Know your Numbers! My Wake-Up Call.

A few weeks ago we had a health fair a few local gyms came to work as part of our on-site health fair. One of the gyms that came offered free body composition testing & I decided to check it out. Turns out this simple test that takes about 5 minutes was my big wake-up call! Body composition testing is simple & painless. You stand on what looks to be a scale with hand-grips coming off the side and the scale runs some numbers. One of the reps from the gym sat down with me to explain my results after they printed off. The print-out tells you how much of your weight is comprised of water, muscle, and fat. My BMI is in the normal range, but my percentage of body fat or PBF is 37%. The normal range for me would be in the 18%-28% range.

EEK.

I immediately thought "Dang, I haven't been doing good." but I want to stress that it is important to turn that negative thought into a positive one. "I know my numbers, now what am I going to do to change them?"

Ever since I had success with The Ultimate Reset last year, the scale has been stagnant, and now I think I understand why! Training for 2 long-distance running races definitely helped keep up my cardio level, but I have been slacking on strength training. In fact, my laziness in this aspect of physical conditioning is probably what led to some of my knee/soreness issues during training. The gym rep commended my training, but pointed out that running does zero for muscle building.

Ok. So I get it, I need to put on some muscle. What's a girl to do? Enter Les Mills Combat. It's one of the newer programs offered by Beachbody and appeals to me for a few reasons. 1 - It keeps up my cardio conditioning with HIIT workouts 2 - It combines aspects of several types of martial arts for a kickboxing-esque workout and 3 - The "Ultimate Warrior" package offers additional strength training specific workouts (upper and lower body). Perfect!

The timing of this revelation is great. I decided after my 25K that I was going to take a break from long distance running because it really has been taking a toll on my body. So I have been searching for a new workout to start now that my races are complete.

Here are my goals over the next 60 days:
1. Lose 10-12 lbs (this is a combination of losing fat & putting on some muscle!)
2. Do 15 'real' push-ups in a row (I have zero upper body strength!)

I'll be blogging along the way. One specific challenge I face is adapting my vegan diet to this workout program. A nutrition guide comes with the program and  aims for 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat for my daily mix, but doesn't outline many vegan options. I will just need to get creative! At the end of 60 days I'll report back my results.

My take-away for you is that if you find the scale is stuck, or you're getting bored with you same ole' workout routine, switch it up! Also, it is important to know your numbers! The body composition test I did was free because of the health fair, but normally costs about $15. That's pretty cheap to get some great insight into what's going on in your body! If you need an idea for a new workout program or want some more information on body composition testing, please feel free to message me - LauraLou.Fink@gmail.com