I woke up yesterday feeling kind of fat, and a two-minute body composition test proved it.

Once a month, Ramsey’s personal trainers charge $1 for students to learn their body fat content. They use a skin fold caliber – a device like a plastic clothes-pin – to pinch the chest, thighs and abdomen for men and the tricep, thigh and area above the hip for women.

“The program started about three years ago after people kept approaching [personal] trainers on the weight room floor,” said Stacy Connell, assistant director of fitness and wellness in the department of recreational sports. “It’s a little more accurate than just saying, ‘I need to lose 10 pounds.’”

Funny, that’s exactly what I was thinking when I got my results back: I have 28.4 percent body fat, placing me in the “acceptable” category, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

But women tend to have more body fat because of reproductive organs and general body composition, said Andrew Arthur, a graduate student from Canton in the personal trainer program.

“I like making people more aware of their bodies and helping them improve their fitness,” said Matthew Sells, a senior from Jefferson and Ramsey trainer.

Skin fold testing is a more accurate way of measuring body fat than weight, Arthur said.

“You can see when you’re losing weight,” he said. “If you see the percentage go down that means you’ve lost fat and maintained muscle.”

I wore workout attire and got measured before exercising, as required for the test.

“Working out [beforehand] might slightly alter results,” he said. “If you’re really sweaty, it’s harder to get the skin fold.”

With the holidays nearing, I’m glad I know where I stand fitness-wise before indulging.

“We have people who came in at the of end of the fall semester after football, tailgating and just relaxing who generally aren’t thrilled with [their measurements]. So they use it to set their new year’s resolutions.”

Monday was the last day of $1 tests for the semester but will start again next semester.

“[The test] is a good motivating tool. It’s always encouraging. The best part is that it gives a base line to make improvements from there.”

The test measures body density and is based on the Goldstandard System of hydrostatic [underwater] weighing, in which a person holds their breath, submerges the body underwater and then exhales as their body fat is measured.