We can look in the mirror and try to gauge our body fat and we can also have skin caliper measurements taken. Neither of these methods, however, is very accurate. You see, we don't just carry our fat in the subcutaneous layer under the skin. We also carry fat deep in our abdomen around our internal organs and also throughout our muscle tissue itself. The only way to get an accurate measurement of all the fat throughout your body is to be measured in a water tank.
Luckily for me, I found a company, Fitness Wave, that has a mobile unit driving around northern California measuring people and it just so happens they'll be in San Jose tomorrow. So I've scheduled my appointment to get dunked. Follow this link for ten reasons for you to get dunked yourself!
Once I'm out of the water, I'll receive a full report along with recommendations on caloric intake based on the amount of lean body mass I have.
This type of testing works simply because the lean body mass (muscle, bone, tissue, tendons, ligaments, etc) sinks in water as it has little to no buoyancy. However, fat is very buoyant and floats in water. Thus, putting you into a tank of water and determining your water weight also enables calculating your lean and fat body mass percentages by weight.
I actually have no idea what my measurements will be tomorrow. I do live in a three story house and am constantly up and down two flights of stairs... that's got to be good for some muscle, eh? I guess tomorrow I'll know for sure.
My appointment is at 4pm PDT... stay tuned!
-- Kristin
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