Tips Before Starting your Weight Loss Journey

I was asked by Angie at Angie's Healthy Living Blog to be a guest author on her site today. In the article I wrote, I will be sharing my motivations for beginning my weight loss journey. So, with this theme in mind, I have decided to dust-off an article I wrote a while back and share it with you once again (my way of saying I'm too lazy to actually sit down and write a new one).

As you begin your new fitness routine, there are a few things that you might want to do. By taking these few extra steps, you will be able to monitor your weight-loss much more effectively. These few steps should take you only a few minutes to complete and by doing so, you will have those all-important baseline measurements that you can use to show off to your friends at a later time.

What you need


• Notebook


• Scale of Doom


• Tape measure (the flexible kind used in clothing stores and in crafts)


• Camera (optional) (Very optional for me)

• Firstly, you will want to mount the dreaded Scale of Doom and record your weight in the notebook (at most, do this only once a day and at the same time each day). You will want a good and accurate scale for this. Too late, I found out that my scale was a good 16 pounds off from the one at my doctor's office. So, if you don't have an accurate scale, you should really consider making the investment and getting one


• Secondly, if you do want to use a body fat calculator, try to find one that takes into account your measurements. This will help you receive a more accurate reading (I have included a link to one at the bottom of the page)


• Next, take measurements of your neck, legs, arms, waist, and hips


• If you are particularly brave, you may want to take some "before" pictures


• Repeat the last two steps every few weeks or so

As you begin to lose fat, your body will eliminate the fat first from your legs, arms, neck, and back (believe it or not), everywhere but where we want to lose it: the stomach. There will be times when you will think your scale is broken, because it is not showing any weight loss. However, with these measurements in hand you will be able to see that, although the scale says you may not be losing pounds, you may be able to see the difference in your measurements. Also, if you begin to feel frustrated at the lack of any difference in your stomach, you will be able to use the measurements you took to see your progress.

Well, I've bored you all enough, so I'll just end by saying that even though taking your measurements may seem like a little thing, as you progress through your weight-loss journey, you will be glad you did.

Body Fat Calculator