Heartbreaking test results :(

[gswh2]

I am now thoroughly distressed. Today is day 31 and I just did a hydrostatic weighing to more precisely determine my body composition. This is suppose to be the most accurate way of determining body fat %. The test says that I am 31.5% body fat. If that was true all of the weight I lost in the last 30 days was muscle and I am at the upper end of the unhealthy range nearly into the very unhealthy range. 

 

I am 5'7 and 139 pounds. I don't do much in strength training but I have been doing 30 minutes of running/swimming a few times a week and the last two weeks added in pilates 3 days a week. 

 

Talking to the person who runs the test one of the first things he said was to eat 5 meals a day. I know for a fact that is not necessary and it makes it harder to listen to the rest of what he said.

 

It is heart wrenching to feel like I just put so much effort into improving my health only to be told that I am more unhealthy than I ever thought.

[CAK911]

Those are definitely crummy feelings. Did you have an accurate measure of your % before you started? It's hard to know how much you've progressed without more before/after data.

 

Also, I'd try to think about the broader context of your results. It gets so easy to focus on the one thing that seems most important or most measurable, and miss out on all kinds of other great stuff you've accomplished -- like, it's easy to hang onto weight and miss out on sleeping better and feeling better and having a better relationship with food and all that good stuff.

[Cata]

I am not an expert in any of these matter. But how do you feel? how do you look? what did improve in the last 30 days? I had a rough day today and everyone in the forum helped me see things in a bigger perspective. 

[gswh2]

I did a BodPod test before the whole 30 which isn't as accurate but is still nothing to scoff at. It said I was 28.6 which I thought was too high at the time. The whole point of this testing was so I could focus on body composition and not the scale which can be misleading. 

 

I wasn't expected to be told I am obese. 

[ShannonM816]

I just want to point out what you said in your previous post, before you found out about this "heartbreaking" number:

I feel like I accomplished my goals with this w30 and will probably do it again in the future.

 

What I gained:

• Down 10 lbs
• Sleeping more soundly
• Ability to feel when I am physically hungry vs emotionally hungry
• Ability to stop eating when I stop feeling hungry
• I am now ok with 3 meals a day and don't feel the need to snack
• CONFIDENCE! When I started I didn't think I would make it a full 30 days.

 

 

Finally, I have solidified habits that will help me in the future. Things like stretching daily, that I always knew I should do, but never really got around to. During the past 4 weeks I have added 1 habit a week and focused on being consistent before trying to add something else. If I continue this trend I can slowly but surely work towards a healthier lifestyle.

 

 

That's your post, from earlier today. Think about all of that, not some number that may or may not be accurate and that you now have the knowledge and ability to change.

[DKLynn]

I agree with Shannon, you have accomplished great things!  I know how easy it is for all of those things to pale in comparison to the numbers we become so consumed by.  However, we don't need to tell you that you've done great things...you already know!  So here are a couple of other things to think about...

 

Hydrostatic weighing is, like you said, considered to be the "gold standard" at this point... but it is an extremely intimidating, complex way of measuring body fat, as I'm sure you now know.  If you're not practiced in this way of measuring body comp, or experienced in exhaling to to point where you may legitimately feel uncomfortable being underwater, you may not have gotten the most accurate results.  It, like most things, takes practice.

 

On the flip side of that, the bodpod has great potential in terms of accuracy...but a number of factors can come into play there; the type of clothing you wore (lycra/spandex), whether or not your hair was covered with a cap made of one of those materials, the amount of movement in the chamber etc..

 

All things considered, I would be very hesitant to say that the ten pounds you lost can be attributed to a loss in muscle and an increase in body fat. 

 

I think you have experienced great progress!  Try not to let that number overshadow the effort you put in and the achievements that came from that effort over the last month!  Should you decide to do another whole30, maybe get your body composition measured in the same way before and after.  I tend to think of it like I do the scale...if I want the most accurate results, I'm going to take the measurements using the same device. 

