186.9...?

Just a few moments ago, the score was 187.0 English pounds on the Tanita scale.  The scary thing is that it flickered back and forth between 186.8 and 187.0 half a dozen times before rounding up, as it always does.  Never have I seen the Tanita round down; it's always up.  My scale will only display read-outs in increments of 0.2 pounds, which is sufficient accuracy for a simple bathroom scale.  Presume I am stuck in the middle at 186.9.

Naturally, this means my weight would be lower on the Bod Pod scale; perhaps even lower than 186.0.

I must say, comrade Kettlebellers, that this is pretty scary stuff.  I have never been this low in my entire adult life.  I am looking downright skinny now.  Were it not for the presence of an abundance of lose skin, I would be skinny-skinny.

This continued precipitous drop is puzzling in the face of some basic input/output analysis.

1. Do you know that I had not one but two Macho Bacon and Egg Burritos yesterday?  According to some rumors that would 2,060 kcal right there.
2. Further I had two chocolate milk protein drinks, fortified with whey & mega-3 fatty acids.
3. Further, I enjoyed the hell out of a sizable helping of nachos, with all the fixings: steak, chicken, black beans, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, cheese.
4. At approximately 151.14 pounds of lean weight, my RMR/BMR is probably right around 1,860.
5. Aaron and I did a back & biceps workout at approximately 10:00am yesterday morning.  I returned to the apartment afterward and crashed (I slept) on the couch until 2:00pm.
6. I vegged out on the couch, watching college football, until the end of the Oregon vs. Stanford game.  [What an upset!]  
7. At that time, I proceeded back out to 24 Hour Fitness where I performed a pretty damn decent aerobics work out: 12 minutes of elliptical (232 kcal), 12 minutes of Olympic rower (152 kcal), 12 minutes of treadmill (142 kcal), and 12 minutes of bike (161 kcal).  In total, this was 48 minutes of work for 687 kcal of energy.

We have only a rough approximation of my BMR/RMR.  We have only a rough approximation of my food-intake.  We have only a loose idea how much energy I expended in exercise.  Still, you would be hard-pressed to argue that those figures balance.  You would suppose I ate more than I burned.  The scale says figures don't balance.  Obviously, I lost weight.  I was in negative figures yesterday

Why such remarkable weight loss?  I have an idea about that.  Yesterday, it occurred to me that the recent cold-snap here in Los Angeles may be factoring into the equation.  In the past two weeks, the Winter has come, to the extent that winter ever arrives in Los Angeles.  We have seen dark overcast skies, lots of rain, some wind, and plenty of 50 degree weather.   That's about as cold as it gets here in la-la land.  The RKC comrades would not be impressed by these temperatures, though.

During this time, I haven't changed my wardrobe that much at all.  I have taken to wearing an Under Armour shirt under my football jerseys, but I am still wearing shorts and a jersey these days.  Yeah, it's a little chilly without my fat-layer to protect me, but I have not caved in.  After the U.S. Army performed unethical human medical experiments on me Germany back in 1990, I swore I would never say it was cold in California again.  Quite frankly, it isn't.

The kiss of this chilly weather may be the explanation for my recent weight loss.  Thermo-energetics are terribly important in biology. They are more important in weight loss than most people would ever admit.   The kcal is just a measure of heat energy, by the way.

Ordinarily, I do lose weight in Winter time.  I know many people are the opposite:  they put on weight during winter.  Not me, I usually lose a few pounds.  Prior to gastric bypass, I was like a bear.  I would fatten up in summer, and lose fat during the winter.

I think half of this long-term pattern continues right up until this moment.  If so, I am pretty excited.  The cold weather--such as it is--should help me to make my ultimate body fat goals a reality.

189.4 and I feel cold

So it's a bit late for this sort of entry, but the score this morning was 189.4.  It would seem that I am now officially below the 190 point, and it looks like this is gonna stick.  If it does, this will constitute the lowest fixed weight of my adult life.

CrossFit is having an impact.  I nailed a CrossFit workout on 6 of the 7 days of this past week.  I kicked it off with the Dark Horse CrossFit group on Sunday hit four in a row on Wednesday.

