Saturday Fitness Post: How to track your progress?

Many people think that you can track your progress only by stepping on a scale and trust the numbers. But let me tell you something, muscle is denser than fat. If you do a lot of body weight and weight training, you are gaining muscle and your number doesn't move or it even goes up slightly - especially if you don't have to lose so much weight. It is possible that your body composition is changing meanwhile your weight remains the same.

Source: Pinterest.

Your weight doesn't really tell your frame size - some people have smaller bone structure, lighter bones, some have bigger structure, heavier bones. It also doesn't tell how much % of fat do you have, which fluctuates during the year (we usually have more in the winter) and neither it tells how much muscle weight do you have.

Don't get discourages, I present you to other methods that can help you track your progress and achieve your goal (I already talked about them in the past, but sometimes you just need to publish again :)).

Source: Pinterest.

1. Take a before and after picture. Take a picture of yourself at the beginning of your weight loss journey and take a picture of yourself at more stages during the process - every 2 weeks or once a month is OK. Compare them side by side and see how your body has changed.

2. Another great method to track your progress is by measuring yourself. Get a measuring tape (it doesn't have to be anything fancy) and measure your body in different places - bust, upper arm, waist, hips and thighs are most common. Measure yourself at the beginning of weight loss journey and measure again every 2 weeks or once a month. I keep track of that in my workout diary :)

3. Focus on how you feel. Healthy food and regular exercise will give you more energy, you will feel much lighter, tighter (less jiggle-y ;)) and leaner, even though scale doesn't move. You should also feel much happier :). Also your skin will improve and you'll feel healthier overall. Which leads to another point ...

4. Focus on how you feel in your clothes and how do they look on you. Your clothes will fit better and you'll feel better in them. Or you'll notice that there's more space in your clothes than usual :)


Tell me, which is your preferred method? I hate the scale, but I like to measure myself and focus on how I feel.

Happy healthy Saturday!

Follow me: 

Bloglovin | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

Why I'm not losing weight?

Do you want to lose weight and it seems you are stuck at the same point for the longest time... or even going few steps back? You have to pay attention to some of the main "mistakes" or however you want to call them.

1. Negativity. If you tell to yourself you're fat, that you cannot lose weight or you have any other negative thoughts about yourself, you will attract more of those things. Losing weight has to be done in the most positive way possible. Love yourself in whatever situation you may be or however desperate you may be ... There is always something to be grateful and happy about. Even people around you should be supporting. Tell people to cheer you up, watch comedies, read motivational books (they ALWAYS make me the happiest person alive) ... You cannot cure a disease with negative thoughts. In this case, obesity is a disease.  Do whatever makes you the happiest and think positive.

2. Lack of motivation. It's easier to make a perfect plan to lose weight than to actually follow it. There are motivational sites online that can motivate you. Chose a partner to workout with to support each other, buy only healthy food (it's easier if your roommates, partner, family eat the same as you do. I have quite a problem with that :)). Whatever has more than five ingredients, should not be in your kitchen. It can be a little bit time consuming at the beginning to read ingredients on each product, but once you know which one are healthy and good for you, shopping becomes faster.
No excuses, please. There is no such thing as: "Oh, I have three children, I cannot be slim anymore.", "I'm genetically obese, it's in my family.", "I have no time or money." blah blah. If you think so, then you cannot be slim and fit and healthy. There are many incredible stories out there. Even Jillian Michaels was obese in her teenage years and look at her now ... She is one of the taughest fitness gurus out there. Her books are A-mazing, her site is amazing, check her out, she is such a great motivation.

3. Overeating. Even though you eat healthy, portion sizes are very important. Here is a little picture of how much you should eat:

Buy a smaller plate, eat five to six times a day every three hours rather than just pig out in one meal. Always have a snack with you so you don't get tempted by fast food at every corner. Drink loads of water, it helps you control hunger ... Just listen to your body. Whenever I eat something highly processed I feel sick, sometimes even for two days. My body just hates it. And when I want to eat something bad or just want to pig out, I always say to myself that I worked so hard to get where I am now and that I love my body, and my body is the only place I have to live ... I don't want to camouflage my hard work with food. Do you?

4. Stress. Nowadays stress can be a really serious and common problem. It makes your life harder, you are nervous, you can find "comfort" with eating or you completely forget to eat or can't eat at all.  No problem cannot be solved.  Start every morning with a smile and say to yourself that you're going to have the best day ever. Try to meditate to relax. Here is a great short guided meditational video, I try to listen to it every day if I can and it really helps. Or maybe just close your eyes and breathe slowly and think positive. Write down some positive affirmations, such as: "I can handle whatever comes.", "I can find balance in my life.", "I can accomplish anything.". Google it, there are plenty more great ones.

5. Be patient. Losing weight can be a long process. And living healthy should be lifetime long. You will not lose weight over night, because you didn't even gained weight over night in the first place. It may seem long, but trust me, it's so worth it at the end. When you are healthy, you are happy. You feel like you can do and accomplish anything. It all just comes together. It may sound cheesy, but it's true :).

So I was thinking for the longest time if I should post this picture or not ... but what the heck, it's already online, so why not :)
The first picture is me about 4 years ago, about 25 kilograms heavier. The other two pictures are from last year, I think they were taken in February. And I actually haven't changed a lot since then. I gained muscle, which is fine with me :).

If I did it, you can do it, too. :)

Stay healthy,
xoxo Deja

P.S.: If you have any more questions about anything, please ask in a comment section of you can e-mail me (dejazu.blog@gmail.com). :)