Day 63: Another Bod Pod on the books

Today was another Bod Pod day. Usually, I try to go on a monthly basis, but lately it’s been a bit more sporadic due to scheduling issues. My last appointment was on March 5th, and it wasn’t a good one. After steadily losing weight and fat lbs over the last year, I fell off the wagon and gained a significant chunk of it back.

Date	% Fat	% Fat Free Mass	Fat Mass	Fat Free Mass	Body Mass
10/25/2018	26.1	73.9	31.518 lbs	89.209 lbs	120.728 lbs
1/25/19	27.8	72.2	34.409 lbs	89.443 lbs	123.852 lbs
3/5/2019	29.8	70.2	37.670 lbs	88.765 lbs	126.431 lbs

Today, six weeks after my last appointment, I went in feeling a tad bit hopeful. I wasn’t expecting any huge changes – the scale hadn’t moved much and I only lost an inch or two off my waist – but I did want to see some improvement. Despite all of the ups and downs these past few weeks, I felt like I did better overall compared to the beginning of the year. No, I didn’t go to the gym as planned, but I did go more often. And although I struggled to get a step goal streak going, I walked more steps on average. I don’t think I necessarily ate any less, but I did make some better food choices. Surely that must have done something, right?

Well…

Date	% Fat	% Fat Free Mass	Fat Mass	Fat Free Mass	Body Mass
10/25/2018	26.1	73.9	31.518 lbs	89.209 lbs	120.728 lbs
1/25/19	27.8	72.2	34.409 lbs	89.443 lbs	123.852 lbs
3/5/2019	29.8	70.2	37.670 lbs	88.765 lbs	126.431 lbs
4/15/2019	27.6	72.4	34.316 lbs	89.799 lbs	124.116 lbs

It did! Woo hoo!

Despite not being perfect, I lost 3 lbs of fat and gained 1 lb of fat free mass. I’m tempted to attribute some of those improvements on the Bod Pod’s error margin, but I need this win, so I won’t. Instead, I’m going to feel good about it and use it to get motivated to do more. I think I’m finally really ready to start reaching my goals.

Happy Monday!

Day 23: Bod Pod Results

My Bod Pod results from yesterday were just as bad as I expected them to be. From October to now, my body fat percentage has increased from 26.1% to 29.8%, and I’ve gained a little over 6 lbs of fat. The worst part is, more than half that increase happened in the last 6 weeks.

Yesterday’s results:

Results from January 25th:

Despite my not-so-great results, I felt pretty motivated to get back on track yesterday. I made some healthy food, went to the gym, and tried my best to get all of my steps in early. I was on a roll until right after dinner time. Then it all went to shit. I felt tired, little man was cranky, and I just felt overwhelmed.

Although I didn’t binge on junk food or anything like that, I did have a drink or two and then went to bed – without checking my step total for the day. Just like that, I ruined my latest streak. I missed my goal by around 3,000 steps.

It’s ok though. I’ll get right back to it today. My next Bod Pod is scheduled for April 15th. I feel confident I can get a new streak going while working towards getting my body fat percentage moving in the right direction.

Day 21: Climbing back on the wagon

I’ve already managed to blow off my gym plan, but I’ve got a 5-day step goal streak going, so I’ll take that as a win. Unfortunately, I don’t feel as excited and pumped about this as I should. I’ve been feeling out of sorts lately. I’m stuck in some sort of funk or rut, or whichever is the best way to describe it.

The thing is, I’ve gained some weight back the past couple of months. Realistically, it’s probably only about 5 lbs, but when you’re as short as I am, that translates to anywhere from one to two clothing sizes. In terms of measurements, my waist size has increased by a whole two inches. My super comfy jeans are now super tight jeans, and the muffin top I’d finally managed to get rid of, is back with a vengeance. I feel gross.

But, instead of feeling motivated by this to climb back on the wagon, I feel stuck. I’m in that spot; you know, the one where you know you need to make a change – and you want to make a change – but you just can’t get yourself to actually do it. So, instead of making positive changes, you just make worse choices.

I have a Bod Pod appointment tomorrow. I’m hoping my latest results will give me the kick in the ass I need to shake this funk, but I don’t feel confident about it. I know I need to change my mindset about it, but that’s just not where I’m at right this moment. Hopefully, I’ll feel differently tomorrow.

Day 85: ???

Day 84

After I got my Bod Pod results yesterday morning, I spent the next hour or so staring at them with what must have looked like a perplexed look upon my face. I pulled out my charts from the past two months and stared at those too. Almost a day later, I’m still unsure how this happened.

As you’ll see below, the Bod Pod claims I lost 3% body fat and 5 lbs of fat. My fat free mass increased by a 1/2 lb.

