Pop Quiz - How do YOU track progress?

fifipink
fifipink Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, so I'm curious ... apart from waiting to see the results on the scale, are there other ways that I can track my weight loss progress? I find that the effort I put in every day takes a very very long time to show up on the scale :# It just doesn't balance ha ha!

While I get through the days and wait and hope! for the number changing, I think it would be healthier to focus on something else :D Maybe non scale victories ... I wonder if there are other ways to do this weight loss thing without anxiously waiting for the scale to move!

So, (other than weigh ins) I wonder how do YOU track your progress? And how do you keep motivated day by day?

Replies

  • SaraydaB
    SaraydaB Posts: 120 Member
    Measure yourself, sometimes we see the progress in the inches we lose
    And when your clothes start getting loose
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    My entire experience with weight loss changed when I started paying attention to trends instead of a number at a specific point in time. It's so much less stressful now.
  • ISweat4This
    ISweat4This Posts: 653 Member
    Measurements, photos, the way your clothes fit. Don't give the scale so much power.
  • alondrakayy
    alondrakayy Posts: 304 Member
    Pictures, clothes fit, gym progress, and THEN the scale!
  • Fitnessgirl0913
    Fitnessgirl0913 Posts: 481 Member
    All excellent suggestions above! One thing I have to add is by doing something you have never been able to do before. Last summer (after I lost 80 pounds) my fiancé and I hiked Mt Marcy together (the highest mountain peak in New York State) it took about 8 hours roundtrip and I was sweaty as *kitten* but there is no way I would have been able to do that pre weight loss!
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    The mirror and my clothes.
  • kms234
    kms234 Posts: 132 Member
    My main indicator is how my clothes fit. I've "outgrown" all of my pants so I bought a smaller size. They are snug but it's motivating to get to a point where they fit well. I've noticed the arms in my long sleeve shirts are fitting much better too!.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I'm this weird person who tracks progress by tracking calories. Yes, I weigh in every day and measure once a month, but my only real indicators of progress are my calorie logs and trend weight. Trend weight does not show leaps of progress, it's more gradual and less noticeable, but my calorie logs do. If I ate enough calories to lose a pound, in my head it means my progress is 1 pound, regardless of what the scale says. I've been at this for a good while, so I have fine tuned my intake and expenditure to represent my weight loss pretty accurately, that's why all I need to do to know that I've made progress is look at my calorie data and see how much of a deficit I have achieved. No roller coasters, stalls, or weird data, unless I put it there by eating.
  • fifipink
    fifipink Posts: 7 Member
    These are all great, I'm going to try them all! I'm still a long way off before I notice any change in the mirror though
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    I'm the odd one who weighs daily and that is my goalpost. I use trendweight and just like to see the line going down. I'm down 1.9 from yesterday, but on track for ~1.5 week to week, which is my current goal.
  • MommaGem2017
    MommaGem2017 Posts: 405 Member
    I use my scale every day and track using the Happy Scale app. I also do a little happy dance when my pants get looser.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    The mirror and my clothes.

    This, plus measurement and a weight trending app.
  • Paschen81
    Paschen81 Posts: 151 Member
    Pictures. The mirror doesn't work for me because 1. If I'm depressed my mind sees the reflection as excessively more than what's really there which causes me to be negative to myself and disgusted with myself which then can worsen my depression. 2. If I'm not depressed I tend to see my reflection as being not as bad as it really is which causes me to not be as strict with myself. I started taking pictures at each weigh day and that seems to do the trick... I don't see the mental distortions in picture form that I do in the mirror and I can compare the changes from week to week.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,186 Member
    edited August 2017
    The scale, because I suck at taking measurements, how my clothes fit, and the mirror (with clothes on). Pictures don't work for me.

    Edited to add that I am in maintenance.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I track everything. Weight, guesstimated BF% (good enough for long term trending), measurements, photos, lots of fitness (times, distance, paces, Hr's, effort, weight lifted, reps of things, etc.) and health measurements (resting HR, blood pressure, etc.). I track everything because progress doesn't always show up in one place. And some are slow to show but over time they do. And often even when one thing isn't moving (like weight), something else is (measurement or resting HR or something).
  • Meelisv
    Meelisv Posts: 235 Member
    edited August 2017
    Number on a scale is a proxy, it's just an indicator of some things. Mirror however never lies :D
    Weight trending so is still fun to use though, unless you're very twitchy ;)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I was and still am very process focused...

    FOCUS-on-the-PROCESS-and-you-will-achieve-your-GOALS-300x300.png

    commit-to-the-process-quote.jpg?resize=800%2C800

    quote-every-result-or-goal-you-want-to-achieve-is-preceded-by-a-process-the-secret-to-success-hal-elrod-103-44-35.jpg

    quote-it-s-the-same-with-business-if-you-focus-on-the-goal-and-not-the-process-you-inevitably-yvon-chouinard-76-81-75.jpg

    goal-focus-process.png
  • jennyhart200
    jennyhart200 Posts: 778 Member
    I weigh myself everyday and take pictures every other day so I can look back and see changes. I also use my gym workouts to track my progress (how long I can run, how much I can lift, etc).
  • topomapper
    topomapper Posts: 13 Member
    Too tight pants and see how much muffin is over the top. Scale once a month.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I was and still am very process focused...

    FOCUS-on-the-PROCESS-and-you-will-achieve-your-GOALS-300x300.png

    commit-to-the-process-quote.jpg?resize=800%2C800

    quote-every-result-or-goal-you-want-to-achieve-is-preceded-by-a-process-the-secret-to-success-hal-elrod-103-44-35.jpg

    quote-it-s-the-same-with-business-if-you-focus-on-the-goal-and-not-the-process-you-inevitably-yvon-chouinard-76-81-75.jpg

    goal-focus-process.png

    This is awesome!!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    How long it takes me to climb a hill.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Mirror.. photos...measurements.. scale.. progress in the weight room. To me the scale is important to see a trend overtime in line with my goals (losing, gaining, maintaining etc) but it is not the only measure of progress.

    How do I stay motivated? Results keep me motivated, and loving what I do.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I think that not being able to trust the process, so that you're left to hope that you'll lose weight, and not feel the effort you put in, match your outcome, must be mind-wrecking.

    I'm almost the opposite - baffled by how little effort it takes and how much I get in return - I'm maintaining my weight, but the same applies to weight loss: I make sure I eat correctly (sufficient nutrition every day, the appropriate amount of calories over time); I enjoy what I eat - I aim to make every meal delicious; I weigh myself every day and look at the trend, aim to stay within a range of 6 pounds.

    You want maximum results from minimal effort. (This sentence is so great that I just stole it.)
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    Clothes fitting basically. I've been all the weights one could be in the last 6 years. 193 to 143, then any where between 165 and 150. So, the organized bins of clothes I have at home show me my progress. They range from Size 6 to Size 10. I'm usually in the 10's in the winter, 8's in the summer, and when I'm really motivated I pull my 6's out.
  • amandacalories
    amandacalories Posts: 107 Member
    I weigh everyday and track my measurements. But I also go by how I feel. Not only have I had a nice energy boost and I feel healthier as the weight comes off but just the act of calorie counting makes me feel happy and accomplished. Everyday I complete my log at/under my goal I'm proud of myself even if I don't lose weight immediately. When I wake up in the morning and pick healthy meals or decide to go on a hike to the beach instead of junk food in bed all day I know I've made progress.

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