On my weight loss journey for a year only tracked scale weight but I finally wanted to gain more insights. Dexa scans are widely considered the gold standard for body composition analysis, in addition to their original target of bone density analysis.
I found a Health/Fitness optimization place nearby that had a Dexa machine and signed up. No prescription or doctor’s order was required. Just pay $200 and they’ll scan you.
I showed up early in the morning, since you have to be fasted, and got scanned. It was relatively quick and painless. Afterward they walked me through the detailed results. To be honest there was a lot of detail I didn’t care about, I was mostly interested in the overall body fat percentage. My “smart” scale spits out a body fat percentage number every morning but everyone told me not to trust it.
Bone Density
It seemed my overall bone mineral density was fine. For man over 50 the metric to look at is apparently the t-score, which compares you to a healthy young adult. At 1.3 I seem to be hitting it out of the park and have very little risk of Osteoporosis or fractures. The only concern is the neck of my left femur:
Body Composition
I was much more interested in the body fat percentage and distribution.
I was sort of disappointed by 32% body fat. My smart scale was around 29% and I hoped it was high rather than low…
The ideal A/G ratio is apparently below 1 and the visceral fat area target is <100cm^2. I am at 147 cm^2. The recommendation by the staff was “more zone 2 cardio and more sleep”. I guess I might try Tesamorelin, but I have held off since I heard rumors it might increase appetite and GH secretagogues are less effective for older folks.
Overall, I’m glad I did the scan and plan to do another in January when I hit 210-220lbs. I am struggling a bit with deciding my goalweight and when to taper down Zepbound. Everyone around me (including my PCP) tells me not to get too skinny, but I think that’s based on the comparison with a year ago (I lost 150lbs). I think I’d like to aim for 15% body fat. On the other hand I’d love to eat at maintenance and start building muscle.
Any advice would be appreciated.