On Thursday, recovery from Diarrhea and my evening attempt to get out of jury duty caused me to miss both the 4:30pm and 5:30pm classes.  I did an old-fashioned bike/elliptical workout for 45 minutes, netting 617 kcal, so Thursday was not a day of rest.

I went straight back to work on Friday 5:30pm, nailing my best workout of the week.  I was back in the gym 14 hours later for the 9:30am class this morning.  Unfortunately, today's workout was the worst of the week.  My own personal jump rope snapped on the first exercise of the "Buy-In" phase.  This was an ill-omen.  In the workout phase, we attempted to perform hand-stand push-ups.  This advanced calisthenic was categorically out of the question.  It killed my right shoulder.  I might need Dr. Bachner to O-Scope my shoulder before I can do a workout like that.

Easy come, easy go.  You win some and you lose some.  This morning's travesty was one bad workout among many good ones.

The upshot is complicated:

1. I am working out a lot less than in past months.  The clock-time of the WOD seldom exceeds 20 minutes, and is often less.
2. The intensity of that workout is vastly higher than in past months.  A typical WOD is more intense than even a full-cycle ROM workout.  If you work hard at it, you will be out of gas by the end of those 20 minutes.
3. I spend a lot more time in recovery than working out.  I need to spend time cooling off, stretching, warming up, on the roller, in a hot shower, in the sauna, getting a foot massage, etc.
4. I was forced to begin a second cycle of LG Sciences Trifecta stack.  This is a prohormone stack that is the next best thing to illegal steroids.  It should be noted that Trifecta is totally legal and over-the-counter at your local Vitamin Shoppe.  It works almost as well as Dianabol, according to some experts I know.  Pink Magic wasn't cutting the mustard.  It just wasn't possible to recover between workouts, and sustain the intensity of CrossFit without Trifecta.  I really appreciate what Trifecta did for me last summer now.
5. Even with Trifecta, the aches and pains are rife.  No pain no gain.  Usually, where there is pain, there is gain.  I must be doing something right.  I am absolutely improving in all of the different exercises, especially the 200 meter and 400 meter sprints.
6. The girlies are checking me out in the CrossFit gym.  I caught two of them examining me as I was doing pull-ups the other day.  Pull-ups really show my wing-span.  Both of these girls looked away with a degree of embarrassing when I caught them. There were big glowing smiles on their faces prior to that moment.
7. This morning, the ambient air temperature here in Woodland Hills/Canoga Park was around 50 degrees.  I felt the cold very sharply.  In fact, I felt it all night long.  I now lack the insulating fat layer that used to protect me from such mild cold weather.  This reminds me of my time in Europe, immediately after Army Basic and AIT.  After dropping to 192 pounds, I found myself in Mannheim West Germany (when there was a West Germany) right around the time when the weather began turning cold.  That first winter in Germany almost killed me.  You take a California kid, strip him of his protective fat layer, station him in the snow, and I guarantee you he will freeze.  

I hesitate to even mention this, but the guys at work decided to roll out the Halloween video from 2010, and they were showing it yesterday.  The court room was dark this Friday, so I was back at work for a single day.  This video captured me in all my glory at 330 pounds.  That was more than 140 pounds ago.

A certain Pisces dude named Eric (3/12/1981) decided to show me the video on his iPhone.  Just as many have commented, he said I am now unrecognizable.  Although I have known Eric for some four years now, he mentioned that it is hard to believe I was ever that large.

Looking at the video sent cold chills down my spine, and made my hair stand on end.  How did I ever live and survive at that weight?  I don't know how I was able to move around at all and carry that weight on my bad knee.  No wonder I can run now.

Someday, after taking some high def video of me performing a CrossFit WOD, I may put that Halloween video up for display here.  I'll put it side-by-side with the CrossFit video so you can get a before and after look.  You will find it shocking, I am sure.

191.6

So the score a few moments ago was 191.6 English pounds on the Tanita scale.  This would probably put me somewhere around 190.7X on the Bod Pod this morning.

