My "Real Age"

One of my favorite segments on "The Biggest Loser" is when the contestants visit Dr. H and he takes them through a battery of tests to determine their body's "real" age as opposed to their chronological age.

To me, that measurement really crystallizes what being morbidly obese does to one's body and life expectancy.

Today, Hubs and I went to our free "Fitpoint" exam at Lifetime. It's nowhere near as scientific and precise as Dr. H's on BL, I'm sure, but it does at least give you some idea of where you stand.

We each did a five-minute treadmill test, a sit-and-reach test, biceps strength test, and of course they check your height and weight. Based on my test, my body is 39 years old. 39! That's six years older than my chronological age.

With some fitness and lifestyle changes, my paperwork says I could get down to 25 years on the "body age" scale, which would be seven years younger than I am. Basically my biggest problem is that my body composition is 30 percent fat! I can tell you right now, it's my sweet tooth that contributes to that issue.

I like to work out, whether on the treadmill, going outside for a run, doing an exercise DVD, etc. The thing is, I've never had a trainer walk me through some sort of program for optimal fitness. We get three free training sessions with our new membership, so I'll be interested to see what happens if I can actually get on and stick to a program.

Oh, and in case you're curious, Adam's "body age" is 31. So, he's fit enough to be considered two years younger than we really are. Guess we know who will outlive whom in this relationship...