Underwater Weight Session

I went to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul today to have an underwater weighing session. It went fine. I was a little uncomfortable under the water, but o.k... Had both good and bad news... Here are the results: Blood Sugar: 77 (good) Cholesterol: Below 150 (good) Coronary Arteries: 71 (high normal) Current weight: 203 lb. (I like my scale better, it says 200) Fat Mass: 86.35 Lean Mass: 116.65 % Fat: 42.5!!!!! His goal for me: 150 lbs, with 31.1% body fat A more ambitious goal: 140 lbs., 27.9% body fat (I had been hoping for 135 ) BMI: 36.04 Cals per min: .838 Cals per day: 1206 BMR: 1516 Which means I have LOW metabolism. A 200 point difference between Cals per day and BMR would be low, mine is over 300 points difference. He said most people think they are low, you actually are. He said to have my thyroid checked as taking Synthroid can increase your metabolism if its low. Otherwise, you just have low metabolism. This is what I think is probably the case as I think I have had a normal thyroid test but I am going to call my doctor and ask to be sure. I am not surprised about the metabolism as it was HELL trying to lose weight before surgery, even when I had a personal trainer for 2 years! And, I am still a slow loser (although I am THRILLED with the 63 lbs I have lost so far). I am worried though, I want to increase my metabolism! I want to be a good loser and get to goal! I don't want to be a 50/50 loser (Dan says if you don't exercise, you lose 50% fat / 50% muscle. What he recommends is EXERCISE which will bring me to the recommended ratio of 75% fat and 25% muscle as everyone loses some muscle). So, I think I need to do more than the 30 minutes a day of walking I do now... Gotta find a way to work out that I can afford... Anybody have other suggestions? This is probably way more than you ever wanted to know about my session! Jo

Jo, That's not more than I wanted to know....it's interesting and I want to know more! I've never heard of underwater weighing sessions. How does that work? Is it common? I'm really curious now. I'd like to try that, I think. I'm willing to bet my metabolism is low too. I have had my thyroid levels checked a few times before and PRAYED they would give me something to speed it up. BUT every time my levels came back at the low end of the normal range and the doc couldn't give me anything for that. Plus, I have a very sedentary job. You posted some very interesting facts that I didn't realize....I don't want to be a 50/50 loser either. I want to be a 75/25. I know at this point though, I'm probably a 50/50. That's depressing. BUT I'm so glad you posted this because it gives me some additional incentive to get EXERCISING!! I'm hoping to join the gym. I'm going to have to go back down there to find out what the specials are for signing up in October. I know the monthly fee is $34.95. I have a curves membership, but I can never get there before they close. I love to dance, so I ordered CDs off e-bay of dance music. I was hoping to jam to those while I cleaned the house. Unfortunately, there's just too many people in my house for me to do that and I RARELY get the house to myself. Soooooooo I need to get my stuff together and figure something out too. Pam

HI Jo!! Long time.. no talk!!! I was VERY interested in your underwater weigh-in.... Where did you hear about it? Where do they do these things? How much does it cost?? I am sure I have a slow metabolism too!! I am on Synthroid...only a low dose... I wish I could triple but I have not been able to convince anyone to do it! It is all very interesting information... thank you so much for sharing! Sandy

Hi Pam and Sandy, I heard about this study that was going on at the University of St. Thomas through my support group. Lots of people who have had WLS in this area have had it done. If you are part of the study, it is free. If not, he'll do it anyway and it costs them $45.00. I am part of the study and will have it done again in 6 months. The University of St. Thomas is the only place I know of here but at my support group they were talking about a similar type of thing the uses air or something. Don't know very much about that. They put you on a small metal platform, like a chair and you go under to your chin. Then, when you are ready, you dunk your head under and blow out all your air, count to 3, then come up again. They get your weight that way. It also includes an ECG like test, needle stick for cholesterol, etc... Not too bad, just a little uncomfortable just before you come up for air... Let me know if you have any other questions! Jo

Thank you very much for the info! How lucky you are/were to be able to have this done! I will have to look in my area to see if there is something like that being done here!!! Hope all is well with you, my friend! Sandy