The Metrics System
My weightloss continues at a glacial pace, and so does my return to hardcore recordkeeping. I'm a good little journalista during the week, on the weekend, all hell breaks loose. Numbers this week: 219.2, fat % 45.0.
But while I'm only down point .6 (I puit the word and the actual period there to emphaside that when I say "only" point 6, I mean ONLY point 6, not 6 pounds), my fat percentage dropped some 2 percentage points, down to 45%, and that's the lowest it's been in a while. Now that fall is kicking in, and I'm in the gym at least once a week, I'm lifting weights, and just over two weeks I've dropped three percentage points. At this point, I need to really trust the metrics behind the fat percentage. Because if you go on the assumption that total fat = total weight x fat percentage, I've lost 4.67 pounds of pure fat, and that's not a bad thing for re-starting a weight loss program. Maybe I should call it a "fat loss program" because that's what I'm really trying to lose.
I know, I know, I'm reaching here, but I need metrics, and right now, the popular standard -- simple weight -- is failing me at a time when I need a boost of confidence. I stumble all over the fatophere and I see all sorts of different metrics -- BMI, actual measurements, "how my clothes feel" and they're all legitimate measurements of success in the weight loss arena. But we all get pulled back to that simply weight factor. I can go on and on about how I dropped 4.67 pounds of fat in one week, but the number that only moved a half pound overall still bothers me. I have to get over this.
But while I'm only down point .6 (I puit the word and the actual period there to emphaside that when I say "only" point 6, I mean ONLY point 6, not 6 pounds), my fat percentage dropped some 2 percentage points, down to 45%, and that's the lowest it's been in a while. Now that fall is kicking in, and I'm in the gym at least once a week, I'm lifting weights, and just over two weeks I've dropped three percentage points. At this point, I need to really trust the metrics behind the fat percentage. Because if you go on the assumption that total fat = total weight x fat percentage, I've lost 4.67 pounds of pure fat, and that's not a bad thing for re-starting a weight loss program. Maybe I should call it a "fat loss program" because that's what I'm really trying to lose.
I know, I know, I'm reaching here, but I need metrics, and right now, the popular standard -- simple weight -- is failing me at a time when I need a boost of confidence. I stumble all over the fatophere and I see all sorts of different metrics -- BMI, actual measurements, "how my clothes feel" and they're all legitimate measurements of success in the weight loss arena. But we all get pulled back to that simply weight factor. I can go on and on about how I dropped 4.67 pounds of fat in one week, but the number that only moved a half pound overall still bothers me. I have to get over this.
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