I have been quantified today.

I wanted to get a baseline of my body composition, how much lean, how much fat.  I know that the handheld body fat testers at LA Fitness never work with someone my size.  I also know that skin fold calipers are completely useless for me.

Hydrostatic weighing is currently the "gold standard" of body composition measuring.

The only place around here is at Portland Adventist.  They charge $60 for the initial measurement and $40 for follow ups.

It was a little freaky, but kind of fun too!

I changed into my swimsuit and the technician led me to a small tiled room with what looked like a tall, rectangular Roman tub.  There was a set of stairs at one end with ladder rungs going down into the water.  She explained that the tub was sunk into the floor, so it was actually deeper than it initially looked.  There was a chair made out of black pipes attached to a scale that hung from the ceiling.

I'm definitely buoyant, so she put a weight belt on me to help get completely submerged.  I had to blow all the air out of my lungs while completely submerged.  After getting the same reading at least 2-3 times I was able to get dressed.

The tech brought out the report and asked what I thought my percentage of fat was.  I said that I thought it was probably 50% or more.  Turns out I was right!.

BMI:  57.3
Percentage body fat:  50.5% (169 lbs fat, 165 lbs lean).
Based on my lean mass, a healthy weight of 22-27% body fat would be 212-226 lbs.
My goal:  180 lbs. 

I figure my goal weight is doable since approximately 25% of weight lost will be muscle.

At least I finally have proof that I am "big boned". 

I had a really good entrée yesterday.  The HMR Vegetarian Thai Curry with Brown Rice.  So good!  Nice warmth from the curry.  Definitely going to purchase more of that one!

Official Start to first full week

Monday is my night for the medical check in and Core classes.

One of the women I met at the intro class is starting with me, so we will be Core buddies.

I signed in on the check in sheet and turned in my order for food.  Since I had just placed a full order last Thursday, I just picked up another box of Vanilla shakes and 10 more entrees.  I cannot wait to get through the first four weeks so I can add the hot cereal and the soup to my food mix!

The nurse called me back and I could not believe it when I stepped on the scale.  I had lost 9 pounds in 3 days!  Of course, I have been peeing like crazy from all the water I have been drinking, so the loss is mostly water.  I do have to say I feel less bloated, so that is a good thing!

I met with the doctor and she was happy with the weight loss.  She said I should discontinue one of my blood pressure medications, so that is always a good thing. 

Our first week of Core was actually the twelfth week of the lessons.  It was about how statistics show that people who have lost 30 or more pounds and have kept it off for five year or more have over 2600 calories of physical activity a week. 

How to fit that much time into your schedule?  The PA assignment was to fit one instance of activity during the workday.  That is were those folks are able to get all that PA in every week.  During the week we don't have a lot of time either before or after work, so we need to use our lunch hours to help get to that 2600 level.

The food assignment was to fit a HMR 70 Plus pudding into our food plan today.  I used it as a snack around 3pm.  I have to say, I'm still not all that impressed with the puddings.  I would rather have had a shake as I was super hungry by the time I got home at 6:30pm. 

I mixed the HMR Five Bean Casserole and the Chicken with BBQ sauce entrees.  It was very satisfying.

Weekend time!

I definitely do not get up as early on the weekends.  7:30 is sleeping in!

I didn't do a whole lot this weekend, mostly puttering around the house, doing laundry, etc.  Today we are going to organize our storage shed and go see Gone Girl at the movies.

Saturday food:

I made a chocolate peppermint shake for breakfast about 10AM using Da Vinci SF Peppermint Patty syrup.  Cash and Carry is a store that is open to the public, but serves small restaurants, coffee carts, etc. Anyone who needs to purchase food products in commercial sizes.  They have every flavor of coffee syrup under the sun, both regular and sugar free.  I currently have SF French Vanilla, Chocolate, Orange, Huckleberry, Raspberry Peppermint Patty and Pancake (maple flavor).

Around 2PM I made a second shake, this time Chocolate with PB2.

For dinner I combined two entrees:  Mushroom Risotto and Turkey Chili with Beans.

Mushroom Risotto is fine on its own, but it really shines when you add it to another entrée.  The richness of the mushroom elevates the other entrée.  The Turkey Chili is good by itself.  Tasty, but not too spicy for most folks.  I would add more heat myself.  I have always liked to add rice to chili, so the combination of these two entrees give a full bowl of tasty and filling dinner.

For my evening shake I used a Vanilla packet and added a teaspoon of Sugar Free Peach Jell-O powder.  Very nice peach flavor that doesn't overwhelm the vanilla or make it sickly sweet.

I have to say that I am really impressed with how well my Magic Bullet blender has been blending up the shakes and ice cubes. 

The last time I was on HMR, I was using my kitchen blender and following the instruction to create these high-volume, fluffy shakes.  Running the blender for the 2-3 minutes suggested was always a headache and I burned through at least 2 blenders due to the wear on the motor. The texture was always a little off-putting.  It was a large, foamy drink that wasn't ever quite cold enough. 

Now I blend 8-9 ice cubes with the packets and water and get a tall mug that reminds me of a Wendy's Frosty.  It also only takes approximately 30 seconds which I'm sure my husband appreciates.


For Sunday I am going to follow the minimum prescription, 3 shakes and 2 entrees. 

Breakfast was a vanilla shake with PB2. 

For Lunch I had the Mexican Enchiladas.  It tasted more Italian than Mexican and the flour tortillas had the same consistency as the pasta in many of the entrees.  Still pretty darn tasty though.

My afternoon snack was a chocolate shake with Peppermint Patty SF syrup.


For Dinner I had the Vegetable Beef Stew.  Good beef flavor in the sauce and the vegetables were not too mushy in texture.

I'm rounding out the night with a vanilla shake with Huckleberry syrup.  Should be yummy!

We say "Gone Girl" today.  I hadn't read the book so I was totally surprised by some of the twists.  Ben Affleck did a wonderful job and Rosamond Pike was amazing. 

Tomorrow is Monday again and my first "Core" class.