My Favorite Ways to Measure Your Healthy Eating Progress At Home

If you completed your “90-Day Wonder” this week and are committed to improving your nutrition during the month of April, let’s keep the ball rolling and discuss the importance of tracking your progress throughout this month and beyond! If you haven’t completed your “90-Day Wonder,” you still can here:  https://www.transformationwellnessforwomen.com/how-to-create-a-strong-foundation-of-healthy-eating-for-the-next-3-months/

Being a health and wellness coach for women in their 50’s, I’m going to focus on you, ladies, and the specific areas that you should be aware of when measuring your progress.

But, I’m first going to assume that, in addition to transforming the way you eat for health purposes, you are looking to improve your appearance at the same time. I mean, why not kill two birds with one stone, right? It starts with determining what’s more important to you – to lose weight or to lose fat. They are not the same.

Let’s look at the factors to consider when simply stepping on the scale to measure your progress based on your weight alone:

1) Water weight – your body holds a lot of water, and that water weight fluctuates frequently, especially in your 50’s when you may experience a decrease in progesterone levels. Remember that this weight gain is water weight, not fat gain.

2) Hormonal fluctuations – Along the same lines, hormonal fluctuations are going to occur frequently, so it’s important to take that into account too. Have you noticed that some days the scale tells you that you’ve lost or gained 5 pounds since you weighed in yesterday? Well don’t count on that being 5 pounds of fat. Take into consideration the many hormonal changes your body goes through every day and that they do affect the number on the scale.

3) Muscle – If you’re exercising regularly, especially strength training, you are probably gaining more muscle, which weighs more than fat. When your clothes are looser, but the number on the scale is the same, or even higher, chances are you are gaining muscle and this is a great thing. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. And the more calories you burn, the more fat you lose. You’ll want to build muscle through strength training as well as through proper nutrition.

I hope you see that the number on the scale when you weigh yourself is not an accurate measure of progress. Rather, what you want to strive for is fat loss. Fat is simply unused energy that’s stored in your body. It’s unhealthy to carry around a lot more fat than you need, and this excess stored fat is probably keeping you from looking your personal best. As you commit to improving your nutrition, you WILL begin to lose fat and inches. So, let’s ignore the scale for a moment and look at the most accurate ways to measure your progress from the comfort of your own home.

First, the most accurate ways to assess your fat loss progress is through hydrostatic body fat testing, calipers, or electromagnetically. However, these ways are pretty pricey–you need special equipment, and you can’t do it from home. Instead, I’m going to give you my two favorite ways that you can realistically and easily track your own progress from home, and they’re pretty accurate too!

1. Use your clothes as a measurement of your progress. Are they tighter or looser than they were two weeks ago or a month ago? Do your shirts button any easier? Do you feel more comfortable in your pants?
2. Take pictures of yourself monthly from the front, back, and the side. The instinct while taking a picture is often to hold our tummies in. Try not to do this. You want as accurate picture as possible so you can compare it to next month. Also, try not to change your posture. If you feel as if you have poor posture, it will probably improve as you lose fat and as you strength train. The key is to relax your body – including your shoulders and your tummy.

The bottom line is, how do you know how well you’re doing if you don’t measure your progress? Knowing where you’re starting from is the first step.

This week, your assignments are:

1) Choose a piece of clothing (usually a pant) that you think will be an accurate measure of your progress. Pick a tighter fitting pant that you usually have to suck your tummy in to close. Simply put them on once a week (preferably the same day each week) to see if they’re getting easier to fasten.

2) Take a front, back, and side picture of yourself wearing a bathing suit or just your bra and underwear. Snap these pictures (from all angles) once a month wearing the same thing – until you need to get smaller underclothing!

Are you ready to get serious about your nutrition this month? I want to know if you’re committed to improving your nutrition this month. If so, reply back simply saying, “I’m committed!”