I went out and got a proper scale today - up until now, I'd been using my Wii Fit board as my "scale," with the added benefit of it tracking my daily check-ins - but I am the kind of person who needs to see visual confirmation like, every two hours, so I decided it was time to bring a scale back into the house!

As I was weighing myself and adding it to MFP, I noticed the "other measurements," and I started wondering: is this something you track? If so, how often do you measure/report? Is it something you can do yourself, or do you have someone do it for you? Do you consider these numbers important? I have no idea what my current dress size is, so I'm wondering if maybe it's time to find out and start keeping track.

And how exactly do you take these measurements? I don't have a body measuring tape, but I do have a seamstress tape and it appears to be pretty much the same thing. Sadly, despite how much I sew (and considering I predominantly make clothes for my son), I have no idea how to properly take measurements!

I do 'girth' measurements once a week, when I weigh in Sat morning before I eat/drink/pee/etc. Or just when I remember to do it, some weeks.....

Common areas to measure would be:

Upper arms - widest part
Shoulders - widest part
Bust/chest - I do this lying down with no bra, to try and keep things consistent/unaffected by my 'support' for the day But most people just measure normally.
Waist (there are a few places: halfway between your ribs + hips, at your belly button, or at the smallest part of your middle - that's what I do, since it's my 'natural' waist)
Hips - at the bones AND/OR Backside - widest part of your a$$/hips/middle lower body
Thigh - I usually just go for the widest again


Others you could think about:
Neck
Wide Waist - my personal problem area, which is why I measure the widest bit of my tummy
Lower arm - widest part below your elbow
Knee - widest part above the joint
Calf - widest part below the knee

I also just use a sewing tape measure, and I don't stress too much about them - I'm pretty lazy with my measuring, I just get an idea of 'did I go up or down?' and 'by a lot or a little?'. Have fun!