DEXA w/ photos and videos [5'4.5"/115lbs/25.8%]

[ruky]

After seeing /@amydoodles post here

https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/comments/31xu9a/my_first_dexa_scan_results_with_photos_28f52108

I decided to share my DEXA ASAP while the topic is still relevant.

my DEXA from 11-22-2014:

no pics but a video from 2 days later:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I've been thin my entire life, I never even weighed myself because I didn't really care what I weighed. I started bulking up to that DEXA, then kept bulking and was probably 3 lbs heavier on 12-31-2014

https://imgur.com/wFNtQZl

(I'm on the right). I'm probably like 27% here. This is probably the most terrible picture of me to exist, bad angle, after dinner, and I was at the end of my bulk and hated my body, life, etc. So I didn't really look like this, but this is all I got. I would describe myself as definitely skinny fat here. Before I was not skinny fat, I was just skinny.

some really old pictures for reference:

https://imgur.com/Tok7WTe

June 2013 (pilates and yoga and no idea what I weighed)

and July 2014 (tons of cardio, Group Power classes, maybe 103ish before I left on a month long vacation and this is at the end of the vacation where I ate everything and didn't work out)

Since January, I've been losing fat and I'm 107lbs now. I first touched a barbell March 2014, went on a 2 month vacation that summer (that's the pic I linked above), but then started seriously lifting in Sept 2015. I don't really take selfies...but I have tons of squat videos...that's all I really have to try to show body composition and weight gain by.

I started around 103-105lbs in June

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Started bulking from 106ish in September
https://instagram.com/p/tbdUlcIR0F/?taken-by=alice.hwang

Maybe 110 in Oct
https://instagram.com/p/uMCrMhIR16/?taken-by=alice.hwang

Hit 115lbs in December
https://instagram.com/p/wS-rJ3IR-p/?taken-by=alice.hwang

Got up to like 117lbs in Jan
https://instagram.com/p/xF3xM9oRx8/?taken-by=alice.hwang

Yesterday night I was back down to 107lbs, and I should be at 19.6% BF assuming I didn't lose any lean mass on this cut.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPJYLnD1kEg

This is all I got in terms of non videos:

115lbs
https://instagram.com/p/wXPtrcIR6-/?taken-by=alice.hwang

112lbs
https://instagram.com/p/yVfp0OIRwE/?taken-by=alice.hwang

110lbs
https://instagram.com/p/zQkUU4oRzn/?taken-by=alice.hwang

109lbs
https://instagram.com/p/0RhAPIoR2B/?taken-by=alice.hwang

I didn't take the time to calculate every BF% but everything here is should be between 25.8% and 19.6%

I wasn't really sure how to write this post because I don't have any good body pics to share, but I wanted everyone to know that you don't have to be super meaty to hit 27% BF.

I made this post because do want to share these things though:

1. The DEXA is nice for knowing how to adjust protein intake to your body specifically. Because now I know that I have 86lbs of LBM and I can just eat around 86 g protein/day.
2. Because of this DEXA scan, I know that me losing fat isn't an insane thing to do. I think if I had asked Reddit if I should cut or continue bulking, they'd tell me to kept bulking, or recomp. But my body fat levels were already getting kind of out of control in terms of health (see peachykaren's post on the top) ; just because you don't look meaty doesn't mean you don't have excess body fat to lose.
3. Are you really gonna try to think you're at 14% BF when there are fitness competitors that look way better than you at 14% BF?

and life things:

1. You don't have to lift, I don't know why it seems like everyone here does, but you really don't have to.
2. Can't decide if I want to get jacked, or want to look like I don't even lift.
3. DO NOT BULK AT 500 CAL/DAY IF YOU WEIGH 105LBS. LMAOOO this was my biggest mistake and I still regret it every day. Or do it if you want.

