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Fat Mass Detail from Repeat DXA Scan
12 Apr 2015, 15:51

Lean Body Mass Detail
06 Apr 2015, 08:26

Repeat DXA Scan
03 Apr 2015, 08:31

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Maintenance Mundanities

I'm in maintenance but still whittling down my body fat levels in order to achieve a reasonable body composition. I have very low muscle mass so, although I have a low scale weight and look slender, I have an unwelcome kinship with streaky bacon, except that the bacon has a more favourable fat:lean ratio. :oops:
1 out of 52 out of 53 out of 54 out of 55 out of 5

Maintenance neuroses

by SSure on 22 Feb 2015, 18:30

I'm struggling. Altho' I'm still within my maintenance range, my weight has gone up to 109lbs.

Now, I think that's because my joint problems are influencing my NEAT as it's becoming a noticeable production to do even simple things like take or replace an item on a shelf and I don't pick up post or things on the floor that I'd previously have done without even registering. I don't carry laundry baskets or rubbish bins arounds (much to my inconvenience and irritation). If I go to a supermarket, I have to use a trolley rather than a basket and ask other shoppers or assistants to reach for various items for me. I'm even in the embarrassing position of having to ask people to open some doors for me (I can open a door that I can lean on but can't pull a door open). I'm sure that all of this adds up.

It's also possible that I have some systemic swelling that isn't outlandishly noticeable in any one place but is more generalised.

I've had to scale back on my beloved paddling/kayaking - it's now been weeks since I've been in a boat and it's wretched. I can't bear being this inactive and I miss the serenity and peace of the water in Winter and the sheer beauty of frost on the river banks.

Some of this may be fluid. Some of it may be fat. I don't know. If more than 50% is fat, it mean that my body fat has probably crossed the mid-20s again which is a pest and not what I wanted before the run of surgery that I have lying ahead. I also fret that my current relative inactivity means that I may be compromising my quantity and quality of muscle mass and that's even before the surgery and rehab. More worryingly, it would also mean that somehow I'm laying down fat at an astonishing rate given my food intake, no matter how much NEAT I may have lost.

But, at this point - I don't know. I've experienced a run of increasing weight within my maintenance range before (it lasted for 6 weeks) but I've never had my weight jump like this in such a short period, nor has it been sustained at the top end of my maintenance range as it has now been for a week.

For me - this is maintenance in all of its tedious reality of neuroses, particularly if you're older or there are potentially confounding factors. I have no idea if this is a permanent increase and I ought to drop my food intake further to reflect the theoretical drop in NEAT and TDEE (a prospect that I don't welcome) or if this is a temporary blip and I should just wait it out (watchful waiting worked last time). I already have a low enough food intake that I have to be meticulous about its macronutrient content in order to make sure that I have adequate nutrition - I think I'd have to start using supplements if I needed to reduce it (tho' I'm typically a supplement non-responder).

I know that Dr Barbara Berkeley of Refuse to Regain might advise that I need to shed those pounds now rather than let them attract companions: she advises that if your weight increases, you should deal with it on that day. But, I'm being guided by my previous experience at present. I may be proved wrong. Maintenance - periods of relative calm interspersed with second-guessing yourself.

Just a maintenance howl.

HW: 168lbs (2011) CW: 102lbs BMI: <19
Maintenance IF 4:3

Dexa scan reports that I have low skeletal muscle mass and I'm categorised as sarcopenic, despite my age and fitness activities: body composition changed from 42% body fat at 127lbs to 20% at 103lbs.


SINS - Simple Is the New Sustainable
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