5'4"//27F//177lbs DEXA Scan (36.5%Fat)

[anonymous_iran]

Here are my results plus a current pictures taken today:

https://imgur.com/a/KfoLA

I apologize if the scan photos aren't the greatest quality - I couldn't edit the PDF on my chromebook to leave off my full name and everything, so pictures were the next best option. These results are super embarrassing, but I think it's good to see what the ranges are because we get a lot of lower ones on the sub forces smile.

Last year (2016), I lost 40lbs from running and CICO exclusively. I also became vegetarian. Things went great for the majority of the year. You can check my post history to see some of my progress there.

Around September, I started a new job working twelve hour shifts 7P-7A. Soon after that, I started nursing school while keeping a full-time work schedule. That combination led me to gain half of the weight back by this April. I tried, and tried, and tried to get back into running but I couldn't do it. My diet was out of control. I blame the stress, the shift (food brought in nightly. downtime at 3AM? why don't you eat?), and general lack of self control. I started eating meat again because it was readily available late at night in the cafeteria, plus it is very delicious. I also have bipolar disorder and struggle with a lot of depression. Late April, I joined a Crossfit gym with my boyfriend.

I go to Crossfit between five and six days a week. There we do a warm-up, a lifting session, and then a WOD. I'm super into it and I thought I was making a lot of progress fitness wise. I don't have to stop as much during the more cardio intensive WODs and my lifts are constantly increasing. Hell, I came in first place in my division at a competition less than two weeks ago. I bust my assssssss in the gym. Never though I'd be the fat girl trying to convince everyone that I don't actually sit on my ass all day.

I know I eat like shit, but I just haven't really been focusing on that. My diet is whatever i feel like eating in that moment. A salad?
Rarely. Crack slaw/something I've cooked, sometimes. Chicken nuggets? Biscuits? Beer? Always. At one point I told myself to work on gym commitment first, then diet. Gym commitment has BEEN there, I am just making excuses now. I told myself, "don't worry about how you look,worry about what you can do". That all came crashing down on me when I saw 36% body fat staring back at me on the screen today. Not gonna lie, I teared up a bit. I know I'm chubby, but shit! I made jokes about being 100% pizza but I thought maybe 30%? 32%? My BMI says I'm obese which just blows my mind. I guess I'm used to see morbidly obese people, so that's what I think of when I hear obese. "I'm overweight but it's not that bad....", I thought.

I knew deep down that I needed a wake up call, and this was it. I'm not sure where exactly I'm going to go from here, but I'm going back to get a new scan at the end of the year and I hope to be posting a successful progress story.

Anywho, that's that. Any questions about how I got here, the scan, life in general...lemme know.

TL;DR: I'm fat, like I knew I was, but what am I going to do about it? STAY TUNED.

 

[bettyraene]

@anonymous_iran This is why I'm happy and sad I can't find a place to get this done locally. I want to know, but like...I don't want to know, lol. I've lost nearly 1/3 of my starting body weight and I'm in a healthy BMI and I so badly want to take a minute to be happy about that, but I know I have a lot of body fat still.

 

[anonymous_iran]

@bettyraene Be happy. Don't let still having a lot of body fat (allegedly ) take away from your very real accomplishments. Don't discount your successes.

Writing this, I feel like I should follow my own advice more.

 

[bettyraene]

@anonymous_iran Thanks! Appreciated.

 

[jae8]

@anonymous_iran Thank you so much for sharing this!

I feel you on the diet thing, as that's my main struggle as well. I can be so good at working out and making it to the gym, but overall, my diet isn't great. I'm working on it myself... day by day.

Keep it up though! Sounds like you have great motivation!

 

[dawn16]

@anonymous_iran Are you still working the night shift? That's something you might want to consider trying to change, because it can wreck your health in a lot of ways and, while weight gain and loss is about energy balance, I have seen studies indicating that sleep deprivation negatively impacts body composition even when diet is controlled for. That, and it impairs decision-making which makes it a lot harder to stick to a diet.

I'm just mentioning this because it seems like the catalyst for the weight gain, and for your finding dietary control much harder than it was before, so I think if it is at all possible for you to alter this thing to make all the other behaviour changes much easier you absolutely should. I watched one of my friends go through nursing school and I know that it's very demanding and money is tight so I get that this might not be an option right now, but if you can see a way around it I think that's a good place to start; if not you definitely need to come up with some strategies for dealing with the food-related difficulties presented by the night shift.