Most importantly

Do whatever you want to do!! I didn't follow a beginner strength program. My lifting form is not that great. I never aim to eat above 0.7 grams of protein per BW. I don't think "the number on the scale is just a number". I don't take progress photos. I'm dieting harder than I probably should be right now (500kcal deficit per day), and lifting probably heavier than I should be. Be your own expert because you're the one who has to live with the consequences of your actions. Y O L OOOO

pls share your life advice with me in the comments

 

[guzzy101]

@ruky your efforts are impressive and i applaud you, but the real hero of the thread is potato shirt

 

[ruky]

@guzzy101 It so nice I have it twice

 

[ella85]

@ruky I think your full name is on the later image files - you might want to rename the images and re-upload them. For privacy.

 

[ruky]

@ella85 Thanks! My name is also in my Instagram username though, so I've just kind of given up on that

 

[shellfish]

@ruky Oh hey, you got this done in Wichita! I'm in lawrence and have been looking for somewhere to go to get a DEXA scan (can't seem to easily find somewhere to go here or in KC). Mind me asking the cost and how you made an appointment?

 

[ruky]

@shellfish Just found out Atlas MD will do them for $20 cash. Holy. Shit. I'm gonna go get another scan next week.

 

[shellfish]

@ruky Looking at the website, it seems there's a monthly fee- do you need to be a member to get the scan?

 

[ruky]

@shellfish No, it's free for members, $20 for walk ins. http://firefliesandfitness.blogspot.com/2015/03/dexa-results-31115.html

Legit I'm gonna call Monday and set up an appointment.

 

[shellfish]

@ruky Awesome! I'd be interested in finding out how it goes. I'm going to search around lawrence a bit, but $20 is an amazing price.

 

[ruky]

@shellfish Look for research studies in the HPS labs, they will be free!

 

[ruky]

@shellfish It's $100, call the Human Performance Labs at Wichita State University- I think that KU would have a similar lab with similar equipment though!

 

[amydoodles]

@ruky FYI, I noticed they scanned you as a White female which could be less accurate because of differences in algorithms (e.g., taking in account average hydration).

 

[ruky]

@amydoodles Mine are just raw results, they didn't calibrate it to any standards so no one drew any conclusions for me. Agter getting this DEXA, I have no idea how my bone density is lol. Age nor race nor gender matters in calculating how many % of me is fat.

 

[amydoodles]

@ruky I see, I didn't upload all my pages but received some pretty cool information including that about my muscle mass in my arms/legs, bone density (mine was good), metabolic rate, and muscle imbalances in my limbs. I just like data Anyway it's been suggested that ethnicity could be important for accuracy of results because of ethnic differences in fat-free mass hydration

 

[ruky]

@amydoodles I like it too, just didnt get it this time. Do you think you'll go back for another scan?

 

[amydoodles]

@ruky Yes, this truck services my area so I'm planning on doing it once a year. I think it's fun and motivating. The scale, body measurements, and blood results from physicals always just tell me I'm healthy, and while I like that, it can get boring. I think of this (knowing that I'll have such a detailed analysis of my body composition) as a good incentive to exercise more and eat more healthily!

 

[ruky]

@amydoodles I guess the fact that I can get another scan done at any time...keeps me from actually having incentive to go back haha

 

[arisemydarling]

@ruky

Yesterday night I was back down to 107lbs, and I should be at 19.6% BF assuming I didn't lose any lean mass on this cut.

Sorry, it is not possible to not lose any lean mass on a cut. Cuts are high-protein with the goal of sparing as much muscle as possible; there is still muscle loss.

Honestly I don't think that you learned a healthy lesson from this experience and I'm concerned that there's going to be a rash of misinterpretations of DEXA and similar results on /r/xxfitness soon. 25.8% is considered a perfectly acceptable bodyfat percentage, especially for a woman. By comparison, 86 lb of lean body mass at 5'4.5" is rather low. Considering that lean body mass peaks in your 20s and then declines until you die, I would still recommend bulking or at least recomping in your case.

 

[ruky]

@arisemydarling

Sorry, it is not possible to not lose any lean mass on a cut.

It's possible for beginners. I had strength gains during the cut. Either way, I calculated the new BF% assuming I didn't lose any, because how else was I supposed to calculate it? lol

25.8% is okay, but I was mostly referencing the articles about visceral fat in east asian women. Genetically, east asian women carry fat in more "dangerous" areas (in terms of health).