Latest DEXA Scan: Mixed Results and New Direction
Earlier this week, two days before Thanksfeast Day, Stacia and I went back to the Washington Institute of Sports Medicine to get another DEXA body composition scan. It was our second experience there and like the first time, I felt like my results were less than optimal.
Two years ago at my first DEXA scan, I was 50 years old, weighed in at 167.4 lbs and had a total body fat of 16.7%. Despite the statistics showing I was in the top 1% of body comp for guys my age (and top 8% of 25 year old guys), I was disappointed. After all, my previous most recent body comp test showed me at about 5.4% body fat – but that was in a Bod Pod and not nearly as accurate as a DEXA scan.
Want to Burn Fat and Lose Weight?
After our first DEXA scan, Stacia and I planned to go back for regular scans every 6 months or so. That didn’t happen
for a couple of different reasons:
1) It’s not cheap to do – WISM charges $125 per scan.
2) I have been traveling for work a lot and it’s been a bit difficult to schedule and train for the scan.
Over the past 4 months, I have pretty much been constantly on the road too. Only this time, I did not allow myself to not eat right (most of the time) or to not train (although rarely had a proper gym to workout at). I felt like I worked extremely hard to eat (mostly) clean and to get daily exercise, despite frequently being on my feet working for 10+ hours a day.
About 10 days prior to the DEXA scan, I was just over the weight of my scan two years earlier. I already felt like I had cut quite a bit of body fat percentage, but decided to cut some weight rather quickly and lost over 10 pounds in the 10 days leading up to the DEXA scan. Not sure it had much effect on the results of the scan, but I do know that my results did improve – just not nearly as much as I had expected.
Joe Abs DEXA Scan November 24, 2015:
157.8 lbs
Total Body Fat % = 14.4%
Top 1% for 52 year old men.
Top 97% for 25 year old men.
In the five days since the scan:
I cheated good on Thanksgiving (eating cream puffs, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and even pumpkin pie).
I have worked out 3 times, using heavier weights, lower reps, and shorter workout time.
I have set a goal to weigh 180 lbs, with 14.4% BF (or better) for my next DEXA scan – less than 6 months from now.
I have gained back more than the 10 lbs that I cut before this last DEXA scan.
Stacia Kennedy had much better improvement on her DEXA scan and seems pretty motivated to make future improvement as well. I’m very proud of her, but don’t want to steal her thunder, so will let her tell y’all about it if she wants.
BTW – if you Are looking to take a DEXA scan in your area, check the directory at DexaScan.com