Measuring Progress

Tracking your progress is tricky. You absolutely must know if you are making progress, but there is no great way to do it. So take the following as a place to start, but see what works for you and adjust accordingly.

Track your weight daily

Each day, wake up, go to the bathroom then weigh yourself before you eat or drink anything. Here is the tricky part. Pay no attention to your weight. Just mindlessly write it down and ignore it.

See, if you are losing fat, your weight will drop over time. If it doesn’t, you will need to reduce your calories or increase your activity. But your weight will likely fluctuate wildly day to day. Sometimes the scale won’t move for a week or two and then all of the sudden it drops multiple pounds. The reason for this is water weight, which will fluctuate based on salt, carbs and stress. But over time your weight will drop and you need to keep track of it. Just ignore the day to day measurements.

Adjust based on your progress

First, do not react too quickly. If the scale isn’t moving, keep doing everything the same for 2 weeks. If it still doesn’t move, you have two options. Move more or eat less. Consider either dropping your calories by 100 or increasing your walks to 45 minutes or an hour. These are your two dials. Don’t use them both at once. Pick one, wait two weeks before doing anything else.

Take monthly photos of yourself

It takes time to see progress in the mirror, but this is the most rewarding way to measure your results. Each month, take a photo of yourself in the mirror. Use the same lighting at the same time of day. Compare your photos from previous months. But don’t worry too much if you aren’t yet seeing the progress you want. Your body will lose fat according to your genetics. Ironically this will likely happen in the reverse order you wish it did. So if you are wanting to lose belly fat, your body will probably reduce your back fat first. That’s ok, keep at it and it will have no option but to take it from your belly in time. /p>

Understand that no progress is progress

It might be very frustrating to see the scale not move for a couple weeks. But this is in fact progress. Now you know how to eat to maintain your weight. This is an important skill you need when you get to your goal weight.