Ha! I didn’t think I could do it either. Nope, didn’t happen.

After two weeks of exercise and careful diet, I hopped onto the nifty machine at work, and I weighed EXACTLY THE SAME AMOUNT as I did at the last screening. I mean literally the same weight… right down to the ounce.

Then the nurse starts looking at the results and starts jumping up and down and getting all giggly (which is scary when she’s nine months pregnant and ready to pop at any minute.)

“Oh! This is so exciting,” she said. “Look at these numbers!”

Honestly, I was glad she was there again to explain those numbers to me, because considering the short time frame, they WERE good.

My Lean body mass (What you want to be) went from 96.8 lbs to 100.3 lbs and my Body Fat Mass (The bad stuff) went from 55.3 lbs to 51.8 lbs. I’d lost 3.5 lbs in body fat. My Body Mass Index stayed exactly the same, but my Percentage of Body Fat dropped from 36.3 to 34.1. Now, that’s still higher than it should be, but it’s pretty cool after just two weeks.

How can I lose fat and still weigh the same?

I gained GOOD WEIGHT – That’s muscle. My arms went from 86.1 and 85.7% muscle (far too low) to 92.3 and 90.1 which is just inside the normal zone (one arm is stronger than the other).

My saggy belly (which is noticeably less saggy) went from 89.4% to 92.7 % Even my legs, which I think look fat but the machine said had enough muscle two weeks ago… gained in muscle. (Yes, I can see the change in my legs too, but I still have a way to go, since that’s where most of my lard is)

I am now just tipping into the “normal range” instead being really low across the board. Yay! Not scrawny anymore! I lost three and a half pounds of fat, and gained three and a half pounds of muscle.

What did I do?

I really didn’t change my eating too much. If we were having pasta, I just had one helping instead of two. I ate three tacos instead of five. I found if I ate slower, I filled up faster and did not have to eat as much. I do admit to celebrating with an ice cream sandwich one night… but I made sure not to do it EVERY night. Cut up fruit is just as yummy.

I still treated myself to a handful of dark chocolate covered pomegranates a day (ya gotta live a little) What I did, though, is poured out a quarter cup or so, and left the rest sealed up in a cabinet, because I know if the bag is sitting on my desk while I’m working/writing a little gremlin comes along and steals them so I have to keep refilling my bowl (stinking gremlins)

I’m sure there was exercise involved

Yes, of course. I also did the Tony Hornton Power Half Hour every other day with hubby (who recently lost about 70 pounds) and every other day we’d do weight training (I am lucky enough to live with someone who could show me how to do it correctly to get the results I wanted and not hurt myself.)

So, the big change was ½ hour a day of exercise to make up for sitting on my butt all day at a computer. Cardio one day, Weights the next, and one day off of exercise a week.

So far, so good. I’m going to keep it up for the next three months, and hop on the machine again. At this rate, I could quite possibly have my Babe-tastic figure back by January.

Go me!

What do you think? You can find 30 minutes a day for a healthier you, can’t cha! Come on! Get healthy with me.

Why “Skinny” Isn’t Everything: Losing The Body Fat! (americanlivewire.com)
Research Shows Exercise As Key In Reducing Body Fat While Preserving Muscle (medicalnewstoday.com)
Obesity is a True Epidemic (belmarrahealth.com)
Fact or Fiction: Muscle Weighs More Than Fat? (trilogybootcamp.com)
Safe Ways to Increase Your Metabolism (belmarrahealth.com)
My Number Problem: “Stupid Scale” (biancaspicerwellness.com)
Losing Weight But Still Fat? (cckstrength.com)
So close to the edge… so close! (enterfitness.wordpress.com)
Measuring Body Fat (everydayhealth.com)

My company recently acquired this nifty little machine that analyzes your body in a whole lot of different ways.

It sends an electrical pulse through your body on several different frequencies, and measures not only BMI, but the amount of water in your cells, outside your cells, how much muscle is in each leg, each arm, and oodles of other stuff.

After getting my report I slipped into the “Huh?” factor and needed to talk to the company health coach about it, because the report told me I need to lose 22.6 pounds.

Now, If you take a look at the pictures of me on my site, you will be in “huh” mode with me… those were taken earlier this year. Do I look like I need to lose 22 pounds? A few maybe, but not 22.

What she explained to me is that my body is mis-proportioned. My arms both only have about 85-86% of the muscle they should have to fall into the “normal range” and proportionally, I should only have between 18-23 percent body fat….. [**GACK**] I have 36.

Honestly, I totally believe this percentage part because let’s face it… writing is sedentary. My thighs are a little thicker than they used to be… okay maybe 36 percent thicker… but I’m glad this little machine told me… because now I have a goal.

No, don’t worry, I am not going to try to lose 22.6 pounds… I’d have to starve myself for that. What I am going to try to do is get down to my high-school weight… back when I was still a “babe”. That’s losing sixteen pounds from where I am now.

Luckily for me, my husband in the last year or so has lost 65 pounds… and he’s offered to be my personal trainer. I am going to try to lose as much fat in my legs and tummy as possible, while building muscle in my arms.

I need to get in the best shape I can in the next two weeks, and then I will jump on that nifty little machine again.

My goal is to push all my “underweight” areas into the “normal” zone by gaining muscle, and bring down that high fat percentage.

Hubbs said the chances of losing 16 pounds in two weeks is slim… but I probably consume that much in chocolate and ice cream alone in two week’s time. I need to make healthier choices.

Diet and exercise. Yep, I can do this…

What about my writing routing? Yeah, I can’t possibly cut more time out of my sleep, so the writing and marketing time is going to suffer. Social networking? Erghhhh…. Might be a problem too… but this is something I need to do for my health.

Hubbs has been complaining we don’t spend time together… now we will. And I WILL be a babe again, dernit!

Have you gained weight since you started writing?

If not, how do you make time for exercise, along with the laundry, dishes, taking kids to sports, dog training, and all the other normal things people do?