Tuesday, September 06, 2005
BodyFat & Long-Term Challenge!
Dang it! computer crashed while I was writing about body fat.
OK, had the fat checked, it's doing great by the way, thanks for asking.
Percentage is 23.6! According to my report the "typical" is 12-19% for a guy my age, 38.
For checking in purposes I'm at 173.0 lbs after eating! The closest scale at work would have me at about 173.6 before lunch. I'm feeling good about that.
My lean body weight is 132.2 lbs.
Being that one of my goals is to have a "Six-Pack" by the time I'm 40 it is obvious that my goal needs to be to get my bodyfat to around 10% - hopefully not less. The guy who tested me said about 1% per month is a good goal. If I drop 1% every month between now and my 40th birthday then I'll get to about 10%!!!!
Since I'm lifting weights and I used the "skin-fold" method the only way I'll know for sure is if I can actually start to notice my abs sometime after new years day. My weight isn't gonna be a good measure, but I'll still track it for guessing purposes.
An estimated goal will be to get to around 137 lbs of lean body weight (given that someone can gain 5 lbs of muscle in a year - I don't know if being as short as I am will make that less). And that would mean that my total weight would be around 154 lbs.
At a pound a week that would give me 20 weeks to get close to that goal. Faster than that and I would likely be losing muscle as well. Given that I blow off cardio so much maybe its time to quit making excuses!!! (Oh, I ended up walking about an hour and a half today. =) Don't ask!)
Actually 1.73 pounds loss is what the guy told me would be a good goal (that's 1% if its all bodyfat). Two pounds a month is what I can get with an OK diet and little cardio.
I'll commit to do 3 days of cardio a week on top of the 3 days lifting and see what that does. A pound a week would be nice, but 2 pounds a month is acceptable.
HOW ABOUT A CHALLENGE?
I failed at the ReneeGetsFit challenge because I gained everything back. I was doing better two weeks ago. But this will be different. Instead of saying a poundage let's go by workout and for those who can get a bodyfat measurement, that also.
The challenge is two parts:
Part a) to do cardio 3 times a week for those who only do cardio OR lift 3 times a week AND do cardio 3 times for those who lift. Then report any weight, inches or clothe sizes lost as a measure of your progress and try to guess where you'll be in mid-January and follow-through.
Part b) to lose 5% bodyfat by January 20th. Since the university that does my test is closed from x-mas till after MLK day that's my challenge date. This will also give anyone who "fell off the wagon" a chance to get back on by then.
This challenge is not only slower, it means that even though the changes are small, you'll have to stay on track longer. The trick will be to have smaller goals like 1, 2, 4, or 5 lbs a month, or start with 3 lifting and 1 cardio day and build up to 3 and 3. It will be much more about building habits. IF YOU JOIN THE CHALLENGE PLEASE POST THAT IN THE COMMENTS SECTION underneath this post.
An article on the BodyBuilding.com website called "How Do I Get Six-Pack Abs?" said that to see your abs you need a bodyfat of around 10% for guys and 15% for women. My long-term is 10%! By then I'll have another digital camera and will hopefully post a six pack for all to see.
OK, had the fat checked, it's doing great by the way, thanks for asking.
Percentage is 23.6! According to my report the "typical" is 12-19% for a guy my age, 38.
For checking in purposes I'm at 173.0 lbs after eating! The closest scale at work would have me at about 173.6 before lunch. I'm feeling good about that.
My lean body weight is 132.2 lbs.
Being that one of my goals is to have a "Six-Pack" by the time I'm 40 it is obvious that my goal needs to be to get my bodyfat to around 10% - hopefully not less. The guy who tested me said about 1% per month is a good goal. If I drop 1% every month between now and my 40th birthday then I'll get to about 10%!!!!
Since I'm lifting weights and I used the "skin-fold" method the only way I'll know for sure is if I can actually start to notice my abs sometime after new years day. My weight isn't gonna be a good measure, but I'll still track it for guessing purposes.
An estimated goal will be to get to around 137 lbs of lean body weight (given that someone can gain 5 lbs of muscle in a year - I don't know if being as short as I am will make that less). And that would mean that my total weight would be around 154 lbs.
At a pound a week that would give me 20 weeks to get close to that goal. Faster than that and I would likely be losing muscle as well. Given that I blow off cardio so much maybe its time to quit making excuses!!! (Oh, I ended up walking about an hour and a half today. =) Don't ask!)
Actually 1.73 pounds loss is what the guy told me would be a good goal (that's 1% if its all bodyfat). Two pounds a month is what I can get with an OK diet and little cardio.
I'll commit to do 3 days of cardio a week on top of the 3 days lifting and see what that does. A pound a week would be nice, but 2 pounds a month is acceptable.
HOW ABOUT A CHALLENGE?
I failed at the ReneeGetsFit challenge because I gained everything back. I was doing better two weeks ago. But this will be different. Instead of saying a poundage let's go by workout and for those who can get a bodyfat measurement, that also.
The challenge is two parts:
Part a) to do cardio 3 times a week for those who only do cardio OR lift 3 times a week AND do cardio 3 times for those who lift. Then report any weight, inches or clothe sizes lost as a measure of your progress and try to guess where you'll be in mid-January and follow-through.
Part b) to lose 5% bodyfat by January 20th. Since the university that does my test is closed from x-mas till after MLK day that's my challenge date. This will also give anyone who "fell off the wagon" a chance to get back on by then.
This challenge is not only slower, it means that even though the changes are small, you'll have to stay on track longer. The trick will be to have smaller goals like 1, 2, 4, or 5 lbs a month, or start with 3 lifting and 1 cardio day and build up to 3 and 3. It will be much more about building habits. IF YOU JOIN THE CHALLENGE PLEASE POST THAT IN THE COMMENTS SECTION underneath this post.
An article on the BodyBuilding.com website called "How Do I Get Six-Pack Abs?" said that to see your abs you need a bodyfat of around 10% for guys and 15% for women. My long-term is 10%! By then I'll have another digital camera and will hopefully post a six pack for all to see.
