I am often asked by people who want to lose weight the best ways to measure their progress. The most popular measure is of course using the scales. I sometimes tell people that weigh themselves often that scales are for fish rather than weighing.
It’s important to remember that the scales don’t always give an accurate reflection of how you are doing. When you get on the scales, you’re not just measuring fat loss, you’re weighing everything else as well: muscle, bone, skin and water. Fat loss needs to be your primary focus and it should be a priority to actually increase your muscle and bone density. There’s a lot more to slimming than shedding fat. If you just shed fat, it’s very likely to creep back on again. If you want to be permanently slimmer you’ll have to replace some of that fat with energy-burning muscle.
Fat takes up to five times more space on your body than muscle, but muscle weighs a lot more so the scales won’t show that rapid reduction you’ve been hoping for. Remember that your weight can fluctuate from day to day for many biological reasons – and women, in particular, retain more fluid at some times of the month than at others. More important, even with modern scales it’s hard to be exact about your muscle mass and tone, or work out exactly what proportion of your weight is made up of fat, muscle or bone.
Over the years, I have seen hundreds of people, who have followed my weight loss programme, who couldn’t understand why their jeans were getting baggier when the scales didn’t register any change for, three, four, or even six weeks. The reason, of course, was that as they were losing fat they were gaining muscle, and the muscle they gained was heavier than the fat, it also took up much less body space.
When some people follow my programme they find that their weight can fluctuate a bit to begin with, especially if they have been yo-yo dieting. Some people start to lose around 2 pounds a week steadily right from the first week. While others will be two or three weeks into the programme before they see a consistent loss. This is absolutely fine – it took you a long time to gain the weight, so give your self time to lose it.
Check out my guidelines for measuring your weight loss success:
- I suggest you weigh yourself no more than once a week.
- Weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything.
- Weigh yourself no more than once a week to give your body time to respond.
- Get yourself a good pair of scales.
- Remember, the scale weighs everything! Just because your scale weight hasn't changed doesn't mean you aren't making progress.
Take Your Measurements
This is one of my favorite ways of tracking progress because it doesn't require any fancy equipment and anyone can do it. Taking your measurements at certain areas can give you an idea of where you're losing fat, which is important since we all lose fat in different areas and in a different order. Taking your measurements can help reassure you that things are happening - even if you're not losing fat exactly where you want just yet. Start by wearing tight fitting clothing (or no clothing) and make a note of what you're wearing so you know to wear the same clothes the next time you measure. Here's how to do it:
- Bust: Measure around the chest right at the nipple line, but don't pull the tape too tight.
- Chest: Measure just under your bust
- Waist: Measure a half-inch above your belly button or at the smallest part of your waist
- Hips: Place tape measure around the biggest part of your hips
- Thighs: Measure around the biggest part of each thigh
- Calves: Measure around the largest part of each calf
- Upper arm: Measure around the largest part of each arm above the elbow
- Forearm: Measure around the largest part of the arm below the elbow.
Record your measurements and take them once a week or once a month to see if you're losing inches.
Eyeball It
It may seem obvious, but don't overlook one of the simplest ways to track progress - how you look and how your clothes fit. You may want to take a picture of yourself wearing a bathing suit and keep it in your weight loss journal. Each month, take a new picture… you'll be surprised at how many changes you notice in a picture as opposed to just seeing yourself in the mirror. You can also use your clothes to keep track of your progress.
Use one or all of the methods above to keep track of how you're doing, keeping in mind that realistic goals are essential for your success. And don't forget, it takes time to lose weight so don't panic if you don't drop 10 pounds in a week. Most people don't see significant results for weeks or even months. If you're losing weight the right way, your progress will be slow and steady and your actual fat loss should be around 1-2 pounds in a week.