(Also, I know that some of the medications for bipolar disorder have weight gain and metabolic disruption as a side-effect so if you're taking medication it might be worth discussing that with your doctor.)

Anyway, I totally empathise with where you're at. I suffer with depression and I'm trying to do a Ph. D at the moment. I gained about 10 kg and I've been maintaining my weight while "cutting" since last November. It's okay to say, "This hasn't been a priority for me, but it is now." Honestly, it wasn't a priority for me, in part because building the habits that I needed to maintain my body after the fat loss was too much of a burden while I was going through a hard time in my life and in my studies — but I'm making it a priority now. We got this.

 

[anonymous_iran]

@dawn16 Nah, I got the fuck out of night shift. I made me miserable and I hated every minute of it. Some people just love it and live great, normal, not shitty lives. My mom has worked night shift like over 20 years and she lives for it. I did not. I've been on days since July and it's been really good. My job is bearable, some days even enjoyable (CNA work is not a lot of fun). I have more energy, I'm not constantly sleepy or tired. I'm not in the cafeteria at 145AM hoping they haven't thrown out all the hot dogs yet. It's just better.

Thank you for your empathy. While I haven't seen it in this thread, I think it's very easy for people to have a "just count your calories and meal prep and do better lol duh just do it" kind of attitude. Life gets rough sometimes, but We DO got this. Cheers to new priorities and good luck in your studies!

 

[howardmup]

@anonymous_iran Good job on the weight loss and lifestyle changes And whatever the number be, knowing it is always better IMO. Now you can measure how much you progress from here.

 

[zanderlove]

@anonymous_iran I totally understand where you're coming from - the same thing happened to me.

I got a DEXA scan in June, and at the time I was 5'1" and 124 lbs. I thought I'd at least be in the 20's of body fat percentage (I was expecting like 26-28%). Instead I got 31%. It was pretty disheartening, and I really hated seeing that I was still carrying 40 lbs of fat on my body. It was also a definite wake-up call that I really needed to buckle down and start tracking everything food wise.

Consider it a jumping off point, kick your butt in gear and go back in 3 months and see what you're at then! You can do it girl!

 

[ahmexx]

@anonymous_iran Thank you SO much for posting this. We are twins in so many ways. I had a DEXA recently and had almost the same results. I'm the same height and about the same weight. Lost 50 lbs several years ago and have now gained it all back plus some after getting a very stressful job with long hours.

I've been telling myself for months that it's no so much, all muscle, etc., so the DEXA was a real eye-opener. I don't have any real contribution other than to say thanks because I'm glad to not be alone!

 

[darknessomni]

@anonymous_iran Your lifts are going up, you're getting stronger. This is amazing news. Keep at it, enjoy it.

I wouldn't worry too much about BMI either. It's useless to measure in a strength athlete.

 

[bubblegum2021]

@darknessomni WHAT DO YOU MEAN BMI IS USELESS? OP has a dexa scan, proving the same thing as the bmi. What on earth are you talking about with bmi being useless? we are looking at the dexa showing that op does not have enough muscle to offset bmi, on the contrary.

 

[skydogg]

@bubblegum2021 Thank you for saying this. I feel like I am taking crazy pills when people say BMI is useless.

Sure it's useless for the Rock, but I don't think OP is on steroids and in the top 0.5% for muscle mass.

 

[dawn16]

@skydogg BMI is more often wrong in the other direction for women, anyway; it tends to overestimate rather than underestimate lean mass.

 

[anonymous_iran]

@skydogg You don't know my life. But I mean you're right, I'm not

 

[skydogg]

@anonymous_iran Haha I love it.

 

[loveyouback]

@anonymous_iran I am one inch taller than you, and fifty pounds heavier. And my body fat percentage is the same. How accurate is this?

 

[ahmexx]

@loveyouback My understanding is that DEXA is the most accurate way to measure body fat. One source: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/body-fat-percentage/

 

[anonymous_iran]

@loveyouback I think it's pretty accurate? Did you do a scan or different measurement?

 

[auna]

@anonymous_iran I'm surprised your BMI puts you into the obese category as well, you certainly don't look like it. Mind you, muscle mass can throw BMI off slightly.

I'm jealous as heck about your lean mass though, it looks like you've got more muscle mass than I have total mass on my whole body despite you only being 4 inches taller. I'm guessing since you're going round winning competitions that your lifts are pretty impressive, what are your numbers?