Many people start an exercise and diet program without deciding how they will measure progress. If you are only driven by "I want to lose weight", then how will you know once you have achieved your goal?
Measuring your weight, body fat and inches are the best way to assess progress. Relying on the scale alone will not only make you frustrated, but it's also not a good measure of whether you're losing fat. Your weight can fluctuate from day to day by several pounds and you may weigh more at certain times in your cycle, when you ate too much salt or starches, or if your digestion hasn't been regular.
Once you start lifting weights you will gain muscle and since muscle weighs more than fat per the space it occupies you might notice the scale going up. Many people stop lifting weights because they think it makes them heavy but in fact this is a good sign! The more lean muscle you gain, the tighter your body will be and the more calories you will burn (up to 4 x more than fat!). So, keep lifting those weights to get tight and forget about what the scale says.
Take a look at these two guys. They both weight 250 lbs but you definitely know which one has been hitting the weights, right? So, even though the guy on the left is quite heavy, he is lean and tight.
Also measure your body circumference with a tape measure. You will find that even when you're not dropping pounds, you'll be dropping inches as a result of the added muscle. So, use the inches as your best indicator of whether your body is changing or not.
Most people notice an instant difference in their waist circumference and bloat once they cut out the starches since the body no longer needs to hold on to so much water to metabolize the carbs.
Lastly, have your body fat measured because that is the only way to know if you have lost fat. It is absolutely crucial that you focus on losing fat only and not muscle as the latter would slow your metabolism. Only fat loss will change the shape of your body.
What do changes in body fat percentage mean?
If you have lost muscle/lean mass, you need to add more protein to your diet and reduce your intake of starches. Your body used your muscle as a protein source and you want to avoid that in the future by eating enough protein, especially after a workout.
If you have gained weight but dropped body fat, then you gained muscle weight. Muscle weighs more than fat per the space it occupies. So, while you can lose lots of inches, it might not show on the scale if you added muscle. Not a bad development at all, just keep your starch intake low.
If your body fat hasn't changed but you lost weight, then you probably lost lean mass/muscle. This happens when you don't eat enough protein - your body feeds on your muscle to get enough protein. That’s not a good move because your muscle is your body’s furnace. It burns almost 4 x more calories than fat, so you need to make sure you keep the muscle on your body. Make sure you eat a lean protein at every meal.
If you have lost fat and gained muscle, then congratulations, you've got it figured out. Keep up your new nutritional lifestyle and the pounds will keep coming off, while your muscle definition will pop out more and more.
If you haven't noticed much change, you probably didn't make the proper dietary changes. Working out alone should have helped you shed a couple pounds, but without eating more protein and less starch, the changes won't be dramatic.
Keep up with your strength training routine at 2-3 times a week and aim for at least an hour of cardio weekly to continue your fat loss. Remember - you need to challenge your muscles in order to keep the definition. If you don't work out for 3-4 days your muscles will already be less defined. Also, when you go to the gym pick the heaviest weight you can lift for 10-12 reps while keeping good form. You barely want to be able to complete 12 reps - that's the right weight.
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