11 Ways to Measure Progress That Aren’t Related to Weight Loss
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Sister, can we stop focusing on how much we weigh, how much weight we’ve lost, and how much weight we need to lose already?! I’m so over it. I cannot tell you how over it I am! That’s why in this episode of Embrace Your Real, I share 11 other ways to measure progress that exclude your weight and a scale. Are you ready to hear them?!
If you loved this episode, I know you will also love…
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, Hey, beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real, with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned, if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it. Let's go.
PSA. Public Service Announcement. Can we stop focusing on how much we weigh, how much weight we've lost, how much weight we need to lose? I am so over it. I cannot tell you how over it I am. That's why in this bonus episode of Embrace Your Real I'm going to share 11 other ways to measure progress that do not include your weight and a scale. Are you ready to hear them?
But before I dive in, I have to share this super sweet reveal. It comes from Emmy heart zero zero. She says, "Finally free to embrace my real. I struggled for years with nutrition and my self esteem, but I've been binging Julie's podcast and my life has changed dramatically. All of the topics really hit home for me and make me realize that I don't have to be a prisoner to my own mind anymore. I've changed the way that I look at food and exercise and I no longer obsess over them. I'm free to live my life and love my own body for what it is in the present time. Thank you so much for all you do. You've changed my life."
Thank you for this podcast review. I appreciate you so much. If you haven't already left a rating and review on Apple podcasts, every single Apple device has it. Whether you have a Mac book, an iPad, an iPhone, be sure to type in podcast into your app search and you will see Apple podcasts will pop up. It's a free app. Type in Embrace Your Real. First, make sure you're subscribed so that you never miss an episode. And second, if you could scroll down and click that rate and review, it really helps us out and it takes less than 30 seconds. I appreciate you more than you know for doing it.
Okay. So let's dive into the 11 different ways that you can track your progress without stepping on a scale or obsessing over how much you weigh. Number one, you have higher energy levels. Honestly, this is one of my favorites. You know you are making progress when you aren't always feeling fatigued, when you aren't having to drink a gallon of coffee a day, when you aren't experiencing daily brain fog and when you actually have the energy that you need to show up as your best self. Honoring your body with movement and nourishing your body with what it needs will give you more energy. Period. End of story.
Number two. How your clothes fit. This one depends on the person. Sometimes if you're building muscle, your clothes will become tighter. Sometimes when you're in fat loss mode, your clothes will become looser. So depending on your goals, monitor how your clothes are fitting to determine the progress that you're making. I talked about this in terms of building more muscle and having your clothes not fit anymore, having old clothes not fit anymore in episode 151. So be sure to tune in to that episode. I will link it in the show notes as well. But please remember ultimately that our clothes are meant to fit us. We are not meant to fit our clothes. So just determine what phase you're in, because sometimes how your clothes fit, that can be like a double-edged sword and it might not always be the best to go off of in terms of measuring your progress. So just keep that one in mind.
Number three. You sleep better. Sleep is a huge determinant of your health. When you're moving your body enough and eating enough, you'll notice a drastic difference in the quality of your sleep. You can, yes, get a fancy sleep tracking device or app. I know a lot of people have fun getting technical with those. But overall, I just want you to observe your sleep. When you wake up in the morning, ask yourself, do I feel like I was getting the proper amount of sleep and the quality of sleep that I need. I know sometimes simple adjustments, just like making your room cooler or ensuring that it's dark enough in your room. Those also help with sleep quality more than you know. So just be keen, be aware to it and kind of monitor that.
Number four. Your digestion. Another determinant for level of health is the quality of your digestion. If you aren't moving your body enough, or you're not eating enough, or you're not eating properly for what your body needs, you'll notice regularly that you are constipated or bloated. So if your digestion becomes more regular and you feel less bloated, that's typically a great cue that you're making solid progress.
Number five. Your hair, your nails, and your skin. Under nourishing your body and overexercising can lead to brittle nails, thinning of hair and an increase in acne. So if you feel like your hair is becoming thicker and shinier, your nails are becoming stronger and your skin is becoming more clear, it is time to celebrate the progress that you're making, because remember that everything on the outside first starts on what's going on on the inside. And another thing that I would recommend you to do is next time you're with your hairstylist, ask your hairstylist, how is the quality of my hair? Like what does my hair look like? And how does it feel to you? Because it's incredible how much your hairstylist can see, just if you're fueling your body enough.
I know for me, for a decade of my life, my hair would not grow. My hair quality was horrible. And I was thinking that it was just because I was bleaching my hair blonde, but I was using the best of the best of the products and I still ... My hair was falling out. It still wasn't growing. And it was because I was not fueling my body enough. So that is definitely something that you can do next time.You are in your salon, getting your hair done. Ask your hairdresser, "Hey, how does my hair look? I am just kind of gauging my progress in terms of my health and fitness. And I know hair can play a huge role in that." So just ask them and I guarantee it will open up a great conversation as well.
