The Reactions

So far I have told most of my close friends and family about my plan to get into bikini shape for my milestone 25th birthday. The most popular reaction I’ve gotten so far has been, “…but I think you could do it now”. That is, most people I’ve talked to think I would be able to pull off a bikini in my current rotund state.

Yes, I suppose I could.

I could also go topless on the beach, but that would neither be attractive for others nor a comfortable for myself. I feel the same way about exposing my belly.

My husband had the most constructive response to my new goal. He posed this question to me that forced me to put my goal into perspective: “If you’ve never worn a bikini before than how do you know how much weight you need to lose in order to feel comfortable wearing one?”

Okay Matt, good point.

I was able to spew off some bullshit about how it’s important for me to feel comfortable in my body and how self confidence can’t necessarily be tied to a number on a scale. …but, really. I’m a numbers person. I need a number goal. So what numbers do I use? Inches? BMI? Weight? Body Fat %?

Well at 24 years old and 166 cm let’s look at what the experts say my numbers should be:

Where I should be:

Waist:                            83 cm waist (=half my height)
Waist to Hip Ratio:  0.7
BMI:                              19 – 24
Weight:                        116 – 152 lb (based on BMI)
Body Fat %:                19%-30%

Where I am:

Waist:                           81 cm
Waist to Hip Ratio: 0.79
BMI:                              25.3
Weight:                        153.6lb
Body Fat %:               33%

I’ve decided to use my body fat percentage as my measure for fitness. I’d like to get my body fat percentage down to 24%. Luckily for me I went out this weekend and bought a body fat scale (I can’t describe to you how excited I was about this) so I’ll be able to track my progress at home on a weekly basis. These were my results from this morning:

33% body fat; 46% water; 153.6lb

33% muscle; 10.7% bone; 2028 cal recommended per day

I had contemplated posting a before picture of myself with my sports bra on (which I DID take)… but thought that goes against how I feel about wearing a bikini. The before picture may come with the after in 6 months time.