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How To Track Your Weight Loss Progress
Blog | October 08, 2013
Do you know how to track your weight loss progress without driving yourself crazy? I’ve talked to a friend that is literally obsessed by checking her weight at least 3 times a day by stepping on a scale. She weighs herself in the morning, before she eats, after she eats, and before she goes to bed. It just became an OCD at this point. Obviously she’s not always happy with the results whenever she see’s her weight fluctuate plus or minus 1 and 1/2 pound.
I’ve tried to talk her out of this craziness, but some people just like to stubbornly stick with their habits, no matter how useless they are or even how much pain these habits bring them. Can you imagine, that your mood would depend on the number of the scale? Even worse, imagine that you have a perfect number in your own mind that you are stuck on, that you believe is perfect, and it can’t be off by even a pound? The only thing, that you would be accomplishing at this point is causing yourself tremendous pain.
If you’d ask me how much I weigh, I would say somewhere between 121 – 125 lbs. I don’t know exactly and to be perfectly honest, I don’t even care. The only person that really keeps track of my weight is my doctor and she only does it once a year.
The truth is that the number on the scale is not as important.
The only time that I would recommend to track your weight biweekly is if you were obese or really overweight and your goal was to get back into the healthy range. There are many women though, that are in a “healthy range”, however they’re not happy with their body composition and want to get either a little bit thiner or the opposite. The thing is that if you are exercising on a regular basis, then you’re most likely building lean muscle which is more dense than fat. That means that you may be gaining weight while actually becoming thinner visually. If you know that you are not far from your goal, then it’s way more efficient to use a measuring tape. The measuring tape is also the best way to keep in check your problem areas, such as thighs, hips, or love handles.
When you’re using the measuring tape, make sure that you always measure the same area. If you are measuring your thighs for example, you want to always measure the mid part of your thigh. In other words you would be getting very different and confusing results if you would measure your waist line one day above your belly button and 7 days later below your belly button. Always write down not only the number but also exact part of your body. If you are measuring biceps, thighs, and calves, always wrap the measuring tape around the middle of the muscle. Waist should be measured just above your belly button, and hips around your hip bones. My last advice is don’t obsess too much about keeping track of your measurements. Checking your weight loss progress once a week is more than enough!
Best,
Zuzka
Private Member |
I check the scale once a week to see my progress, I do your ZWOW’s and afterwards I practice some difficult excercises for me (such as pistols and handstands) then If I feel like I still have some strength left, I do skipping or run up and down the stairs, however I can’t seem to reach my desired weight, i’ve been stuck on the same weight for about 2-3 weeks, I do have myself to blame though, I haven’t been paying close atention to my diet. I’m not really obsessed on being very skinny, but I would really like to get some abs and look really fit, I’ve lost 18 lbs so far just by following your ZWOWs and a not so strict diet, which is not really a diet, more like a healthier way of eating. So my goal now is to lose another 18 lbs, and I feel like I will achieve it once I buy your Zshreds ! 🙂 I usually forget to measure myself, I’ll keep a track on it as well… thank you for keeping me motivated Zuzka!
greetings from México!
Sara.
Private Member |
Well said! It’s so important that we educate people, so they understand it’s important to increase lean muscle. I had a client who wanted to only work her core, which was her trouble spot. She was so afraid of getting bigger with resistance training, when the opposite is true. Anyway, I’ve followed you for years. Thanks for all you do. I’m so happy for all your latest big success. You deserve it so much!!! xoxo
Kathi-NSAM-CPT
Private Member |
Great advice and very timely for me as I am feeling really frustrated with my last 10 pounds plateau
Private Member |
I am stuck there too! And now need to focus on fuel. 🙂
Private Member |
I used to be stuck at the ten pound mark. I have a very healthy diet and do Zuzanna workouts all the time. Frustrated, I finally decided to count my calories to see how I was eating. I thought I would find that I was over my limit and I would have to cut back, but I discovered the exact opposite! I was eating way to LITTLE! So I did adjustments, and wow I couldn’t believe my progress. Now I’m always full and quickly lost 6 more pounds (over a few week period). I am at a range now where I’m happy and now focusing on my strength and composition. Hopes this helps anyone who might be struggling 🙂
Private Member |
So am I! Can’t quite seem to get there. I blame my diet.
