8/22 weight loss thoughts: Really mixed day

Weigh in this morning was just ok. 207 again. Have to re-double 'Weigh Down'/caloric intake efforts.

Walked with Columbia SparkPeople at the West Columbia RiverWalk. It was nice to meet 5 adults (and 3 of their children).

Had one warm Krispy Kreme doughnut afterward. Moderation is reasonable.

Then, late morning, did the SparkPeople fitness test. It's pretty standard and lines up with The President's Challenge Adult Fitness Test. Pushups, crunches and 3 minutes step test, all of which I thought I had at least a little on the ball with, so I was actually looking forward to the test.

One test I knew I was going to be great at was the sit-and-reach. They weren't testing it at SP, so I had to go over and find it at the PCAFT. 53 inches. 95th percentile. That's what I'm talking about ;-)

Well, the pushup test went as expected. My goal was 35 in a minute, the beginning of the 'good' category, and I got 37. 75th percentile in the PCAFT. And these are only going to get easier as I lose weight (since I'm keeping the muscle).

Then crunches. I've been doing 200 situps a week, but it obviously hasn't been enough. These crunches have a touch line 6 inches from your finger tips when you're lying on your back and they kicked my butt! Only 34, which they rate as 'marginal'.

Finally, the step test. I've been walking 2 miles in 30 minutes 3x/week and biking at least 8 miles at about 12 mph 3x/week. Again, I figured I'd do ok on this. And I wasn't particularly winded when I finished. But my heart rate for the first minute after stopping was 109 which ranks as 'below average'.

Say what?! I'm working out this much and my heart rate is below average?! That was pretty discouraging.

So, I'm going to do the PCAFT Walking test as an alternative. If that comes up below average, I'll know I have real work to do.

(I'm also going to try their crunch test on Tuesday. It's only a 3.5 inch reach.)

This is, however, one of the good things about measuring. You can't say 'Yeah, I think I'm doing pretty good' and then get a score totally out of that range. I have to start looking more closely at what I'm doing.

I mean, I'm burning calories, so that's good. But it sure looks like it might be time to turn up the intensity some.

Another good thing: I've established a baseline now and I plan on retesting these areas each month. And then we'll see...

Did some more research and found a squat test. I've also been doing 200 air squats a week, so I wanted to test it. 47: well into the excellent category.

Shoulder Reach flexibility test: excellent.

That's better. Done for today ;-)