Boot Camp: Orientation/Evaluation

Ugh!

I had my pre-bootcamp evaluation this morning at 7:40am, which included a body composition analysis.

Ugh!

I arrived at the office of "My Adventrues Boot Camp" early, like requested, and waited in the rain for 10 minutes until someone opened the door. Since I was probably the last person registered for the program, it doesn't surprise me that the only timeslot left for an evaluation was the earliest appointment.

Finally, Christy, one of the assistants, unlocked the door and escorted me in, and after signing a few obligatory health questions, she proceeded to measure my height and weight. I weighed in at 135lbs this morning, much better than the 138 I had a couple of nights earlier. I attribute the 3lb difference to my empty stomach, though, but I suppose I can wipe the slate clean and draw the starting line at 135.

Then I was ushered to meet T'ai, the founder and CEO of the company, and the trainer for my 20 days of torture, er, rejuvenation. I asked him technical questions about the equipment I need to have on hand for the program (stability ball, exercise mat, 5 lb weights) while he was entering my vitat stats into his computer. Then he told me a little about the machine that would define me numerically...the FUTREX body composition analyzer. A wand delivers near-infrared light through my bicep to deliver a highly accurate reading comparable to underwater weighing. Why the bicep, I don't know. As I see it, my bicep is the least fattiest part of my body, save my ankle or my eyelid, so c'mon, bring it!

So the little machine spit out it's tape of results...

Ugh!

38.4%! Of fat?

Ugh!

Over a third of my body is fat! A third! Almost 40%! How sick is that? My fat weight is 51.9lbs while my lean weight is 83.2 lbs. I used to be at 23% body fat at one time in my life (but based on probably a less-accurate analyzer).

My BMI is 25.5, which is my Body Mass Index, based on my weight and height. Anything over 25 is considered overweight. In fact, my body fat percentage is considered Very Poor, according to my printed analysis report.

Duh!

I like the fact the report even tables the "Mortality in Relation to Weight", in case I wasn't convinced that this percentage doesn't mean anything. If I can extrapolate correctly from the chart, I have a 15% chance of NOT reaching my normal life expectancy, at this point in time.

Great...I guess I shouldn't have had that small bowl of turkey stuffing a moment ago.

So among other things in the report (I need to consume 1829 calories to maintain my current weight and my below-average 48.7% water content), I'm numbed. Besides getting the real picture of my health, I guess I can only improve from here on in. So, again, bring it! Just bring it, T'ai, and I'll show your machine a thing or two about number crunching.