Healthy eating 2021

[sally maclennane]

I know exercise by itself is unlikely to make much difference, but it feels good to be looking after my body.

Exercise has so many other benefits though, and I know you were worried about your blood pressure before. Exercise is really important for that as it keeps the blood flowing and that's positive for BP.

[viggy]

I know exercise by itself is unlikely to make much difference, but it feels good to be looking after my body.

Exercise has so many other benefits though, and I know you were worried about your blood pressure before. Exercise is really important for that as it keeps the blood flowing and that's positive for BP.

This is a really good point, thank you - I've been concentrating so much on rehab for my ankle, it's easy to forget about all the other benefits.

[Estrella]

Exercise makes so much difference for me. Not in terms of weight loss, as to be honest I would’ve lost the same amount of weight just via changing my eating habits. But in terms of how I view my body - stronger and more capable and something that I fuel with the right foods to continue to make progress. And I love seeing how I’m getting healthier by looking at things like my RHR improve and other geeky performance data on my watch. Not to mention the mental health benefits.

[nineseven]

I had a DEXA body scan today. I’ve always been on the heavy side, even when slim, so I wanted to find out what a healthy goal weight is for me.

It was fascinating. Turns out while I do still have too much body fat (I dread to think how much I was carrying two stone ago), I’m near the top percentiles for lean mass and bone density. My lean mass including bones alone weighs nearly 50kg They reckon if I maintain my current muscle mass and lose another 7kg (15lb) of fat, I should have a healthy body composition. He said I don’t have a big frame either, which is good

The other good news is that that my maintenance calories match what I’d calculated myself from my own calorie intake and losses, and they reckon if I continue strength training and up my calories a bit to a smaller deficit I’ll get the best results. It’s scary eating more calories but I’m going to give it a go. It does mean it may be another six months until I lose the 7kg, but the calories are very comfortable.

I love data so much

[Lola]

That sounds so cool. I would be approx 75% fat

[Skips]

That's interesting about upping the calories and the strength training. Will you have a follow up appointment or do it again?

[nineseven]

Grr I lost my reply.

Yes, I’ve booked another session and think I’ll go back in about six months.

7kg is the equivalent of the weight of both my arms. And so far I have lost the equivalent weight of most of my leg (about 12kg)

They showed me a scan of a woman who weighed 28 stone

[Estrella]

That is genuinely fascinating. And has led me to google DEXA scans near me.

[Texaco Shirley]

That sounds fascinating. My Fitbit scales reckon my lean mass is 44kg, I’d love to know how accurate it is.

[nineseven]

That is genuinely fascinating. And has led me to google DEXA scans near me.

I can highly recommend it. At mine, the scan lasted about four minutes, but we chatted for about 45 minutes afterwards about the results, my goals and how I can achieve them. I felt really positive about it all afterwards - including my body despite the fat I have left to lose.

[Estrella]

Sounds excellent. I have found a place nearby and may do it as my pay day treat!

[viggy]

God, I'm such a data geek I would LOVE this

[nineseven]

Me too I was so relieved to have my density confirmed and to know I don't need to aim for sub-10 stone (unless I decide to become an elite athlete with 15% body fat ).

[ParisGal]

How different was the result to the % body fat on impedance (?) scales, if you know?

[nineseven]

I don't have any, so I can't directly compare. DEXA is seen as the "gold standard" - apparently the scales have more of a margin for error. Also I read somewhere that scales tend to send an electrical impulse through your legs, so often the results are mainly skewed towards leg and bum fat.

[Texaco Shirley]

How tall are you Nine, if you don’t mind me asking?

[nineseven]

169cm (5ft 6.5).

[Flora Poste]

I'm really keen to get this done as well - it sounds so interesting. I might wait until I've lost a bit more though so it's a bit less depressing!

Although I do think body shape can make a real difference. My friend had breast reduction surgery as she was tiny with a small frame, but had size G boobs and had awful backache and things like that. She went down to a B cup and I think she lost over 7lbs!

[nineseven]

I wish I'd gone before I started, Flora. I'd love to have seen the differences.

I was quite surprised that my skeleton and muscle distribution was all pretty even overall. I gain fat mainly on my hips and thighs, but my actual pelvis isn't particularly wide or anything. My bones are also not big (finer than the v lean woman's on the example on the website), just dense. It was very gross looking at the fat around my hips though which shows up as bright yellow on the scan - bones are blue and muscle is red.

It will be very interesting to see any changes when I go back.

[nineseven]

How different was the result to the % body fat on impedance (?) scales, if you know?

If it helps, I just dug out a medical I had 10 years ago, which used a Tanita scale. My lean mass then came out almost identical to the one recorded yesterday (only 100g more). My BF was higher then, but so was my weight. That means that five months of dieting hasn't caused muscle loss which is great news.