Transformation Confirmed. Whooo Hooo!

Healthy inside and out. Confirmed by hard numbers.

This past week was monumental in my transformation journey. I am basking in the glow of some great numbers that confirm how far I’ve come in just over one year.

On April 1, I received my first body composition analysis via the bod pod — a state of the art tool that measures and tracks lean body mass. Body-composition testing identifies your body fat and lean mass (muscles, bones, etc.). A person’s body fat percentage is the total weight of your fat divided by your total weight, and consists of both essential body fat and stored body fat.

Although we love to measure our progress by weight on the scale, many experts believe that body fat percentage is a true measure of how healthy you are. As we know, high body fat is linked to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes – all have occurred in my family. The body fat percentage was also the measure needed in order for the master of my transformation, Leif Anderson of Leif Anderson Fitness, to set a final goal weight. Something important to me!

For those of you that don’t have a clue what a bod pod is (I didn’t either), it looks like a time capsule and uses air displacement to measure your body composition. It’s currently considered the gold standard of body composition testing. According to Leif, if you have body fat – the bod pod will find it! (As if I wasn’t already nervous about getting in this thing and getting my true numbers!)

What is the right body fat percentage for a 40-something female? The internet offers varying stats but women athletes are in the 14-20% range. You’re considered fit in the 21-24% range, and average is 25-32%. (Ranges vary depending on the source.)

My numbers: Based on a recent body fat percentage test on a hand held device, I expected my number to be around 26-27% and thought a great end goal would be 24% – in the “fit” range.

All these months of hard work to execute the plan laid out by the master chief have paid off. We managed to pull a number that shocked me, and I venture to say it may have shocked Leif, too. I couldn’t be more excited! For perspective…

Show & Tell: It gets better. Last week I had an annual check up at Health Partners. Those of you who know me well, know that I used to dread the doctor, and hospitals – well, my worst nightmare. This visit was different. The nurses and my doctor were so amazed with my transformation that several people paraded in to see me to witness it for themselves! lol My nurse, Renee, got so wrapped up in my story that she forgot to take my vitals. And my health numbers – rock solid. Yep, I actually had FUN at the doctor’s office for the first time in my life. What a difference 200 lbs makes!

Honestly, I can’t begin to describe how amazing it feels to have confirmation of the hard results and to be coming into the home stretch on a transformation journey that is changing my life in every possible way. I have written countless times about the “soft” results and how fantastic I feel. But now, we have confirmation in hard numbers that the inside is healthy, too.

Thank you is simply not big enough. There are so many people to thank for helping me get to this incredible place. But there is no question that my transformation would not have been possible without the nutritional consulting expertise and customized plans orchestrated week after week, for 16 months, by my coach and friend, Leif Anderson. Chief, THANK YOU! Look what we did! 🙂 

To Sandra Swami my trainer at Balance for Life Fitness Center who is in the trenches with me every week, and O’Neal Hampton my true inspiration on this journey – I thank you for your very critical roles in my success. Shari, Carrie, and Sue – my FN girls – and all of you who have supported me in this journey, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

And finally, to those of you in mid journey working the plan and focusing on the scale each week as your measure of success, I tell you this – Leif was right! Executing the plan, working the program day-after-day is far more important than a number on the scale and how we react to it. It’s difficult to embrace that in the moment when the scale is the tool at hand, I know. I was among the first to get caught up in the emotion of it all and use the scale as my barometer of success!

It is only now that I have a body composition as my guide that I can see clearly how progress was being made on the inside even when the scale didn’t always show it. So I encourage you to push ahead when you don’t have the benefit of the numbers you want on the scale. I am living proof that this program works when you work it, bar none! And I so want that for each and every one of you.

I am working to stay grounded this week (not easy and not always happening). My goal for today, tomorrow and the next day is simply to keep my eye on the prize and stay focused on the goal. To keep walking the path. We’re not there yet. But almost. And all I can say, is Wow. Healthy on the inside and out.


Hugs.

Lori