So, last night in the comments, RG said, "Renee, please just take your calipers out and tell us your body fat. It doesn't take more than 5 minutes. I'm betting it's up to 19%"
To which I wrote a fabulous response about how I'm happy with the way I look and the numbers just don't matter anymore, blah, blah, blah...
Faithful readers probably know exactly what happened next. I woke up this morning and went running for the calipers like a lab rat crossing an electric floor for a Froot Loop. :-D
For the five people who care, the average of three 3-site caliper tests was 18.2%, the Tanita scale (fully hydrated on "athlete" mode) says 20.5%, and the mOron hand held (fully hydrated, doesn't have an "athlete" mode) says 22.8%. Since my vague notion of a goal was 18-22%, I would say I'm right in there somewhere.
Interesting tidbit, I once had Leigh Peele and her amazing body fat analyzing eyeballs give me her best guess on my percentage of body fat in various photos that I had a caliper reading to go with. In every case, my self-inflicted caliper readings were about 1-3% lower than her expert guess, which was a relief because it means my readings are at least consistent and close, maybe a little optimistic but not like completely delusional.
So, RG, your 19% guess is probably right on. It's funny how my ideal floats. Lately it's sort of a girly-but-fit look, definitely smaller, lighter, and less ripped in terms of veins, striations and muscle size. Speaking of which, did you guys see the post/comments on Leigh's blog about Bulky Muscles and Female Training? Those survey results blew my mind. Jessica Biel and Hillary Swank are not what I would consider big scary muscle chicks! And I had to watch the video clip twice to figure out which group of women were the "amazons." They all looked the same to me.
I also went back and read a good rant by Josh Hillis about How Thin Is Too Thin. I seem to remember that the first time I read it two years ago, it made me madder than hell. Now, I can't recall exactly why I got so bent. These days, I tend to agree with his 18-23% range for everyday happiness. I also agree that most women can't see it. If they're 18%, they want to be 17%, and if they're 17%, they want to be 15%, and if they're 15%, they still don't like their thighs.
I eat pizza and ice cream every Tuesday. It's a little ritual I've enjoyed for years. Previously, it involved a massive dose of dairy fat. I would have a thin crust cheese and tomato pizza and chase it with a Blue Bunny Champ cone or a single-serving container of Ben & Jerry's. This week, I was a little apprehensive about whether plant food could cut it as a special treat. I should not have worried one bit. This Amy's Roasted Vegetable pizza was eye-rolling delicious! It's mushroom, sweet onion and roasted red pepper in kind of a smoky roasted tomato sauce.
It was like a perfect storm. I was captivated by images of banana tacos and compelled by the research studies. And by research studies, I'm not talking about something sponsored by a supplement company and involving eight rats or fifteen fat guys. The China Study was a monumental survey of disease and death rates for 880 million people. The project was so big, it involved 650,000 workers. The results were astounding. Read it if you want your mind blown. Don't read it if you like steak. And I mean do not read it if you like steak, because it will jack up your world, and you'll blame me somehow.
And now we must address the most serious concern of going all-plants: what about the ice cream?! Never fear, I've found this stuff called Coconut Bliss that is non-dairy but nearly as rich, creamy and boggling as Ben & Jerry's. It's made with coconut milk so it's loaded with fat and it's extra tasty. I have Dark Chocolate and Naked Coconut on hand. I dropped a spoonful of Dark Chocolate on the kitchen floor last night and I picked it up and put it in my mouth before my OCD hypochondriac brain even processed what I was doing. It's that tasty.
It's late and I'm a little delirious right now, but I think I just updated the
That slop you're looking at over to the left is called a Luther Burger. It's a bacon cheeseburger served on a grilled glazed donut! It is the very definition of a "layered and loaded" meal. It's an example of the sugar on salt on fat on salt on sugar on fat combo that causes people's brains to short circuit. It doesn't have to be that blatant though. The same thing happens with a restaurant salad. Ever noticed how a restaurant salad is so much more "craveable" than anything you throw together in your own kitchen? That's because in a restaurant, the lettuce is merely a carrier for the salt, sugar and fat. It sounds virtuous to order a salad, but by the time you add the crispy chicken tenders, the cheese, the croutons, the dressing, the bacon crumbles, the bread basket, and the creamy butter, you're just as fattened up and blissed out as the person eating a Luther Burger. If you eat that 1500 calorie salad in good company, on a fun day, and make all kinds of positive associations with the experience, you'll want it again... and again, and again, and again. Chili's, Applebee's, TGI Friday's and The Cheesecake Factory are counting on it.
John Berardi is about to start a
I've worked out regularly for years, and I think one of the reasons I do it is because it's FUN. I don't do any boring workouts. I'm always trying new activities, new methods, and new gadgets. When it's time to workout, I'm genuinely excited. It's like play time for me! I get to be a fitness model, a dancer, a ninja, a skater, a boxer, a trapeze artist, or a Russian strong man. My workouts always support my current interests or my current vision of myself. Plus, they're flexible. I don't do a program that requires an hour a day six days a week if I don't have the time or desire for it. I don't use an alarm clock to wake up, not ever, not for anything. So, I'm not going to sign up for a crack-of-dawn class at the gym. My workouts fit my life. That's huge! I see so many people pick a random plan and try to force their lives around it. When they lose interest or can't keep up, they quit exercising completely.