Hi, folks!

I've been doing CKD with weight training and an ECA stack for about 3 weeks now and I'm very happy with it. I have a few questions, however, so if someone can help me out, I'd be a happy camper.

First off, here's the quick background: I'm a 35 F, 5'7' 216 lbs, down from 240 since January.

1) I've had a couple of different bodyfat tests, and I'm getting a huge variation, so I'm a bit mystified about what my bodyfat percentage really is. A four-site caliper test at the gym gave a 40% result, my Tanita scale set on "Adult" says anywhere from 47% to 39% depending on the time of day, and my brother's Tanita set on "Athelete" said 39% on the only reading I ever did.

My Tanita scale can vary by 2-4% in just 8 hours. In other words, I measure before bed and get 42%, then do it again when I get up and get 46%. What's up with that? The only difference would be hydration (lower hydration = higher electrolytic concentration = better conductivity = higher percent??). I would like to believe my brother's scale, of course, as it's the lowest reading and consistent with the caliper test. It also jives with the fact that the weights I'm doing seem to be a LOT higher than most of the women and some of the men at my gym. (Leg press ~120 (lbs), bench 80, back ext 140, abs 100)

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what my true percentage is likely to be?

2) Leaving aside what the percentage actually is, I seem to have lost 3-4 % in three weeks with only 4 lbs of weight change. Is that reasonable, or is my scale out of whack? Doesn't that mean I've put on quite a bit of muscle in those 3 weeks? The jeans tests says yes, btw. My concern here is that while I like the way my clothes are fitting, this can't keep going forever, and I really would like to be dropping that number on the scale a little faster. What words of wisdom has anyone got in this department?

3) Ugh! I simply can NOT eat as much fat and protein as I'm supposed to on this diet. Giving up the carbs is no prob, and I love fish (salmon, esp), steak and chicken, but I'm looking at needing around 130 grams a day and even hitting 100 is hard for me. And to fill out the calories to 2000 with fat?? It would have me literally eating a brick of cream cheese. Who's got some suggestions here? I know I need the protein to save the muscle, but what would happen if I was eating only 60-80 grams instead of 130, and not as much fat?

4) My workout: I work out 4 times a week after work. My gym offers childcare, but even tho I give my son a snack before we go in, my time is limited to 45 mins to an hour max as we have to get home for dinner and bedtime. I'd like to be doing 30 mins of cardio and then 30-40 mins of weights, but with my schedule what gets cut is the cardio. I typically do about 10-15 minutes, just enough to hit my target heart rate and get a good sweat going, then I hit the weights. Is short-changing the cardio going to come back and bite me in the arse?

Cheers!

Thanks, bunches!

Karen