Physical Assessment

Many times throughout my life I have been told that I’m not overweight, that I am big boned, that I would look stupid if I were skinny. But at this point of my life I am certain that I need to gain control of my weight. When I moved to Winnipeg, I was 185lbs, and now I am 175lbs. But my weight has yoyoed up and down since I moved here. As a good friend told me, when debating whether or not to do an action, always side on the course of action. Because in general, we always regret the things that we don’t do, not the things we do.

So I went to get a physical assessment done. I had to do a few tests, the data was then compiled and analysed.

The results came on a single print out, which read:

You’re fat, but really strong.
...(but smell isn’t everything)



No, not quite. But that’s the short version.

My resting heart rate is 60 Bpm. My resting blood pressure is 120 over 70 mmHg. Both of these are good/normal. My height is 185 cm (6’1) and 124.9kg (275lbs). My BMI is 36.4 Kg/m^2. My % of body fat is 35.37%. There were a few other tests that were done that said, “Yup, you’re fat.”

However, my cardiovascular Endurance was really good. I had a lung capacity of 5 litres of oxygen, per minute which is outstanding. However, the efficiency that the oxygen can get to my body is 40ml / KG / minute. That is not so good. My analyst told me that, holding all other things constant, if I were 20lbs lighter, that number would skyrocket.

My Grip Strength is 70 KGs in my right hand, and 57 in my right. Apparently that is excellent. I did 20 pushups to the point of exhaustion (which made me pissed off that I couldn’t do more, but yet again, I am overweight, so I’m not too upset by that number). This is in the good category and I did 25 curlups, which is again, excellent.

So, analytically speaking, I’m just too damn overweight. I had a good consultation with the testor, and she told me that if I were to drop 20 lbs, all of those tests would go through the roof. She gave me some goals to strive for. We didn’t really talk about what I should weight, but we did talk about my body mass index and my body/fat ratio. She told me that the body mass index is always going to show me as overweight, but there is little I would ever be able to do about it. However, my body fat ratio should be lower, and my skin folds should be lower. She said that if I were to reduce my waist size to 38, it would be a huge achievement for me. Overall, I'm fit for a fat guy. But I need to lose weight. (I know, I was shocked too when I heard it!)

So, evidently I have a new goal.

When I got home, I signed up for weight watchers online and I started today with my new program. I’ve been on it before but I couldn’t stand the person who ran the meetings. (And, let’s face it. If I completed my degree almost all online, why can’t I do the same for weight watchers?)

Wish me luck, and I’ll keep you all up on the progress. This isn’t too convenient with Easter around the corner, but I’ll have to get through it.