Lovin' the Bugg

So wearing a BodyBugg feels a little like being in a giant pinball game. While microwaving water for tea today, I did some "skin the cats" on the rings (our microwave is in the garage since our kitchen remodel -- no I do NOT have rings in the kitchen!) because I knew it would increase my calories burned total. And I'm tempted to do just random stuff like jump up and down (which I did while I waited for my flat iron to heat up) just to maximize my number.

I've been wearing the bb since lunchtime Thursday. Thursday night as I wrote, Tim and I did the Crossfit workout. Friday morning I did CardioCoach on the ARC trainer. Then Friday night Tim wanted to go to the gym, so I went with him and did some handstands (fun, and didn't seem to hurt today!), then walk/ran the hill by the gym for 30 minutes. And THEN (yes, it's been an active few days, to be sure) this morning I took a Les Mills BodyPump class at Tru Fitness, the gym where Mr. bb (aka Rex) works. Although it's not the main subject here, I was VERY impressed with the BodyPump class, and if you live in Placer County and want to join a seriously upscale NIIIIICE gym, Tru Fitness is great!

After the class (which Rex took as well), I had my second bb appointment, the one where I actually get to see how many calories I burn. I was nervous, mainly because I was afraid I'd get all weird about seeing my actual expenditures (e.g. "If CrossFit doesn't burn a million calories, then I'm not doin it!"). Turns out I'm a very active . The bugg says I burned 3248 calories on Friday. That's a ton of calories, and it may explain my little departure into the brownie batter last night. I'd eaten well all day, but I felt HUNGRY -- I had breakfast, I had protein and water, I had almonds, I had fruit (all this before lunchtime) and I COULDN'T BE SATISFIED! But the choices stayed clean, albeit with huge quantities, until last night. We were watching "The Pursuit of Happyness" and I could not get my mind off the brownie mix in the pantry. After resisting for an hour, I made the batter, complete with oil and eggs, then filled a ramekin, grabbed a spoon, and dug in. So the long and the short of it is that I'm sure I made up for any potential calorie deficit with my brownie-fest. But the good thing is that I actually understand why I was so hungry, and maybe next time I can plan for it better. Didn't someone smart and famous say that knowledge is power?

(Gosh I wish I had some pictures to break up all these words!)

Then we were on to the bodyfat testing. Apex (makers of bb) use a Skyndex caliper, and before he tested me, Rex and I had a discussion on how inaccurate bodyfat testing is. He said virtually any measurement is "plus or minus 5%". My question was, "So why do it at all? What good does knowing your number do?" He had a good answer. He said that knowing your percentage doesn't mean anything, unless you're using it as a reference point to see where you're going (like comparing measurements). He also said that it lets you evaluate absolute bodyfat, so if your tricep measurement was a 5 and now it's a 4, you're dropping bodyfat. Ok, I'll buy that.

For the actual test, there were settings based on your age for women. Rex said he would use not a #9 for me (which correlates to my actual age) but a #7, which would be used for younger women. I have no idea why he did this, but it made me feel happy, so I was good with it. After telling me that the Skyndex tends to measure athletic people like me (!) 4 - 6% higher than our true bodyfat, he told me I am at 20% bodyfat. I can say that his skin pinches didn't hurt, whereas Darla's left a couple of small bruises, which may account for the higher reading. You know what, though? I'm happy with my number. It gives me a point of reference, and now I can see where my nutrition and exercise take me.

I've run out of computer time, so the rest will have to wait till tomorrow. If you actually took the time to read this way-too-long diatribe, thank you. But if you're up to HERE with BodyBugg info, be warned that there will probably be a few more posts about it in the near future, cuz I'm really digging my new toy!