The importance of measurements.
Stepping onto the scale can feel like the ultimate moment of truth. After spending hours preparing your meals and several more at the gym, you would expect those efforts to show up on the scale. But if you’ve been doing all the right things and the number still isn’t budging (or is going up), it may be time to measure your progress differently.
A scale doesn’t differentiate between your body’s components as it measures water, muscle, bone, and fat (basically everything that makes up your body). Although muscle takes up less space than fat, it weighs more. If you are gaining muscle while losing fat, your scale might not accurately reflect the awesome progress you're making. This is why it is very important to consider using body measurements to track your progress.
Here are some great tips on how to accurately use a measuring tape:
Use a flexible tape measure that can easily fit around curves (avoid metal or rigid tapes)
Take your measurements at the same time of day on the same side.
Measure against bare skin and while standing.
The tape measure should rest on the surface of the skin snugly.
Measure only once every two weeks.
Use the attached PDF below to record your measurements.
To make things easier, you can ask any personal trainer at your local gym to do the measurements for you. Just make sure that they are consistent with the placement of the tape and the tension used for each measurement. Also try to have the same person do your measurements over time.
Some measurement sites may change more quickly than others in response to where you store excess fat. You may not notice much change in the first couple of weeks but give it some time and compare the results on a month to month basis. You’ll find it’s a lot more inspiring to see the inches go down even if the number on the scale may not be moving. If you found this post helpful, consider signing up to our email news lists to receive posts just like this.
