How to Track Waist Size

If you are trying to lose weight, you know how frustrating the scale can be. If you have salty food the night before, you can put on a few pounds over night. Another way to measure your progress is by measuring your waist. If it is growing, then you need to change your habits, if it is shrinking, then you are on the right track.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Tape measure
• Chart

1. Create a simple chart on your computer. This can be done in a word type file, excel or in a calendar program. In one column the date should appear, in the next column your waist size and (if you wish) the final column should be a plus or minus tally.

2. Strip down with your bad self. This is something you are going to want to do in the privacy of your own home, as it's not to cool to start taking measurements in the locker room at the gym.

3. Wrap the tape measure around your waist. Start at your hip bone and wrap the tape measure around your waist until it passes even with your navel and completes the circle. Make sure that the tape measure is even or parallel with the floor.

4. Write down the answer on your graph or table that you have created. Keep track each day to see if you are achieving your goal.

Tips & Warnings

• Take measurements of other pieces of your body as well. This is especially helpful if you are weight training. Because muscle weighs more than fat, many people actually gain weight while in the midst of a weight training program.

Resources

• Great article on tracking your waist size
• Calculate a healthy waist to hip ratio.

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[mr-mac]

on 4/25/2009 Thanks for the link bohemian, I checked it out and its great! Love that site. But I think its www.webfitnesstools.com (you had a typo). I am tracking all kinds of things on there now.

[bohemain]

on 4/16/2009 I do mine across the belly-button (good reference point, it I have been tracking my waist measurement in a notebook over the past few months. Its kind of nice to be able to see how it changes (shrinking so far, knocking on wood!). A few weeks ago I found a free tracker at webfitnesstols.com, kind of cool (graphs it out and stuff).