If you read my post from yesterday morning, you know these aren’t the results I was expecting.

Granted, Bod Pods have a margin of error of +/- 1 to 2.7%, so maybe it’s a mistake?

Rationally, I feel like I should be celebrating, but I can’t help but feel like the Bod Pod is wrong. I didn’t track my protein intake the first month, so I don’t know if I averaged more protein or not, but I do know I failed to hit my 100 grams a day goal. Then again, I averaged about 92 calories less per day this month (which would add up to at least one pound of weight loss) and I did exercise a little more, so maybe it is right?

I took a look at my measurements to see if they might tell me anything about my results. These were my previous stats:

And here are yesterday’s:

Weight: 122.2 lbs

Measurements (in inches) (change from last measurements):

Bicep 10.5 (-0.25)

Chest 33.5 (-1.0)

Waist 28.5 (-0.5)

Hips 35.5 (-0.25)

Thigh 21.5 (-0.25)

Calf 13.5 (-0.25)

A total loss of 2.5 inches; with the most significant loss coming from my chest (which is basically all fat). The month prior I lost 1.5 inches. So I guess the results could be a little more accurate than I think they are?

Who knows? I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what the next month brings.

Final step count: 15,055

Day 85

Although it’s technically already Friday, it’s basically Thursday night since I still haven’t gone to bed. I need to figure out what my plan for this new month will be, but that’ll have to wait until the morning.

Happy Friday!

Current step total: 62

Day 61: Off plan

Day 60

Is it terrible that I can’t really remember what I did yesterday? I know I got my workout in, and my tracker says I hit my step goal and stayed within my calorie range for the day, but I seem to be drawing a blank on the rest so…

Final step count: 15,266

Day 61

I went out to lunch with a friend today, and despite my attempts at keeping my meal within a reasonable calorie total, I went over. Tuesdays are our weekly dinner with friends, so I knew lunch would likely push me over my calorie range. I did the math, and I figured that if I gave myself the ok for a second high-calorie day, I could still average less than 1,800 calories a day for the week.

The problem is, I overdid it. I ate almost 2,500 calories. Granted, I can still stay within my weekly average if I stay under 1,600 calories tomorrow, but I don’t want to fall into the trap of “borrowing” calories to overeat. I’ve been down that road before and it’s never worked out well for me.

That being said, it’s too late now, the calories have been eaten. I can’t change the choices I already made, but I can make better ones tomorrow. Weight loss, and weight gain, is just the result of all the little choices we make each day over a period of time. One bad day isn’t going to ruin the progress I’ve made as long as I don’t allow it to become the first of many.

Current step total: 17,451

Day 59: Baking things

Day 58

I eventually got over my mood last night and baked my pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I used this recipe. They looked okay, but I didn’t get a chance to try any because I’d already hit the top of my calorie range for the day.

Final step count: 15,737

Day 59

Since I couldn’t try my muffins last night, I had one this morning for breakfast. It was ok. Nothing spectacular, but at 116 calories and 7.5 grams of protein each, I can try to eat them as a snack if I’m craving something sweet.

If I were a better baker, I’d try to figure out how I could improve the recipe to better suit my tastes; but I’m not. I can cook, but when it comes to baking, I can barely follow a recipe. That doesn’t mean I don’t try though; I’m going to try to make these protein cookies today. Hopefully they’ll taste better than the muffins.

Current step total: 601

Day 56: Week “2”

Day 55

After walking living room laps for what seemed like hours, I hit my daily step goal and decided to fill out the rest of my tracking sheet for today (with the exception of my step total, since it wouldn’t be accurate just yet). I decided to highlight the last day of each week since my last Bod Pod for easier comparison. I also averaged my daily calories for this first week and wrote it to the right of my highlighted row.

This week’s average daily calories: 1,788.

It’s not as low as I’d hoped, but it’s under my estimated total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) of 1,822. And most importantly, I still lost 1 lb this past week (see below). Win!

Final step count: 15,740

Day 56

On the tracking sheet pictured above, I also wrote my weight as measured by the Bod Pod to the right of the first row. I figured I can consider it a much more accurate weight for comparison than the weight from my home scale. My home scale weighed me in at 126.4 lbs on September 20th; the Bod Pod came in at 125.255 lbs.

One week later, after consuming an average of 1,788 calories a day, I’m down 1 lb. This morning’s weight: 124.2 lbs. It’s what I had hoped to see, but more than I’d actually expected.

I want to celebrate the loss, it’s a win right? That’s what I wrote above; but I am a tad bit concerned that half of that may be muscle loss. I truly do need to step up my protein eating game. I’m so not about the skinny fat life.

Current step total: 387