How to Measure Fitness Progress

Thoughts on Assessment and Mindset

Today is the start of Week 3 for the participants of my current 12-week coaching program. While they have new assignments and strategies every week to implement (as well as online support and discussion), the aspect that is inevitably the most significant – and fear-inducing – is the bi-monthly assessment to measure fitness progress. Every two weeks, it’s time to step on the scale, take measurements, and collect data.

I understand the feeling. It’s easy to get extremely invested in the tangible, physical outcomes of a new nutrition approach or exercise routine. I also know that when someone has hired a coach, they kinda sorta expect serious results.

However, anyone who has successfully lost weight knows that short-term tangible results can be a fickle friend.

6 Tips for Mapping Progress

If you are on your own weight loss, fitness, or transformation journey, here are my six top tips for practically (and mentally/emotionally) handling the changes that your body composition will undergo.* This assumes that you know how to accurately weigh yourself (same time of day and circumstances each time), and that you do your own measurements accurately.

*Please note that this post specifically speaks to weight loss. However, there are all kinds of important fitness goals, like running a race or building muscle, and all pursuits are equally valid! It’s just that most of my clients come to me for weight loss help. 

Focus More On Routines Than Results

When you have started a new exercise program or way of eating, the first impulse (at least for many of my clients) is to weigh yourself frequently to watch the pounds fall off.

However, when you’ve made big (or small) changes to your lifestyle, the most important thing that you can focus on right away is nursing your new habits, not looking for results. 

Yes, I used the word “nursing.” Like a baby. Or someone who’s sick. When you’re making a new habit, the changes in behavior are that fragile – like a helpless baby who needs every bit of support and sustenance that it can get.

In the early weeks of a new program, building and strengthening your routines should take precedence, because these habits need support. Don’t be disappointed if results don’t happen right away. Instead, invest your time and energy in making your new habits un-breakable in the big picture. Get the membership at the gym that’s close to your apartment, not the really cool (or really cheap) gym that’s 20 blocks away. Don’t stress yourself out making perfect meals – just get into a routine of grocery shopping and planning. Don’t focus on caloric restriction – instead, get creative about what foods you need to emphasize, rather than exclude. Get a workout buddy or a trainer who’s going to hold you accountable.

In the big picture, these habit-building blocks will result in lasting change, because your weight loss efforts will be more than 30-day spurt of unsustainable intensity.

Use a Combination of Measurement Tools

When you do want to check in on your tangible progress, I recommend using a variety of measurement methods in order to get an accurate, full picture. For most of my clients, I recommend a combination of weighing, using a measuring tape at key spots, and taking a picture. Your clothing fit will also be a strong indicator of progress.

It takes time to appreciate that your body has a genetic “map” that it will invariably follow, and that you, as an individual, have a genetic preference for storing fat and building muscle in particular places. Sometimes, your body will get busy dropping fat (or building muscle) in areas that you don’t consider your “problem areas.” You may want a better butt, but your stomach continues to get flatter and flatter while your hips stay the same.

You can’t choose, and you can’t “hack” it – you can only be patient and consistent, and trust your body’s timing. Persistence will pay off.

Be Realistic In Your Expectations

For many of my clients, a medium-length goal of 1-3 months is an appropriate time frame. Losing one pound a week can be discouraging and feel like “nothing,” but 50 pounds in the course of a year – on the other hand – sounds overwhelming.

Focusing on 5-10 pound changes is – in my opinion – the best course of action. This allows you to set goals that could possibly change your clothing size, without getting overly ambitious.

By setting goals in this manner, you can release yourself from the mindset of a specific number and see yourself as existing in a fluctuating range. If you weigh yourself every day, you may see 145, 143, 144, 144, and 142. Then, the next week, you may see 143, 142, 144, 140, and 141. And so on.

It can be a good idea to weigh less frequently, like every two weeks (as I do with my coaching group), but the advantage of weighing yourself every day is that you have the opportunity to embrace the fluctuations and understand that you are always in flux.

Be Honest About Your Goals 

This is key. If you have a weight loss goal, you need to be “real” with yourself (and possibly your trainer and/or nutritionist) about the pace and intensity of your goals. There is a spectrum of weight loss and fitness behaviors, and existing at different places on the spectrum will produce widely varying results.

