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howtoloseweightfastsafely · 5 years

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How To Track Results (And Not Fall Into the Trap That Ruins 95% of Well-Thought Out Diets)

Whether you're just getting started, or you're a longtime fitness pro, you'll never get the results you're dreaming of if you don't accurately and properly track your progress.

A lot of beginners get discouraged and quit because they're not seeing fast results, or because the scale isn't tipping in their favor.

Similarly, many seasoned gym rats get complacent and stop being as vigilant about tracking their progress because they think they've got their routine down to a science.

Both are doing it wrong.

You see, by consistently tracking your progress, you not only collect important data you can use to steadily make adjustments to your exercise and diet regimens, but you also keep yourself motivated to stay in it to win it.

Here are the best methods for tracking your progress over the long run (try one or more of these methods):

Use the scale wisely. Remember that a scale only gives you a rough estimate of your weight on a daily basis. Depending on your monthly cycle (yes, guys, you have one too) the amount of water your body retains will fluctuate dramatically. So if you're not taking regular readings and averaging them out over weeks and months at a time, you're giving yourself false hope or false terror every time you see a quick drop or spike in your weight. For more accurate results, use a variety of metrics to track your progress over time.

Use a measuring tape. The same as with a scale, this can fluctuate throughout the month.

But it's useful to take a measurement of some key areas of your body once a week and chart how they shrink as you progress. The main areas you should measure (and log in a journal) are your:

Waist

Hips

Thighs

Chest

Arms

Calves

Use calipers or a scientific method of body fat analysis. The main scientific options are bioelectrical impedance scales (somewhat inaccurate), DEXA/BodPod (pricey, but accurate), underwater testing (also pricey, but accurate) readings to measure body fat. As for calipers, make sure you do it yourself or have the same person doing it for you each time (I do it myself every 2 weeks), since variations in grips used for calipers can often cause very inaccurate readings. Bodyfat scales are also notorious for being inaccurate (often as much as 3-5% off), BUT if you use them consistently, you'll get a consistent return. So even if you can't tell what your exact body fat percentage is, you can tell how much of your body fat you've lost so far.

When calculating, bear in mind that an average body fat percentage for women is between 25% and 32%, and for men, it's between 18% and 24%.

Most people who are bodybuilding have lower fat levels than this - to see your abs through your skin, if you're a woman you'll need a body fat percentage just below the range of 11% and 14%, and for a man you'll need a body fat percentage below the range of 10% and 12%.

Just keep in mind that it's unhealthy to have too low of levels of body fat; at some point, having too little fat on your body can start to powerfully affect some of your body's natural processes.

This is especially dangerous for women of child-bearing age who may become pregnant - if you're going to grow a baby, you need ample fat on your body to be able to nourish that child and eventually produce breast milk for the little tyke.

Here's a quick chart that illustrates body fat percentage ranges for different body types:

Classification

Men Women

Do not go lower than:

4-5% 10-11%

Athletic body

6-12% 13-19%

Generally fit body

13-17% 20-24%

Average body

18-24% 25-32%

Overweight body

25%+ 33%+

And here's a chart that illustrates healthy/fit body fat percentage ranges based on age:

Age Men (Fit/Athletic) Women (Fit/Athletic)

18-30 y.o. 10-18% 20-25%

31-50 y.o. 16-24% 22-29%

Over 50 y.o. 16-29% (Fit to Average) 20-36% (Fit to Average)

If you are over 50 y.o., read this: Men and women over 50 should consult with their doctors about their ideal body fat, because it varies widely depending on the individual and their health. For men, it is usually considered unhealthy (as opposed to not ideal) for men who are 50+ and have average builds to have a body fat percentage below 15% or above 30%. For women, it can sometimes be dangerous for women over 50 to have a body fat percentage of lower than 20% and higher than 36%.

Also, as you age, your muscles and bones naturally lose their density and size. At this time, a higher body fat percentage is not just acceptable, it's actually healthier.

