Fat Percent

One of the things I monitor in my weight loss journey is fat %. It's one the measurements taken at the gym. I decided a few months back that I wanted to own the same monitor so I could use it at the same time of day a few times a week to monitor my loss. Apparently fat % monitors are sensitive little things. You shouldn't take your measurement within so many hours of eating, working out or showering. So I take mine in the morning right after getting off the scale and before I shower. I don't do it every morning. I don't even write it down every time I do use it. It does go up and down just like the lbs on the scale. But usually only within the same % - so up or down a few tenths of a percent. What I do pay attention to is that I'm basically the same. If my scale jumps up several lbs (like over the holidays) I don't want my fat % to increase too much. Or if I my scale goes up and the fat % goes down then I'm gaining muscle.

I don't know where my fat % was when I first started with my trainer in 2010. It was in probably in the mid-30's. But of course that's taken in the afternoon when I meet with her and likely not long after I've eaten a snack. My personal goal is 25% on my monitor at home in the morning. I recently made a good bit of progress on my most recent diet in regards to the fat%. But since I've owned the monitor I've been as high as 29.0% and as a low as 28.3%. I generally stay around 28.5-28.7%.

Today:

So 28.0%. Yay! I decided to start posting a photo like this. Hopefully once a week as my way of recording my progress. Cause I track my weight through my SparkPeople app on my phone. But there's no easy way for me to track this. I have a spreadsheet of my weight with lots of data on it and if I remember I have a column for fat % that I fill in when I remember the number. But this seems a bit more. . . well accountable maybe? :) We'll see. The BMI - you can see it's high. However, everyone tells me that these monitors don't do BMI well and to not go by that. But I hope that if I ever reach that magical 25% that maybe. . . just maybe. . . I'll be in a normal BMI on this monitor. But I don't really pay attention to that number and I never track it. The input to the monitor is normal/athlete, height and weight. . . I can't remember if sex is in there or not. I'll have to look. And yes my scale does calculate fat % as well but it seems way off. It puts me in the mid-30's and even my Dr said no way. So since we use this thing at the gym that's what I decided to use as my reference.

So I think. . . I "think". . . I'm not going to pack my scale when we go to Cancun. It's going to kill me! There is going to be a big old gap in my spreadsheet. Not sure my anal mathematical self can handle that. Yikes! Maybe I should take the fat % monitor? But I'm not sure that will help much on a daily basis anyways. Plus the heat and humidity might skew the results. . . at least the first day. You know what I mean? So I may panic when there is no reason to panic. I don't know. I think since I'm generally more active on vacation than I am sitting at my desk during my 40 hour work week that I should be ok. I have been previously when we've traveled this fall. And yes I packed my scale then. LOL! But . . . those weren't all inclusive vacation with yummy alcoholic drinks! If it was just the food I have total confidence in myself. But it's not. . . it's purple rain, electric lemonade, Caribbean punch. . . maybe a dirty monkey . . . or not since that has coconut. But you get my drift. . . wow.

So I've been having some issues with giving myself a day off from the gym. I can't do it. I feel guilt. Yesterday I know I ate too much. I went to the barn to ride Eli. But I knew I had to stop at the mall after. Why? Because my dumb self mailed my Maurice's payment without the check. And I sent the check a few days later. But it hasn't arrived. So my options are pay by phone and pay a $15 fee, wait it out and hope I don't get the late fee ($20-30) or go to the mall and pay in store. It's due tomorrow. As it is paying last night will post on Friday but they told me on the phone they have a one day grace period. They freaking better! So I went to the barn. I got my horse from the pasture. I was feeling all fat from eating crap during the day. I put him in his stall and changed clothes for the gym. Popped into Maurice's to make the payment and hit the gym. I'm a mess! I needed to ride cause Eli will have a week off while I'm in Cancun! But I couldn't. . . I wanted to run on the treadmill. Like I really really *wanted* to. So I did. And I ran 2 miles without stopping! First time I've ever done that. It felt fantastic. It wasn't fast. My pace is 4.8 or 5.0. Last night I stuck with 4.8 since that is comfortable I knew I could do it. Then I did 30 mins on the treadmill. I'm SUPER sore today. I think my body needs a day off. My hubby said I work out too much. *shrug* Maybe. But I think there are other issues with that comment. So I let it slide. I have a session with my trainer tonight. Then tomorrow I have a massage and I promise that I will NOT work out. I probably can't even walk a mile during my lunch break cause the high will be like 29 and we are expecting a teeny tiny bit of SNOW!!!! YAY!!!!

Measurements

Last night I got measured at the gym. The last set was done sometime in Oct. But I can't remember when exactly. I lost just over 1/2 inch from my waist. I seemed to gain in my hips. Weird. My trainer and I both thought that was weird. My thigh went up as well. But I've been doing some serious leg work with the treadmill, stairs, elliptical and bike. So that doesn't bother me too much. I was up about 2 lbs as well. But that all came recently. Part holiday gain and partly from increasing my workout. I seem to lose better when I eat right and don't work out. LOL.

I have a serious sweet tooth. I need to work on this. I have small sweet binges throughout the day. That has GOT to stop. I'm glad that my measurements are basically the same. But my size 10 jeans (I only have 2 pair as I don't fit into 10's in every brand) are feeling snug today.

The plan today is to ride Eli. He had two days off. Tuesday I didn't feel like doing both the gym and riding. Plus he got shoes that day is generally given the day off. Last night I had a session with my trainer and then I did an hour of cardio after. I'm up today - 180.2!!! AH! It better be water retention. I tend to gain after a workout with my trainer. So tonight I may not hit the gym. I don't know. I have gym clothes packed. I'm starting to get addicted to the gym because I'm worried about being in the 180's. But it might be better to take a break. We'll see how I feel after I ride. If I have a good ride I may skip it. If I have a shitty ride, then going to the gym makes me feel better.