Measuring Progress

However you decide to measure your physical progress, never use the scale as an indicator. Your weight does not reflect how healthy you are or the progress you've made. When you step on the scale, your weight reflects the combined total of both your lean body weight (muscle, bone, organs, fluids) and body fat weight. Two people with identical body weights do not have the same body composition; they could, indeed, have entirely different body types. For example a 170-pound man might have 60 pounds of body fat and 110 pounds of lean body mass. A healthier, more muscular man might only have 25 pounds of body fat and 145 pounds of lean body mass. Even though these two individuals weigh the same, one is in much better shape than the other.

Using the scale to measure your progress gives you no information about the body composition (fat vs. muscle) changes that are actually occurring. The scale may show that you've lost seven pounds, but it can't tell you that half of the weight was muscle and water, not fat. Similarly, people become discouraged when they haven't lost any weight, even though they have actually lost pounds of fat and replaced them with pounds of firm, fat-burning muscle.

Developing healthier eating and physical activity habits will most likely result in a loss of body fat even though the scale may indicate that you weigh the same. Learn to use other methods of determining body composition and pay more attention to improvements in how you feel, in your self-esteem, and in your physical appearance.

Height/weight charts and other tables such as the BMI (Body Mass Index: weight in kilograms divided by height in meters, squared) have similar limitations when used as an indicator of progress towards a healthier lifestyle for several reasons. First, these formulas are not always related to how fat you are since they don't take into account body composition/fat distribution. Many people who are muscular or short and stocky have a high BMI, even though they are not necessarily fat or at high risk for disease. Second, the BMI is only appropriate for adults 20-65 years of age. It cannot account for patterns of growth in adolescents or in the elderly, who may decrease in height with age. Third, the focus is still on changing one's weight to produce a lower BMI (since it's not possible to increase one's height). This continues to promote weight change as the ideal way to improve health.

Don't forget to notice and acknowledge improvements in energy, performance, self-esteem, and the many other benefits you'll gain from this healthier lifestyle: improvements in health risk factors and medical conditions, improved quality of life and psychological functioning, healthier eating, and more enjoyable physical activity. Good luck: I hope you enjoy all the wonderful benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle.

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