Monitoring results

I mentioned in a previous post how important it is to monitor results. Tracking everything has proven to be quite a hobby, especially when you consider the following pieces of information: weight loss, weight percentage loss, Body Mass Index, Basal Metabolic Rate, weight lost per day/week/month and body fat percentage. It may sound complicated, but once compiled into a spreadsheet, it's actually quite easy to track. I've not only kept a chart but I've also incorporated this data in graphic form and summarized the results in separate spreadsheets (including additional notes, symptoms, notices, resources etc.). Tracking might seem like quite an undertaking, but if you're ready to take the steps towards weight loss, watching what you eat isn't going to be all you have to do.

Here are some great tools I've used to monitor and document results:

iPhone applications ::

• Lose It! (caloric intake, nutrition, exercise and customized food items)
• Track Weight (weight, body fat, water %, statistics and graphs)
• BMI_Calc (Body Mass Index, Body fat % and desired weight goals)
• BMR_Calc (Basal Metabolic Rate with built in Personal Activity Level)
• Restaurants (Nutritional info for most fast food restaurants)

Online data entry ::

• Google Health (create your own medical profile)
• Google Docs (create your own spreadsheets)
• Health Calculators (calculate various health conditions)
  

These are a few of the critical tools I've used over the last 5 months. Taking pictures every week, in the same location preferably, proves quite useful as well. This gives you the opportunity to see the changes over a period of time and also boosts your motivation to keep it going.

In closing, it's extremely difficult to gauge how your weight adjusts if you do not monitor and document the results. Start with a simple spreadsheet with some of the data listed above, and you'll learn immediately how your weight is progressing (hopefully in a positive direction).