When on a fitness journey, it is easy to develop a love-and-hate relationship with the scale.

While the scale is a valuable fitness tracking tool, it could be discouraging when defining your progress solely by numbers. Furthermore, relying on the scale to track your weight-loss progress can trigger obsessive and unhealthy patterns.

Here are some healthier fitness tracker options to measure the results of your workout routine.

Before and After Pictures

It is hard to notice the changes in our bodies when we look at ourselves in the mirror every day.

By measuring your progress with pictures, you’ll be able to see how all your efforts — no matter how small — contribute to all the positive changes in your body.

It is incredibly rewarding to look back at pictures and see how far you have come in your fitness journey.

In contrast to the scale, with pictures, it will be easier for you to determine whether you are not losing weight due to lean-mass gains or body-fat gains.

Fitting Your New You In Your Old Clothes

Sometimes the scale doesn’t reflect the results you were hoping to see.

The results in the scale can be particularly disappointing when you feel like your body is changing. However, your clothes may be telling a whole different story than the scale.

If you are on a fitness journey, we recommend paying attention to how your body feels in your clothes. For example, your clothes may feel looser on certain body areas like your belly or hips. Also, if your routine focuses on building muscle, a positive sign would be that your clothes feel slightly tight in your thighs, glutes, and upper body.

If possible, use the same outfit to track your progress in before and after pictures. Visualization will provide a clear insight regarding the changes in your body.

Define Your Progress Through Your Fitness Levels

A fitness journey is not just about weight loss, it is also about improving your health.

One of the healthiest and most rewarding ways to measure your progress is by seeing how your fitness levels and overall health are improving.

Here are some ways to measure your fitness levels:

• Compare how much more endurance you have now than when you started.
• Identify at what level of difficulty you are in your workout routine. It can also be useful to analyze how different the exercises are now, from those you did as a beginner.
• Measure your overall strength. For example, how many push-ups can you do? Are you faster?

Mind Matters: Evaluate Your Emotional Progress

In a fitness journey, measuring progress is not only about how your body looks but also about how your mind feels. For example, people who exercise regularly are likely to:

• Have lower levels of stress and anxiety
• Find joy in everyday pleasures
• Develop resilience
• Trust other people

If you are experiencing any of these signs, it means you are getting positive results in both body and mind. However, if you are experiencing stress or negative emotions about exercising, it may be a sign you need to change your routine.

Body Measurements

Using a tape measure is an old-fashioned but effective way to track weight loss or lean mass gains.

Make sure to measure different areas of your body and write them down in a journal. Over time, it will be satisfactory to look at the changes in your body measurements.

At Z.E.N. Foods, we provide calorie-controlled, nutritionally balanced meals to complement your fitness journey. We know your time is valuable, so we prepare all the meals fresh and deliver them daily to your home. Reach out to us today at (310) 205–9368 and speak to a consultant for more info.