Thursday, July 16, 2009

Statistical Data

Sounds boring, I know. But fun for me. Thanks for trying to help me to post a table ladies (woohoo for TJ and Hadley!) but I will do this the lazy way I guess. Which is crappy because I like seeing things in chart and table form.

As of my fattiversary - July 15, 2009 (one year into the journey) - here are some numbers for you:
  1. Clothing size decreased 5 (or is it 10?) sizes. I went from a size 24 to a size 14.
  2. I lost 82 pounds total - I went from 288.5 pounds to 206.5 pounds.

Now I have some more numbers from the past six months. My trainer took measurements my first day but they have vanished. We did not realize this until we took measurements in January. I wish I had the original numbers because I am sure they would be far more impressive. If you haven't taken measurements (including body fat) you should. It is fun to watch the numbers. So from January 11, 2009 to July 15, 2009 (the bolded ones are the ones I am most proud of):

  1. My weight went down exactly 40 pounds (a lot slower than the first 40 pounds).
  2. Neck - down 1 inch
  3. Chest - down 4.5 inches
  4. Upper Arms - down 1 inch
  5. Forearms - no change
  6. Waist - down 7 inches (thank you zumba)
  7. Hips - down 6 inches (thank you again zumba)
  8. Upper thigh - down 4.25 inches (thank you turbo kick boxing and running)
  9. Calf - down 1 inch

I do not discount all the weight training but there are certain aerobic activities that really help tone. I am a true believer of that now.

One last number to share. This one is body fat. My trainer never took it until June 4, 2009. I am not sure why. Perhaps he thought I would cry if he did it sooner and I came up over 50% fat (which I probably was). He has since learned, nothing about this makes me cry. It is what it is. This measurement was taken at the start of fat camp.

Fat camp side note for those new to my blog - you are probably thinking what the hell is she talking about? Well last summer (before I started this journey), I looked into sending myself to a fat camp for adults. I found them. They do exist. They are not close to home and they are very expensive. It would have cost me $4000 to $6000 for 1 or 2 weeks. Not really in my budget. I was very sad because it sounded awesome. So I looked at their programs and determined that they ate restricted calories and exercised for about 3 or 4 one hour periods per day. Last summer I was lazy and thought it was too much. During the school year there is no way I could dedicate that much time to exercise. So when this summer began (and I mean the day school got out) I started my own fat camp program (minus the going away to camp). I walk the dogs every morning, run and do personal training four times per week and fill the rest of my time with group classes from the lady gym. I try to get about 3 hours of exercise per day. This week I have been working on a pool workout as well. I also eat my 1600 calories per day that I have been doing since April.

So a few numbers from fat camp:

  1. Weight - down 11.5 pounds (I know this does not sound like a lot for all my effort and I agree, however there are huge changes in my body)
  2. Body fat - down 10.05% (yes you read that right, in 40 days I decreased my body fat by 10% - my trainer nearly shit his pants)

My body is officially less than one third fat (28.65% to be exact). I just looked it up and the average woman should have a body fat in the range of 22% to 25%. Watch out world, I am getting close to average!

Random thought on body fat percentages - they say our body is 70% water. If I am almost 29% fat too, then my bones and tissue only account for 1%? What about when I was 50% body fat? My percentages equaled over 100%? Or is there water in our fat? I teach 1st grade and the numbers need to add up correctly in my mind. So I try to push these random thoughts aside and try to enjoy being less fat.

Lesson learned from all this? Don't be afraid of numbers. Today they are what they are, but you can change them. And like many people say - if I can do it, you can do it!

8 comments:

InWeighOverMyHead said...

GREAT numbers! Congrats on all you have done! So cool!

M said...

HOLY CRAP, This was an awesome post! Congratulations on EVERY SINGLE THING that you have accomplished! I hope you have treated yourself!

Imagine...you didnt even need a fat camp!

Ak said...

Those are amazing results! Great job!

HD said...

AMAZING!!! Congrats on some fabulous results!

Crys said...

I'm all PMSsy and this post made me cry. I didn't know I could be so excited and happy for a total stranger. There's just a whole bunch of amazing in the posts. It's so much more than the 82 pounds, which is incredible! Over the year, you've created a whole new life that includes healthy eating, exercising and finding new workouts that you love (Zumba is kind of amazing, I agree). It's just a testament to sticking with it. You're such a great inspiration to me! Continued success!!

Unknown said...

AMAZING #'s!! WOW! Great job!

Diane, Fit to the Finish said...

I love numbers, and yours are awesome! It's so good you are taking measurements along the way. All I took was chest, hips and waist in the beginning. I wish I had known to take more detailed ones like you are. I saw my waist go from 56 or so to 27.5 - very exciting!

Keep up the good work!

wildfluffysheep said...

Frickin' awesome numbers!! Those are some figures i could learn to love. I am struggling with my scale numbers one day maybe il get over it.

*jumps up and down like a crazy mad person in celebration* your progress is truely amazing missus. muchos jealous but impressed