{"id":48249,"date":"2016-03-16T07:15:13","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T11:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=48249"},"modified":"2021-11-18T11:22:35","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T16:22:35","slug":"weight-loss-success-non-scale-victories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/weight-loss-success-non-scale-victories\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Awesome Ways to Measure Your Non-Scale Victories"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"12
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The scale is a powerful tool. When you\u2019re losing weight, it\u2019s oh-so-satisfying to see those numbers go down. But when you\u2019re fresh off a wedding weekend with your college friends in Cabo, stepping on the scale can feel like a form of self-induced torture. (No matter how hard you tried to resist those extra servings of guacamole<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Luckily, you don\u2019t need the scale to dictate whether your weight makes you worthy of a celebration. Instead, try these 12 tests and tricks to assess your off-the-scale victories \u2014 and jump for joy accordingly.<\/p>\n

12 Non-Scale Ways to Track Weight Loss Success\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. Track a healthy habit.
\n<\/strong>Your weight isn\u2019t the only thing that\u2019s a-changin\u2019! Instead of just keeping track of the pounds you\u2019re losing, try keeping a record of all the awesome things you\u2019re <\/span>adding<\/em> to your life. \u201cPick a healthy habit, like eating vegetables with every meal, and track your consistency,\u201d says Brynn Putnam, founder of Refine Method in NYC.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 20 Meal Prep Tips from the Best Preppers We Know<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Take progress photos.
\n<\/strong>Yup, it\u2019s <\/span>selfie time<\/a>. Take a photo of yourself \u2014 ideally wearing the same outfit, standing the same way, and in the same place \u2014 once a month or every few weeks. \u201cThis will help you see the changes you might not notice when you\u2019re looking at yourself every day,\u201d says Daily Burn<\/a>\u00a0Senior Fitness\/Nutrition Coach Chris Mosier. And consider ditching the term \u2018before\u2019 and \u2018after.\u2019 \u201cFitness is a lifelong process,\u201d says Mosier. \u201cSaying \u2018before\u2019 and \u2018after\u2019 implies we\u2019re done. But we\u2019re always improving.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Check in on your skin.
\n<\/strong>Forget BB creams and freaky-looking facemasks: One of the best ways to get a natural-looking glow is to just exercise and eat well. \u201cPeople look their most attractive after a workout,\u201d says personal trainer and creator of HIIT<\/a>! IT Daphnie Yang. \u201cWorking out out makes you sweat, which [helps] detoxify the body, ultimately leading to improved skin.\u201d (Just be sure to shower as soon as possible after a major sweat session to avoid pore-clogging buildup.) After a few weeks of exercising and eating a plant-heavy diet, you\u2019ll likely start to notice major improvements in your skin.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>19 Reasons to Work Out (Beyond the Perfect Body)<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Take an everyday activity assessment test.
\n<\/strong>If you walk up a flight of stairs regularly \u2014 the subway steps, for example \u2014 check in every few weeks to see how the ascent feels. \u201cI encourage my clients to focus less on the numbers on the scale and more on how they feel,\u201d says Kelly Hogan, MS, RD at the Clinical Nutrition Coordinator at the Dubin Breast Center of the Tisch Cancer Institute of The Mount Sinai Hospital. \u201cEating real, whole foods<\/a> and exercising regularly often translates to having more energy throughout the day and less crashing in the afternoon or evening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check in with yourself when you\u2019re doing the things you already do every day \u2014 like playing with your kids or walking up that flight of stairs \u2014 and compare how you feel today to how you felt a month or two ago. When you reach the top of the flight and you\u2019re not winded or don\u2019t have to stop and \u201ccheck your phone\u201d (translation: pause to catch your breath), you\u2019re doing it right!<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Daily Burn 365: New Workouts, 7 Days a Week<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Embark on a benchmark test.
\n<\/strong>\u201cBenchmark testing consists of doing a challenge and marking down your results, then returning to that challenge in four weeks to retest and see where you\u2019re at,\u201d says Mosier. It can be anything from seeing <\/span>how many burpees<\/a> or squats you can do in two minutes to seeing how fast you can run a mile. (Or, and yes we\u2019re biased\u00a0\u2014\u00a0trying the challenges in Daily Burn\u2019s Black Fire videos<\/a>.) \u201cIt\u2019s a great way to see progress over time,\u201d says Mosier.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Step into your old jeans.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s possible to reduce your body fat percentage and weigh the same, especially if you\u2019re losing fat and gaining lean muscle.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We all dream of the day we can finally fit back<\/a> into those jeans we\u2019ve held onto since college (they\u2019re still in style, right?). \u201cIf you no longer have to do \u2018the dance\u2019 to zip your pants or you recently had to invest in a belt for the first time in years \u2014 those are amazing signs of progress,\u201d says Hogan. \u201cFeeling more comfortable in your clothes or going down a size is even more important than the scale, because they\u2019re more accurate signs of fat loss versus the fluid shifts you can see on the scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

