29 June 2010

Tips Before Starting your Weight Loss Journey

photo of koko in a cabinetI 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

15 comments:

  1. Very good tips. Don't be afraid of the camera though. It is always good to have a before pic. If you don't take a nice before you may regret in the future.
    Thanks so much for guest hosting on my blog!

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  2. Angie: I know, but at the time it would have been a very scary picture and yes, NOW, I regret not taking one.
    You're welcome and thanks again for asking :)

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  3. Very good tips once again. I have a before picture from awhile ago and can't even stand to look at it yet. I'm hoping one day I'll feel comfortable enough to look back at what was and enjoy what is although I still am not where I want to be.

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  4. Very good tips for starting out. I need to start facing my scale of doom since I've been avoiding it for far too long.

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  5. BeadedTail: I wish I had a picture of how I looked, because it was pretty bad. Because I'm so cheap, I still wear the shirts I did when I was heavy and before, they just barely fit, but now they pretty much swim on me.
    I'm still trying to lose those last 20 pounds, but they just don't want to come off. However, since I continue to strength train and I am losing inches, I've decided that I may just end up around 200 pounds (I really don't want to lose the muscle weight).

    Ann: Our Scale of Doom sits in the darkened hallway beckoning me to step on it, but I try to resist, because the news is usually not very good these days (see reasons in above comment).

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  6. Good tips, but I'd rather just hide in the cupboard.

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  7. Bossy Betty: Thanks, I have to admit that the cupboard is more fun then exercising at times.

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  8. Love the blog and love the kitties!

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  9. Kirsty: Thank you for stopping by :)

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  10. Ugh, a before shot is a scary thought. I am sure that you have some old clothes to remind you though.

    I love the new look! I have not been by lately because I am struggling to regain control of my stolen blogs, websites, Entrecard account.

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  11. Melissa Erickson: Yes, in fact I'm still wearing my old shirts (too cheap to buy new ones).
    Thank you.
    What happened??? If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know!

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  12. My websites and other accounts were stolen by someone in Vietnam. I got back most of my accounts and just have to get back my Your Fun Family blog now.

    I just do not get how my life is really so interesting that someone else would actually want to be me. LOL

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  13. Melissa Erickson: That is just terrible! I hope that you were able to report them to someone (especially their affiliates). The people who do this sort of thing are no-talent hacks and probably couldn't even write a grocery list. Please keep me posted as to how things are going. A good how-to article on the steps you took to get your sites back would be very helpful and would be great payback to the bozos (using family-friendly terms here) who did this.

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  14. Saw your post on Angie's page! Way to go, I am following you as we speak!

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  15. Hungry For Living: Thank you very much. I'm on my way to visit you :)

    Have a great weekend!

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