Body Fat Composition

I emailed my "trainer" the other day to ask when I can pick up some IsoFlex protein powder (Strawberry is yum-yum delicious -- hard to find!) and he suggested that I come in also do a body fat testing to find out how effective my workouts have been.

I call him my "trainer" because I havent technically had any personal training sessions with him, but he was my bootcamp instructor last Fall, when he kicked my butt back into shape (why I started this blog in the first place). So he'll remain my "trainer" until I pursue some one-on-one with him. [I must be in a wierd mood right now, because I found that comment quite intriguing!)

So, I went to go see him yesterday at lunchtime. After some chitchat, he proceeded to weigh me (I'm 125lbs, just like my digital scale at home says, which is down 5 lbs from the time I last weighed in on Nov 2nd, 2007). Then he printed my body fat composition reading off the Futrex machine.

Wow.....between Nov 2nd and now, I lost a whopping 0.1% body fat!

Ugh!

These past 4 weeks of going to to the gym, 6 days a week, and I ONLY get 0.1% off. That's worse than any sale you'll find at any department store! Choked, utterly choked....

But he says my result is still a good thing. Why? Considering that I'm working out on my own, with no training partner, I'm still managing to maintain what I accomplished. Many folks who go through bootcamp tend to gain some extra body fat because they're not working out at the same intensity.

Despite this, i'm still likng what I"m seeing in the mirror. I feel and look different at 26.5% today than I did at the 26.6% back in November. I look leaner, I think. My upper body is developing quite nicely (I can see my triceps finally!) and I've definitely got a "two-pack" going on. If I could only manage to learn to post a picture up here, I'd try and post something. Meanwhile, just take my word for it.

So I changed my routine this morning. According to my trainer, I've got to focus on the number of reps rather than weights if I want to focus on fat loss. Vice versa encourages more muscle gain. So instead of doing my lower body exercises at lower reps and heavier weights, I tried doing 5 sets of 20 reps at a given weight, until my muscles exhausted. For example. I could leg press 225 but used 145 lbs, 20 times for 5 sets. I could probably go 185 and try for 3 sets instead. Next time.

I was really hoping to see this Body-For-Life program through. It's worked for others, why not me? Hmm. Do I listen to a book and trust before-and-after photos, or listen to proven experience? It's still a toss up.