How to Take Accurate Body Measurements for Weight Loss

Tracking weight loss progress involves more than just stepping on a scale. While a standard scale measures body weight, it doesn’t differentiate between fat loss, muscle gain, or water retention. Body measurements are simple yet powerful tools that help determine whether specific areas of your body are increasing, decreasing, or staying the same in size. Combining weight trends with body measurements provides a better understanding of what’s happening with your body composition.

The Importance of Body Measurements

Body measurements help determine whether specific areas of your body are increasing, decreasing, or staying the same in size. For example, if your thigh measurement grows from 23 inches to 24 inches, that area has gained tissue. Conversely, if your waist measurement shrinks, it’s a strong indicator of fat loss, as the waist primarily reflects belly fat.

By measuring multiple areas-such as the waist, thighs, arms, and chest-a more complete picture of body composition changes is gained. The most accurate way to track these changes is to ensure measurements are taken as consistently as possible every 2-4 weeks.

Combining Weight and Body Measurement Data

When weight trends are combined with body measurements, a better understanding of what’s happening with body composition is achieved. Here is what this data can tell you:

• Body weight trends down + waist measurement trends down = overall fat loss.
• Body weight trends down + waist measurement stays the same = overall muscle loss.
• Body weight trends up + waist measurement stays the same = overall muscle gain.
• Body weight stays the same + waist measurement decreases = fat loss and muscle gain happening simultaneously.

If your goal is to change your body composition, these two data points-body weight and measurements-are invaluable.

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Key Areas to Measure

There are five key areas to measure your body for weight loss, which include bust, waist, hips, thigh and arm. Of course, where you choose to measure is completely up to you. If one of the areas outlined isn’t a concern for you, feel free to leave it out.

• Bust: Around your chest at the nipple line
• Waist: Around the smallest part of your waist, or slightly above your belly button
• Hips: Around the widest part of your hips. It would be more accurate to call this the ‘bum measurement’!
• Thigh: Take this measure towards the top of the leg at the widest point at.
• Arm: From the tip of the elbow, measure 15cm up the arm. Take the measurement at this point.

How to Measure Accurately

Knowing how to take body measurements correctly is important when you’re losing weight.

Keep the tape measure in line with the tummy button, ensure it’s level all the way around. Again, taking the measure at the side of your body is often easiest. Ideally, measure yourself naked or wearing tight-fitting clothes, in the following areas:

Beyond the Scale: Other Methods for Tracking Progress

Additionally, other methods such as body composition analysis, skin calipers, and visual assessment can provide a more detailed understanding of changes in body fat percentage, muscle mass, and overall physique. Therefore, a combination of these approaches offers the most comprehensive view of progress than simply relying on weight or BMI measurements.

• Body Composition Analysis: Body composition gives a more detailed breakdown of what’s influencing the number on the scale. Assessment tools available such as bioelectrical scales, or DEXA scans can provide information about your body fat percentage, muscle mass, bone mass, water and more.
• Skin Calipers: Skin calipers are a tool used to measure skinfold thickness at various sites on the body. By measuring the thickness of the skinfold, you can estimate body fat percentage. The accuracy of this method can depend on the skill and experience of the person taking the measurement and may not be as consistently accurate as other professional tools.
• Visual Assessment: Looking in the mirror and visually assessing your body can be a helpful way to track changes in muscle definition and overall body composition. While this method may not provide precise measurements, it can give you a sense of progress and changes in your physique. Some people like to take weekly progress pictures so that they can look back at their progress over time.

The Limitations of a Standard Scale

A standard scale measures one thing: your body weight. It’s unable to differentiate between weight due to water retention, the huge meal you’ve just eaten, or muscle that you may have gained due to your training plan.

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The following factors can influence the reading on your scale.

