Despite your commitment and effort, the numbers on the scale may not always reflect the results you were hoping for. This can force you into a spiral of self-doubt where you’ll start questioning if your workouts are intense enough or if maybe your diet isn’t strict enough.
We’ve all been there. These moments are more common than you’d think, and while they may not be obvious, there are many ways you can keep track of your weight loss goals other than busting out your bathroom scale. Below are some commonly overlooked indicators that you can use to monitor the progress of your fitness journey.
You Feel Good
When you’re focused on your weight loss goals, you may often get too caught up in how you look that you forget to pay attention to how you feel. Listen closely to your body and focus intently on how you feel. If you’re feeling lighter, more energized and refreshed, and less stressed about your physical health and well being, these are all positive indicators that you’re doing something right.
You’ve Found the Right Balance
Aside from your workouts, your lifestyle and daily habits can directly affect your fitness goals. You may be unconsciously indulging in some unhealthy habits that are keeping you from reaching your goals, which is why sometimes the best indicator of fitness success is that you’ve simply found the right balance.
To achieve that you’ll have to take a closer look at your daily routine and see what you can do better. You can also check out the health blog at Shape Bloom to know more about the commonly-made mistakes that you can be unknowingly making and get more information on how to fix them. Some of the most common habits that have negative effects include starving yourself, stepping on the scale multiple times per day or ignoring it entirely, and working out incessantly.
You know you’re doing the right thing when instead of allowing yourself to be consumed by such behaviors, you find yourself enjoying the occasional pizza for dinner from time to time or skipping a workout every now and then without beating yourself up about it.
You’re Beating Your Personal Records
If you need to see numeric evidence to measure your success, compare your previous personal records to your current ones. By focusing on your personal records rather than the scale, you can have physical proof of your progress. Whether you’ve added extra weight to the bar during your last visit to the gym or are running another mile or holding your plank for 10 extra seconds, focusing on these details can truly do wonders for your fitness journey going forward.
Your Clothes Fit Better
Even if the numbers on the scale are telling you that you aren’t losing weight, this doesn’t mean you’re not losing body fat. Sometimes your body will go through a period where it loses inches instead of pounds, which is a huge victory, so if those extra few pounds are too stubborn to move, put on your favorite pair of jeans and see where you fall on the denim spectrum. By comparing how your clothes fit now versus how they fit when you first started your fitness journey, you’ll get a better idea of how your body has transformed over time.
Tackling Your Daily Tasks is Easier
Last but not least, paying attention to how you feel doing everyday tasks is perhaps the most prominent method of measuring your fitness success. This is because these tasks are part of your daily life and can consequently provide the most accurate insight into your general health and overall wellbeing.
To easily measure how far you’ve come in your fitness journey, be more aware of how your body reacts during your everyday tasks. Whether it’s cleaning up after the kids or taking the dog out for a walk, tackling mundane chores should typically become easier as you lose weight. If you’re no longer huffing and puffing your way up and down the stairs or feel like taking a nap after mowing the lawn, then you’re definitely doing something right.
Even when you’re doing everything right, the numbers on your scale can be discouraging at times. This is one of the hardest parts of any weight loss journey. Finding enough rewarding sources of motivation to keep you going can be tough, which is why you need to remember that the numbers on your scale aren’t the only indicators of your fitness success. Use the aforementioned methods to monitor your weight loss goals and keep yourself motivated when your stubborn scale isn’t budging and continue chasing after your fitness goals.
