Personally I think measuring your body & keeping track of of inches lost is a great motivational tool. For me I often see a decrease of inches more than pounds. Partly because I incorporate weights into my fitness plan and I know I am gaining lean muscle as I'm losing fat, so sometimes the scale may not show me a big loss in pounds.
I decided to share how to accurately measure yourself. I enter my measurements on an Excel spreadsheet then each week I update it the same day I weigh myself.
Neck - Standing, measure your neck at its largest girth, right over the Adam's apple.
Shoulder - Standing, can either be measured as a straight line from the largest points on each shoulder across the chest or as a girth measurement all the way around the body.
Bicep - Measure at its largest girth, can be taken relaxed with arms at side, relaxed with arm bent, flexed with arm bent or all three.
Chest - Standing, measure with breath out just above the nipple.
Natural Waist - Standing, measure at the narrowest point or at the midway point between the top of the hip bone and the bottom of the rib cage. (i use my belly button as the point to measure)
Lower Waist - One inch down from the narrowest part of your torso. (or 1" down from your belly button measurement)
Hips - Measure at the largest girth, where the butt is protruding the greatest.
Thigh - Standing, measure at the largest girth, just below the butt.
Calf - Seated if you are measuring yourself or standing if you have a partner, measure at its largest girth.
My personal measurements as of yesterday 1/4/10
Neck - 13"
Shoulder - 44"
Bicep - 13"
Chest - 38"
Natural Waist - 34"
Lower Waist - 37"
Hips - 40.5"
Thigh - 22"
Calf - 13.5"
Honestly this was harder for me than the scale. By the scale and the BMI index I am just on the border of being normal/overweight. However, when I actually see the measurements and to know what I used to measure is a smack in the face. Somehow I'm able to justify that I'm really not that overweight when I step on the scale. Well for me the truth is in the measurements *sigh*
Posts
8 words of encouragement:
I forgot to do the measurements. Guess I've got some work to do tonight! Love your blog.
You can add me to Lose It Bitches blogroll!
http://jqbrat.wordpress.com
JQ - you're on the list now :-)
thanks for the tip! i'm going to do my measurements tonight.
thanks for coming by and checking out my blog...i'm following you now!
I've never heard of measuring just below the natural waist, but that makes sense. I definitely tend to hold weight in that area.
I just discovered your blog-love the title!
Thanks for posting exactly where we are suppose to measure! I think taking these are very important! Sometime when we dont see movement on the scale we do see inches lost which is great motivation. I try to take measurements every 3 months- and I think your post reminded me its time!
I also read your other posts and I find it interesting everyones height and goal weights. I am struggling with picking a weight in my range but decided on the higher end of the scale because I have never seen any # close to the range for myself EVER! lol
Thanks for finding me! I love all of the blog support! :)
I can't measure right now...I just can't. Good for you though!!
I wish I had recorded my measurements when I very first started losing weight! It is such a good idea.
Post a Comment