Measure and Monitor

Monitor yourself regularly to determine whether you are meeting your goals. Select one day each week for four weeks to monitor and record your progress. Do your measurements first thing in the morning. After you wake up and go to the bathroom, take a nude weight using your scale. Make sure the scale lies flat on a hard surface in a place where it won't get moved a lot. Then, using the tension-controlled tape measure, take your circumference measurements. If you started off with a health condition, it is a good idea to monitor your heart rate and blood pressure each week as well. If you need to, check your glucose and cholesterol levels according to the follow-up protocol outlined by your doctor.

Monitoring your results and writing them down will help you see your objective data and then judge whether they indicate the need for improvements. In addition to tracking this health information, you'll also want to keep a record of what exercises you do each week, what weights you lift, and how many repetitions you do (see chapter 7). Your health and nutrition plan should follow the same principle. Measure and monitor so that you can objectively determine whether a program is helping you meet your goals or whether something needs to be changed.

Another way to monitor yourself, if you are strength training as part of a weight control effort, is to weigh your food with a food scale and measure liquid volumes in a measuring cup. You won't always have to, but developing an awareness of your portion size and control is essential in the beginning. Research indicates that people consistently underestimate how much food they consume and how large their portions are. Researchers note that the more body fat people have, the more they underestimate their portion sizes. Prevent a possible pitfall by measuring all your foods until you feel comfortable with your own portion control.

Monitoring your temperature with a thermometer is an indirect way of assessing your thyroid hormone status- often a problem for women. If your morning temperature is consistently below 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, your thyroid hormone may be low. If it is higher than 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and you are not sick, it may indicate excessive thyroid hormone. In either of these situations, it is important to seek qualified medical follow-up.