Neighbor News
Tracking Progress for Your New Years Fitness Program
Know what matters and what doesn't when deciding if your program is working
It's that time of year when so many decide that they've only got a few months left to get in shape for the Summer that's set to come way too soon for their comfort. Because of this, gyms are banking on those hopes that you'll jump on board and crowd their space for a couple of months before deciding to hang it up, telling yourself you don't have the time or energy to "fit it in". But, if you happen to be one of the few that do decide to grind it out, be very careful with what you choose to gauge your progress. Too many people are told to focus on weight as the main indicator of how their fitness program is progressing. This is wrong, at a base level. There's a number out there that doctors are using, god knows why, and it's called your BMI - or body mass index. This number is useless, almost as useless as a scale when it comes to tracking yourself. What you need is an accurate way of measuring your body fat percentage. Some scales will do it when you stand on them, though it's not always overly accurate, it's better than any other systems of measurement for our purposes. You see, your body fat percentage is a relative number. Your calorie intake, whether to gain weight or lose weight... or even to stay the same, is based entirely on your body fat percentage. There are formulas that take various goals into account, which I won't go into. But know, those formulas are 100% reliant on body fat percentage. A 5 foot 8 inch girl that weighs 150 will not eat the same number of calories as another girl the exact same height and weight, simply because their body fat percentage is probably going to be different. Know that when you stand on a scale on day 1 of your fitness journey and weigh 150, yet go back on day 30 and still weigh 150, it may not be bad. Your first emotion, if you were relying on scale weight, would be to think your program isn't working and stop. Had you used body fat percentage measurements, your weight may have stayed the same while your body fat percentage may have gone down. Meaning you've added some lean muscle mass. This isn't a bad thing. In the end, if your goal is to lose weight, the calories based on your body fat percentage will get you there. You can't arbitrarily use a diet that someone else used successfully and assume it'll work for you unless you're bf% is similar to theirs. So, rather than focus on numbers on a scale, focus on the chart I'm attaching to this piece. If you get your body fat percentage measured and wonder what to do with that number, reach out to me and I'll be more than happy to tell you how to convert it into the amount of calories you should be consuming. And, by the way, if you were to go by the BMI measurements... I'd be considered 30 lbs. overweight. I'm 175 with a body fat percentage of 12.