Take a picture in the mirror. You can do this as often or as sparingly as you want, but it can be a great way to measure your progress - and makes for a great mash-up on YouTube or in a slideshow later on. As with any of these methods, if you're hoping to see a huge difference in a week or two, you may be disappointed (though not always!). But, you'll be amazed how different your body looks within a couple of months if you stick to your diet - and you'll be able to see your progress over time in a series of photos, which can be really inspirational!

You'll be able to get within 5% of your percentage, which is ideal for both progress checks and also to fill in the bonus "So Easy A Caveman Can Do It"Calculator so you have the most accurate calorie totals!

Write down your calories. You've got to write down everything -everything - that you eat, at least in the beginning. That means candy bars, beers, that half a slice of cake you had at the office birthday party for Irene on Friday, everything. If you're guessing in the beginning, you don't have an accurate picture, and you're not going to be able to analyze your habits to see where you need to make improvements.

Write down your exercises. You've got to track your strength-training as well as your cardio. A typical exercise journal will contain the exercises you did, how many sets and reps of each and the amount of weight you were throwing around. It should also have a section for each day of exercise - what kind did you do? How many calories did the machine say you burned (or did you calculate that you burned, if you worked out in the great outdoors?) Was it easy, moderate, intense? Keeping an exercise journal is more than an important tool for keeping yourself on the right track, it's also an exercise in honesty and accountability. Are you really squeezing out each of those last reps? Are you flipping back through pages and realizing that you're leaving the gym too early, too often? An exercise journal can tell you not just about how strong you're getting, but how committed you are, as well.

Use an Excel spreadsheet or Microsoft Word table design. As with personal finance, the most popular way to track your fitness progress is with an Excel spreadsheet or Word table. With just a basic knowledge of Excel, you can create graphs, charts and more that will give you a big-picture view of your efforts thus far. When creating a spreadsheet, make sure you have boxes designated for weight, measurements and body fat percentage. Don't lose heart if your numbers aren't moving as quickly as you want them to! You may go a week or two without seeing your weight change, for instance, because you're building muscle and burning fat at the same time - so it's important to know what your measurements and body fat percentage are.

Use a web site or app specifically designed to help you track your progress. There are many of these, running the gamut from highly detailed and useful (a few of them) to mostly bunk (most of them.) It's a shame that the cottage industry that has sprung up around weight-loss since the beginning of the obesity epidemic in the 1990s in America has attracted its fair share of snake-oil salesmen and hucksters. However, there are some very good sites out there that can be very helpful to you as you make your journey toward the body of your dreams. Here are the best websites to track your progress:

FitDay (this is my hands down favorite tracker)

The Daily Plate

Skinnyo

Bodybuilding.com

Use my secret on-the-go tracking "weapon", for times that it's hard/impossible to get online. If I can't access FitDay (or my personal journals at home), I always use one of the following and suggest you do the same:

"Notes" from the iPhone are usually sent automatically to your email address.

Evernote updates automatically and can be accessed from any computer.

The harsh truth is: You can diet and exercise all you want, but if you don't have good, consistent measurements, you'll either burn out or fail to capitalize on opportunities to improve your results over time.

So, follow the suggestions above and/or get right to it with the following steps.

Action Steps:

Hop on Google Images and search "body fat % for (your gender)"

If you have calipers or access to another method, use them to estimate your body fat %

Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the previous article about "Nutrition Basics for Fast Pain Relief (and Weight Loss)"

Read the next article about "Advanced Fat Loss - Calorie Cycling, Carb Cycling and Intermittent Fasting"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.

