After a very indulgent Christmas break with a lot of rest and relaxation but not a lot of get up and go, I put on some unwanted kilograms. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I thought I would take the opportunity to put into practice some of the theory I have learnt during my time in the fitness industry.

To find out how much I should lose, I booked myself in for a DEXA scan at Wesley Medical Imaging. A DEXA scan is a low-radiation full body scan which provides information about an individual’s body composition, including their muscle and fat distribution. Here is a photo of the DEXA machine at the Wesley Hospital.

The DEXA scan indicated that while I am currently well within the healthy weight range [BMI = 22.68], I am carrying too much Visceral Abdominal Tissue (commonly known as a spare tyre) which is considered an indicator of increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and more. To allow an indication of progress along the way, I also measure my weight and waist girth. My initial weight [65kg] and girth [87cm] measurements confirmed the DEXA results, with my girth being 7cm into the at-risk category.

Based on those results, my goal by the end of the 8 week programme was to reduce my Visceral Abdominal Tissue (VAT) to a safe level without losing too much weight overall. For those who are interested, click the link to have a look at my original DEXA scan report .

I was able to compare the results from my initial scan with another 8 weeks later to determine the success, or otherwise, of my weight loss programme. The report will be loaded soon, but in summary, my final weight was 61.5kg and my waist girth was 80cm. While successful overall, my girth measurement put me (just) into the low risk category for lifestyle related medical issues, 35% of my weight loss was muscle (compared to an average of 40%). That was a bit disappointing, and indicated that I should have worked a bit harder on my weight training.