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Welp, it’s finally over. This whole fitness challenge thing has come to an end, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job for myself.

The official results from the final DEXA scan:

You can see the results of both scans, the one in March and the one in May. (if you’re wondering about the Android/Gynoid ratio like I once was, read here: http://www.answers.com/topic/gynoid-fat-distribution). I lost 7.9 pounds and my body fat level went down to 14.8%. That’s well past my goal of reaching 18%, and evidently reason enough for me to win the challenge at work! I’m now $250 richer, and I have my membership to 24-hour fitness paid for a full year.

Training for my first Olympic-length triathlon has definitely helped in getting fitter. I’ve swam twice a week for the last 3 months, and it’s my biggest indicator of how much more fit I am. When I started, I would get winded after swimming 4 laps; this week I was able to swim 50 laps non-stop on Tuesday, and two sets of two sets of 30 laps on Thursday!
On top of that, I’ve been running a bit, and riding my bike another bit.

However, I think the biggest impact was that of my diet. I’ve always been a believer that it’s not about what you eat, but about how you burn it… but this time around I tried it the other way around, and while I certainly exercised a lot, I’ve been a nutrition nazi, and watched what I ate meticulously. Kelly even endearingly called me “anorexic” a few times as I passed up things that I’ve always loved: potatoes, pizza, donuts, ice-cream. I basically stuck to a diet low in carbohydrates, and it seemed to help shed the fat while giving plenty of nutrition for lean mass development.

Blah, blah, blah, I could write about stuff you can read about anywhere if you were so inclined, so I won’t. However, since one of my motivation was from looking at before/after pictures from real people that committed to fitness, here’s my little evidence:

Before and after

Well, I had my DEXA exam yesterday, and the results are in:

• I weigh exactly 80kg, which is more or less 176 lbs. I guess I need a better scale to weigh myself, because I thought I was at 170.
• 22% of my body is fat. Now, for males the normal range is 4% to 25%, so I’m not technically in a bad spot… but I’m at the upper end of that range, and I would have never known.

The study is pretty cool, you get to lay down on a cushioned bed (very much like this video, except for the knee rest) and hold still while a robotic arm hovering above you zooms around. There is no pain involved, and the best part is that now I know of a bed-like surface to go take naps on if I ever have the need.

Anyway, the report gives some interesting details, broken by body parts. For example, my trunk tissue is 26.7% fat, my legs are 22.6% and my arms 14.6%. Talk about storing the fat in the middle of my body, eh? There are also some more obscure measurements, like “Gynoid: 30%” and “Android: 28.6%”, and I’ll have to wait until I meet with the trainer to find out what those are.

So with that knowledge, I have a better idea of what the goal will be: BF% to somewhere between 12% and 15% range, which will probably take way more than 6 weeks, but that’s ok with me!

Today is the first day of a “The Biggest Loser” kind of competition at work.

I have 6 weeks to meet my goal, which is set after an assessment with a personal trainer. I like that, because it wouldn’t be fair if it was a weight loss competition, since I’m not overweight. It’s a lot easier for someone 50 lbs. overweight to lose 20 lbs, than for someone at their “ideal” weight to lose 20 (specially since they have no reason to do so!). Additionally, even if it was a body fat percentage loss competition only, it still wouldn’t be fair: It’s easier to go from 30% to 25%, than from 25% to 20%. So the trainer’s assessment will establish goals, and for those of us who are already at a decent level of fitness, the goal will be something else.

The way it works is:

• Day 1 (today): DEXA Body Fat scan. We do those here at work, so that’s convenient.
• Day 1+n (undetermined yet): The trainer appointment happens, and she’ll come up with the goal to meet.
• Day 42: Another DEXA Body Fat scan. After this, the trainer will re-asses everyone, and determine the winner.

The big prize is quite nicel: $250 in cash, a year membership at the gym of the winner’s choice, and 4 tickets to a Reno Aces game.

Today I weighed myself, and I came in at 170lbs. Standing at 5′ 10″, this is the top of my ideal weight (according to the BMI magical formula), and I really don’t want to get any thinner or lighter. My goal however is to get more “ripped“. That is something I’ve been planning on doing to get ready to look good on our honeymoon pictures in July, so this just helps me stay on track, and perhaps speed things up. In other words, my goal is to reduce my body fat percentage. It all sounds pretty vane, and that’s probably because it is.

I’ll be “working on my fitness” by being more mindful about what I eat, and stepping up my work-outs. I’ve doing Starting Strength at the gym for about 2 months now, and I’ve enjoyed getting back into lifting weights regularly. Along with that, I hope to be able to ride my bike to work at least twice a week, now that the weather is much nicer and there is plenty of daylight for the ride home at 5pm. Lastly, there’s always volleyball (the season starts this Sunday, and I’m on two teams!), running and swimming (to be prepared for a triathlon, perhaps) and any other kind of activity that I end up getting involved in one way or another.

My DEXA scan is in 4 hours, and that means that I can’t have any food or water until I’m scanned and given the green light. The suffering begins, NOW!