It's hard to believe, but last Friday marked the end of SGX Round #3 and the 1 year mark since starting SGX. I started my first round of SGX back on May 1st 2006 at 209.5 lbs w/ 30.5% BF with the intent of transforming my body as I was tired of being "the fat guy". Unlike several other fitness programs I've tried, I stuck to SGX and it has had some noticeable effects ...

My official ending weight on Sat morning was 149.5 lbs, making it a even 60 lbs down! As for the BF measurement, that is under debate (more on this later), but either way I know it's nowhere near what I started at. I can't believe it's been a year since I started all this, and I never imaged I would be wearing size 28/30" waists or small shirts having started at 38/40" and XL.

If you want to see the obligatory "look at me in my old clothes" photos, here ya go...
http://img181.imageshack.us/my.php?image=oneyearprogressoldclothoh9.jpg

I've gotten so many compliments from my friends, one of my favorite being "I keep having to remind myself that I know! I look at you and say 'Who is that?'" I can't wait to go back east to visit family and friends that have not seen me in about a year to get their reactions

Looking back at my old photos, I realize just how far I have come and I love it. I have several friends who lost a lot of weight at one point and now have started to gain it back. I WILL NOT be one of those folks. I've worked hard to make the progress I have and I plan on keeping it

Now the question is where do I go from here? I'm planning on taking this week off, although I have to say its feels weird not going to the gym in the morning for cardio and I keep getting to work way early. I plan to keep to the basic eating concepts of SGX, but may not stress over the exact amounts as much. I also need to find a new workout to do, time page thru all those Men's Fitness magazines I've got lying around.

So thank you SC for such a great program!

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And now onto me being overly analytical....
To goal or Not to goal?... So back in Round #2 when I hit my goal of 20% BF, I set a new one of 15%. This took a bit longer to reach than I had planned. I started Round #3 around 18% and as you can see by this nifty graph from bodybuilding.com, I have had fairly consistent downward trend (aside from a little bump at the beginning of the year):

Here's the background of the dilemma: When I started SGX I was talking the BF reading with a handheld BMI at work Friday afternoons right before I did my lifting. In Oct I got a BF scale and for a short period of time used both, Friday afternoon at work and then Sat morning with my weeks end weigh-in. The usually were close and differed by a percent at most. I stopped using the handheld and continued with the scale. The week before my last week I weighed in at 150.0 lbs @ 16.6% on the scale, and was little disappointed that I was not going to be able to make my 15% goal by the end of SGX. So you can imagine my surprise when I opted to try the handheld (for old time sake) and got a consistent reading of 12.8% :-O The next morning, my final SGX weigh-in had me at 149.5 lbs and two parallel readings for BF... on centering around 16.3% and the other at 11.4%. I decided to have the trainer at the gym use the caliper in hopes of getting a more accurate reading. Come Monday, they pinched me here and there and came up with the following:

Jackson/Pollock 4 Caliper Method: ab=10, thigh=16, tri=17, suprailiac=7
BF: 12.07%

I'm still amazed, I can't believe that my body fat percentage could be that low.... but she checked several times. So do people think this is accurate? Did I beat the 15% goal?

(Either way, I'm very proud of the progress I have made and who a big thanks to SC for helping get me on the road to the new me!)