Day 71

Wow, I've hit the 70's along the 100 Days to Great... not too many days left!

Today was a weigh-in day, and an interesting one at that.  The results forced me to have to find positive momentum in new ways, due to nothing more than how some of the numbers work.  Here's how things stand:

On the surface, it looks like some momentum was lost.  During the last three periods, I was down 1.5%, 1.3% and 1.6%.  This last period, I was down 1.0%.  This feels like a drop off.  It's still dropping, but not by as much.

Yet, at the same time my overall weight dropped by 5.1 lbs - suggesting that I lost weight from some place other than fat.  Well, it turns out that is true.  Not shown in the chart above (but measured) is the lbs. of body water I am carrying - which turned out to be down about 2 lbs. from the last measurement.

Long story short - body fat percentage is just that: a percentage.  It's an amount of fat divided by a total amount of weight.  While only changes in fat can affect that fat number, a couple changes (dry lean mass, or muscle; and total body water) can affect your total weight number.  That can make it hard to interpret changes in the rate of fat loss I've been tracking.

So this time around, I've got to focus on something else - the absolute amount of body fat, regardless of what's going on with body water.  And in that department, things are steady.  The previous three periods, I lost 4.1, 3.1, and 4.2 lbs. of fat.  This last period, it was 2.7.

I think the bigger lesson here is that when you're trying to be healthier, there are a lot of different numbers or measures that can be used to track your success - and frankly, none of them is as important as the behaviors that drive them.  Those numbers can move around for different reasons - some of which are a bit out of your control.  But if you stick consistently to the right behaviors, then regardless of little variations, the overall trend will hold true.

Another lesson here is that some weigh days will be more shocking than others, but that I feel proud of them no matter what.  I don't know what the last couple measurements have in store for me, but even if I didn't lose another pound, I can be proud of dropping 17 pounds of fat.  My joints, organs, and quality of life are already saying thank you.