Number six. You can lift heavier weights. I think strength is a metric that we often look over, but I personally find it so empowering and one that I love to focus on most because working out isn't just about how we look. It's about getting stronger. And I've learned that the stronger that my body becomes, the stronger my confidence is. So I want to encourage you to track your progress. That's why Inside my Movement with Julie app, you can actually track how much weight you're lifting. So that way you can see the overall volume, which is so encouraging. And you can ask yourself when you look back, like am I starting to lift more weights monthly? Am I starting to lift more volumes? Whether you go by monthly or weekly, but just remember that there is no way you're not making progress if you're lifting heavier weights, because remember that strength takes time. But often times, it's in the two pound increase, it's in the five pound increase.
So don't be afraid to try to up your weights 2.5 pounds. That's what I always recommend, to just try to move up. See how your form is. See if your form is compromised for all of the reps. How are you feeling? All of those things. Be very in tune with your body as you're weightlifting. I always tell women, I need you to be keen as you're weightlifting because oftentimes I think we go through the motions, but their strength and the amount of weight that we're lifting is a great indicator that we're making progress or that maybe we stalled in our progress.
Number seven. You can do more reps. So to piggyback off of lifting heavier, doing more reps is also a great metric to look at. If you're able to do more pushups or more pull ups or sit ups or whatever the exercise is, it could be a clear sign that you're getting stronger and making incredible progress.
Again, I suggest it's so important of just keeping track of the reps that you're able to do. And this is a great thing that I always tell my girls inside my app is if we have like an AMRAP, so as many reps as possible in one minute, and I always say, prioritize form over everything. I don't want you rushing through the movements. But if you're able to get in two or three more reps than you were the last time you did that movement for one minute and you feel like your form is good and proper, that means that you're making progress. So celebrate that. And that is just another reason why it's so important to track all of these metrics so that you can remind yourself that you're doing great and you're getting stronger.
Number eight. You're more consistent. Being consistent is so important. Actually, out of everything I discussed today, I think being consistent is one of the most that deserves the most celebration because it's typically the hardest to achieve. And here's the thing. If you were consistent with nourishing and moving your body, there is literally no way that you aren't making progress. That's physically impossible. So just remember that being consistent is important. Hold yourself to that higher standard. Give yourself that self-accountability that you need.
Number nine. You're no longer triggered. Now there are certain situations that used to maybe trigger you to overindulge. I know for me, there were certain situations that would trigger me to over under indulge. They would trigger me to make me feel bad about my body, or they would trigger me to make me think that I was super fat or whatever it is. But I started to notice in certain situations that I was previously triggered in, I was no longer triggered.
For example, when I ate pizza, I was able to just enjoy the pizza instead of feeling like I had to eat the entire pizza. Or if I was going shopping for clothes and something didn't fit, I was no longer triggered. I was telling myself, oh yeah, I am here. And I deserve to find clothes that fit my body. I am not going to alter my body to fit this specific clothing material. So just remember that and celebrate that. That is so important. And that means truly that you're making mental progress.
Number 10. You see more definition. I want you to check yourself out, take the selfie. That is why I always suggest taking progress photos. It is so, so important to see how your body changes, because oftentimes we see our body everyday, yes, but if you put a side by side from four weeks or six weeks, I always recommend at least a minimum of four weeks. If you do it day by day, it's going to be very hard to see the changes, but try to go four or six weeks and see what your body looks like and see the changes, see the definition that you're getting and be proud of that. It's so, so important.
And number 11. You feel more confident and happy. Honestly, these are two of the most defining factors of whether or not you're making true progress because the why behind everything you do should be to have more confidence in your body, to be happier in your life. So if you're feeling both of those things, I want you to be proud of yourself and know that your hard work is paying off.
So let me recap those 11 ways to monitor progress that have nothing to do with your weight or the scale. Number one, you have higher energy levels. Number two, monitor how your clothes are fitting, but be careful with this one, depending on your goals. Number three, you sleep better. Number four, your digestion. Number five, monitoring your hair, nails and skin. Number six, you can lift heavier weights. Number seven, you can do more reps. Number eight, you're more consistent. Number nine, you're no longer triggered. Number 10, you can see more definition. And number 11, you feel more confident and happy.
If you love this episode, I know you'll also love episode 126, 8 numbers that don't matter and never did. So be sure to tune in there. I will link it in the show notes.
Thank you so much for tuning into this week's bonus episode. I hope that you enjoyed it. If you have a girlfriend in your life that you feel like would really benefit from this episode, I ask you right now to send it to them. Copy the link, send it to them in a text message. You can post it up on your story. Screenshot this, tag me, Julie Ledbetter. I love seeing your aha moments. I am curious what ways you are wanting to monitor this month as you pursue this new journey of monitoring your progress that is not related to weight loss or your weight or the scale.
So be sure to do that. I look forward to connecting with you. Thank you again for tuning in and I'll talk to you guys in the next episode.
All right, sister. That's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A. Ledbetter. Yes. It's with an A in the middle. For that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check.
The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple podcast to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.