Private Member |
I measure my progress by what clothes I can fit into from before my baby 🙂 or pictures…the camera never lies. I havent owned a scale for over 10 years
Private Member |
Solo si su objetivo es ganar masa muscular, entonces y sólo entonces, es obligatorio pasar por la báscula una vez a la semana. Simplemente para comprobar si está ganando peso. Pero si su objetivo es perder peso, no debe obsesionarse con la báscula ni con la cinta de medir. Su mejor aliado no es la báscula ni la cinta métrica, sino el espejo. Si se ve mejor, siga adelante. Está consiguiendo resultados positivos; no sólo físicos (se ve a sí mismo mucho mejor), sino también psíquicos (verse mejor le motiva para continuar trabajando y alcanzar sus objetivos).
Ciao!
Private Member |
I try to tell me female friends not to worry about the number, but they also won’t listen. I think I fluctuate within 3 lbs throughout the day, so what’s the point. It’s just better to go with how you feel, how your clothes fit, whether or not you feel a muffin top when you sit. Hehe.
Private Member |
There is another approach to weighing yourself in a book called “The Plan” by nutritionist Lyn-Genet Recitas. Her book talks about the effects of different foods that our bodies are sensitive to will cause inflammatory responses which in turn prevent weight loss. She recommends weighing yourself daily to measure whether you are reactive to the foods you ate the day before. It’s not about weighing yourself to monitor your weight, but weighing yourself as a means to gather data about the foods you’re eating. By using her methodology (admittedly I did not follow her precise eating plan). I discovered a big reason I wasn’t losing weight was that I’d developed a gluten sensitivity.
Private Member |
You girls seem to know a lot about how to shift weight. I am happy with my body until I weigh myself then like Zuzana says, I get all moody. I forget to measure but I’m making a promise to do so now.
Also can somebody help me out with this question? Been bugging me for years.
So I do her workouts 5 times a week & lots of walking. I use my fitness pal app to track my diet which I would say is 80% very healthy with weekends being slacker 😉
I eat around 1200-1500 calories a day. I usually try not to eat back the calories I burnt off.
Am I supposed to do this? I have been feeling really hungry lately, like a lot more than usual. Might I not be eating enough?
I would really appreciate any assistance.
My day is typically:
Protein smoothie post ZWOW/zshred
Salad or veggie soup with fibre toast for lunch
Usually need a snack (apple, yoghurt, frozen blueberries or banana) in avo
Ravenous by dinner which is usually veg lasagne made with wholewheat pasta sheets
Then go to beg hungry 🙁
Private Member |
Yvonne- I’m no nutritionist or expert of any kind, but it seems as though you aren’t getting enough protein in your diet to keep you full throughout your day. Maybe for lunch you could add some type of lean protein to complement your salad/soup such as chicken, turkey or even steak (great in salads!). For a snack after lunch stick with what you’re doing, but maybe add some peanut butter/almond butter or some other type of healthy fat that also has some protein in it (greek yogurt is great too). For dinner, same thing as lunch- add some lean protein in the mix. Try it out & see if it helps! 🙂
Private Member |
Thanks for the advice! I don’t eat poultry or red meat but will look for other sources of lean protein to add to my diet. 😉
Private Member |
Thanks, Zuzka for the post. This is the answer to the question I wanted to ask. However, I have slightly other problem. I’ve been following your workout routine for more than 2 years now, last month I had a 3 week break. Since I eat clean I actually became thinner, but as soon as I started working out again, I gained about 2 pounds & my legs got bigger. I did’t measure myself but in a week time my jeans got very tight.
That’s what freaks me out! I keep eating exactly the same amount & quality of food.
I’m not as lean as you ofcourse. Should I do more cardio wo for burning either the fat I have or getting my muscles smaller? Zuz, I need your advice.
Private Member |
This also happens to me!! I stopped exercising again for this week – i’ve been lazyyy!! lol – but every time i start, all my pants get tighter, even when i just eat healthy… someone can help with this? Or it will just go away if I keep going?
Private Member |
Ana, I suppose muscles do get bigger faster than it takes to burn fat. I just hope that since there is more muscle tissue it’ll consume more energy and thus fat will “melt” a bit faster. But so far it’s just very hard psychologically to keep working out, isn’t it?
Private Member |
Well I think it’s good advice to not get obsessed with the weight. But I would definitely say tracking progress is much more healthier than tracking weight or measurements, it’s even more encouraging to see how much you have progressed, writing down your goals (real goals that are achievable to you), and writing down yours scores on every workout challenge, number of reps, etc. This works better for me 🙂
Sarah from Mexico.
Private Member |
I am just starting all of this again, but when I did it last time I did (and plan to this time as well) weigh myself everyday as soon as I wake up. I know that it might seem a little nutty, but for me it is a helpful reminder throughout the day of why I am making the healthy choices I am AND there is the the satisfaction of a little change each day.