Jury Duty continues to disrupt my workout schedule and my diet.  I have had no noon-time workouts during the past 5 work days.  I won't get one in today either.  Worse still, I had Burger King for lunch yesterday.  It was among the worst meals I ever ate.  It made my stomach hurt, and I haven't had that kind of discomfort in several months now.

The good news is that I have hit 3 consecutive days of CrossFit workouts, starting last Sunday.  The Halloween workout was particularly brutal.  Coach figured only the most hardcore yahoos would show up for a CrossFit workout instead of going to a Halloween party.  He naturally tried to kill us with a cardio workout that would take-out a triathlete.

The big news is that I am adapting to the stress of the CrossFit workout really well.  When I first started doing CrossFit, I was sore in all kinds of places I hadn't felt in 20 years.  My right knee and my right foot were sore and swollen as hell.  I am told this is all perfectly normal.  Whenever anyone starts doing CrossFit, said individual usually goes through these types of adjustment problems.  I am getting the pain and the soreness under control now.

Just how do you control the pain and the soreness of the CrossFit workout?  This is how I have done it:

1. You have to take the warm-up exercises super-seriously.  Go all-out during warm-ups.
2. You have to do cool-down stretches.
3. During cool-down, the foam roller is your best friend.  You must roll-out your hamstrings and calf muscles.  Your calves will be shot to pieces by the jump rope.  Your hamstrings will be shot to pieces from over-head squats, thrusters, and wall-ball. If you don't roll them out immediately after the workout, you will be sore the next day.  The foam roller works wonders.
4. You must take a recovery drink immediately after the cool down.  That recovery drink must contain carbohydrate.  Further, it must contain more carbohydrate than protein.  It cannot be a pure protein drink.  Iso-Pure 50 won't get it done.  If you don't restore your muscle glycogen, you will be sore the next day.
5. I head down the street immediately after the CrossFit work-out and spend 30 minutes in the saunas at 24 Hour Fitness.  I spend 15 minutes in the Steam Sauna and 15 minutes in the Dry Sauna.  I shower-off with the coldest water possible between Saunas.  Alternating heat and cold helps flush lactic acid out of the muscles.

If you will do all of this, you will be tired the next day, but you won't walk like a crippled man.  You will be okay and ready to do it again 24 hours later.

Bod Pod X: Moderate Risk

So I had my 10th Bod Pod test this morning. It was pretty good. As per usual, it was not everything I had hoped, but (all things considered) it was a pretty damn good milestone. Just like Super Bowl X once was once regarded, this was the best one ever (thus far).

I apologize for the wet-spots on the paperwork, but I spilled some water on the documents.

In summary, the facts of the case are these:

1. My total weight was 196.731, a little higher than expected, but a reduction of 7.003 pounds
2. My fat-mass went down from 55.912 pounds to 48.964 pounds; a reduction of 6.948 pounds
3. My lean weight decreased from 147.821 to 147.767 pounds. This is scarcely 0.05299 of a pound, or 0.86 of one ounce of loss. This is within the margin of error.
4. My Body Fat Percentage decreased from 27.4% to 24.9%. This is a reduction of 2.5%, and just barely enough to move me into the Moderate Risk Category.
5. Conversely, my lean percentage increased from 72.6% to 75.1%.
6. My body volume decreased from 89.135 to 85.61 liters; a reduction of 3.525 liters.

Since I began testing with the Bod Pod on May 13th, 2011 I have done all the following:

1. I have reduced my body fat percentage 19.2% from 44.1 to 24.9.
2. I have lost 65.126 pounds of pure fat, down from 114.09 to 48.964 pounds.
3. I have increased my lean weight 3.027 pounds. I am still net-positive on the lean weight front.
4. I have decreased my total weight 61.92 pounds, down from 258.651 to 196.731 pounds.
5. I have decreased my body volume 31.5 liters, from 117.111 to 85.61 liters.

As we were finishing the test, the fellow conducting my test related a horror story to me. He said he had just performed a test for a woman who showed virtually no change in a month of work. She burst out in tears and challenged the whole Bod Pod methodology. He then asked if he could introduce me to some people and show them my chart. I said "sure!" After all, what would I want to hide?