 

Great job and congrats on finishing!

[GlennR]

I'm suspicious of the numbers. It is so unlikely that you will lose muscle before you lose fat. It just goes against how our metabolism works.

[BecFreeby]

Also, keep in mind that at 5'7" and weighing 135 lbs, you are very much within a healthy weight range, and on the low end at that. I'm sure you look great, and the fact that you feel great is so important! If you were overweight, those numbers would hold more value... but you're not, so they don't. We're all really proud of you, let those numbers go and appreciate how HEALTHY feels

[gswh2]

I think the biggest issue is being worried that it might mean I am not healthy. One of the people I work with used to workout everyday and looked great and then he had a heart attack really young. That story scared me a bit about whether there might be health issues hiding. 

 

I am going to move forward with my plans for the future. Focus on eating what makes my body feel good when I feel hungry and continue to exercise in ways I enjoy. I also intended to take some advice I read earlier about moving away from the scale. Instead of weighing myself I will select an article of clothing that is a bit small for me now and use that as a measuring stick when I really want to see result. I have a few pairs of pants that fit into that category now. I can zip them but I would never wear them in public right now. 

[missmary]

I'm sorry you had disappointing results, and I'm glad to hear you are looking at other measures, although i would encourage you to start thinking about how you feel and how you perform rather than just aspiring to be smaller. You are a healthy size RIGHT NOW. You do not need to be smaller. It's ok to take up space in the world. Enjoy your healthy body and what it can do.

 

For what it's worth, I highly doubt that you lost 10lbs of muscle mass. Tests like these are limited in effectiveness and its really only meaningful to compare measurements from the same type of test taken in the same conditions over time. Switching from BodPod to Hydrostatic introduces too many variables. I think it is likely that the majority of the weight you lost was inflammation. Usually when we see numbers like this (larger than one or two pounds for a woman), this is the case...and, If that's the case, that's a great result! How is your performance in the gym? Are you feeling weak and tired*? or are you gaining strength? The answers to these questions will tell you if your results are going in the right direction.

 

*if you are feeling weak and tired, that's ok. It's just a point in the process. tell us and we will help get you turned around

[Vian]

5'7" and 135lbs. puts you at a BMI of 21, which is smack in the middle of the healthy range. Now, there is a lot wrong with BMI, but for the average person, it is a reasonable guideline for a healthy weight range. 

 

You are correct though that you can be trim, fit, running every day, and appear totally healthy, and have all kinds of hidden health risks like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, atherosclerosis, etc. The primary cause of these hidden health risks though is our modern diet full of grains and processed sugars and devoid of healthy fats and produce. Most people think "eating healthy" involves lots of whole grains (sugar), and low fat everything (where fat is replaced with sugar), protein bars with lots of hidden sugars and chemicals, etc. A high carbohydrate diet (even if they are more complex carbs like those in whole grains) causes insulin spikes, which cause inflammation and insulin resistance, which causes high cholesterol (cholesterol is produced by the liver to patch and repair the insides of arteries that are damaged by inflammation) and high blood pressure. Eating lots of PUFA (veg oils) can also increase your risk of cancer, because when you only supply your body with rancid, highly processed, unstable fats, it's forced to incorporate those fats into cells, which causes the cell to be unstable and increases the risk of the cell mutating into a cancer cell.

 

I think the solution to getting the look you want is to build some muscle instead of worrying about fat.

[Craggy]

I did a BodPod test before the whole 30 which isn't as accurate but is still nothing to scoff at. It said I was 28.6 which I thought was too high at the time. The whole point of this testing was so I could focus on body composition and not the scale which can be misleading. 

 

I wasn't expected to be told I am obese. 

I'm with Glen above. I'm *really* suspicious of those test results. I'm the same height as you, and when I was 139 pounds, I was around 20% body fat or less. I really think sight is a better judge than the machine. Have a look at the image chart for women on here:  http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/ If what you see doesn't match up with the test results, I would question them.