Sure, transformation occurs with consistent, intentional changes in nutrition and fitness, but it starts with knowledge and understanding of your unique body composition and metabolism. This was true for Composition ID Washington, D.C. client, Katie, who dropped 5% body fat in 30 days! Read more about her insights gained from working with our team and experiencing DEXA and RMR technology.
“My name is Katie and I just completed 30 days of eating and working out intentionally and consistently while tracking the changes in my body using DEXA scanning and RMR (resting metabolic rate) technology at Composition ID.
I first learned about DEXA scans about a year ago at a wellness and fitness festival. As a self-proclaimed health nerd, it was basically the coolest thing I’d ever heard of in my life (not to be dramatic). I made a mental note that getting one was at the top of my list of priorities to do someday. Unfortunately, I remained stuck on “someday.” Finally, in July of this year, I put my foot down and determined that it was time to do commit. I decided to start a Whole30 diet (not my first, but my first in a while) to revisit my food sensitivities and to commit to consistently working out at BASH Boxing. I reached out to the Composition ID team to ask if they’d be willing to complete my initial and post-challenge testing to see how my body changed throughout this process. They agreed and we got my appointment all set up.
I was EXCITED (read about it here)! I’ve always been someone who would notice changes in how my clothes were fitting, but the scale really didn’t move much. And while I resolved to give up the scale and stop caring so much about that number, it’s definitely been frustrating to not have a solid way to track my changes. I have always taken measurements of my body, but I know that comes with some level of human error and isn’t exactly accurate. Beyond that, all I was really measuring was the actual size of my body. There was nothing there to tell me about my body fat percentage or the percentage of visceral fat – or anything that really measures HEALTH and not just physical appearance.
I went in for my initial DEXA scan and RMR test in the first week of this 30-day period. The technology is SO COOL! For the DEXA scan, you lie on a flat-bed machine that’s basically a human scanner (literally!) and it takes a full body picture of you (under 10 minutes). As soon as it’s finished, it prints your results, which I love! No waiting for days or weeks to find out what you’re up against – just straight answers right away. Then, after finishing the DEXA scan, we tested my RMR (read more about that here). This test is the dream test of all tests. In the past, I’ve done a test that required an uphill run on a treadmill WITH a mask over your face until you basically can’t breathe anymore. While it was great to have that information, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. To find out your RMR, all you have to do is sit in a dark room with your feet up, breathe, and relax. What’s better than that? Yes please!
While a DEXA scan gives you information about what’s going on inside your body, an RMR test tells you how many calories your body burns per day while at rest – so basically how much do you need to eat to maintain/lose/gain weight if all you’re doing is existing, no exercise included. Super helpful information if you have a physical goal you’re trying to reach!
Then the glorious DEXA scan. This baby gives you the total lowdown! It was exactly what I was going for. I’ll be honest, the first time feels a little brutal. Seeing your “picture” with all the color highlights of fat mass versus lean mass is a little jarring at first, but it’s also so exciting and motivating. Composition ID makes it easy to actually take that information and know how to move forward because they go through each page of data that you receive and explain what all the numbers mean (something that would be incredibly overwhelming without their guidance).
As I started my 30-day challenge, I knew how many calories to aim for each day and what goals I was trying to reach from a body fat percentage perspective, rather than just focusing on the scale. My initial DEXA scan was taken on July 11th, 2019 and the follow-up was done on August 15th, 2019. Here were my RESULTS (you can also check out my IG post about them here):
- My body fat is down 5%! – On my first scan, my BFP (body fat percentage) was 37.7% and on round two it was down to 33.7%!
- Here’s what’s wild…. I only lost 1.5 pounds. In 30 days of eating only meat, fruit, veggies, and good fats and working out all but one of those days I only dropped less than two pounds! ? But this is what’s so beautiful about a DEXA scan…I was able to see exactly why and honestly, I wasn’t mad about it!
- I lost 7.6 pounds of fat mass. But I GAINED 6.4 pounds of lean muscle mass. This showed me that I was dropping fat and gaining muscle just like I wanted. The thing is, if I only had the scale to rely on, I would have likely been upset after ALL that hard work and very little “results.” But with this scan, I was able to see the bigger picture and so much more than just the weight!
- My visceral fat percentage and bone density are both at very healthy levels. These are two of the most important things. For long-term health, bone density is CRUCIAL! Visceral fat is that fat surrounding your organs, that when high, can be detrimental to our health. Knowing that both of these measurements are at healthy ranges tells me that I’m doing something right and takes two HUGE things off of my list of “stressors” in life!
My experience with Composition ID was everything I hoped for and more! They were so great to explain everything along the way, so I not only left with my personal information, but also with new knowledge and a true understanding of what it all meant! The word I would use to best summarize my experience getting these tests done is “empowering.” Knowledge is power and knowing exactly where you stand and how to move forward is truly empowering. When it comes to health, the biggest thing I always encourage people to do is to DO the RESEARCH and be your OWN biggest ADVOCATE! Dig deeper. Don’t just take someone’s (or the internet’s) word for it. Take your health into your own hands and let that empower you to live a life of confidence! If you don’t feel like you have that confidence, I cannot recommend enough that you start here and book a DEXA scan and RMR test with Composition ID today!”
