How Do You Measure Up?

Before beginning any exercise program I like to take some measurements. Here is what I typically do:

• Weight on a scale
• Body Fat %
• BMI
• Measure stomach, butt, and right thigh in inches

Sometimes I go a little farther and do these things too:

• Take before-and-after pictures (it seems weird, but they actually really help you see visual results and you don't have to show them to anyone else if you don't want to)
• Measure left thigh, both biceps, hips, both calves
• Take statistics (how many push-ups/pull-ups/biceps curls you can do, etc.)

I know that this may seem a bit overboard, but you should at least always do my first list...and here's why. This January I was determined to lose the rest of my baby weight before my little Panda turned One. So I worked out really hard and ate healthy for the entire month.

At the end of the month I took new measurements and I had lost 1 pound. That's right, that is not a typo, I only lost 1 pound. Luckily I had my other measurements and could see that I had also lost 6% body fat and 1/2 inch to 2 inches around my belly, butt, and thigh. I had traded fat for muscle so my weight hadn't changed too much. If I hadn't taken the other measurements I would have been so excessively pissed off about that 1 pound.

So, the moral of the story is...take your measurements people!