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Weight Loss Exercise

Best Practices for Weighing Yourself


If you’re trying to lose weight then the very best way to stay motivated to meet your goals is to track your progress. The weighing scale is a great way to see progress, but you want to get accurate results. Here are some tips for weighing yourself the right way.

Don’t Weigh Yourself Every Day

scalesEven though you’re probably really excited to see results right away, it’s a bad idea to weigh yourself every day. Why? Because you might not always see a change. Worse, you could find that your weight has even increased from one day to the next. This will interfere with your training and your progress, because it stops you feeling motivated to continue.

Remember, just because the scale does not show it, your body can tell the difference. Eating more healthily and exercising on a daily basis does a lot more for you than simply lowering the numbers on that scale. It’ll make you look and feel better, not to mention the fact that you could be building muscle, which actually weighs more than fat!

Instead, try weighing yourself every seven days. Pick a day of the week and don’t weigh yourself on any other day. That way, you’re still tracking your progress, but you won’t be doing it to an obsessive level. You’re far more likely to see real results once a week than you are by weighing yourself every day.

Weigh Yourself When You Wake Up

A good time to weigh yourself is as soon as you wake up, firstly because you have no food in your stomach, so you’ll get a more accurate reading. Did you know that you also lose weight by expelling moisture as you sleep? This is another reason to weigh yourself in the morning. Note that when you do weigh yourself, it should be after urinating. You should stand on the scales naked, as the clothes you wear can also have an effect on the number on that dial.

In the morning, we’re also less prone to the circumstances that can make our weight fluctuate throughout the day. However, if you work on night shifts your body clock will be different. Also, if you’ve been drinking the night before you may seem lighter the next morning due to dehydration. Or, if you’ve been eating in the night, you may appear heavier!

The scales never show 100% of the true story, so it’s a good idea to combine them with measuring your body fat, and also being in tune with the way you feel. Weighing yourself regularly is a fantastic way to stay motivated, however, as long as you follow those tips above for the most accurate readings.


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Weight Loss Exercise

How To Track Your Bodyfat Percentage


You may have already heard that tracking your bodyfat percentage is one of the best ways to track your weight loss progress, as this way you can be certain that you are losing fat and not water or muscle.

There are several methods available for you to ascertain your bodyfat percentage; some can be done at home, while others require you to spend money and use big equipment. Here are some of the most effective:

Best Ways to Track Bodyfat Percentage

US Navy Bodyfat Measurement

US Navy Bodyfat Measurement

Skin Fold Calipers – You can purchase these calipers, pinch the fat on your body, and place the pinched area in between two calipers to measure your body fat percentage. This method is pretty dependable and repeatable; however if you are more than 40 pounds overweight, you may not be able to use this caliper method since the pinched fat may not be able to fit between the calipers.

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) – A BIA scale sends tiny electrical currents through the body and records the resistance that the body offers to this current. This resistance is then used to determine the percentage of body fat in the person’s body. This is the simplest way to measure your body fat, and the scales are usually not too expensive. However, the accuracy of this method is questionable and it also depends on how well your body is hydrated when you step on the scale.

The US Navy Method – This means using body measurements to determine body fat percentage. This is the cheapest way to get your body fat measurement, since all you need is a body tape measure or a cloth measuring tape. For men, you measure the waist, neck, and height; for women, the measurements taken are of the hips, neck, and height. While this is an easy at-home method that anyone can use, its accuracy is highly questionable.

Hydrostatic Weighing and DEXA Scans – Hydrostatic weighing is the traditional gold standard of determining one’s body fat percentage, where the person is submerged in a special type of water tank. The DEXA scan, however, is somewhat of a ”new gold standardâ?, where the person just lies down and the scanner determines the amount and distribution of fat in the body. Both these methods are generally not practical, since hydrostatic weighing is uncomfortable and both these methods cost around $150 to $300 every time you perform them, which is quite pricey.

In a nutshell, there are the many different methods you can use to track your body fat. However, for daily or weekly measurements at home, there are only three methods you can use, as detailed above.


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Weight Loss Exercise

How and Why to Keep An Exercise Journal


Sticking to a fitness or weight loss program is never easy. However, you’re far more likely to keep going if you can see that you’re making progress. This is where an exercise journal comes in. It’s a great way to keep yourself motivated through those times when you’re just not feeling it, and it’ll also help you to form great habits.

How to Create Your Own Exercise Journal

wordartThe crucial part about keeping an exercise journal is that it needs to become part of your daily routine. This means that it needs to be simple enough so that you’ll actually bother with it! This is why you’ll probably want to avoid creating something overly complicated.

If it helps, go out and buy a brand new notebook in a design you really like, along with some brand new pens for writing in the journal. You don’t need to do this, but it could give you that extra excitement you need to get going!

You could also purchase a journal designed specifically for this purpose. There are a number available, and they are basically designed as fill-in-the-blanks diary books. It’s something you can do yourself, but buying one ready made will save you some money.

What To Note In Your Journal

If you’re into strength training and bodybuilding then it makes sense to note down your sets and reps. Every week or month you can go back over this information and see how you’re able to endure more and more as time goes on. You can also use this information to get bigger by using a technique known as progressive overload, which basically means you’re always using heavier and heavier weights.

For cardio and stretching sessions an exercise journal can be used to note down what you did and how long you did it for. If you’re using gym equipment, you can note down some of the top stats from your workout. You can then use this information to motivate you when you’re not feeling it, or to help you overcome any plateau in your workouts. If you’ve gotten lazy lately, use your journal to find out a way to push yourself just higher than you’ve ever worked out before.

In short, an exercise journal is a perfect tool to keep you aware of your previous goals and to give you something to work towards. It can be a huge boost to your motivation, and could mean the difference between success and failure!