What do you measure?

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blnorman29
blnorman29 Posts: 148 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Since I've started this journey, I've only been recording what the scale says. I haven't been doing much exercise so it's mostly been diet, but I'm about to restart 30DS, some walking, and a few strength training exercises. I know the scale won't necesarily reflect my progress because of building muscle. So I want to keep track of inches lost as well.

All that to ask, what to keep track of? MFP has 3 different categories, but I've seen lots of other measurements on the forums. What should I measure?

Replies

  • Cat52169
    Cat52169 Posts: 277 Member
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    I measure my hips, bust and waist. I started because I didn't see the weight coming of the scale but I felt better so I started measuring so I didn't get discouraged.
  • cynfullcyn
    cynfullcyn Posts: 81 Member
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    Neck
    Arms
    Chest
    Waist
    Hips
    Thighs
  • melmck2011
    melmck2011 Posts: 56
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    Bust
    Waist
    Hips
    You can also do bicep, thigh, neck....these are all places that inches will come off of.
  • DiabeticAlien
    DiabeticAlien Posts: 240 Member
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    Neck
    Arms
    Chest
    Waist
    Hips
    Thighs

    Arms, like...bicep area?
  • SSampley
    SSampley Posts: 153 Member
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    I measure the middle of my upper arm, middle of my thigh, waist, bust, and I am not sure if this is what your "suppose to do" but I measure for my hips, what I call my fat! or uniboob, it is that fat pouch that is below my belly button..I just figure thats the part I want to lose so I am happy anytime an inch leaves from there!!
  • lodicox7
    lodicox7 Posts: 101 Member
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    Mostly I measure my weight and keep track of my BMI. I do have starting measurements for my neck, waist and hips, but I've found those areas aren't changing anywhere nearly as rapidly as my weight is. My neck is very thin already and I carry most of my weight in my hips, so I think losing inches might be one of the later things to change for me. Basically, I stopped because the scale was encouraging, while the tape measure was discouraging.

    Everybody is different, and I'm sure other people might say the exact opposite. Just find what works for you as an encouraging factor. :)
  • Amo_Angelus
    Amo_Angelus Posts: 604 Member
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    I measure wait, hips and thighs because those are my problem areas.
  • Myobi
    Myobi Posts: 129 Member
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    I measure bust, waist at bellybutton, smallest part of waist, hips, and the middle of each thigh. For the 30-Day Shred, I measure on day one of each new level. I'm doing Ripped in 30 right now, but the 30-Day Shred is a GREAT workout.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    You can customize what you measure on MFP. Just go to Check In, Change Measurements, and add a new one.

    I measure my waist, hips, chest (under the bust), and bust.

    When I first opened the thread, I thought we would be talking about food measurements, since I do quite a bit of measuring what I eat/drink.
  • clioandboy
    clioandboy Posts: 963 Member
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    you can add what you want to measure on the site, I measure, are you ready for this....

    neck, upper boob, full boob, under boob, waist, hips, full bum, right thigh, left thigh, right bicep, left bicep, weight body fat %, water% and muscle %

    and that is all lol!!!!! and i am noticing a difference with the shred!
  • Kalrez
    Kalrez Posts: 655 Member
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    I added measurements to the MFP list. I track:

    Arms (where the batflap is, lol, left & right measurements added)
    Thighs (same as arms, inner thigh where they are widest)
    Bust (bra on, across the nipple)
    Waist (smallest point, just above my belly button)
    Hips (at my widest point, right across my crotch)
    BF%

    I'm thinking about adding more more detailed measurements by breaking down the waist and hip measurements into multiple ones. But we'll see about that.
  • cynfullcyn
    cynfullcyn Posts: 81 Member
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    Neck
    Arms
    Chest
    Waist
    Hips
    Thighs

    Arms, like...bicep area?


    yes bicep area but dont flex when you measure
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
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    Upper arm, right (I'm right handed)
    Bust
    Chest just below bust
    Natural waist (labeled "spare tire area" in my early records)
    Waist at belly button
    Hips
    Thigh, right

    The upper torso measurements were very important early on because I lost the weight from the top down and wouldn't have thought much was happening if I'd had only the waist and hip measurements to go by.
  • blnorman29
    blnorman29 Posts: 148 Member
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    Thanks for all the suggestions, I made a spreadsheet. Lol Can't wait to start populating it.

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