• Your body’s water weight: When we are young, our bodies are made up of about 75% water¹. As we get older, this percentage gradually declines until we reach around 55% water when we are elderly. If the percentage of water in our bodies increases above the normal average and what our bodies can utilize, fluid retention happens. Consequently, our water weight and overall weight increase. Some of the common causes of excess water weight are hormonal changes² (such as premenstrual syndrome, using contraceptive pills, or pregnancy in females), high salt intake³, and high carbohydrate intake⁴. Just having a salty dinner can push your weight up the following morning.
• Your body composition (how much fat and how much muscle you have): Muscle is denser than fat, so a pound of muscle looks very different from a pound of fat. Once you are well on your way with your diet and exercise program, you should be losing fat and gaining muscle. When you step on your bathroom scale, it is unable to tell the difference between the fat that you’ve lost and the muscle you’ve gained. So although the weight on your scale may not have dropped as much as you might have hoped, you may look very different from the way you did before you started your weight loss journey.
• Your weight fluctuates: Your weight changes throughout the day according to what you are wearing, what you eat, what you drink, how much you’ve sweated, and how much you’ve exercised. If you don’t weigh yourself at precisely the same time each day, the reading you get on your scale won’t accurately reflect your change in weight. A bathroom scale can be useful, but to track your weight as accurately as possible, you need to weigh yourself at the same time-ideally, first thing in the morning before you’ve eaten or drunk anything-and under the same conditions each day.
• Your body mass index (BMI): You may have heard of body mass index (BMI), as it’s often used to define underweight, overweight, and obesity. There is a flaw with using the BMI, though. BMI is calculated by dividing your weight (kg) by your height squared (cm)⁵. If you are very muscular, your BMI will be on the higher side. The BMI reading will define you as overweight, even though your body fat percentage could be very low. You can’t read too much into your BMI measurement, then, if you are more muscular than average.

More Accurate Ways of Measuring Weight Loss

The fundamental issue with measuring weight loss with a scale or BMI is that neither of them take into account body composition. The following ways of measuring weight loss are more accurate because they are able to differentiate between fat and muscle loss or gain.

1. Skin calipers: Skin calipers are a simple tool that measures the amount of fat that you have just under your skin (skinfold or subcutaneous fat). Measurements are taken at different places on your body and then entered into a formula that gives your body fat percentage and lean muscle mass percentage. Regular skinfold measurements are a great way to monitor fat loss and lean muscle gain, provided the measurements are taken by someone who is experienced and trained in using skin calipers.
2. Impedance scales: Impedance scales, or body fat scales, use bioelectrical impedance to measure your body fat. You stand on the scale barefoot, and a weak electrical current is transmitted through your body. The scale measures the resistance to the current, which varies depending on your body composition. Bioimpedance scales are a simple way to measure body fat, but they can be inaccurate depending on hydration changes and the quality of the scale⁶. These scales can range from cheap supermarket options, which usually only measure the composition of your legs (then extrapolate that reading to the rest of your body), to expensive, more accurate models that have hand bars and send a current through your whole body.
3. DEXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) scanning: DEXA scanning is considered the gold standard in measuring body composition for weight loss management. It uses an X-ray beam passed over your body to measure body composition. DEXA scanning can precisely measure body fat percentage changes as well as lean muscle mass changes⁷. It is relatively widely available, as it is used in most major research and high-performance sports centers. Hydrodensitometry, air displacement plethysmography, hydrometry, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are other highly accurate ways of measuring body composition. However, they are not easily accessible, and some may have radiation risks and are costly⁷.
4. Body measurements: Taking body measurements is a simple way to monitor whether you are losing fat and gaining muscle. Remember that muscle is denser than fat. This means that one pound of muscle will take up less space than one pound of fat. You can visualize this by measuring the circumference of different areas of your body. All you need is a tape measure.

How Often Should You Measure?

The jury is still out on this one. At the end of the day, you just have to find what works for you.

One large study of 1,042 participants found that those who weighed themselves once per week or less didn’t lose weight. In contrast, those who weighed themselves six or seven times per week lost an average of 1.7%⁸.

Daily weigh-ins may work for some people, but for others, it may be a demotivating exercise because weight loss is a slow process and weight can fluctuate on a daily basis. For example, a review of 20 published studies concluded that repetitive self-weighing can have a negative impact on mood, anxiety, self-esteem, and eating behaviors, particularly in women and young adults. However, it had a neutral or positive impact on people who were overweight and pursuing treatment⁹.

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If you choose to monitor your progress using skin calipers or another method of body fat measurement, you may want to stretch your measurements out to every two weeks, as body fat percentage takes a longer time to change noticeably.

Whatever method you choose, it’s important that you take your measurements under the same condition each time and that you keep a record of your readings so that you can track your progress.

Most importantly, try not to obsess over the numbers and the measurements. Ultimately, what matters is the changes that you can see in your body from health, physical appearance, or fitness perspective, and how you feel about yourself.

Additional Methods for Measuring Body Fat Percentage

There are many ways to measure body fat percentage. However, the most accurate measurements aren’t available at home. It can be frustrating to step on the scale and see no change. While it’s natural to want objective feedback on your progress, body weight shouldn’t be your main focus. Some “overweight” people are healthy, while others with “normal weight” are unhealthy. However, your body fat percentage tells you what your weight is comprised of. Specifically, it tells you the percent of your total body weight that is fat. The lower your body fat percentage, the higher percentage of lean muscle mass you have on your frame.