We walked over to where a television production crew was setting up cameras. Evidently, this was the crew of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. The CHLI rep introduces me to a pack of three beautiful blonds. I was a bit shy. They were just two pretty. He shows them my chart and explains the situation. They congratulate me profusely. I took a bow. I was a little overwhelmed.

Of course, there was a connection point unstated there. I am sure the woman who cried was (is) one of the subjects of the show. I am sure she was pissed at her lack of progress and public embarrassing. I am sure he was bolstering the credibility of the method by showing me off. Still, it was fun. I got another ego stroke out of that.

I just need to stop being shy around the beautiful blonds. I am not the same old fat guy I used to be. People I know don't recognize me anymore.

One other factor: The Bod Pod was undergoing routine maintenance and certification yesterday. The crew was not undergoing training. Maintenance was the reason the Bod Pod was unavailable to me yesterday. Interestingly enough, I weighed in at 197.2 pounds on the Tanita this morning and 196.731 on the Bod Pod. The gap of 0.85 pounds has now closed to just 0.469 pounds.

Interesting... one day after routine maintenance the gap has closed from 0.85 to 0.469. My Tanita is closer to accurate than I originally suspected. The Bod Pod is a little less accurate than I suspected. In any case, the gap is there, but smaller than suspected.

196.6

So the score this morning was 196.6 on the Tanita scale. The Bod Pod would place me at 195.75. This constitutes a loss of 7.99 pounds thus far in this cycle. This is shaping up to be a very, very good Bod Pod test indeed.

Not much time to gab about it. I have a very full night of training ahead of me. I need to belt out 60 full minutes and then do my hydro therapy. I am also going to break tradition and hit a second full-cycle ROM workout in just one day. That will begin in just a few moments. This will get my blood pumping.

Just one quick story to relay. I went to Fry's Electronics today after work for the first time in a couple of months. I haven't been visiting there very often lately. I have had a lot on my plate, and very little time for recreational electronics browsing.

I purchased just one item, a copy of Code Magazine, and headed for the door. The guy working the security angle at the door is a dude I've talked football with a hundred times (both college and pro). I haven't seen this guy in quite some time. I think the last time I saw him, we were talking about the demolition job the Ravens did on the Chiefs in the playoffs. This was immediately after the game. That was before the surgery. It's been more than 7 months.

As I approached, I expected him to be shocked by my weight loss and make some comments. Nope, no reaction at all. He didn't recognize me. I wasn't wearing one of my trademark football jerseys to help him out either. I had an Under Armor shirt on. As I handed him my receipt for examination, I expected him to tweak at any moment. I thought he would figure it out.

Nope, there was nothing there but a completely blank, vacuous stare. He wasn't giving me the shine or anything like that. He just didn't recognize me. I was just one of a thousand nameless and faceless customers who go out the door with an item.

I decided it would be awkward to tip him off, so I just walked out the door. As I walked to the car, I was flipping out. I've had a hundred conversations with that dude, and he flat-cold didn't recognize me. There was no trace of recognition in his face at all. That was a completely natural miss. It wasn't forced at all.

I can't say I blame him. You don't ever expect to see a 330+ pound dude drop to 195 in just 7 months. I have changed dramatically in a relatively short people of time, and that just doesn't fit the cognitive model we humans have. We don't ever expect to see that.

Well, my own cousin Justin told me the following "If I didn't know it was you, I would never know it was you."

197.6

This morning the core was 197.6 pounds on the Tanita scale. The Bod Pod would have me at 196.75. This means I have lost some 6.99 pounds this cycle with an evening of workouts and a full day ahead of me. The battle goes well.

If all of that was fat loss, I should currently have 48.93 pounds of fat on my frame. 48.93 / 196.75 = 24.869%. Of course, the implication is that I have already gone inside the 25% BFP marker. Accordingly, this would mean that I have already (unofficially) moved into the moderate risk category.

Let's hope I have put on some lean to re-enforce these numbers.

