Question About Measuring

bikinimission

I have a question about measuring, I would say my tummy area has 3 settings:

1. Breathe out and let it all hang out
2. The poise I try to maintain throughout the day, standing up straight with tummy pulled in a little
3. Standing still and sucking right in to try and envisage what 'd look like with a flat tummy!

So what do I measure?! I've so far been going for the let it all hang out approach as I figure it's the truth and while I usually try and pull myself in a lttle bit while I'm going about my day to day business I reckon that this is still not really an accurate measurement.

Does anyone else find this?

What do you measure?

GooBeGone

i measure what i normally do throughout the day. i normally walk around holdin my tummy in a little. this is what ppl normally c me as. only when i'm absolutely exhausted do i let my tummy hang out (& that's only after i workout when that happens lol)

happy_jax

I usually measure the middle one out of those...so I am standing straight up tall and not 'puffed out' so to speak (yet not breathing in - totally cheating!!) As you say, this is the posture you try to maintain throughout the day, so this is how you are perceived by others etc.

Although the same as anything else - as long as you do the same thing every time so the results aren't skewed, I'm not sure it matters.

maddox22

Do it standing up straight, but not trying to suck anything in. "Letting it all hang out" is bad posture, so that's not really "true" either.

What's really important, though, is that you're consistent. Since you're (probably) trying to lose inches, rather than hit a certain mark, as long as you measure it the same way every time, you'll be able to see the changes. If you are trying to hit a specific mark (e.g., if your doc told you to try to get your waist to below 30 in), then you'll need more information to know how you should measure it (e.g., refer to the source of that number to find out the way they're expecting you to measure).