As I posted a few weeks ago, I’m getting back on the getting fit vibe. It mostly entails going to the gym more often, and thinking more closely about portion sizes. It does take a quite few weeks to get into a rhythm of going to a gym. Starting is hard enough, but sticking with your plan is the real challenge.

Measuring Progress

How do you measure that you are getting fitter ? Tim Ferris, in the 4 Hour Work Body, talks about TI, or total inches, which is possibly a better way to see if you are getting fit and in shape. Basically you measure your arms, legs, waist & chest, and sum up all the numbers to get your TI number. Nonetheless tracking your weight will also show you your level of progress to a certain level of accuracy. There is of course a lower limit that this will approach, so you should also check out the chart for your ideal weight for your height. BMI is another metric that’s often thrown out, where anything under 25 is considered ‘healthy’. It’s calculated by the following forumla

BMI = ( Weight in Kilograms / ( Height in Meters x Height in Meters ) )

My January chart is displayed below, and as you can see I’m just on the tip of the overweight / ideal weight border.

Overall I’m happy with the progress, but I don’t track my progress just by my weight. Other aspects like energy levels or time for a 5km run are other ways of seeing how you are progress.