Is there any perceptible change in the way my body feels as I make this transition in medical categories, or is this just an arbitrary boundary marker the doctors have invented? I must say that I am starting to feel awfully different that I have through most of my life. As I mentioned in a previous blog-post, I feel like I am transforming into Superman. No amount of exercise seems to be too much. No exercise challenge seems to be too great. The only thing that kills me is missing workouts.

There is this amazing and boundless energy that seems to be welling up in me. I get these surges during the workout where I feel I can intensify and go forever. I'm even beginning to experience greater energy first thing in the morning, something I have never had at any point in my entire life. I move rapidly everywhere. I walk fast without intending too. I jog down the stairs with ease. I feel far more agile than I have since I was in my early 20s.

There are other factors. My entire back, arms, neck and calf muscles have become ripped and cut, with muscularity, vascularity and tendons beginning to show. This is not typical of my entire body, as I still have plenty of flab around the middle and on my butt. Still, several regions of my body have reached near-depletion of their local fat supplies. As I reach lower and lower levels of body fat, but abdomen and butt will empty their fat cells also.

There is another point of interest: I am learning that most of our SoCal population is carrying more than 25% body fat. I am shocked that I am now much leaner, smaller, and harder than many men my size at the gym. Remember, I am still around 25% BFP, yet I am beating these guys across the board in a clean sweep. They are chubbier and softer and less able to do exercise than I am.

There are two kinds of guys at the gym: Those who really need to be there, and those who are just showing off. The show-offs are around 10-15% BFP. Those are the muscular and ripped dudes who where the spandex costumes. They are the minority. Most of these dudes show up to maintain their fitness levels, and allow the ladies to hit on them.

Hit on them they do. I have been impressed by how many ladies I have seen approaching these guys lately. They are much more forward than in my day. I am not a member of this club yet, but it won't be long...

The remainder, and by far the larger population, are the guys struggling to improve their fitness levels and get healthy. These dudes constitute about 70-75% of the inhabitants of any given gym. Regardless of age, I am beating most of those guys.

Perhaps there is some empirical fact and logic behind these medical categories after all?

198.0 Exactly

This morning the score was 198.0 according to the Tanita scale in my bathroom. You know this means the Bod Pod would have me at 197.15. This means that I have hit or surpassed the 40% mass reduction point. This should also mean that I very, very close to going below the 25% body fat level.

This also indicates a loss of 6.59 pounds during this cycle with two full days to go. I had 55.912 pounds of fat on my frame as of the last test. If all 6.59 pounds of that loss come from my fat weight, I will now have 49.32 pounds of fat on my frame. 49.32/197.15 = 25.017%. I am so, so, so close! The moment I go below 25% BFP, they will officially move me from the high risk category to the moderate risk category.

The weight mark, the BFP, and the risk category are all major milestones in this process. Bod Pod X is shaping up to be a major landmark in this process.

I need to re-double my efforts in these last three evenings. A major, major milestone is in sight, and I can't miss it this time. Especially not when I had 15 day in this cycle to bring home the trophy.

199.2 and so close

Today the score was 199.2 pounds on the Tanita scale. This means the Bod Pod would have me at 198.35. I am so close to the 40% mass reduction point it's not even funny. I am also very close to the 25% body fat percentage I have been seeking in this two-week cycle.

For the record, I weighed in around 330 pounds on January 15th, 2011. My orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Evan Bachner, had ordered me to lose 30% of my gross body mass (permanently) or face the wheel chair. 30% of 330 is approximately 99 pounds. I passed his directive when I crossed under 231 pound mark.

Since then, I have been pursuing the goals my general practitioner and my gastric bypass surgeon set for me. It's one thing to avoid crippling arthritis pain by loosing weight. It's quite another to reach a healthy body fat percentage.

40% of 330 pounds is 132 pounds. 330 -132 = 198. As you can see, when I hit 198 pounds, I will have reduced my gross body mass by 40%. I am so damn close it ain't even funny. I am just 0.35 of pound away from that target. That's just 5.6 ounces folks.

