I am a Nutrisystem blogger. I am provided with a meal plan in exchange for updating about my journey. All opinions are my own.
For this week’s Nutrisystem update I thought I would share how many ways there are to track weight loss, health or diet progress.
Ryan’s main goal is to get healthier. When he first started Nutrisystem it was to lose weight. However, now that he’s lost over 60 pounds that has shifted a little bit. He is much happier with his appearance now than he was in the past. He’s now feeling like his goal should be less about losing more weight, and more about building muscle. He started working out when he began Nutrisystem and focused on Cardio because it burns calories quickly. However, part of his goal for being healthier is to add muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat so generally speaking people choose to either focus on losing weight, or gaining muscle because doing both at once is contradictory.
Ryan is working on doing more body weight workouts, so his weight has been at a plateau or nearly a plateau for a while now. If he were only judging his progress by the scale, that would be disappointing. However, he is tracking his progress in other ways which helps him to recognize the progress he is making. Even if you are not trying to build muslce it makes sense to track progress in multiple ways so you can see if you are truly progressing and if so, how.
Ways to track progress:
- Weigh yourself regularly for weight loss or gain.
- Measure yourself regularly for inches lost or gained.
- Track your workout length, number of reps, what weights you are using, etc to measure endurance.
- Measure body fat percentages to track body fat and muscle percentages.
- Keep track of your diet including any slip-ups.
- Watch your clothing size and fit to measure overall body changes.
These are just a few of the things that we keep an eye on. We recently got a scale that uses an app to track weight change over time. It also estimates body fat and muscle changes. Ryan has kept track of his exercise progress and once doing a certain number of reps, or a certain weight gets significantly easier he knows it’s time to step up again. While the scale hasn’t moved much, his endurance for exercise and weight lifting has which shows he is hitting his goals.
What ways do you track your health progress outside of the scale?
Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.
This post currently has 7 responses.
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Deborah D
I go by the way my clothes fit & look.
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ellen beck
Besides the scale which I dont think I have gotten on since the Dr office, I go by the way my clothes fit. I know when I have went over board.
I think Ryan is doing so well. Going to strength is a good thing. As we age, so much is lost. I mean cardio is great but strength is what keeps us going in my opinion.
Keep it up Ryan! -
Sarah L
I track it by how well I feel.
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Michelle S
We have health risk assessments at work that we do once a year. It looks at numerous factors including weight, measurements, blood work, etc. I try to improve my score each year so it’s a good way to see progress.
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Lynne B
Congratulations to both of you on your progress. These are great ways to track how you’re doing.
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Amber Ludwig
I always base mine on how my clothes fit and how I feel and look!! I can tell significantly in my complexion and clothing whether or not my health/weight/wellness is doing well and in check!!
I am so glad Ryan is doing so well. I know that at some point the scale is not the measurement. I am glad he is doing well with his exercise.