How to measure yourself

When trying to diet, we're all familiar with using body weight as a way of measuring success. While this remains the most popular way to track the progress of your weight management programme, another effective and very encouraging method is to use body measurements. This is especially motivating for the weeks when the scales seem to stick! After all, your body shape and size can change without it being reflected on the weighing scales.

If you have increased your exercise level, you may be losing body fat and gaining muscle - counteracting any fat weight loss with muscle weight gain (which is always a good thing)! Muscle is a metabolically active tissue which means it burns calories, compared to fat which does not. So it stands to reason that the greater the percentage of lean muscle in your body the better, as it has the effect of increasing your metabolic rate - even if it does weigh more!

So we always encourage you to measure as well as weigh as this will give you more encouragement to keep focused on your goal. The most important thing is to make sure you measure your body correctly and in the same position each time so you are tracking your progress accurately.

Tips when measuring yourself

• Keep the tape measure level when wrapping it around various body parts.
• Some parts of your body can be awkward to measure correctly by yourself so get someone to help if you're struggling, to ensure you're doing it in the correct position each time.
• Always use the right side of your body when measuring your upper arm, thigh and calf for consistency (it's easy to forget which side you last measured).
• Make sure you relax for a more accurate measurement - tensing your muscles or breathing in may skew the result.
• Keep a record of your measurements and update it regularly - we recommend monthly but every two weeks is fine if you can't wait that long.

When you join the Nutracheck Food Diary service, as well as having the weekly weigh-in function, there is also the option to keep a record of your various body measurements. You can view a personal graph that displays your progress so you can easily see at a glance how different body measurements are changing and over what time period.

If you'd like to start tracking the success of your diet with body measurements, you can try the Nutracheck Food Diary service (with Body Measurement Tracker) free for 5 days. Get your personal profile and start today - don't worry, no credit card is required for the free trial!

Check out the Nutracheck Guide to Measuring Yourself

See full size measuring guide