had to swim 800-1000 meters in less than 20
minutes to ace my P.E. final. Many of us acknowledged how crazy this was, but we wanted to graduate so...

Spring semester my senior year I had 24% body fat. The lady with the calipers told me in a disapproving voice “You would have
got a B if this was a percentage point higher” as if it were the literal end of the world. I remember just looking at her like “Do you
expect me to care? I’m leaving here forever lady! Thank you and goodbye.” Unsurprisingly, my story is positive compared with
other students. Needless to say, I didn’t think about my body fat % again until it looked like it might be a problem.   

Fast-forward fourteen years. The type of scale we bought typically only measures fat in legs. Thanks to maternal genetics, my
legs stay fairly muscular so I learned how to calculate body fat using a soft tape measure. This isn’t as accurate as a professional
or a fancy machine, but it gave me a starting point and helped set some goals. On July 16, 2017 I had at least 35% body fat. With
my waist-to-hip ratio at .84 this was mostly unhealthy fat carried around the middle putting me at moderate risk for type 2 diabetes
and heart disease.

Here are four online body fat calculators I've found useful. Results vary and I think that's a good thing - any method that claims to
have the ultimate answer for anything I find suspect (very genX of me), double if it's on the internet. One of the positives about this
tendency is the fun of comparing multiple data points to create a picture.
Army method four measurements, simple and straightforward
Navy method five measurements including weight, also simple and straightforward
Active.com doesn't ask for weight, adds a little complexity for females with wrist and forearm measurements
Health central high complexity without waist size, least accurate for apple-shaped body types
Health Status high complexity incorporating all previous measurements and then some

A couple of things about measuring were confusing to me at first, so I'd like to include some tips to help you get the most accurate measurements possible. First, measure your neck below your adam's apple. To locate this, place a couple of fingers on your throat and swallow. My adam's apple is just above the base of my neck.

Next, most of these methods ask use the narrowest part of a woman's waist. For me, that is just below my ribs, but I encourage you to take the time to find yours. Pay attention to when a calculation asks for another part of the waist (at the navel, just above the navel, etc.). This leads me to another measurement I keep track of for myself that isn't part of any calculation method listed above. The widest part of my abdomen is just below my navel - it was half an inch bigger than my hips when I started. Watching that number go down has been massively satisfying.

At the beginning of September I started a new job. It was a good change but still stressful - I felt fairly overwhelmed for a couple of months. On the up side, I had a shorter commute by 10-15mins -woo hoo! Since July, my body fat had decreased by 2.4%, but got stuck at 32.6% for the entire month of September. This was so discouraging I stopped calculating for a while (5 months). But I kept walking and occasionally biking or doing 20-30mins of self-guided yoga on weekends.

On one bike ride I picked a target and decided to stand up and pedal as fast as I could to that spot. Huffing and puffing, I sat down just shy of my goal. My negative internal monologue started right away. "Can't even hit one goal. No wonder you're fat. Of course you're not making any progress." While berating myself another internal voice quietly asked “Is this kind?” Kind? To myself? It occurred to me, almost for the first time, that I am not gracious with my faults or struggles.  

It was time to try patience and understanding. After that I made no more than two lifestyle changes per month. Some months I changed nothing. Some months I paused on changes that weren't working. If I caught myself obsessing, spiraling, or over doing it, I took a long hard look at what might be triggering the negative behavior.

Control issues have always been connected to body issues. Like the rest of humanity, I tend to resist being told what to do. If we react negatively to a situation, the cause is usually feeling trapped in some way. While starting this process of being healthier, my negative reactions were more likely if I felt like I "had to" or if something else in my life felt out of control. A perfect example of this is my difficulty getting to work on time. If I'm running late for work I won't do even the five minute version of my morning workout.

While obvious negative behaviors include skipping workouts and over-indulging, weighing myself multiple times a day definitely also belongs in that category. So how do we moderate backlash? First, take a deep breath and give yourself the benefit of being normal. Being human means getting hurt and triggers are those sore spots. Second, find healthier ways to cope.

For me this meant channeling some of that obsessive energy into building spreadsheets tracking my progress. Right now, it means translating that progress into essays then posting them to the internet. Both of these channels have re-directed my focus from struggles and failures to progress and possibilities. In short, they're empowering.