31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 6

Measure It

Before you begin any fitness plan, I think it’s a great idea to get a good baseline for your current state of unhealthy affairs.  This will be something you will want to keep and add to, so put it in a journal or in a drawer or something.   I’ve been keeping a log of various measurements for about 7 years.  Mine is just a bunch of pieces of loose-leaf paper stapled together, with little comments scribbled on it like “Ugghh!” and “Yay!!!” and "What the...???"  and “Finally!!!”. 
Nothing fancy. 

You will thank me for this one later:   

• When you are about 3 weeks into your new healthy eating and diet plan and you fail to see any “progress” with your naked eye.
• Or you step on the scale around week 5 and you see that you’ve GAINED weight instead of lost it. 
• Or you are standing at the buffet table at the staring at the unlimited desserts and you wonder if cutting out sugar is really worth all the effort. 

Trust me, you will be so glad you have criteria with which to compare yourself, including, but not limited to, a number on a scale during those difficult times.

It’s helpful in a seeing present progress, but also in setting future fitness goals.  I often look back and see what I weighed and measured before and after various programs or significant events of my life. 

For example, though weight charts say I could weight as little as 115 pounds for my height, it’s revealing to see in the last 20 years, I’ve only weighed that immediately after the death of my son. In fact, I've only been in the 120's after extended fasts (not eating!) or being very sick (vomiting!), despite the fact that I've eaten well and exercised regularly that entire time. 

That tells me, setting a weight goal in the low end of my “safe” range is not “safe” for me, no matter what the weight charts say or how badly I would like to weigh that.
(I don’t want to weigh that, by the way.  I look gross at that weight).

Here are some ways I recommend you measure as you begin your journey to health.

Weigh yourself:  Do this on a regular scale, naked, first thing in the morning after you pee, before you drink anything.  Do it this way all the time.  Notice daily fluctuations.  They are NORMAL, depending upon what you ate the day before and the time of the month (ladies).  Incidentally, “Daily Fluctuations” was a title I considered for this blog. 

Body Fat Percentage:  There are many ways to measure body fat, but I won’t go into all of that here today.  Usually, you need to have this done at a gym or in a doctor’s office.  Some methods are more accurate than others.  But it’s a really good number to know, especially if you have weight to lose.

Measurements:  This should be done at the same time of day as your morning weigh-in.  Use a tape measure and simply measure around your bust, your waist (right over your belly button), your hips, your butt, and around each thigh.  If you have help, you can also measure biceps and shoulders, even your calf muscles!  It doesn’t really matter, except that you measure the exact same areas at the same time of day, each time you measure.

BMI:  This stands for Body Mass Index.  I talk a lot about BMI, and how to measure it here.

“Before” Photo:  Honestly, I have never taken a “before” photo, but I often wish I would have.  Because it involves someone else photographing me looking “yuk” in a bathing suit or jog bra, I respectfully decline.  However, I always LOVE looking at “before” and “after” photos.  So, please take some, so I can look at yours.

Resting Heart Rate:  This is a great measurement to take, because it measures your fitness level…something a scale will NEVER tell you.  I talk about how to measure that, here.

Clothing:  Similar to using a tape measure, selecting a pair of pants and a shirt as your base items will help you track your progress. 

Clinical Measurements:  If your goal is to lower your blood pressure or improve some other diet-related condition (like Type 2 Diabetes), then documenting your numbers before you start is critical.

You will want to re-measure these areas periodically.  Usually once a month is sufficient.  I do weigh myself daily, but only write it down weekly or monthly.  And when I’m doing a designated fitness program, I sometimes use a tape measure weekly.  Just make sure you write everything down in one place where you can refer back to it often.

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