How to Tell if You’re Losing Fat

It’s always a good idea to check your progress with any goal that you set. With exercise many people default to checking their weight on a scale. While the scale is a good tool, it can often be misleading. The scale isn’t always the best tool. Here’s why.

First of all, as of now I want you to promise me that you won’t obsess about your weight anymore. I’m serious, the goal should be fat loss not weight loss. There is a difference. You can do a starvation diet and lose weight; you will lose muscle and slow down your metabolism, and look like a smaller version of your current self with little muscle tone. Some people call this “skinny fat” you’re skinny but still flabby. Is that the kind of fat loss you want? I don’t think so?

What you want to do gain muscle which will boost your metabolism and make sure the weight you do lose comes from fat not muscle. If you the scale reads the same weight and you lose inches around your waist and thighs and your body fat is lower; you’ve lost fat but not weight. You’ll have more muscle tone as well. This is why it’s possible for your weight on a scale to remain the same and another reason I like to take body fat percentages and body measurements. This tells you a lot more than the scaled does.

Most women will be healthy fit and lean around 18-22% body fat, no matter what the scale reads. For men it’s around 12-16%.

Think of it this way: Imagine there was a magic fat loss machine – a little booth you could step into and come out looking exactly how you’ve always dreamed of looking: the exact pants size and with the muscle definition you wanted and the right body fat percentage, with abs too (if that’s what you’re aiming for) but there was one catch – this magic machine somehow increased your bone density by 100%? So while you looked great you weighed 50 pounds more. So if you were 150 before now you’re 200 but you look amazing. Would you be happy with that or would that number on the scale make you want other results? Now what if the opposite was true; the magic machine made you lose 20 pounds but you looked exactly the same. Understand how you look and feel and how much you weigh are not necessarily related.

From Rachel Cosgrove’s the Female Body Breakthrough

If you lose 10 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle you will look like you’ve lost 20 pounds but your weight will be the same on the scale. Don’t focus on the scale, but how you feel and how your clothes fit.

Alternative tools to the scale the check your progress

Skinny jeans
Get a pair of jeans that are a few sizes too small that you want to be able to fit into. Try them on every couple of weeks to check your progress. Avoid doing this daily! At first you may not get them over your thighs, then you’ll get them over your thighs, but not your hips. After a couple more weeks they get all the way up but you won’t be able to button them, then you’ll be able to button them by sucking in your stomach. Finally they’ll fit comfortably. You won’t need a scale to tell you you’ve made progress!

Measurements
Every month pull out a measuring tape and measure around your chest, hips, waist, and thigh. If you’re losing inches from month to month, you won’t need to worry what the scale says because you are losing fat and gaining muscle.

Photos
Another way to check your progress is to take a photo of yourself. Guys can do this without shirt and wearing shorts and ladies and wear a swimsuit. From month to month you’ll see your progress as your waist shrinks and you lose the excess fat and start to see more muscle definition all over. No need to oil up and get a tan like the magazine ads though :)

Keep in mind weight loss is not always linear. While most people can lose 1-2lbs. a week on average through healthy eating and exercise some weeks you can lose 3lbs. and others you won’t lose any. That’s why it’s called an average. Again shift your focus away from weight and keep the focus on working hard every workout and eating right every meal everyday 90% of the time.