What it means to achieve health or fitness is different for everyone. You may focus on the numbers on the scale, or the time it takes you to complete three miles or how easy it is to run up the stairs. For some, measuring a physical change in the body is important. When dieting or exercising to achieve a physical change, two useful methods of measurement are circumference measurement and body fat percentage.
Measuring Inches
To assess inches lost, you will need to take circumference measures from multiple areas of your body prior to beginning a diet or fitness program. Ask a friend or personal trainer to help you measure your body. Using a tape measure, record inches around our arms at mid-bicep, waist at belly button and narrowest part between belly button and sternum, hips at the widest part and thighs at the widest part.
Measuring Fat
Body fat measurements can be taken a number of ways. A simple method that will allow you to monitor changes in body fat at multiple body sites is to use the skin pinch calipers, which involves pinching the skin and subcutaneous fat. A mathematical formula is used to determine total body fat percentage once all sites are pinched, but you can use the measurements from each site and monitor the change. A personal trainer can measure your body with the calipers and should pinch at the back of the arm, stomach, chest (location varies for men and women at both sites) and thigh. It is best to have the same person re-measure for consistency.
Method
Whether your goal is to lose inches or fat, the method to achieving results is a combination of cardiovascular exercise, weight training and proper nutrition. To lose one pound of body fat, you will need to create a deficit of 3,500 calories. As a result of losing these pounds of fat, your body fat percentage measure will go down, along with your inches. Weight training will help to burn fat and build muscle. Do not be concerned about gaining muscle. According to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) website, one pound of muscle takes up one-third of the space one pound of fat takes up.
Strategy
The best way to monitor your success is to include both methods of measurement at the start of your diet or exercise program. Measure every four to six weeks to track your progress and determine if you are succeeding. If you are not seeing a positive change you can assess your program and make the necessary changes.
Benefits
The benefit of using inches and body fat to measure success is that they are better tools than the scale. Weight loss does not tell you body composition, and may not show success when you actually have improved. Many people notice a change in the way their clothes fit, even when they do not see a change on the scale. This is a sign that they have lost inches and are tightening up their body through gaining muscle and losing body fat.
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