Sometimes you may feel that you’re not making any progress at all with your fitness program ? like a gerbil spinning on its wheel ? going nowhere. But there are ways to track your weight loss and fitness targets that will provide the incentive you need to keep on keeping on until you reach your goals.
During your fitness quest, you’ll want to weigh yourself once a month rather than daily or weekly. This strategy gives your body a chance to react to the weeks of effort you’ve given. It also keeps you from becoming discouraged if your happen to see a minuscule weight loss on the scale.
Another way to track your weight loss progress is to take your measurements. Sometimes the scale doesn’t reflect the inches you’re losing and taking measurements will reassure you that you’re making some progress.
When you measure yourself, do so without clothing or clothing that fits tight to your skin (such as leotards). There are numerous measurement charts online that provide instructions on how to accurately take your measurements and that will track your progress in inches to your desired goal. You should measure yourself once a week or once a month.
You can also track your fitness progress by measuring your body fat percentage. This method can provide help you realize how much fat you need to lose to reach the desired fitness goal. Body fat should measure from 25 to 31% for women and 18 to 25% for men.
There are a number of ways to measure body fat, including hydrostatic weighing, calipers, DEXA and bioelectrical impedance scales. But a simpler way to measure body fat is to access an online calculator that uses skin fold or tape measurements. If you belong to a health or fitness club, be sure to ask if they offer any of these methods to measure body fat percentages.
A great motivational tool to be your skinniest best is to actually see yourself thinner via a digitally enhanced photo (before and after). This method will cost you, but if you have trouble picturing yourself thin, it could be a powerful incentive to keep up with your diet and exercise program.
There are several online sites where you can obtain a digitally-adjusted photo of yourself. You simply send them a full body photo, they slim you down digitally and send the enhanced photo back to you by email.
Print them out and post them on your refrigerator door and mirrors to give you a mental reality of what you can be at the end of your quest ? a new and thinner you.
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