There is a double bonus. I have reason to believe my lean mass has been increasing. Why? I can see my muscles growing. Furthermore, it ain't just me. Others are noticing too. I just had the car battery replace in my Sonata, and the mechanic asked me the following question:

"Have you been doing some body building lately?"

"Yes I have."

"I can tell! You're getting more muscular. You were a little chubby a few months ago. You're getting knobby now."

Incidentally, for those British members of the audience, knobby doesn't mean sharp elbowed bastard who makes stupid comments. It's a local euphemism for a dude whose muscle definition is showing. Of course, I am very flattered by this comment.

But I digress.

If my lean weight should finally reach 150 pounds, and if my total weight should be 198 or less on Bod Pod day, I will have officially made it under the 25% BFP mark. That's easy math folks.

Bod Pod X is promising to be a significant landmark and milestone in this process. The landmark is the 40% mass reduction, and officially crossing under the 200 pound mark. The milestone is the fact that I will officially cross over from the High Risk health category to the Moderate Risk category. That's big news folks. Team Quilici just might declare victory at this point, although I doubt it. They still want me to hit 17-18% BFP.

One thing is for sure, when I walk through the door at Dr. Quilici's office, I'm not going to look like one of his typical patients. They will notice that fact, I assure you.

Speaking of Bod Pod X, I just called a little while ago to make my appointment for this Friday. I was greatly dismayed by what I heard. The Life Measurement trainers will be visiting the California Health and Longevity Institute on Friday, to conduct certification training for the Bod Pod. The Bod Pod will not be available at all on Friday.

The alternative to was to move it to 10:00am on Saturday. I was not pleased with this move because it breaks the perfect rythm I have established. Still, we have to recognize that life happens, and this not my fault. I would have done it on schedule if I could.

Recognize what this means: I get 15 days in this cycle instead of 14. This is an opportunity to lose an extra half-pound of fat if I play my cards right. An extra half pound of fat should just about do it this time. If I don't go under 198 with 48 pounds of fat, I have no one to blame but myself.

I'm going on the record and predicting all of the following for Saturday Sept 17th, 2011:

1. The Tanita will weigh me at 197.7 pounds
2. The Bod Pod will have me at 196.85
3. I will have 48 pounds of fat on my frame
4. I will have 148.85 pounds of lean on my frame
5. My body fat percentage will be 24.384%

I am being a bit pessimistic and conservative on the lean weight. I would greatly prefer a 150/46.85 ratio, but let's be cautious.

199.6

The advent of a major historical moment for me. I just went inside the 200 pound mark for the first time since summer of 1989. This was a more than a year before my dear little Leo girl was born, and she is now a junior at USC. [She likes to boast that she had classes with Clay Matthews III in her freshman year, incidentally.]

The score this morning 199.6 on the Tanita scale. The Bod Pod would have me at 198.75. Wow, man... That is already 4.99 pounds in just one week. I am absolutely surging again. The sweat lodge was something else, but I don't think I scrapped off a pound.

What is even more interesting is that I am scheduled to take a walk in Burbank today with a Pisces woman I met online at Zoosk. Allegedly, she was born 2/23/1972, but she seemed to know her planet lineup and she disagreed with the one I presented to her. She shouldn't have done that. This tipped me off that the year was wrong. I suspect she's fudging about her age.

I understand that women never lie. They don't lie about their weight. They don't reduce the number of relationships they have had, and they never, ever, ever lie about their age.

Anyway, I am looking forward to it anyhow. What a surprise that the first girl I meet online just happens to be a Pisces. Who would have thunk that? A Pisces and Virgo together? Nah! Can't be.

The trouble is that we have some remarkable thunder pealing out across the sky right now. Storm clouds seem to be moving in on the San Fernando valley. This is a most unusual atmospheric event during Septembers here in SoCal. Have you ever seen one of those bad romance movies [like the Notebook] where the boy and the girl meet in the pouring rain?

206.2... again?

I just weighed in at 206.2 again. This was my weight as of my last log entry a couple of days ago. Two days ago, after a full-slate of aerobic workouts, it went all the way down to 205.2.