7. Sit and rise.
\n<\/strong>The Sitting Rising Test<\/a> (yes, it\u2019s a real thing) will measure your mobility<\/a> and balance. The goal is simple: Get down and up from a seated, cross-legged position with minimal support. \u201cTo get a perfect score on the SRT \u2014 10 points total \u2014 cross your feet and lower down to a seated position, then stand back up without losing your balance or touching the ground for support,\u201d says Putnam. \u201cEach time you touch the ground with your hand, arm, knee, or side of the leg, you lose one point. You also lose one point each time you put your hand on your thigh for support. If you lose your balance on the way down or up, subtract half a point.\u201d Your goal is to get a final score of eight or more points. (It ain\u2019t easy!)<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Is Your Mobility Holding You Back? 5 Tests to Find Out<\/a><\/p>\n

8. Set a scary goal.
\n<\/strong>What\u2019s something you\u2019ve always wanted to do? Commit and start working toward it. \u201c<\/span>Sign up for a race<\/a> or try a 30-day plank challenge,\u201d says Jenn Seracuse, Director of Pilates at Flex Studios in NYC. \u201cIt\u2019s a built-in timeline and goal, and you can\u2019t help but track your progress while you train.\u201d Signing up for a race comes with tons of victories along the way, like <\/span>speed improvements<\/a> and distance accomplishments, too \u2014\u00a0so be sure to track it all!<\/span><\/p>\n

9. Phone a friend.
\n<\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s often harder to recognize and acknowledge positive changes in ourselves than in others,\u201d says Putnam. \u201cAppoint a friend or loved one to be your \u2018Compliment Czar,\u2019 and set a daily, weekly, or monthly time to give each other positive feedback.\u201d Keep it totally positive and constructive (no fat talk!), and graciously accept each others\u2019 praise.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 5 Ways to Banish Negative Self-Talk for Good<\/a><\/p>\n

10. Work out with a heart rate monitor.
\n<\/strong>The great thing about working out with a <\/span>heart rate monitor<\/a> is that you can check in regularly throughout your workout (by connecting it with your fitness tracker) or you can just pore over your stats when the workout\u2019s over. \u201cYou can see how you stack up from one class or workout to the next over a period of time,\u201d says Seracuse. \u201cWhenever I track a workout, I always want to push a little harder the next time to make it better than my last.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

11. Assess your sleep.
\n<\/strong>When you\u2019re expending extra energy working out and putting better foods into your body, you\u2019re more likely to get a good night\u2019s sleep. \u201cRemember when you were a kid and your parents used to tire you out at the playground, and then you\u2019d sleep, literally, like a baby that night? Same thing,\u201d says Yang. Most <\/span>fitness trackers<\/a> measure sleep quality, so you can easily make a connection between your workouts and diet and the shut-eye you\u2019re earning.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> The Hidden Ways Sleep Deprivation Can Lead to Weight Gain<\/a><\/p>\n

12. Measure your body\u2019s other<\/em> numbers.
\n<\/strong>If you\u2019re a numbers person, consider tracking your body fat percentage or measurements. (Here are the <\/span>five best ways to measure body fat percentage<\/a>.)\u201cIt\u2019s possible to reduce your body fat percentage and weigh the same, especially if you\u2019re losing fat and gaining lean muscle,\u201d says Mosier. \u201cWhile calipers or body composition scales may not be 100 percent accurate, they\u2019ll give you an idea of your progress.\u201d Or consider whipping out the tape and picking a few body parts to measure. \u201cYou can generally measure wherever you want to lose weight \u2014 waist, hips, upper thighs, etcetera \u2014 and take your measurements every month to track inches or centimeters lost.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stash your scale. These 12 non-scale ways to measure weight loss success are so much more satisfying. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,18],"tags":[289,103,341,343,285],"class_list":["post-48249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-weight-loss","tag-exercise","tag-motivation","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2exercise","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}