Here are some of the best ways to measure your body fat percentage:

1. Skinfold Calipers: Skinfold measurements have been used to estimate body fat for over 50 years (1). Skinfold calipers measure the thickness of your subcutaneous fat - the fat underneath the skin - at certain body locations. Measurements are taken at either 3 or 7 different sites on the body. The specific sites used vary in men and women. For women, the triceps, area above the hip bone and either the thigh or abdomen are used for the 3-site measurement (2). For a 7-site measurement in women, the chest, area near the armpit and area beneath the shoulder blade are also measured. For men, the 3 sites are the chest, abdomen and thigh, or the chest, triceps and area beneath the scapula (2). For a 7-site measurement in men, the areas near the armpit and beneath the shoulder blade are also measured.
   • Advantages: Skinfold calipers are very affordable, and measurements can be taken quickly. They can be used at home but are also portable.
   • Disadvantages: The method requires practice and basic anatomy knowledge. Also, some people don’t enjoy getting their fat pinched.
   • Availability: Calipers are affordable and easy to purchase online.
   • Accuracy: The skill of the person performing the skinfolds can vary, impacting the accuracy. Measurement errors can range from 3.5-5% body fat (3).
2. Body Circumference Measurements: Body shape varies from person to person, and the shape of your body provides information about your body fat (4). Measuring the circumference of certain body parts is a simple method of body fat estimation. For example, the US Army uses a body fat calculation that simply requires an individual’s age, height and a few circumference measurements. For men, the circumferences of the neck and waist are used in this equation. For women, the circumference of the hips is also included (5).
   • Advantages: This method is easy and affordable. A flexible measuring tape and calculator are all you need. These tools can be used at home and are portable.
   • Disadvantages: Body circumference equations may not be accurate for all people due to differences in body shape and fat distribution.
   • Availability: A flexible measuring tape is easily available and very affordable.
   • Accuracy: The accuracy can vary widely based on your similarity to the people used to develop the equations. The error rate can be as low as 2.5-4.5% body fat, but it can also be much higher (3).
3. Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA): As the name implies, DXA uses X-rays of two different energies to estimate your body fat percentage (6). During a DXA scan, you lie on your back for approximately 10 minutes while an X-ray scans over you. The amount of radiation from a DXA scan is very low. It’s about the same amount you receive during three hours of your normal life (7). DXA is also used to assess bone density and provides detailed information about the bone, lean mass and fat in separate body regions (arms, legs and torso) (8).
   • Advantages: This method provides accurate and detailed information, including a breakdown of different body regions and bone density readings.
   • Disadvantages: DXAs are often unavailable to the general public, expensive when available and deliver a very small amount of radiation.
   • Availability: A DXA is typically only available in medical or research settings.
   • Accuracy: A DXA provides more consistent results than some other methods. The error rate ranges from 2.5-3.5% body fat (3).
4. Hydrostatic Weighing: This method, also known as underwater weighing or hydrodensitometry, estimates your body composition based on its density (9). This technique weighs you while submerged under water after exhaling as much air as possible from your lungs. You are also weighed while you are on dry land, and the amount of air left in your lungs after you exhale is estimated or measured. All of this information is entered into equations to determine the density of your body. Your body’s density is then used to predict your body fat percentage.
   • Advantages: It’s accurate and relatively quick.
   • Disadvantages: It’s difficult or impossible for some individuals to be fully submerged under water. The method requires breathing out as much air as possible, then holding your breath underwater.
   • Availability: Hydrostatic weighing is typically only available at universities, medical settings or certain fitness facilities.
   • Accuracy: When testing is performed perfectly, the error of this device can be as low as 2% body fat (3, 10).
5. Air Displacement Plethysmography (Bod Pod): Similar to hydrostatic weighing, air displacement plethysmography (ADP) estimates your body fat percentage based on the density of your body (9). However, ADP uses air instead of water. The relationship between the volume and pressure of air allows this device to predict the density of your body (11). You sit inside an egg-shaped chamber for several minutes while the pressure of the air inside the chamber is altered. To obtain accurate measurements, you need to wear skin-tight clothing or a bathing suit during testing.
   • Advantages: The method is accurate and relatively quick, and it does not require being submerged in water.
   • Disadvantages: ADP has limited availability and can be expensive.
   • Availability: ADP is typically only available at universities, medical settings or certain fitness facilities.
   • Accuracy: The accuracy is very good, with an error rate of 2-4% body fat (3).
6. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA): BIA devices detect how your body responds to small electrical currents. This is done by placing electrodes on your skin. Some electrodes send currents into your body, while others receive the signal after it has passed through your body tissues. Electrical currents move through muscle easier than fat due to the higher water content of muscle (12). The BIA device automatically enters your body’s response to the electrical currents into an equation that predicts your body composition. There are many different BIA devices that vary widely in cost, complexity and accuracy.
