We went to the Y this morning for the body fat test.
It was in a truck in the parking lot. There was a metal tub a bit larger than a garden tub filled with water. The bottom of the tub was the scale and you had to get in face down (like doing push ups) and submerge your whole body. Then he put a weight belt across your waist to hold you down. When you were ready, you took a deep breath, submerged your head & blew out the air & came up when he banged on the side of the tub. That was done 3 times.

Here are some of my test results:

Dry Weight (lb.) 198 (1 lb less than my scales at home )

Wet Weight (lb) -3.08 (?? don't know what that means)

Body Fat Percentage 43.5% (I get tested again at Curves with the hand held next week).
Weight of Body Fat (lb) 86.25

Lean Body Mass Percentage 56.45%
Weight of Lean Body Mass (lb) 111.75

There were no surprises here since I have used the hand held thing at Curves every month for the past year,

The report says that your RMR accounts of approx. 70% of daily energy expenditure. The rate varies between individuals due to body size and composition but my RMR is 1600 calories per day. (Dr. Peake's formula gives me a RMR of 1555).

The report also gave me a list of activities and how many calories I would burn in 30 minutes while doing them. It also says, "Your exact caloric expenditure will vary based on your experience and efficiency in a particular activity. As you continue to participate in the same activity, you become more efficient, and consequestly, burn fewer calories than you were burning when you first started that activity. Therefore, participating in a variety of activities or extending the time in the same activity may be the most effective way to maximize caloric expenditure." (note: I added the bold face).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BrenauMom,

i know it is great that people exercise at all. for me, i have noticed that my body responds well (i.e. loses weght more efficiently) when i change up my routine. it can be a small change. for instance, do your cardio last and weights first. or run at a rate a bit faster than usual.

like brie, i try to vary my workouts. i rarely do the same thing every day. on sundays, i consistently only do light exercise, mainly for meditation (i.e. a light 20-30 minute jog)

quote:

As you continue to participate in the same activity, you become more efficient, and consequently, burn fewer calories than you were burning when you first started that activity.

While I believe that this is factual. I also think that it is a fact that has virtually no significance what so ever when it comes to losing or maintaining weight.

First off, for MOST of us… exercise at ALL is an issue. Never might cross training and doing several different kinds… for MOST people I know… getting out there at ALL is an issue.

Then when we do it… we don’t REALLY know how many calories we burn. AND exercise calories, for most people are a relatively small percentage of their weekly calories. If I burned 300 calories on the elliptical… and become efficient and burn as much as 10% less… we are talking 30 calories. I probably burn that vacuuming. But I don’t even know how many less calories a person burns… but I doubt it even matters. It is probably REALLY insignificant.

If a person has gotten good enough to become efficient, they are going to do it MORE or longer at make up any calorie reduction. Swimming, playing tennis, riding or skiing inefficiently pretty much sucks. It is WAY, WAY more fun and enjoyable to do it efficiently. Many people quit some sports at the beginning when they suck at it and it isn’t any fun.

Getting good/efficient at something and enjoying it is a GOOD things about exercise. It is one of the joys of exercise or a sport.

This is one of those exercise factoids that just REALLY bother me. People started telling me this on the WW boards about 4 years ago. <in very whiney voice> “You know Denise, you should switch up your exercises… your body is getting more efficient and you are burning fewer calories…” OMG!!! I FINALLY start exercising and doing it with some kind of consistency… and find something that I like (walking) and something that I tolerate (the elliptical) and now I’m hearing and reading everywhere that it is not good enough???? And I should do MORE or different???? No “Yay for you!!!” you keep doing that???? Just, “You know, you are burning fewer calories now”. OMG… who really gives a bleep bleep bleep. MOST people don’t exercise at ALL, and I’m doing it… but it is STILL not good enough.

Not to mention, there are LOTS AND LOTS of reasons to exercise besides burning calories.

My step father has run pretty much every single day since about 1973. And plays tennis on Sundays. He’s never had a weight problem. Has never been severely depressed. Never had a serious injury. I should be so lucky when I’m 78.

Sorry for the rant… but that is one exercise/weight loss factoid that just bothers the bleep out of me. Oh, and don’t get me started when people use the EXCUSE that they are not losing or are gaining because their bodies have become so efficient when they exercise and they are not burning enough calories… Pleeeezzzze!!!!

quote:

As you continue to participate in the same activity, you become more efficient, and consequestly, burn fewer calories than you were burning when you first started that activity.

That's why my trainer would quiz me on what I was doing and get on me if I ONLY rode the bike or ONLY walked or ONLY used one set of machines. Even setting the incline on the treadmill differently makes a difference and makes my body "think" about what it's doing.