How do you measure success? BMI? Body Fat %? Weight? Feeling?

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  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
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    1. How I feel (energy levels, mostly - but my legs, in particular, feel different when I'm fit; I can't explain it; they just feel like they want to move).
    2. How clothing fits. Fitting into something you haven't worn in years is always nice. Having to buy new pants because the current ones are falling off is also good for the ego (if not for the pocketbook).
    3. Weight. I'm still heading down toward the healthy BMI range and am still 10 pounds heavier than my goal weight. I weigh daily - not because the daily number matters, but because weighing daily numbs me to fluctuations. Stand on scale; enter number on MFP; FitBit grabs it; TrendWeight grabs it; move on with my day.

    Body fat percentage would be a better thing to follow than weight, but I don't have an accurate way to measure it.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    Performance first
    Mirror a distant 2nd
    Performance determined by strength, work capacity & endurance (while avoiding injury)
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    First: Nothing objectively wrong with weighing daily. I do that to get data points, and to not fear the scale, and to be on top of things. Just to pile on :p

    I have never dieted aggressively - aggressive dieting, objectively, is a mistake - but I've lost 50 pounds, still keeping them off two years later, I am more active, and it's easier to find cute clothes.

    For me, success is being more organized, having improved my relationship with food, and that cravings are almost gone.
  • fbchick51
    fbchick51 Posts: 240 Member
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    I measure success on everything really. Lose a pound? SUCCESS!!! Lose an inch? SUCCESS!! Go down a clothing size? SUCCESS!!! Wake up this morning feeling great about myself? HUGE SUCCESS!!! Walking a mile easily without hurting? SUCCESS!!! Walking 5 miles easily without hurting? Still SUCCESS!!

    My top priority? That keeps changing as I change.

  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I am not at my ultimate goal weight but I feel successful today because the quality of my life is much better.
    There are a lot of successes.
    I've been logging food every day for 905 days. That is a long time for me to stick to something.
    I weigh less than I did 905 days ago. I am wearing a smaller clothing size. I am wearing my wedding ring that did not fit for years.
    When I started I had to do seated workouts. Exercise was really hard for me. I can do regular workouts now.
    I am in less pain. I can keep up with my family. I do more things. I am sleeping better. My energy level is better.

    Getting to a weight within the healthy weight range and maintaining that is my ultimate goal. Meeting that goal will be another success for me.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    Pictures where i look hot AF are my definition off success.
  • Running_and_Coffee
    Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
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    The way I feel at the end of the day. That feeling of being at peace with what choices I made is priceless. (Even if it's a calculated splurge, knowing I can "afford" that because of how I ate the rest of the week.)

    Oh, and yeah, I care about what I weigh, too. Not just how I look or how my clothes feel, but the number. Can't pretend otherwise.
  • mengqiz86
    mengqiz86 Posts: 176 Member
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    Tape measure and body fat caliper. I haven't weighed myself for a year. but i have certainly dropped inches and BF%. I get unnecessarily upset over fluctuations of the scale; some times the disappointment will mess up my diet, which is counter-productive. Many people are not as affected by those fluctuations, in which case body weight monitoring would make sense.
  • fizzletto
    fizzletto Posts: 252 Member
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    I weigh myself every day, but I don't take those weights at face value- I use the Happy Scale app to predict what my true weight is, and I focus on the trend line rather than what the scale says, because it's so unpredictable (water weight, hormones, etc).

    I also use a tape measure about once every month to measure my hips, bust and waist!
  • BlueberryJoghurt
    BlueberryJoghurt Posts: 67 Member
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    I weigh daily and tbh every somewhat grams are a small success! But I do also know if I didnt lose, why that happened and it doesnt discourage me. Im also not an emotional eater so it doesnt bother.

    Longterm success usually trying on clothes that had been a little tight or too small (actually just did that with a dress, it fits perfectly now, woohoo) and mainly how I feel.
  • heiliskrimsli
    heiliskrimsli Posts: 735 Member
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    Weight, body fat and athletic performance (running and lifting).

    The whole looking good just sort of follows the rest of that.
  • Rincewind_1965
    Rincewind_1965 Posts: 639 Member
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    Scale and mirror are fine, what mattered most too me were those NSV's (Non-Scale-Victories) that made a "normal" life possible again: Seeing the feet without having to use a mirror, coming up from lacing the shoes without a deep-red head, being able to wash the back without a brush ... it's the little things that make the process so valuable and precious.
  • Hypsibius
    Hypsibius Posts: 207 Member
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    Mycophilia wrote: »
    Hypsibius wrote: »
    So right now after 6 weeks of aggressive dieting and exercise, my BMI is 26.8, and my body fat percentage (according to my tape measure and this Army body fat calculator is 25 percent)

    Curious as to what folks are using as their measure of success or measure of most importance? I've probably been weighing myself a bit too much (which I know that objectively, weighing yourself daily is a mistake).

    What about you?

    I strongly disagree with this. Weighing yourself daily allows for more data points, which will give a more complete picture of how your weight is changing. Whether that be plotting a trend line or taking weekly/monthly averages.

    Personally I only track my weight, how I look and calorie intake.

    I want to say I really appreciate this. I started weighing myself regularly at the same time every day, and far from being discouraging it's been a great way to understand how my weight shifts throughout the day and progress from week to week.
  • nissarayna
    nissarayna Posts: 70 Member
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    How I feel and when my clothing has to be downsized, I know I'm doing alright. I weigh once a week, but considering doing it every 2 weeks instead and letting my clothes tell me I'm doing ok.

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