How measuring your bodyfat percentage is the key to being happier
Forget BMI, forget scales, forget it all. The only thing you really need to measure your success in weight loss is good old-fashioned body fat calipers.
In the period of a single day you can consume enough food and liquid to throw your measured weight off by 5lbs, easily. If you are tracking your weight loss by this measurement, then you are already behind the ball.
Invest in a set of body fat calipers and have your partner or friend schedule you for a weekly check-in. Every Friday works for me. With the correct diet and training it is not uncommon to drop between 0.5% and 1% body fat per week.
To put this into perspective, a fitness model (woman) can sit at around 18% body fat, while the average woman is between 25% and 30% body fat.
25 minus 18 is what? 7. Seven weeks with the correct diet and training and you are suddenly in the league of fitness models.
For men, the average body fat is around 20% and to make your six packs shine you need to be under 10% body fat.
By using the body fat measurement you can put easily achievable targets on your weight loss. We have all dieted and trained before and just used a scale as a measurement. And we all know that sometimes we can still look fat and be extremely under weight—they call this “skinny fat”.
Scales do not take into account your muscle mass, which is key, and with proper training, you should be increasing mass. I myself have lost 10% body fat in the period of 9 weeks and my weight stayed the same, yet all my clothes are smaller around the waist.
Good luck measuring!