(Chart first because I don't know how image previews work)
Today, I hit 15 pounds down! Definitely an exciting day, and definitely a lot more to go on my journey to lose 80 pounds total. I'm a short guy (5'5, 210 pounds), so a lot of the progress pictures I see feel like they may not represent me very closely. Luckily, I do have pictures from successful weight loss from a decade ago for reference.This time around, motivation is a major concern of mine. This is the heaviest I've ever been, and correcting it will take a long time. Visualizations are really important to me to make my progress feel tangible, and I've found a few ways to visualize my progress and the road ahead. As of today, based on my old pictures, I have about 30 more pounds to lose before I feel like the changes are visual, so I wanted to do my best to chart the Paper Towel Effect.
The lesson to be learned is that fat, like paper towels, comes off in sheets. When you are heavy, you are big around. And when you are big around, that fat is spread over a MUCH larger area - just like that outside towel sheet. The closer you get to the lean you, the more each lost pound of fat shows, because it is spread over a smaller area.
While the outside sheet may only cover 1 layer of the roll, the inside sheet may go around 4 times. That last sheet looks like it gives you 4 times the results of the first sheet, but in reality, the results are the same - your perception is just different! And you’ll never see the inside, if you aren’t patient while the outside is coming off!
I've experienced this myself. The changes between me at 225lbs and 190lbs are small. The changes from 190lbs to 175lbs are noticeable. The changes from 165lbs to 155lbs are massive. I'm excited to see what happens when I go from 155lbs to 145lbs!
I wanted to see if I could chart that effect, and decided on the following approach:
- I am a spherical cow. For calculation purposes, I'm going to assume I'm a cylinder (because being fat hasn't made me taller yet).
- The surface area of that sphere is calculated using the Mosteller formula
- I calculate the average fat thickness (that's what we care about, right?) by subtracting the surface area of my lean weight (from DEXA scan).
- I see what percentage difference in fat thickness each pound makes
Here's what I ended up with:
| BMI | Mass, kg | Surface Area, m, Mosteller | Avg Thickness, cm | 1kg's % Impact on Fat Thickness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37.0 | 102 | 2.17 | 4.67 | 2.0% |
| 36.7 | 101 | 2.16 | 4.57 | 2.1% |
| 36.3 | 100 | 2.15 | 4.48 | 2.1% |
| 35.9 | 99 | 2.14 | 4.38 | 2.2% |
| 35.6 | 98 | 2.13 | 4.29 | 2.2% |
| 35.2 | 97 | 2.11 | 4.19 | 2.3% |
| 34.8 | 96 | 2.10 | 4.10 | 2.4% |
| 34.5 | 95 | 2.09 | 4.00 | 2.4% |
| 34.1 | 94 | 2.08 | 3.90 | 2.5% |
| 33.7 | 93 | 2.07 | 3.80 | 2.6% |
| 33.4 | 92 | 2.06 | 3.71 | 2.7% |
| 33.0 | 91 | 2.05 | 3.61 | 2.8% |
| 32.7 | 90 | 2.04 | 3.51 | 2.9% |
| 32.3 | 89 | 2.03 | 3.41 | 3.0% |
| 31.9 | 88 | 2.01 | 3.30 | 3.1% |
| 31.6 | 87 | 2.00 | 3.20 | 3.2% |
| 31.2 | 86 | 1.99 | 3.10 | 3.3% |
| 30.8 | 85 | 1.98 | 3.00 | 3.5% |
| 30.5 | 84 | 1.97 | 2.89 | 3.6% |
| 30.1 | 83 | 1.96 | 2.79 | 3.8% |
| 29.8 | 82 | 1.94 | 2.68 | 4.0% |
| 29.4 | 81 | 1.93 | 2.57 | 4.2% |
| 29.0 | 80 | 1.92 | 2.47 | 4.4% |
| 28.7 | 79 | 1.91 | 2.36 | 4.6% |
| 28.3 | 78 | 1.90 | 2.25 | 4.9% |
| 27.9 | 77 | 1.88 | 2.14 | 5.2% |
| 27.6 | 76 | 1.87 | 2.03 | 5.5% |
| 27.2 | 75 | 1.86 | 1.92 | 5.9% |
| 26.9 | 74 | 1.85 | 1.81 | 6.3% |
| 26.5 | 73 | 1.83 | 1.69 | 6.7% |
| 26.1 | 72 | 1.82 | 1.58 | 7.3% |
| 25.8 | 71 | 1.81 | 1.46 | 7.9% |
| 25.4 | 70 | 1.80 | 1.35 | 8.7% |
| 25.0 | 69 | 1.78 | 1.23 | 9.6% |
| 24.7 | 68 | 1.77 | 1.11 | 10.7% |
| 24.3 | 67 | 1.76 | 0.99 | 12.1% |
| 24.0 | 66 | 1.74 | 0.87 | 13.9% |
And the pretty graph linked here
BMI on the bottom so it can better apply to other people.
I was really happy to see this visualization! I can see that changes start coming way more quickly after around a BMI of 28, which is about 170lbs for me, which lines up with my experience. I can also clearly see that a lack of visual changes now doesn't mean progress isn't being made, but my efforts will be rewarded in a few months.
Maybe this helps someone who has been disheartened from not seeing the visual changes they were hoping for after months of discipline. The scale may tell small lies, but who are you going to believe? Your scale or your lying eyes?
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