What a Difference a Few Decades Make

In the Studio, Kat Caverly 1978

photo © Kat Caverly

It’s hard for me to remember being this skinny. But I do remember being weak and that wasn’t going to get any better on it’s own.

I came late to physical fitness. I went to Catholic school. No joke. At 30 years old I realized I wasn’t going to be young forever and I already had serious physical issues from a lack of conditioning. So into the gym I went.

In 1985 I was 100 pounds and 40% body fat. That was 40 pounds of fat. I know this because I started a regime of body building; seriously. I was so skinny back then that I didn’t worry about body fat. The fact was that body fat gave me any shape at all! Some of my muscles had never been used. It was sad but I couldn’t even carry a 20 pound turkey all by myself; at least not with grace.

In the Studio, Kat Caverly 2010

Here at days before my 55th birthday. I weigh in at 127 pounds and 19% body fat. That’s 24 pounds of fat. Which means since 1978 I put on and have been able to keep 40+ pounds of muscle, which is really useful.

After age 24 or so the body does not grow automatically. So you begin losing muscle. If you never exercised by age 70 you would have lost over 50% of your muscle mass. All those aches and pains are not naturally aging. They are de-conditioning.

I am proud to be able say I have 60% less body fat now than when I was 23 years old. Even prouder to say I have 58% more muscle. I am proud of the work. I started when I was just 30 years old and it took me many years but now I can workout every day. In fact I feel my best when I exercise daily.

Getting my body fat below 25% was purely dietary. I will get into that in my next post. Please add your comments below and tell me your fitness story.