The number you see when you step on the scales is not the only measure of your weight loss success. Looser clothes, a changing shape, smaller waist, lower BMI and better health are all good signs. Are you taking all the essential measurements or relying too heavily on the weighing scales?
The scales are an excellent way to chart weight loss. However, they won’t always register your hard work. If you are exercising heavily you may be building muscle while you burn fat and muscle is a denser tissue. Muscle takes up less space than fat and weighs more on a volume for volume basis. This is really positive because muscle burns more calories than fat, even while at rest, boosting your metabolism and giving you better shape.
Weighing in regularly is the first thing you should do to measure weight loss. You'll enjoy looking back over your results charts, especially the total weight loss and the weekly loss charts. But remember the other measures too ...
Body fat
If you have a set of scales that measure body fat, keep an eye on how your percentage is decreasing. This is another great way to monitor your progress. Although body fat monitors in bathroom scales aren’t 100% accurate they do tend to be relative, so as long as your percentage is on a downward trend you can be sure you’re losing fat.
If you don't have scales that measure body fat, check in with your doctor or local gym and see if they have a set you can use. Being weighed on these scales every six to eight weeks may help keep you motivated.
Body Mass Index
Your Body Mass Index (BMI) can indicate if you're a healthy weight for your height, so it's good to compare your BMI now to when you first started. You'll find your current BMI on the measurements page. Remember, though, that BMI is a guide for the general population and it's not appropriate for everyone. Some individuals, such as athletes, have a high percentage of muscle and can appear to be overweight according to BMI even though they are not carrying too much fat.
Tape measurements
Taking your body measurements is a great progress check. Places where you can start to see results quite quickly are the waist, bust or chest areas, upper arms, thighs and hips. Seeing your measurements decrease can reassure you that things are moving in the right direction even if you're not losing weight as quickly as you’d like.
Decrease your waistline and you could lower your risk of developing serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and some cancers. The International Diabetes Federation has established ethnic specific waist measurements. It recommends a waist measurement of 90cm or less for men and 80cm or less for women of South Asian (Chinese, Malay and Asian-Indian), Chinese and Japanese decent.
Body shape
To see how your weight loss is going, look at yourself – really look! Remove your clothes and get familiar with your body. Do this every week or two and as you go on, you’ll see changes in your body shape, size and tone – definitely fewer jiggling bits! Try to focus on what looks good, especially as your body improves, and celebrate every improvement.
Clothes
Check how well your clothes are fitting. Try on some previously tight jeans, or try on some of your old, bigger clothes and feel how loose they are. These are all signs that you're going in the right direction!