5 Ways to Track Your Weight Loss Progress WITHOUT any Fancy Equipment

Weight loss is an ever-changing process so using only one method to monitor your progress to your goal weight is not ideal.

There are so many ways in which to monitor progress! We recommend using more than one method to keep motivation levels up.

Some ways to measure your progress are described below.

01. Keep Track of Your Weight

This is an obvious one. Weight is a good way to measure progress, especially if one of your goals is in fact weight loss, but it should not be used on its own. The reason for this is that as women our weight is constantly fluctuating from week to week because of hormones, hydration levels, and so on. So some weeks we may lose weight, while other weeks we may lose centimeters and not weight.

Judging your progress on weight alone can be demotivating at times. Be careful of becoming fixated on your weight as the only measure as this can undermine your progress.

How to keep track of your weight: Weigh once a week at most. Take your weight first thing in the morning, in as little or as light clothing as possible and barefoot or in socks. Use the same method and wear similar clothing every time you weigh in.

02. Take Monthly Progress photo’s

Progress photos are a fantastic tool as they give us a visual comparison of the changes in our body.

How to take progress photos: Take photo from a range of positions (front view, back view, side view) wearing a bikini, under wear or tight top/shorts. These photos are for you so you can keep them private!

Take your “before” photos and then take photo’s every 4 weeks or month in the same positions for comparison. You will be delighted with the changes!

03. Body measurements

Body measurements are another very useful way to monitor your weight loss. The most common areas of the body to track weight loss is the waist and hip circumference, and sometimes the mid upper arm circumference. These can be done for you by a doctor or other health professional, or you can get a friend to help you. For now, use the waist and hips as your best guide.

How to take body measurements: Using a non-stretch tape measure, measure the circumference of your waist or hip by placing the tape measure flat against the skin with no gap, but also not pulling tight so that it cuts in.

Do not measure over thick clothing e.g. denim.

The waist is measured where your natural waist line falls, between the belly button and rib-cage. If you bend to the side, the crease that forms is your natural waist line. To measure your hips, stand with feet together and measure around the widest part of your hips. The number for both measurements is taken where the end of the tape or “0” point meets the remaining length.

04. Be Aware of Your Clothing

Another method of tracking your progress is how your clothes fit you. You may notice changes in how the sleeves fit, whether your belt needs to be taken in a notch, a pair of pants gets too loose, or you need to buy a smaller dress size. These are good things and are a very motivating way to track your progress

05. Take Note of How you feel

How you physically feel is also a good way to track your progress. As you progress on your diet journey, you will notice changes in how you feel in terms of energy levels, fitness, strength, concentration, emotions etc.

How to: We recommend keeping a diary or journal and writing down how you feel as you progress through the diet. Write down anything positive or negative to keep track.