A few of you may have read about SMART goal setting.
For those of you who haven’t, SMART is an acronym specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. The idea, within a few words, is that all desired goals must be SMART if they’re going to be of any use at all. There is absolutely no point establishing a goal which is lacking in even one of these 5 components. In this write-up, I’m going to discuss the best way to determine body fat and how that pertains to the “measurable” portion.
First, I’ll point out a few things about the “specific” aspect.
A fitness aim should be specific in order for it to be measurable. If your ultimate goal is to “lose weight”, that’s practically impossible to measure. My main physical fitness objective in 2010 was to lower my body fat percentage lower than 8% within six months and keep it at that point for the remainder of the entire year. Notice that I utilized body fat ratio, not body weight, as my chosen unit of measurement. I believe that body fat percent is a superior indicator of overall body composition to weight. Someone can be extremely muscular and also at an incredibly low body fat percentage and nevertheless be regarded “overweight” strictly on body mass index, though they appear amazing. In contrast, an individual may be “skinny fat” with a reasonable weight, but really high body fat percentage that shows if they take their shirt off.
I recommend utilizing body fat percentage for your measure of body composition.
In the event your body fat percentage is on point, the weight will take care of itself. The downside of using body fat percentage is that it is not the most simple thing to determine. To acquire a truly accurate measurement of body fat percentage, you need sophisticated procedures such as an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or DEXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) which are expensive. I measure my body fat percentage every week and I don’t know what you think, but I’m not willing to spend $50 - $100 per week to determine my body fat percentage.
What exactly do I use?
I personally use an electronic body composition scale which measures body fat percentage through bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). BIA transmits a small electric current through your body to assess total body water which it utilizes to calculate body fat percentage. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe. The drawback: it’s not very accurate. BIA scales have a tendency to understate body fat percentage. Nevertheless, I’m okay with this because I’m more interested in the trend over time compared to the actual figure.
The key would be to keep as many factors constant as is feasible.
I try to weigh myself on the same day each week. This doesn’t always happen, but I do usually weigh myself at about the same time of day (at night) after working out, taking a shower, and urinating but before eating or drinking anything. When you’re tracking measurements over time, it is crucial to manage these variables when using a BIA scale since it depends on total body water to measure body fat percentage. If I were to chug a couple of glasses of water and after that weigh myself again, my body fat reading my increase up by 1% or more.
Again, I’m fine with this mainly because I’m not a professional athlete or bodybuilder who must find out a precise number. I want to just be certain I’m in the right ballpark (certainly within the single digits, about 8% +/- 1-2%). The advantage of using a BIA scale is that it’s highly affordable. This was a one-time price of about $60. I purchased mine a few years ago and technology has upgraded since then, so today you can most likely get a less costly, more accurate one.
Now let’s talk about the enjoyment part: tracking your progress.
As I stated, I usually weigh myself once a week… in fact, let’s say once every 5-9 days. If my control variables aren’t right for a weigh in (for example, if I forget to weigh myself prior to eating dinner), then I’ll wait until the next day. I’ve been repeating this for over a year now and tracing my statistics in an Excel graph. I can’t stress how vital it is to have some form of visible reinforcement of your progress. For me personally, an Excel graph is the simplest way to do this. As I said, my focus is on body fat percentage. I don’t really care much about weight. It is just something interesting to track and see how it changes over time as my body fat percentage changes.
I began monitoring my body fat percentage and body weight in September 2009 (the start of my “fitness journey”) and I don’t plan to stop… ever.
The constant visible display is perhaps the best resource you can make use of. The reason behind this is that it raises consciousness which is crucial to achieving your goal and then staying on track. There is an unconscious connection with tracking your progress that offers you something concrete that’s always in the back of your head. Trust me, it really works. Every time I assess body fat percentage and check out my spreadsheet, I’m reminded not to let myself go because I don’t want my chart to get out of whack! So, I’m thrilled to say that I accomplished my body fat goal in The year 2010.