Where on your body do you measure to get your "total inches" that way you can find out how many inches you've lost?

What a great question! I know there are some standards, but sometimes when I see a commercial that says "25 pounds and 57 inches lost!" I wonder just how many places the person actually measured!

Does it really matter to say "total inches lost"? Maybe if you do the standards (bust, chest, waist, hips, thigh.....um....upper arm (boy THAT is where I'd like to see some change along with my waist) and then whatever the heck else you personally want to track (shoot--ankle, calf, wrist...who knows?!) it will just give you an ongoing way to assess progress other than the scale.

Sorry if this sounds stupid... but... on a woman what's the difference between the bust and the chest?

The bust is across your boobs (think cup size) and your chest measurement is under (think band size)

Aww you're so sweet. Thanks for all the help

No prob! I'm a little mad at myself that I didn't take any measurements when I started. I'll just have to keep that pair of monster pants to compare with later!

I fear the tape measure even more than I fear the scale...It was bad enough finding out I weighed 100 pounds more than my husband. I don't need to compare myself to his 29 inch waist...

I measure upper arm, waist, abdomen (where your belly button is) hips, forearm, thigh and calf. It's incredibly motivating. I measure every 8 weeks, and get my body fat done then too.

I also have kept one blouse and one pair of jeans, and every time I feel unmotivated, I put them on, gripping tight as they now fall off!

I didnt think to measure.

No reason why you can't do it now, honestly I would have gone crazy without measurements. During my three month plateau my measurements changed alot, and it was really motivating. If you do weight training at all, you definitely need to measure, because you gain muscle and lose fat at different rates and it confuses the scales!

One thing my trainer does who measures me (and he's a guy, how embarrassing) is he doesn't do the same point every time, he chooses the largest point, so you are getting a really good indication of how things are changing.

This may be a weird question....but where do you measure your hips? Do you measure around your butt? Or higher than that?

Sorry to say, where ever the fattest point is, for me it's right on the top of the hip bone (it's like digging through thick chocolate pudding to find them still ) And the measuring point moves as the fat moves. I hate doing the fattest point, but I still get a loss each time around most body parts. My calves, and upper arms are a bit changeable, but that's because I weight train, hence the importance of changing ones routine every 6 weeks to change the way the muscles are used.

I just took a string and marked on the string where I was - I didn't want to know the exact amount. I'm planning on waiting until I reach my goal and comparing the new mark on the string to the old one. Maybe I'll measure the new mark... maybe.

I've been measuring for a couple of years. I stopped for a while, when I was pregnant last year. Before I got pregnant, I had lost 10 inches (I measured the standard measurements). Even though I lost inches, the scale stayed right where it was! But, my clothes fit better. After I had the baby, my measurements were the same as before, but the scale was higher!!!!! Go figure. I just tell myself, I gained muscle! LOL

I need to update the measurements though.

Angela

Me too.....the fattest points all over. If its a lean spot like my calves, I dont bother.