Of course, the indication is 16 ounces of lost water weight through sweat. Still, I am surprised that it remains at 206.2 two days later. This could be a good thing.

Yesterday, I completed a full ROM cycle (11:45 minutes of exercise, performing all movements) in less than 22 minutes of real-time. I took very little rest between these intense exercises. I also did a couple of minutes of shake weight in there. It was pretty brutal.

That wasn't enough for me, though. I still went to the gym around 11:00pm for a short weight lifting workout. Short but brutal. Nautilus style workouts are short but sweet.

After this workout, I downed a Pure-Pro 50 protein drink. As the name suggests, this provides 50 grams of pure protein. It's mostly Whey protein, which is the most preferred protein source for Gastric Bypass patients. It provides the protein you need, and stimulates fat-burning at the same time. Whey is less efficient than albumin (egg protein), however, we are willing to trade some protein efficiency for the fat-burning effect whey offers.

This morning, muscles all over my body feel pretty hard, stiff and sore. I got something out of that training last night. I got something out of those 50 grams of whey protein.

Let's remember, the main objective of this cycle is to regain and protect lean weight. I am not happy with my lean weight. This is the two week cycle where I don't give a damn about scale weight. Body fat percentage is the only thing that matters.

My USC linebacker buddy, Aaron Graham, is scarcely 2 inches taller than I am. He currently weighs in at 215 pounds, and he is much leaner than I am. If we put Aaron in the Bod Pod, I doubt he would have 16% body fat. I would guess 13%. This would indicate that he has a mere 27.95 pounds of fat on his frame. This would indicate that he has 187.05 pounds of lean weight on his frame.

My General Practitioner once thought I had 190 pounds of lean, although I am now skeptical of that.

Aaron is a linebacker, I am a nose tackle. I aught to have a lot more lean than he does. He has graciously invited me to go weightlifting with him. I am going to take him up on that offer.

206.2

Just weighed in a moment ago on the Tanita scale, and the score is 206.2. This means the Bod Pod would have me at 205.35 this morning. This is exactly 4.01 pounds less than the last Bod Pod test.

I have been very diligent about protecting my lean weight during this cycle. I executed my 4th Nautilus-style workout of this 2 week cycle yesterday. Two more will follow before my Friday test. Most of my weights and reps went up. This is usually an indication of increasing lean weight. It is usually impossible to increase in strength or stamina without some increase--no matter how small--in lean weight.

This is the right way to kick off the week. This is shaping up to be a very nice test indeed.

Can I ask you a scientific question?

Imagine a fellow, like me, walking into the California Health and Longevity Institute for a Bod Pod test. Suppose this fellow did not use Magnesium Citrate or some other laxative/purgative compound to clear his intestines the day before. Suppose this fellow steps on the scale and into the Bod Pod with his intestines fully loaded with foodstuffs at various levels of digestion.

Does this material in his intestines count as lean weight, or does it count as fat weight? It is a fair question because this material has weight and volume. It has a certain level of density, regardless of what that is. It should show up on the test, unless we have very imprecise instruments. If that is the case, all bets are off.

Knowing the Bod Pod is accurate, it should show up on the test documents. Just how does it show up?

Rationally, if the test is super-accurate, the components of this material that are lean (non-fat) should show up as lean. The components that are fat should show up as fat. If you are eating a low fat diet, about 85-90% of that material should be lean. This would bias the test now wouldn't it? This would skew the figures toward a leaner number, wouldn't it?

This is food for thought, folks. Is the Bod Pod that accurate? Would composition of material in your intestines alter the results of the test? I don't know.

I have been very careful to use Magnesium Citrate before each of the Bod Pod tests. I have cleared out as much as possible before each test. Further, I consume so little in the form of solid food these days, the purge is not all that significant. It's probably better for detox than anything else.

If I were to skip this practice, I would walk into the test a little heavier, and probably a little leaner, wouldn't I? It would be an easy way to cheat the test a bit, now wouldn't it? Less prep equals better results, right?

Nah... I think I will keep the conditions of the test constant.