Changing the Model by Which We are Judged

I think it's obvious that one of the solutions to our body image crisis is to portray our models and other people in the spotlight more realistically. The real question is: what is it going to take to get the mainstream media to agree with that?

TapouT XT -- Week 3

I've made it to week 3 of 12 in my TapouT XT videos. Today I have Cross Core Combat to do and I'm looking forward to it. I just wanted to give a little update to those who may be curious and kind of check in with updates relating to how I feel and what's going on with my "transformation."

Let me start by saying Happy Holidays to everyone and I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday of their choice. I personally celebrate Yule, or the Winter Solstice. My extended family, however, celebrates Christmas and so I end up celebrating that holiday with them. Anyway, for Christmas I received some very nice gifts. My mom got me a Keurig Vue coffee-maker. Of course, I don't drink coffee but it also brews tea and hot chocolate and I drink both of those! I also ended up receiving a healthy sum of money (in my opinion anyway) from my in-laws and I bought a juicer and a body analysis scale.

So! Updates! I put together the scale last night and Hubby and I played around with it some. I set up my Keurig and brewed a cup of sleepytime tea as well. I haven't had a chance to put together or set up the juicer yet but I bought a Breville juicer that I am really excited to try after watching all those documentaries on juicing and plant-based diets.

Onto TapouT XT updates. When I get home today I will be starting my 3rd week in the Tapout program and I must say I'm excited. I tried doing TapouT XT earlier this year (when I first bought the program), and I quit after feeling defeated by not enough time every day and going back to school at the same time. Well, this time I'm determined not to let school become an excuse not to exercise! While I do work full time, and I am in college full time, exercise needs to be a regular and routine part of my every day life --like eating or sleeping. I made straight A's this past semester while working full time, so I know I can exercise regularly and keep my grades up.

Anyway, doing Tapout this time around, I've noticed some differences. First, doing Tapout for just 2.5 weeks last time improved my strength tremendously; I can tell because this time around it actually seems easier. Tapout is still challenging and I can't keep up, but I've improved over the last time I tried it for sure. Mountain Biking is also helping and so is using the elliptical when I don't feel like doing an exceptionally hard Tapout video. Overall, I have been feeling healthier and I can tell when my bad habits surface because I tend to feel like crap.

Speaking of feeling like crap... I feel like crap! Because of the holidays, I've slacked on my healthy eating habits and I've let myself eat too much junk food (mostly chocolate but there's definitely some Pez candy in there too). I'm feeling sluggish and I even had the inkling of an anxiety attack around mid-morning today. I need to get back on the healthy eating because I can tell just how much it helps me feel better and healthier. I'm planning on getting out my juicer this evening and trying it out. Wish me luck!

Lean Body Mass, Muscle Mass, and Muscle Percentage

Ever wonder what all that fitness jargon means? Me too.

If you want to learn how to calculate your Lean Body Mass, click here. I wrote a post about calculating Lean Body Mass and your ideal weight a few days ago.

Now onto the question of muscle mass. It seems obvious that muscle mass is the amount of muscle present in your body, and that a muscle percentage statistic would show you the percentage of your body that muscle mass takes up. From all of the googling I've done, this seems to be the case, but when you pose the question of calculating these numbers, they don't tend to agree!

Let me explain. I just bought a body composition scale. In fact, I bought this one:

It's a Beurer Body Analysis Scale.

Anyway, some scales measure muscle mass and some scales measure muscle percentage. Mine measures muscle percentage. I have also used a scale that measures muscle mass. Here's where it can get confusing. I googled how to calculate muscle mass, and instead the few websites I found seemed to be giving me a formula for calculating lean body mass, which I already know how to calculate (see previous post). The formulas would use your body fat percentage and simply figure out what your supposed muscle mass is by subtracting your BF% from your total weight... but that leaves all the other stuff in your body in that number as well like bones, veins, and whatever else is in there. Then, somehow, I got a number that seemed close to what a previous scale had given me for muscle mass, but it seemed wrong too because if you took my body fat mass and my supposed muscle mass and added them together, there were only about 4 lbs left over to account for bones and stuff. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that all the bones in my body probably weigh more than 4 lbs.

So I'm still lost, unfortunately. If anyone can explain to me how these scales measure muscle mass vs muscle percentage, that would be awesome. If it's exactly what it sounds like and the 2 scales that measured the 2 different statistics on me are just miles apart with regard to accuracy, I can understand that too.

I think that the closest I've gotten to a real muscle mass is actually by using the muscle percentage provided by the scale I own. This number seems to take into account my body fat percentage while also leaving out bones, blood and vessels, and non-muscle organs like skin. If my scale is reasonably correct, my muscle% is 29.4% or right around 51 lbs of muscle.

Real Women

The above photo is supposedly from a Swedish department store. These mannequins are "normal size" ranging from size 12-16. Here in America, size 14 is the beginning of "plus sizes".

For those of you who have never seen me, I just hit a size 14 a few weeks ago and I've been struggling with my self image big time.

I have 2 things to say about the above image. The first is that it makes me feel much more normal to see mannequins that look a lot more like I do. The second is that I thought a size 8-10 was average, not 12-16, so either I'm misinformed or the person who posted this picture on Facebook is. Either way, my goal is to get back down to at least a size 10.

--begin tangent--

Most people tell me I don't look like I wear a size 14. I honestly don't know if they're lying to make me feel better or if they're actually sincere. People also can't seem to get very close when guessing my weight. I have the same questions about those comments. Are you just trying to make me feel better or do you really think I look like I weigh 140 lbs and wear a size 8?

The truth is the last time I had the courage to step on the scale I weighed 173 lbs. I just bought a whole new set of size 14 dress pants because my 12s were too tight. I honestly feel like a whale. I'm 5'6" and according to my BMI I'm overweight.

This blog post was supposed to be about creating a positive self image but it's turned out to be me complaining about being fat. Sorry y'all. Guess I needed to vent. Between working full time, going to school full time, trying to actually keep a high GPA, and fitting in sleep here and there, I have no time for exercise. I have come to love mountain biking and I don't have time to ride, I definitely don't have time to try and restart Tapout XT, I don't have time to run... I have a severe lack of time. If I could quit my job I probably would even though I love it now that I've moved to a unit with less stress.

Well, sorry for becoming a Debbie Downer, y'all. Better luck next time.