Topic 1: How I Lost 30 Pounds In 90 Days - And How You Can Too

Topic 2: How I Lost Weight By Not Following The Mainstream Media And Health Guru's Advice - Why The Health Industry Is Broken And How We Can Fix It

Topic 3: The #1 Ridiculous Diet Myth Pushed By 95% Of Doctors And "experts" That Is Keeping You From The Body Of Your Dreams

Topic 4: The Dangers of Low-Carb and Other "No Calorie Counting" Diets

Topic 5: Why Red Meat May Be Good For You And Eggs Won't Kill You

Topic 6: Two Critical Hormones That Are Quietly Making Americans Sicker and Heavier Than Ever Before

Topic 7: Everything Popular Is Wrong: The Real Key To Long-Term Weight Loss

Topic 8: Why That New Miracle Diet Isn't So Much of a Miracle After All (And Why You're Guaranteed To Hate Yourself On It Sooner or Later)

Topic 9: A Nutrition Crash Course To Build A Healthy Body and Happy Mind

Topic 10: How Much You Really Need To Eat For Steady Fat Loss (The Truth About Calories and Macronutrients)

Topic 11: The Easy Way To Determining Your Calorie Intake

Topic 12: Calculating A Weight Loss Deficit

Topic 13: How To Determine Your Optimal "Macros" (And How The Skinny On The 3-Phase Extreme Fat Loss Formula)

Topic 14: Two Dangerous "Invisible Thorn" Foods Masquerading as "Heart Healthy Super Nutrients"

Topic 15: The Truth About Whole Grains And Beans: What Traditional Cultures Know About These So-called "Healthy Foods" That Most Americans Don't

Topic 16: The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)

Topic 17: The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "meal" On Ridiculous Juice Cleanses)

Topic 18: The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)

Topic 19: How Chemicals In Food Make Us Fat (Plus 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply)

Topic 20: 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply

Topic 21: How To Protect Yourself Against Chronic Inflammation (What Time Magazine Calls A "Secret Killer")

Topic 22: The Truth About Buying Organic: Secrets The Health Food Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

Topic 23: Choosing High Quality Foods

Topic 24: A Recipe For Rapid Aging: The "Hidden" Compounds Stealing Your Youth, Minute by Minute

Topic 25: 7 Steps To Reduce AGEs and Slow Aging

Topic 26: The 10-second Trick That Can Slash Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Mortality By 37% (Most Traditional Cultures Have Done This For Centuries, But The Pharmaceutical Industry Would Be Up In Arms If More Modern-day Americans Knew About It)

Topic 27: How To Clean Up Your Liver and Vital Organs

Topic 28: The Simple Detox 'Cheat Sheet': How To Easily and Properly Cleanse, Nourish, and Rid Your Body of Dangerous Toxins (and Build a Lean Well-Oiled "Machine" in the Process)

Topic 29: How To Deal With the "Stress Hormone" Before It Deals With You

Topic 30: 7 Common Sense Ways to Have Uncommon Peace of Mind (or How To Stop Your "Stress Hormone" In Its Tracks)

Topic 31: How To Sleep Like A Baby (And Wake Up Feeling Like A Boss)

Topic 32: The 8-step Formula That Finally "fixes" Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested (If You Ever Find Yourself Hitting The Snooze Every Morning Or Dozing Off At Work, These Steps Will Change Your Life Forever)

Topic 33: For Even Better Leg Up And/or See Faster Results In Fixing Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested, Do The Following:

Topic 34: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 35: Part 1 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 36: Part 2 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 37: Part 3 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 38: Part 4 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 39: How To Beat Your Mental Roadblocks And Why It Can Be The Difference Between A Happy, Satisfying Life And A Sad, Fearful Existence (These Strategies Will Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity And Show You How To Fulfill All Your Dreams)

Topic 40: Maximum Fat Loss in Minimum Time: The Body Type Solution To Quick, Lasting Results

Topic 41: If You Want Maximum Results In Minimum Time You're Going To Have To Work Out (And Workout Hard, At That)

Topic 42: Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time

Topic 43: How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain

Topic 44: Nutrition Basics for Fast Pain Relief (and Weight Loss)

Topic 45: How To Track Results (And Not Fall Into the Trap That Ruins 95% of Well-Thought Out Diets)

Topic 46: Advanced Fat Loss - Calorie Cycling, Carb Cycling and Intermittent Fasting

Topic 47: Advanced Fat Loss - Part I: Calorie Cycling

Topic 48: Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling

Topic 49: Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting

Topic 50: Putting It All Together

Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com

#weightloss #diet

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