At the health fair I learned many great things. They are great events that more people should take advantage of. I learned that my BMI says that I’m overweight (but only just). This is something I’ve known for awhile. I’m stuck at 190–192 and I should really by around 182–185. That’s my comfortable weight, and right in the middle in terms of BMI.
I also had my body fat percentage taken, and I’m in the normal range with that. This seems strange, but the explanation lies in my bike riding. I essentially have no fat on my legs at all, and the muscles couldn’t get much stronger unless I took up fencing again. Unfortunately, the way my knee has been acting up, I can’t ride my bike (or even walk very far) without some chronic aches and pains.
The other half of me sits in a chair all day and is essentially wimpy. I asked the nutritionist at the Health Fair for tips on losing the additional 7–10 pounds based on how I’m already behaving, and the answer lies, not in reducing my caloric intake (which I try to keep at 1200–1500 calories per day, the recommended value for the sedentary) but by switching how I get my calories. Basically, less white carbs, more vegetables. And upper body calisthenics. I’ve been told that you can’t do enough sit-ups to burn off the spare tire, but if I couple a good sit-up routine that with 100 push-ups thingy I tried and maybe the 5BX plan, and can be disciplined enough to keep it up, I should be able to take care of that.
There was also a chiropractor there who put some gizmo on my back to measure my back muscle tension. It did a good job, because it registered the sore parts of my back. I’d really like a chair with good lumbar support, but I think it might be a good idea to get a referral to see the back-cracker to get myself realigned. (Although I don’t know enough to know if chiropractors are quacks or not, there’s a vestigial memory of mine where someone whose opinion I respected held that opinion.)