   • Advantages: BIA is quick and easy, and many devices can be purchased by consumers.
   • Disadvantages: The accuracy varies widely and can be greatly affected by food and fluid intake.
   • Availability: While many units are available to consumers, these are often less accurate than the expensive devices used in medical or research settings.
   • Accuracy: Accuracy varies, with an error rate that ranges from 3.8-5% body fat but may be higher or lower depending on the device used (3, 13).
7. Bioimpedance Spectroscopy (BIS): BIS is similar to BIA in that both methods measure the body’s response to small electrical currents. BIS and BIA devices look similar but use different technology. BIS uses a much larger number of electrical currents than BIA, in addition to high and low frequencies, to mathematically predict your amount of body fluid (14). BIS also analyzes the information differently, and some researchers believe that BIS is more accurate than BIA (14, 15). However, similar to BIA, BIS uses the body fluid information it gathers to predict your body composition based on equations (15). The accuracy of both of these methods depends on how similar you are to the people for whom these equations were developed (12).
   • Advantages: BIS is quick and easy.
   • Disadvantages: Unlike BIA, consumer-grade BIS devices are not currently available.
   • Availability: BIS is typically only available at universities, medical settings or certain fitness facilities.
   • Accuracy: BIS is more accurate than consumer-grade BIA devices but has a similar error rate to more advanced BIA models (3-5% fat) (3, 16).
8. Electrical Impedance Myography (EIM): Electrical impedance myography is a third method that measures your body’s response to small electrical currents. However, while BIA and BIS send currents through your whole body, EIM sends currents through smaller regions of your body (17). Recently, this technology has been used in inexpensive devices that are available to consumers. These devices are placed on different parts of the body to estimate the body fat of those specific areas (17). Because this device is placed directly on specific body regions, it has some similarities to skinfold calipers, although the technologies are very different.
   • Advantages: EIM is relatively quick and easy.
   • Disadvantages: Very little information is available about the accuracy of these devices.
   • Availability: Cheap devices are available to the general public.
   • Accuracy: Limited information is available, although one study reported 2.5-3% error relative to DXA (17).
9. 3-D Body Scanners: 3D body scanners use infrared sensors to get a detailed look at the shape of your body (18). The sensors generate a 3-D model of your body. For some devices, you stand on a rotating platform for several minutes while the sensors detect your body shape. Other devices use sensors that rotate around your body. The scanner’s equations then estimate your body fat percentage based on your body shape (19). In this way, 3-D body scanners are similar to circumference measurements. However, a greater amount of information is provided by a 3-D scanner (20).
   • Advantages: A 3-D body scan is relatively quick and easy.
   • Disadvantages: 3-D body scanners are not commonly available but gaining popularity.
   • Availability: Several consumer-grade devices are available, but they’re not as affordable as simple circumference-measurement methods like skinfold calipers.
   • Accuracy: Limited information is available, but some 3-D scanners may be fairly accurate with errors of around 4% body fat (18).
10. Multi-Compartment Models (the Gold Standard): Multi-compartment models are considered to be the most accurate method of body composition assessment (3, 10). These models split the body into three or more parts. The most common assessments are called 3-compartment and 4-compartment models. These models require multiple tests to get estimates of body mass, body volume, body water and bone content (21). This information is obtained from some of the methods already discussed in this article. For example, hydrostatic weighing or ADP can provide body volume, BIS or BIA can provide body water and DXA can measure bone content. Information from each of these methods is combined to build a more complete picture of the body and obtain the most accurate body fat percentage (21, 22).
    • Advantages: This is the most accurate method available.
    • Disadvantages: It’s often unavailable to the general public and requires multiple different assessments. It’s more complex than most other methods.
    • Availability: Multi-compartment modeling is typically only available in select medical and research facilities.
    • Accuracy: This is the best method in terms of accuracy. Error rates can be under 1% body fat. These models are the true “gold standard” that other methods should be compared to (3).

Choosing the Right Method

Deciding which method of assessing body fat percentage is best for you isn’t easy. Here are several questions that may help you decide:

• What’s the purpose of assessing your body fat percentage?
• How important is high accuracy?
• How often do you want to test your body fat percentage?
• Do you want a method you can perform at home?
• How important is price?

Some methods, such as skinfold measurements, circumference calculations and portable BIA devices, are inexpensive and allow you to be measured in your own home as frequently as you like. The devices can also be purchased online easily.

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