I generally have two types of clients approach me. At their consultation, they often say:

Group A: I need to lose _______ pounds by _______ (date).

Or…

Group B: I just want to get fitter/healthier.

The problem is that people are often not honest (or realistic) with themselves – let alone me – about what their goals actually are. When people are disappointed with the pace of their results, it is often because they have classed themselves as Group B, when they are actually – even if unconsciously – part of Group A. Even though it sounds kitschy, I appreciate people who openly present as Group A, because it’s honest, and I can be direct with them about what changes will help them reach their goals.

Here’s why this is important:

The Group B lifestyle does not get Group A results.

Not right away, anyway.

If you really have a specific weight loss goal that you want to accomplish in a specific amount of time – even healthy, “easy” goals like one pound per week – your lifestyle is going to need to change. You will have to make some decisions differently. You will need to make some new priorities. You will need to set some new habits.

If you have a more elite weight loss goal, like getting ripped and seeing visible abs, you will need to adopt the habits of a person whose lifestyle is oriented around fitness and health, not someone who “just wants to get healthier.”

That being said, people who “just want to get healthier” do experience amazing results. It just takes longer. I am one of those people – when I initially lost weight about seven years ago, my exercise habits were not intense, and I made one small change to my lifestyle at a time. I ended up losing about 50 pounds. That’s no small feat. But I didn’t have a goal of losing 50 pounds within a certain time frame, so I moved at my own pace and experienced great joy in mastering new habits over a period of years.

It’s not that one way is better than another. You just need to be clear and honest with yourself about what you want to accomplish, so that you can adopt the behaviors and lifestyle that are appropriate to your goals, and the timeline in which you want to achieve them.

Be Prepared for Plateaus 

Sometimes, results slow down even though you haven’t changed anything. You were losing one pound a week, and now your weight has held steady for a month.

What gives?

Plateaus happen. Sometimes, they happen because you’ve caught up with your metabolism. You’ve lost enough weight that your level of caloric intake and energetic output (exercise and activity) have evened out and you’re going to have to change up your routine to continue to make progress. It might be time to take up a new type of more intense exercise, or to take a look at how you can refine your eating even more.

Sometimes plateaus happen because progress isn’t linear. Some people lose five pounds right away on a new program, hold steady for a few weeks, then drop even more.

However, for many people, plateaus happen because we unconsciously adjust our behaviors to prevent further weight loss. It’s not metabolic damage, it’s just that our bodies prefer weight maintenance to weight reduction. We may have become – unconsciously – less active. Even though we’re doing our workouts, we’re sitting around during the day more, and walking less. Even though we’re eating “cleaner,” we’re allowing ourselves more healthy treats and not keeping track of our food as accurately as we could.

When you plateau for more than a month, it’s worth it to go back to the drawing board. What habit(s) could you shift? Does your routine need to hit the refresh button? Then, take action, and continue to monitor. It’s likely that your plateau will eventually dissipate and you will move into increased results.

Sometimes, Ignore Your Feelings 

I love the saying, “Fat is not a feeling.” Talk to any woman, and you know that our perceptions of our own bodies can shift on a daily – or hourly – basis. If your jeans felt weird, if you caught sight of your reflection as you passed by a building, or if you misconstrued the comment of a co-worker, you can interpret these experiences into intense (and usually negative) feelings that can seriously bog you down.

Sometimes, it’s valuable to simply ignore your feelings, because feelings don’t always present the full picture. Feelings are, by nature, extremely temporary and inaccurate. Even tangible sensations – like the fit of your jeans – can be incredibly subjective, and can be funneled into your interpretation of events. Remember, your interpretation is different from what is actually happening, and can be incredibly powerful.

Instead of focusing on feelings, focus more on mindset. Mindset is a way of thinking and feeling that is proactive instead of reactive, and it allows you to be in the driver’s seat of what impressions and nuances you allow into your head space. 

How we interact with our feelings is important, because feelings can drive behavior. When you weigh yourself, both disappointment and elation can cause reactionary overeating. Letting your feelings dictate your behaviors can set you up for regressing away from your goals.

Keep your mindset focused on your behaviors, not your feelings/perceptions, and you will be amazed at how quickly feelings can pass.

I know you want great results. We all do. Using these six tips will help you to reach your goals at the pace that’s right for you.