Success can be defined a number of ways -- and measured on a number of levels. It's important for clients to realize that gauging progress by any healthy habits they adopt on the way is just as important as noting any changes in appearance.

Perhaps the most important measures of success are long-term decreases in medical problems, injuries, and other health risks as well an improved quality of life.

Short- and medium-term changes can also be measured regularly along the way. Some of these changes include obvious changes in health-related behavior patterns such as a decreased reliance on medications, increased ability to perform physical activity, a reduced intake of fat, and the increased intake of dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals in the diet.

Some changes are so subtle as to be overlooked: If someone has started making minor changes in they way they cook or prepare his or her food, or is reading labels at the grocery store and are discovering new tastes and textures, it's already one great leap towards leading a healthier lifestyle.

Success can be self-perpetuating: When one feels good about oneself and acknowledges the changes as progress, for example, the more one is likely to keep moving forward.

Physical Indicators of Progress

 Some of the more obvious outward signs of progress towards a healthier lifestyle are body fat distribution -- this include the waist circumference and waist-hip ration (WHR). Since abdominal obesity has been shown to corelate with other risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, any reduction in the waist circumference or in the WHR is a positive step towards a healthier body fat distribution -- with or without noticeable weight loss.

Another valuable way to determine physical progress is to measure body fat by means of hydrostatic weighing, electrical impedance, or a simple skinfold caliper. This last method is by far the cheapest and most accessible. And athough it is not as accurate as the fomer two methods, it can provide a benchmark from which to measure decreases in body fat.

Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss

No matter how tempting it might be, the use of a mass scale to measure progress is perhaps the least valuable indicator. Weight does not reflect one's overall health or the progress one has made toward better health.

This is because weight (mass) reflects the summed total of both ean body weight (muscle, bone, organs, fluids) and body fat weight. Two people with identical body weights will not exhibit the same body composition; indeed, they could have entirely different body types. For example a 190-pound male might have 70 pounds of body fat and 120 pounds of lean body mass. A leaner, more muscular man might only have 35 pounds of body fat and 155 pounds of lean mass. Although though these two men weigh the same, it could be said that one is in much better shape than the other. So, using the scale to measure your progress gives you no information about the body composition (fat vs. muscle) changes that are actually occurring.

The scale may show that that someone has lost seven pounds, but it will not be able to asay what amount of that was was muscle, water, or fat. In this way, people become discouraged when they haven't lost any weight, even though they have actually lost pounds of fat and replaced them with pounds of firm, fat-burning muscle.

Developing healthier eating and physical activity habits will most likely result in a loss of body fat even though the scale may indicate that you weigh the same. That is why it is imporant to learn to use other methods of determining body composition and pay more attention to improvements in self-esteem and physical appearance.

Can I Get a Table?

Height/weight charts and tables such as the BMI (Body Mass Index: weight in kilograms divided by height in meters, squared) have similar limitations when used as an indicator of progress towards a healthier lifestyle.

It is important to realize that these formulas are not always reliable measures of lean-to-fat ratios since they do not consider body composition/fat distribution. For example, many people who are muscular or short and stocky might have a high BMI even though they are not necessarily fat or at high risk for disease. In addition, the BMI is appropriate only for adults 20-65 years of age: It cannot account for patterns of growth in adolescents or in the elderly, whose height may decrease with age. And lastly, the focus remains on changing one's weight to yield a lower BMI (since it's not as practical to change one's height). As a result, this method promotes weight change as the ideal way to improve health.

The Bigger Picture

Sometimes looking for success is comparable to not being able to see the forest for the trees. It's important not to overlook any improvements in energy, performance, self-esteem, and the many other benefits gained from this healthier lifestyle such as improvements in health risk factors and medical conditions, and improved quality of life, and more enjoyable physical activity.

Here's to your health!

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