Thoughts: I haven’t been checking my body fat via my Tanita scale in the evening for quite some time now–pretty much since I started bulking. I just hop on in the morning to get my daily weight so I can plug it into my Diet and Exercise Assistant program in my Palm, wince at the average 22% body fat reading I get at 6:30 am to go with my 134-136 lbs of scale weight, and go on with the rest of my day.

Tonight, however, I decided to check the scale after 5 meals and 16 cups of water. I wasn’t going to get any more hydrated than that, and hell, I wanted to see how much in food and water weight I’d added on during the day.

Reading 1 — 138.0 lbs, body fat 16.1%
Reading 2 — 138.0 lbs, body fat 16.3%
Reading 3 — 138.2 lbs, body fat 16.0%
Reading 4 — 138.0 lbs, body fat 16.5%
Reading 5 — 138.0 lbs, body fat 16.1%

OMG! Is my scale on crack? That is the lowest set of body fat readings I’ve ever gotten from it, even in the days when I was 128 lbs and cutting like a maniac. This wasn’t even taken immediately after a leg-intensive workout, which always drops my readings. I think the increased blood flow to my legs after a run or a few hundred squats skews the body fat reading from the scale a bit lower. Tonight, though, I was at least 11 hours removed from my last workout during lunch, which, by the way, was chest/shoulders/tris, not legs.

Freaky. I’m really eager to see what my readings will be in the morning after my weight drops to normal levels, and I’ve had a few hours to dehydrate.

This is yet another indicator that my body fat might just be lower than my estimated 18-19%, but I’d still rather stick with a more conservative figure. I like numbers, but I think it’s important that they are accurately measured and ONLY viewed as empirical data without emotional underpinnings and baggage. How many women stay in size 8 clothes when they need to move up to size 12? How many would leave a tailor shop enraged if they found out that the pattern being used by the seamstress was a size 16, not the size 8 they squeeze themselves into in retail stores? How many women who have found BFL or any other fitness program have transferred this irrational dependency on a numerical value to their body fat percentage instead of dress size? You read claims of 16% or even lower from women whose photos clearly reveal a great deal of extra body fat–soft, lumpy thighs, poochy bellies, undefined arms, and that high-on-the-rump fat storage on the hips that indicates excess body fat. Then you see photos of women who are in MUCH better shape–toned, tight, and free of jiggle–and they post a body fat of 17-18%, making the first group look utterly deluded and ridiculous.

People, this is NOT a competition where the lowest posted body fat wins. You should be focused on improving on your personal bests, not fudging on your stats to boost your ego or keep up with the fitness equivalent of the Joneses. Just because a BFL champ dropped from 30% body fat to 15% in one challenge doesn’t mean you are a failure if you did not accomplish the same miracle in three months. Be honest with yourself and truthful about your stats. I’ve found that you are much less likely to look like a complete moron if you overestimate your body fat than underestimate it, LOL. Trust me, trainers and other pros who have been in the business for years can estimate body fat with a single glance, and you ain’t fooling anyone when you slap a 15% text label on some 23% thighs.

==========
Nutrition (1584 calorie mid zig-zag day)
1: Banana bread and 1/2 serving spicy cottage cheese patties
2: 3×1 veggie omelette with salsa, peas, and orange
3: Banana bread
4: Oatmeal tuna spinach salad with apple
5: Sliced roast turkey and beef, steamed squash and zucchini, 4 tea biscuits
6: 1/3 serving cottage cheese patty

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil

Calories eaten / deficit for yesterday = 1546 / -741 (target -538)
Water: 16 cups
Ratios: 42% carb / 38% protein / 20% fat

========
Workout:
12:00 pm Max-OT chest/shoulders/triceps workout at Gold’s
3:00 pm 1 mile walk ( 4 mph / 15 minutes)
12:30 am 3.4 mile steady state run (avg 6 mph / 32:43 minutes)

========
The Awful Truth:
1. Had three butter cookies/tea biscuits with the catered dinner. I am definitely carb-fiending again from the extra cardio. Ah well…I was a bit low on calories anyway.
2. Stayed up way too late last night (until 3 am) playing World of Warcraft and missed my cardio this morning, which meant that I had to make it up after work. My human warrior is now level 8, though. :: ducks ::

========
Brownie Points:
1. Got my 3 mile run finished after work.
2. Made it to doctor’s appointment for follow-up on last June’s LEEP procedure. (You might be nuts if you have outpatient surgery on Wednesday and are back to doing LBWO on Thursday night…)

========
Short-term Goals:
1. Cook some chicken breast in new and tasty ways.
2. Use up the three big bunches of broccoli in the fridge.
3. Resist the urge to run too much in the next two days before the 5k.