01/2014 - The truth "bathroom scales"

I tell all my personal training clients, if you have a set of bathroom scales, throw them out, your body's weight can fluctuate by up to 2.5 kilos throughout the day.  Most people have their motivation immediately depleted if they stand on the bathroom scales and see a number they weren't anticipating. Weighing yourself is not the best indicator of your progress in relation to losing body fat.  

If you have a muscle mass, more than the average person, than you won't want to use the BMI system either as you will be devastated to see you are either overweight or obese, regardless that your last skin fold test was under 10%.

For most of us, not all, remember not one fix will work for all, we are individual and need an individual approach. The waist hip ratio is a reasonable indicator to see our progress.

The best way to measure your body fat loss progress; your feeling about yourself, regardless of the number on a set of scales, your clothes size reducing, your increased ability to move without feeling like you couldn't blow out a candle if your life depended on it and what you see, or for a more accurate result, what someone you trust sees when they look at you, especially those that don't see you regularly.

Waist to hip ratio

Aim: The purpose of this test to determine the ratio of waist circumference to the hip circumference, as this has been shown to be related to the risk of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gall stones, breathing problems and certain cancers.

Description / procedure: A simple calculation of the measurements of the waist girth (The waist measurement is taken at the narrowest waist level, or if this is not apparent, at the midpoint between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone), divided by the hip girth. (The hip girth measurement is taken over minimal clothing, at the level of the greatest protrusion of the buttock muscles. The subject stands erect with their weight evenly distributed on both feet and legs slightly parted, making sure not tense the buttock muscles.

Scoring: The table below gives general guidelines for acceptable levels for hip to waist ratio. You can use any units for the measurements (e.g. cm or inches), as it is only the ratio that is important.