How do you determine if you are really losing weight? Do you weigh yourself daily? weekly? monthly?
Do you take measurements with tape measure and get your body fat determined?
Do you go by how your clothes are fitting?
Do you use all of the above?
Right after I sit down with my clients and talk about their goals, I weigh them, determine their body fat and then take measurements in 8 different places. THEN I tell them that I do not want them stepping on a scale for the next 4 weeks until we take measurements again.
Some of them do, some of them don’t. But the ones that do are the ones that get frustrated because they don’t see the scale moving down.
First off, I feel a general amount of time to see a significant amount of change can take up to 3 months. The first 3 months, your body is adjusting to your new workouts, your metabolism is getting “fixed” and things are starting to move around. That is why after 4 weeks, we redo all the things we did before. Then if there isn’t a whole lot of weight loss, there is usually some body fat loss and inches lost and this is some positive reinforcement.
You also need to remember that muscle weighs more than fat, and while you will be building up muscle, your weight might not change that much, but you will be burning more fat, which will show up when you get your body fat determined.
Myself, I step on the scale about every 2 months and usually go by how my clothes are fitting. I will check my body fat about every month, just to make sure I am still in a range of where I want to be.
So stay away from the scale if you can and get your body fat taken. Here is an online body fat calculator that will give you some idea of where you are at and where you are going! Take some pictures and measurements and use them as a way to see how well you are doing with your fitness plan.
How do you determine if you are moving closer to your goals?
Do you take measurements with tape measure and get your body fat determined?
Do you go by how your clothes are fitting?
Do you use all of the above?
Right after I sit down with my clients and talk about their goals, I weigh them, determine their body fat and then take measurements in 8 different places. THEN I tell them that I do not want them stepping on a scale for the next 4 weeks until we take measurements again.
Some of them do, some of them don’t. But the ones that do are the ones that get frustrated because they don’t see the scale moving down.
First off, I feel a general amount of time to see a significant amount of change can take up to 3 months. The first 3 months, your body is adjusting to your new workouts, your metabolism is getting “fixed” and things are starting to move around. That is why after 4 weeks, we redo all the things we did before. Then if there isn’t a whole lot of weight loss, there is usually some body fat loss and inches lost and this is some positive reinforcement.
You also need to remember that muscle weighs more than fat, and while you will be building up muscle, your weight might not change that much, but you will be burning more fat, which will show up when you get your body fat determined.
Myself, I step on the scale about every 2 months and usually go by how my clothes are fitting. I will check my body fat about every month, just to make sure I am still in a range of where I want to be.
So stay away from the scale if you can and get your body fat taken. Here is an online body fat calculator that will give you some idea of where you are at and where you are going! Take some pictures and measurements and use them as a way to see how well you are doing with your fitness plan.
How do you determine if you are moving closer to your goals?